Response 1

**not sure if this is where I was supposed to post this but, I'm doing it!**

In the blog ‘A Storm in Afghanistan,’ the blogger uses many visual cues to connect with the reader. The color pink is very noticeable, as well as the picture of his wife and the reference to his family in his dedication. Pink is the background of the blog, as well as the color of the titles and also the counter that tells you what time it is. All of these are significant to the reader because the background pink suggests his wife died of Breast cancer, which gives the feeling of compassion to the reader. Also, the title and time counter being pink could signify hope, connecting with the color for breast cancer. Hope for his family to read the blog, so he can be remembered if anything bad happens in Afghanistan. The clock being pink also correlates with the meaning of hope, the counter could be in the color for his family to watch and think to themselves, ‘if it is this time today, than our family member only has this certain amount of time left until he can come home for good.’ Pink is a very important color for this blog and gives the feeling of optimism and happiness. If the author had chosen black it would seem the blog would be more depressing.
The quote under the picture of the blogger’s late wife, speaks volumes to the reader about the bloggers religious stance and patriotism. The quote, ‘on wings of eagles,’ shows the blogger is more of a patriot of the United States before he is a religious man. If our blogger were religious, the quote would state ‘on wings of angels’ but since the word angel was replaced with eagle, he is showing his patriotism. The eagle is a rare, magnificent bird that signifies our freedom that we have in the United States. It shows that he believes his wife is now free from all worldly possessions and any pain or suffering she may have had while alive. Ellicia is on the wings of eagles, she is free. Also, being on the wings of an eagle could mean that she could fly to wherever our blogger is and watch over him. While our blogger serves our nation, he in turn serves his wife of the wings of the eagle.
The purpose of this blog is for the blogger to reach people. The blogger wants the world, as well as his family and friends, to know who he is, know what his thoughts are and be able to remember him if the unthinkable happens. The blogger posts to allow others to enter his mind, to feel his pain and know the emotions he is feeling. In the specific blog we were asked to read, the blogger is happy and feels blessed to have been able to take part in his child’s birth. He is blessed to have been allowed by the army to stay home when complications occurred. This blogger is clearly very happy with the way things turned out involving his leave of absence from the Army.
While the blogger is happy in this post, there are other posts that suggest frustration with the Army and sadness from the loss of his wife. He uses three dots throughout his posts to imply his sarcasm or to influence the reader to take the time to look at what he has just said. Upon seeing the three dots, as a reader we should investigate why the blogger put these dots. Why after he said ‘the war is over’ were there three dots? Because the war is not actually over. The blogger wants us to realize there are still troops in Afghanistan that the public cannot believe what the media is portraying. He states the war will not be over until all member s of the United States Army have been removed.
Our blogger is very interesting, I can’t wait to continue reading his blog and analyzing what he is really trying to say. He gives us information that we as readers may not otherwise be able to obtain. Also, as a united states citizen it intrigues us to know what a member of our military things about the war he is fighting in. It is interesting to know how he is feeling, his own personal struggles, and his emotions about the things going on in a war zone.