Haas 1

Jenna Haas
Professor McKeever
English 102H CRN 15940
12 May 2016
Word Count: 1391
LIFE Reports World War II Narrative Essay
I want to tell you the story about how Life Magazine reported the different events of
World War II in order to demonstrate for one thing that they completely did not stay objective in
their points of view of the ongoing conflict at that time and for another thing how a magazine
such as Life could keep the home front in the know of the going ons in the war and in turn boost
the morale for the American cause. In shorter terms, when the United States entered the war in
1941, so did Life.
Life Magazine was founded by the influential private citizen Henry Luce, and was used
as essentially a weekly pictorial news magazine. The main enemy countries were Germany and
Japan. The government of Germany followed Fascism, which is a government that is extreme
authoritarian often intolerant of different values. The government of Japan was an Empire which
was supposedly a constitutional monarchy during World War II. World War II was a horrifying
experience in the lives of people of that time period. Not a day went past where thousands
wouldnt end up hoping to see the next sunrise but undoubtedly questioning if it would be their
last. To put it bluntly in the words of Ben Cosgrove, No conflict in recorded history transformed
the globe as thoroughly as World War II. Cities were obliterated; national borders were altered;
revolutionary and, in some cases, fearsome military, medical, communication and transportation
technology were invented; and tens of millions were killed the majority of them

Haas 2
civilians(Cosgrove). What is most chilling to me is the fact that Hitler sometimes ordered
attacks on the civilians, people who were just trying to live their lives and as far as we know did
him no harm. Such was probably the case when Germany invaded Poland which actions started
the war off. It proves that on some level, Adolf Hitler was a heartless man who disguised his
hatred for anything that didnt fit his ideals under the guise of wanting to strengthen his
homeland. As shown in one of the selected pictures of Cosgrove, even the small victories that the
Americans had were bittersweet at best. Quite possibly the only good thing about the wartime
atmosphere was that women were finally given their chance to be a part of the workforce and
make a difference in the ongoing war effort. Another thing that I find both admirable and
sickening is that fact that thousands of enemy soldiers gave their lives for their cause and their
cause whether they knew it or not can be summed up to intentional genocide.
The soldiers were not the only ones majorly affected by the war. For children of the war,
The real tragedy was not that they would suffer and might die in war, but the likely prospect
that they would live after it only to repeat the 1918-1939 cycle of privation, embitterment and
eventually new war(Time Inc. Benito Mussolini). The sad reality is that this could very well
have been the outlook that the children of the war had especially with the added pain of being
separated from their families and home and not knowing if their loved ones will have survived
by the time they come back. One way that Hitler created an atmosphere of fear was by air raids.
In multiple cities he dropped bombs on innocent civilians and caused blackouts in some cases.
An air attack can be described as in the words of Theo Matejko, An idea which came to me
years ago with unholy force and persistence was the image of an air attack over a big city in
some future war. I saw in this dreadful vision the merciless heavens pouring destruction upon
peaceful people(Time Inc. Benito Mussolini). Another group that for all intents and purposes at

Haas 3
the time they do it, dont mean any harm but still becomes at risk for death is the photographers
for magazines such as Life. As assumed and now proven, Every battleship, cruiser and carrier
has on board at least one trained photographer. The photographers have repeatedly risked their
lives in action, have suffered some casualties( Time Inc. Army Air Observer). Some of the
unseen heroes of the war are engineers such as the Boeing engineers and designers, Daily they
challenge the word impossible in an relentless, round the -clock effort to do the job better and
do it in less time(Time Inc. Army Air Observer). They battled danger by creating some of the air
transports for the soldiers. I believe this is to bring out the hero in all of us since these for the
most part are just ordinary citizens trying to do their part in helping the war effort.
The next big event of the war was when the United States was preparing to go to war
against the Imperial Japan. When Japan did not accept Americas ultimatum, The stage was set
for war, a distant, dangerous, hard, amphibious war for which the American nation was not yet
fully prepared. Nor did anyone have a clear and certain idea of the final path to victory(Time
Inc. Commander of Far East). This demonstrates that they had enough of a moral duty that they
were desiring to enter a war they were not completely prepared for. One good thing for them was
at that time, Naval airmen must be trained in the tactics and operations of surface ships. Seamen
must know the techniques of aerial bombing and fighting. Together they must be able to wipe out
the enemy, whether he be found on the sea, under the sea or above the sea. Today the U.S. has
the best Navy Air Force in the world(Time Inc. Commander of Far East). The fact at that time
put the United States at least at an advantage in effectiveness. This escalated with the Japanese
attacked Pearl Harbor, America sprang to arms. Wherever it was in the wide ocean, the U.S.
Fleet went into action and all over the Pacific U.S. garrisons stood ready. In Washington
President Roosevelt dictated his war message to Congress. From Army and Navy headquarters

Haas 4
the prearranged orders went out which transformed the U.S. into a nation at war. In the face of an
attack so clear that no man could argue it, the nation stood absolutely united(Time Inc. Junior
Miss). The rash action of the Japanese forces at Pearl Harbor solidified them as Americas
enemies and by extension, Germany as well. This is a classic example of create your own
adversary. Also, Life makes a point of emphasizing the Japanese as aggressors even in previous
articles prior to the attack.
Two other important events in the war were the Operation Overlord which was
codenamed D Day and the Battle of Guadalcanal. The D Day invasion in itself was, the single
greatest air-land-and-sea invasion in military history(Cosgrove). On that day, American morale
was strong as exemplified by President Roosevelt, Lead them straight and true: give strength to
their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness to their faith. They will need Thy blessings.
Their road will be long and hard. The enemy is strong. He may hurl back our forces. Success
may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return again and again; and we know that by Thy
grace and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph(Time Inc. Invasion by
Air).While the Battle of Guadalcanal marked a huge turning point in the war due to being the
first major decisive victory for the Allies forces in the Pacific war.
In conclusion, I have come to the realization that all of these battles were fought in
attempt to make the future a better place and give the future generations the possibility of peace.
After a couple more hard fought years, all of the Axis Powers finally surrendered and Hitler
displayed the ultimate personal defeat when he chose to commit suicide in his bunker rather than
face justice for his crimes when he realized that he had lost the war. In the end, while he and his
followers were projected as strong to the people in their countries and to some degree, to their

Haas 5
enemies, they ultimately proved to be weak and the underdogs through perseverance and
determination ended up victorious.

Haas 6
Works Cited
Cosgrove, Ben. "World War II: Photos We Remember." TIME.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 29
Feb. 2016. <http://time.com/3638649/world-war-ii-photos-we-remember/>.
Time Inc. "ARMY AIR OBSERVER." LIFE 22 Feb. 1943: n. pag. Web. 5 Mar. 2016.
<https://books.google.com/books?
id=gU8EAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=one
page&q&f=false>.
Time Inc. "Benito Mussolini." LIFE 11 Sept. 1939: n. pag. Web. 2 Mar. 2016.
<https://books.google.com/books?
id=8EEEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=one
page&q&f=false>.
Time Inc. "COMMANDER OF FAR EAST." LIFE 8 Dec. 1941: n. pag. Web. 4 Mar.
2016. <https://books.google.com/books?
id=Yk4EAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=one
page&q&f=false>.
Time Inc. "Junior Miss." LIFE 15 Dec. 1941: n. pag. Web. 5 Mar. 2016.
<https://books.google.com/books?
id=Zk4EAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=one
page&q&f=false>.
Time Inc. "INVASION BY AIR." LIFE 12 June 1944: n. pag. Web. 5 Mar. 2016.
<https://books.google.com/books?

Haas 7
id=fU8EAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=one
page&q&f=false>.

Smarthinking Tutor Response Form

Your tutor has written overview comments about your essay in the form below. Your tutor
has also embedded comments [in bold and in brackets] within your essay. Thank you for
choosing Smarthinking to help you improve your writing!
Hello Jenna! I am Preeti S. I look forward to working with you on this Essay Center
Review to improve your writing today. Let's get started!
*Writing Strength: You begin the narrative well by being direct in telling the readers the
story that you plan to share with them. For example, you write, I want to tell you the
story about how Life Magazine reported the different events of World War II in order to
demonstrate for one thing that they completely did not stay objective in their points of
view of the ongoing conflict at that time and for another thing how a magazine such as
Life could keep the homefront in the know of the going ons in the war and in turn boost
the morale for the American cause. These details set the tone for the rest of your writing.
*Jenna 8207877 has requested that you respond to the Organization: One way you can
strengthen your content is by opening the body paragraphs in your words. That way, the
readers know what main idea each paragraph will focus on, and then he can assimilate the
supports from examples. In this draft, you open body paragraphs with examples from the
novel. The second paragraph opens thus, for example:

Haas 8
For children of this war, The real tragedy was not that they would suffer and might die
in war, but the likely prospect that they would live after it only to repeat the 1918-1939
cycle of privation, embitterment and eventually new warTime Inc. Benito Mussolini).
This is a quote, but what is it that you want to say by way of a topic sentence? You seem
to be discussing the impact of the war on children and other citizens. A topic or first
sentence of a paragraph gives the readers a clear idea of what the paragraph deals with.
So what is the main idea of this paragraph? You can always raise support in the second
sentence by citing the example from the novel. Here is a model that will explain further:

Author Z (2010) found that there was 25% improvement in grades when students

were offered in-school counseling for one full year (p. 27). (Before)

Providing long term counseling to students at school helps them to score better

grades. Author Z (2010) found that there was 25% improvement in grades when students
were offered in-school counseling for one full year (p. 27). (After)
You will see that the second version uses a relevant topic sentence in my words, followed
by the source information. Using this sample, what kind of a topic sentence will you use
for the first paragraph of the essay? The main idea discussed in that paragraph will help
you in formulating that topic sentence.
After you revise this instance, do also look at other topic sentences of the body
paragraphs. Wherever you use borrowed information in the first sentence, there is need to

Haas 9
revise. I am sure this tutorial will help you revise accordingly. For more help, do also
refer to Clear Topic Sentences.
Introduction/Conclusion: A separate concluding paragraph is missing. Without a strong
conclusion, the essay comes to an abrupt closure. For example, you write,
After a couple more hard fought years, all of the Axis Powers finally surrendered and
Hitler displayed the ultimate personal defeat when he chose to commit suicide in his
bunker rather than face justice for his crimes when he realized that he had lost the war.
You could begin a separate concluding paragraph with these details. What was the
overall impact of the Second World War? How did it change the dynamics of the
relationship between different countries? What is the overall significance of this war?
Including these details will help you conclude the essay on a strong note. For further
help, refer to Strong Conclusions.

*Jenna 8207877 has requested that you respond to the Use of Resources: The in text
citation of the resources within the essay are incomplete. When a source has no known
author, use a shortened title of the work instead of an author name. Place the title in
quotation marks if it's a short work (such as an article) or italicize it if it's a longer work
(e.g. plays, books, television shows, entire Web sites) and provide a page number. For
example, you write,

Haas 10
Some of the unseen heroes of the war are engineers such as the Boeing engineers and
designers, Daily they challenge the word impossible in an relentless,round the -clock
effort to do the job better and do it in less timeTime Inc. Army Air Observer).
An opening bracket to refer to the source of the quote within the essay is missing. Let me
give you an example:
We see so many global warming hotspots in North America likely because this region has
"more readily accessible climatic data and more comprehensive programs to monitor and
study environmental change . . ." ("Impact of Global Warming" 6).
Adding this missing element will help you cite your resources effectively. For further
help, refer to Documentation (Chapter 2: Section 3, Lesson 9)
MLA Style.

Summary of Next Steps:

Frame effective topic sentences.

Develop a strong conclusion.

Provide in text citations in the right format.

Thank you for submitting your narrative essay on the Second World War for a review,
Jenna. I enjoyed helping you with this step in the revision process. Have a good day!
Preeti S.

Haas 11
You can find more information about writing, grammar, and usage in the Smarthinking
Writer's Handbook.
________________________________________________________________________
_________
Please look for comments [in bold and in brackets] in your essay below.
Thank you for submitting your work to Smarthinking! We hope to see you again.

Jenna Haas
Professor McKeever
English 102H CRN 15940
12 May 2016
Word Count: 1300
LIFE Reports World War II Narrative Essay
I want to tell you the story about how Life Magazine reported the different events
of World War II in order to demonstrate for one thing that they completely did not stay
objective in their points of view of the ongoing conflict at that time and for another thing
how a magazine such as Life could keep the homefront in the know of the going ons in
the war and in turn boost the morale for the American cause. In shorter terms, when the
United States entered the war in 1941, so did Life.
Life Magazine was founded by the influential private citizen Henry Luce, and was
used as essentially a weekly pictorial news magazine. The main enemy countries were

Haas 12
Germany and Japan. The government of Germany followed Fascism, which is a
government that is extreme authoritarian often intolerant of different values. The
government of Japan was an Empire which was supposedly a constitutional monarchy
during World War II. World War II was a horrifying experience in the lives of people of
that time period. Not a day went past where thousands wouldnt end up hoping to see the
next sunrise but undoubtedly questioning if it would be their last. To put it bluntly in the
words of Ben Cosgrove, No conflict in recorded history transformed the globe as
thoroughly as World War II. Cities were obliterated; national borders were altered;
revolutionary and, in some cases, fearsome military, medical, communication and
transportation technology were invented; and tens of millions were killed the majority
of them civiliansCosgrove). What is most chilling to me is the fact that Hitler sometimes
ordered attacks on the civilians, people who were just trying to live their lives and as far
as we know did him no harm. Such was probably the case when Germany invaded Poland
which actions started the war off. It proves that on some level, Adolf Hitler was a
heartless man who disguised his hatred for anything that didnt fit his ideals under the
guise of wanting to strengthen his homeland. As shown in one of the selected pictures of
Cosgrove, even the small victories that the Americans had were bittersweet at best. Quite
possibly the only good thing about the wartime atmosphere was that women were finally
given their chance to be a part of the workforce and make a difference in the ongoing war
effort. Another thing that I find both admirable and sickening is that fact that thousands of

Haas 13
enemy soldiers gave their lives for their cause and their cause whether they knew it or not
can be summed up to intentional genocide.
For children of this war, The real tragedy was not that they would suffer and
might die in war, but the likely prospect that they would live after it only to repeat the
1918-1939 cycle of privation, embitterment and eventually new warTime Inc. Benito
Mussolini). The sad reality is that this could very well have been the outlook that the
children of the war had especially with the added pain of being separated from their
families and home and not knowing if they loved ones will have survived by the time
they come back.[The use of the word they is incorrect here. You are referring to the
familys separation from each other due to the war. The word their must be used here to
refer to the loved ones.] One way that Hitler created an atmosphere of fear was by air
raids. In multiple cities he dropped bombs on innocent civilians and caused blackouts in
some cases. An air attack can be described as in the words of Theo Matejko, An idea
which came to me years ago with unholy force and persistence was the image of an air
attack over a big city in some future war. I saw in this dreadful vision the merciless
heavens pouring destruction upon peaceful peopleTime Inc. Benito Mussolini). Another
group that for all intensive purposes at the time they do it, dont mean any harm but still
becomes at risk for death is the photographers for magazines such as Life. As assumed
and now proven, Every battleship, cruiser and carrier has on board at least one trained
photographer. The photographers have repeatedly risked their lives in action, have

Haas 14
suffered some casualties Time Inc. Army Air Observer). Some of the unseen heroes of
the war are engineers such as the Boeing engineers and designers, Daily they challenge
the word impossible in an relentless,round the -clock effort to do the job better and do it
in less timeTime Inc. Army Air Observer). [A detailed description of how they battled
danger is missing. Include this detail to develop this idea further.] I believe this is to bring
out the hero in all of us since these for the most part are just ordinary citizens trying to do
their part in helping the war effort.
The next big event of the war was when the United States was preparing to go to
war against the Imperial Japan. When Japan did not accept Americas ultimatum, The
stage was set for war, a distant, dangerous, hard, amphibious war for which the American
nation was not yet fully prepared. Nor did anyone have a clear and certain idea of the
final path to victoryTime Inc. Commander of Far East). This demonstrates that they had
enough of a moral duty that they were desiring to enter a war they were not completely
prepared for. One good thing for them was at that time, Naval airmen must be trained in
the tactics and operations of surface ships. Seamen must know the techniques of aerial
bombing and fighting. Together they must be able to wipe out the enemy, whether he be
found on the sea, under the sea or above the sea. Today the U.S. has the best Navy Air
Force in the worldTime Inc. Commander of Far East). The fact at that time put the
United States at least at an advantage in effectiveness. This escalated with the Japanese
attacked Pearl Harbor, America sprang to arms. Wherever it was in the wide ocean, the

Haas 15
U.S. Fleet went into action and all over the Pacific U.S. garrisons stood ready. In
Washington President Roosevelt dictated his war message to Congress. From Army and
Navy headquarters the prearranged orders went out which transformed the U.S. into a
nation at war. In the face of an attack so clear that no man could argue it, the nation stood
absolutely unitedTime Inc. Junior Miss). The rash action of the Japanese forces at Pearl
Harbor solidified them as Americas enemies and by extension, Germany as well. This is
a classic example of create your own adversary. Also, Life makes a point of emphasizing
the Japanese as aggressors even in previous articles prior to the attack.
Two other important events in the war were the Operation Overlord which was
codenamed D Day and the Battle of Guadalcanal. The D Day invasion in itself was, the
single greatest air-land-and-sea invasion in military historyCosgrove). On that day,
American morale was strong as exemplified by President Roosevelt, Lead them straight
and true: give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness to their faith.
They will need Thy blessings. Their road will be long and hard. The enemy is strong. He
may hurl back our forces. Success may not come with rushing speed, but we shall return
again and again; and we know that by Thy grace and by the righteousness of our cause,
our sons will triumphTime Inc. Invasion by Air).While the Battle of Guadalcanal
marked a huge turning point in the war. [A detailed discussion of how this battle was a
turning point is missing. Why was it important? Include this detail to develop this aspect
of your narrative further.] All of these battles were fought to attempt to make the future a

Haas 16
better place and give the future generations the possibility of peace. After a couple more
hard fought years, all of the Axis Powers finally surrendered and Hitler displayed the
ultimate personal defeat when he chose to commit suicide in his bunker rather than face
justice for his crimes when he realized that he had lost the war.