Module #17 - "I want to see you be BRAVE"

5/11/2014

Cowardly lion in The Wizard of Oz (wikimedia commons)

You need to read the vignette "Speaking of Courage" in order to participate in this discussion.

In "Speaking of Courage," the narrator says, "Sometimes the bravest thing on earth was to sit through the night and feel the cold in your bones. Courage was not always a matter of yes or no." How does the narrator define courage? How do you define it?

Reply to two (2) peers during this discussion.

Brian Burke

5/12/2014 06:16:39 am

I believe courage is mainly defined by a persons interpretation. Courage can mean various things to other people. I believe when the narrator says "Sometimes the bravest thing on earth was to sit through the night and feel the cold in your bones. Courage was not always a matter of yes or no.", he is speaking about the day to day courage. Not only do solders need to have courage in battle, they also need courage outside of battle as well to keep them moving. I'd assume most people have similar temperaments. It's human nature to respond to tragedy negatively. In my opinion, courage is needed every moment of a persons life. Not only for the tough or difficult issues, but for everything. People are not prepared for every day of the future, and there is no way of knowing what's next. To me, courage guides us through the unknown. Without courage, what will motivate people to take chances? That is how courage is defined to me.

Alyssa Saggio

5/14/2014 12:47:26 pm

Wow, Brian..."courage guides us through the unknown." I'm going to completely agree with Mrs. Erdman in stating that this is true. How could we, as human beings, get through our normal routine events. As students, we face the courage to even wake up and come to school, seeing hundreds of people we may not even know or even more that we may not even like, takes courage. Telling a teacher you disagree with a grade they gave you is courageous. Raising your hand and giving an answer, when your pretty sure it's wrong is courageous. It can be fearful and very intimidating knowing that someone might laugh at the completely wrong answer you decide to contribute. I guess my point is that students, similarly to soldiers, face the "day to day" courage that you mentioned. Your blog post made me realize that regardless of the fact that you might be fighting for your country or simply trying to get an education at school, courageousness is essential in participating in any activity.

Mrs. Erdman

5/12/2014 06:41:42 am

Brian,
I like that you said "courage guides us through the unknown." That is so true. Each day there is something that requires courage--sometimes it may mean to be courageous to speak our minds or at other times to be courageous in keeping quiet. Sometimes people only think of courage in times of tragedy, such as war or disasters, but you are correct that courage guides us daily through our interactions with each other and society.

Alyssa Saggio

5/12/2014 02:21:28 pm

Tim O'Brien defines courage as mental, not physical. I feel as though he makes this comparison because in the long run, having the mental ability to handle the stressors and atrocities of war is more important than being the strongest and toughest guy. Even some the toughest men who fought in Vietnam did not have the mental capacity to handle all of the negative sides of war. In stating, "Courage was not always a matter of yes or no," I feel as though O'Brien is that courage comes with the decisions you make, and then being able to face that decision. For example, Tim O'Brien speaks about the time he killed a man and that he pulled the grenade pin before even deciding to kill him. He's realized what he's done and continues to live with his actions of the past. Personally, I feel as though having courage is not the idea of having "no fear." Ultimately, I think that courage is present once a person acknowledges the fear they feel, embrace the fear, and then overcome it.

Devin Blattner

5/15/2014 03:00:24 pm

I'm assuming you agree with Tim O'Brien when he defines courage as a mental aspect and not a physical aspect. I also agree with that statement. If you really think about it, his statement is 100 percent true. When you think about something that you are afraid to do, it is a complete mental aspect that is stopping you from doing it and not a physical aspect.

Brian Burke

5/16/2014 02:52:31 pm

I agree with your interpretation. I too believe courage comes at certain points even when people least expect it. It comes naturally at the moments that they need it. I also agree that O'Brien had to have had courage to take that mans life. Wether he wanted to or not he had to take his life and he did so. Courage comes and helps people overcome their fear.

Cole

5/13/2014 02:20:51 am

In the story, courage is described as something you have to earn. Norman said that he would have won the medal if he would have been more courageous. This shows that he thought that in order to be courageous, he would have had to win that medal, but because he didn't, he thought he was weak. I on the other don't believe you have to earn courage. Courage can be mental or physical.It could also be a low-key courage where no one but you knows about it, but it could also be well known, like a war story. Courage ranges from small feats to large ones. Even if they are small acts of courage, they all build up to create a bigger picture in the end that everyone will notice.

Aly

5/16/2014 11:18:36 am

I agree that the soldiers gain respect by being courageous. None of them want to seem like a coward so they do what they think they have to to get by. They would rather die than be embarassed by their shortcomings so they just do, but is that really courageous? I don't think so. It would be more courageous of them to stand up and say that they don't want to go to war or that they are afraid to fight. Being afraid doesn't make you a coward. Not being able to admit the way you truly feel does though.

Brian Burke

5/16/2014 03:02:53 pm

The way you described courage was that people earn it as they progress. I didn't think about it that way before. O'Brien does talk about it building up at moments and over time and I guess as time went on everyone had to have had a bit more courage. I agree with your comment about Norman as well. He does reflect back on the moment that Kiowa about to sink and he had to let him go to live. He believes that if he had the courage he may have been able to save him. The fact that he didn't kind of stuck with him even as he returned home. Maybe he actually lacked courage because he ended up taking his own life in the end.

Devin Blattner

5/13/2014 08:17:56 am

Starting off, I found it weird that this vignette was written in third person just like the first vignette in the book. Tim O'Brien was the narrator but it was different because it was told to the reader through thoughts. The narrator defines courage as getting through/overcoming the tough times in your life when they come to you. Personally, I would definitely agree with that definition but I also think there is more too the definition. Courage to me is doing or getting through something that is a fear or phobia to that person. In order to have courage one must be brave and overcome fears that they have. Also, if a person has courage they will stand up for what they believe in and not back down. Courage is a type of strength that a person must work at to achieve what they want and possibly get over tough situations or fears.

Kasey Gallagher

5/13/2014 10:30:06 am

I personally define courage as having strength in hard times and doing things you have to do, even when it seems like you can't. I believe courage comes in many forms and people express it in different ways. I think courage can be shown through a person's words, actions, and how they carry themselves in difficult situations. I don't think courage always comes into play when someone is scared. I think people can use courage can be used when someone goes out of their comfort zone, whether it be saying something they think needs to be said or doing something no one will step up to do, without necessarily being afraid.
In the story, the narrator talks about courage like being degrees. He says that sometimes, like the cold, you have no courage at all and can't do anything brave, but at other times, you were brave up until a certain point and then couldn't be brave after that because of it. He said that courage had to do with the situation in front of you and that sometimes the difference between being courageous and being a coward was something small and stupid.

Devin Blattner

5/15/2014 03:06:41 pm

Kasey,
I totally agree with you when you say that courage can be shown though not only a persons actions but also their words and how they carry themselves in difficult situations. Courage is not only doing something that you were afraid to do before but it is also speaking up about something that you have been wanted to say or stepping into a situation that no one else feels comfortable enough to.

Tori McCaslin

5/13/2014 10:56:35 am

When I think of the word courage, I define it as having the power and strength to keep going when things get hard. Even if someone says you can’t do something or you think you can’t, courage forces you to push through the negativity. I think courage can be shown through people actions and how they speak. People can use courage in many different scenarios. For example, someone can use courage when they are trying something new. Also, when someone needs to stand up for themselves. In this vignette, the narrator compares having courage to temperature and weather. For example, when the weather is described as cold, the person is lacking courage and doesn’t fight for what they want. Everyone is put in countless situations and their level of courage is based on how they carry themselves.

Alyssa Saggio

5/14/2014 12:27:22 pm

Hi Tori, I like that you took the meaning of courage and discussed it's simplicity. I guess it's true that trying something new, like a food, or even playing a sport can be scary at times. People who are able to overcome even their smallest fears have some courage, even though it may not be something so drastic. Good pick up on the temperature or weather in comparison to having courage. I would agree that having a mental toughness to push through the negativity of others takes a great amount of courage. It is so hard to continue to do something when people constantly put you down. I admit, there are times when I just want to give up, and once in a while I do. All of us have to be guilty of giving something up; that's probably just part of the learning from your mistakes process.

Cole

5/16/2014 08:38:13 am

I like how you described courage as having the strength to go forward. That was a good way to describe it. It's almost the same as "When times get tough, the tough get going", which is a great way to describe it. Also, I agree with you when you say that actions and how one speaks shows courage. Although those are really the only ways to show courage, they show just how courageous one is. I didn't catch when the author compares to the weather. I must have missed that, but they way you describe it, it does make sense and was a very good comparison on the author's part.

Kasey

5/16/2014 09:00:53 am

I agree with what you think about courage being used when things get hard! I think people are their strongest when they're faced with challenges. I think difficult situations force people to dig down inside them to find the strength to get through it.

Alyson

5/16/2014 10:28:00 am

I agree that courage truly is simple. It's not always big gestures and amazing moments of clarity that lead someone to do courageous things. It's the little moments that matter the most, but those people are considered everyday heros and are never mentioned. You don't have to be superman to be seen as courageous. Just being yourself is courageous in itself.

Aly

5/13/2014 11:02:27 am

Courage is always thought of in the biggest sense. When I think of courage, I think of someone who sticks out in the crowd and goes above and beyond to show thieir worth. I don't think of the everyday heros who show their courage simply by doing what is right. I personally think courage is defined by the strength to overcome adversity. I believe that for some people courage is even simply being able to get up in the morning and go to school because they are bullied when they get there. That being said, it also doesn't make them a coward to avoid the situation. I think it makes them courageous because they are being the bigger person and trying to let things go. In the novel, the narrator based his definition of courage on the small scale. It isn't about who has to courage to go into battle first, it's about who has the courage to fight the battle at all.

Cole

5/16/2014 08:45:15 am

You are right. Courage can be shown on different scales, not just large ones. I liked how you used the subject of bullying to describe one's courage. It is probably really hard to get up early every morning just to go to a place that you hate because you get bullied every day. Also, you are right once again when you said that walking away from the bullies means you are a coward. In many situations, being the bigger person and walking away does take more courage than to stay there and fight/argue because you are somewhat taking a loss.

Kasey Gallagher

5/16/2014 09:08:00 am

I agree with what you had to say about courage being defined "by the strength to overcome adversity". Its hard to go through situations where you feel like the odd one out or like no one is on your side. I also agree that avoiding situations that make you uncomfortable doesn't make you a coward. Sometimes the best way to get through things is to withdraw yourself from the situation, which also takes courage.

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Module #17 - "I want to see you be BRAVE"

Mrs. Erdman

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