Road To Berlin

Mika Holzberg

Essay Analysis

● Prior Knowledge: Berlin is a city in Germany. I personally have been there with my
family. I predict that the essay is going to be descriptive and talk about Berlin.

● Formal or Informal: The essay is informal. The author uses casual words and employs a
casual tone. The essay also employs the use of first-person writing, classifying it as
informal.

● Pattern of Argument: The essay uses an expository pattern of argument. The goal is to
report about an event and by doing so elucidate that subject. In this case the event is the
battle of Normandy Beach during WWII.

● Structure: The essay is descriptive. With the writing, the author creates vivid imagery of
the battlefield during D-Day for the reader. The essay also employs figurative language
when talking about the state of the shores on Normandy and the destruction of battle.

● Method of Organization: The author uses chronological and spatial order in their method
of organization.The authors goal id to show a process unfolding or a series of events
and to help reader visualize what is being described.

● Thesis/Author's Viewpoint: Since the essay is not argumentative, the author does not
necessarily have a debatable viewpoint. The thesis of the essay on the other hand is
that a cost always comes with heroism.

● Types of Proof: The author uses many analogies in the essay to help the reader
visualize what is happening. Since the essay is about a historic event, the author also
uses many facts.

● Style: The main purpose of the essay is to inform the reader about a historic event, so
the essay does not have a very emotional tone. The author makes use of figurative
language to help with reader visualization.

● Effectiveness vs Limitations: With excellent effectiveness, the author conveys facts in a

conversational tone. In addition, the story's effectiveness is increased by the use of
figurative language, simplicity. The author is able to create an emotional connection
through the writing.
Reading Questions

1. Sometimes essays do not have a clear thesis statement, but this one has an obvious
purpose nonetheless. What is the purpose (dominant impression) of this essay. Locate a
sentence that states the thesis and explain why you chose this sentence.

This essay's goal is to convey a historical event. The author walks us through
Normandy beach after WWII. The primary objective of this essay is to establish an
emotional connection with the reader. It illustrates the emotions felt by a soldier as he
walks around the battlefield following the events of the war. The thesis of the essay is
“The awful waste and destruction of war, even aside from the loss of human life, has
always been one of the outstanding features to those who are in it.” It touches on the
effect of the war on soldiers, and therefore the consequences of heroism.

2. Why is the essay called, "On the Road to Berlin"? What does the title have to do with the
content and purpose of the essay?

The author chooses the title "On the Road to Berlin" to emphasise on the idea that the
battle on the beaches of Normandy Beach during WWII was the final step before the
ultimate objective of reaching Berlin Germany. In some ways, the title takes away from
the battle's fatalities and tragedies by focusing on the hidden reason. During the war,
when Berlin was being settled, the “path to Berlin” was a term used to indicate the beach
of dead soldiers.

3. What is tone (author's attitude toward subject matter) of this essay? Offer words,
phrases or examples to support your answer.

Ernie Pyle, the author, employs a mournful tone. Pyle used a number of emotive
expressions to instil in the reader the trauma and depression of the soldiers in the war.
He writes about the experiences of the soldiers, carrying a pen and paper to write letters
to their relatives back home. Many soldiers did not live long enough to write letters.One
quote that installs sadness in the readers is as follows; “the boys had intended to do a
lot of writing in France. The letters-now forever incapable of being written-that might
have filled those blank abandoned pages” This quote evokes feelings of grief and loss.
Near the beginning of the essay, Pyle describes how many corpses were found dead in
the sea and on the sand. “It was a lovely day for strolling along the seashore. Men were
sleeping on the sand, some of them for ever.” The tone is so casual, it highlights how
easily the dead were discarded during the war.

4. What point of view does the author use in the narration of this essay? What effect does it
have?

The essay takes the perspective of a soldier during the Battle of Normandy. The soldier
is one of the few survivors of the battle on Normandy beach. In the essay, the soldier
 reflects on the devastation of the deadly battle. The essay informs the audience about
the historic events and reminds of the horrific stories that should never be forgotten. The
point of view is so serious and depressing it has a strong effect of sympathy on the
reader. The reader feels as if they are the soldier in the story, and therefore feel all the
pain and suffering that comes with that.

5. This descriptive passage is essentially a catalogue of the casualties of war: human and
equipment. Select two of the most effective descriptions for each category of casualty
and list them. Why are these four so effective in your opinion?

Equipment Casualties:
● “The most ironic piece of equipment marking our beach-this beach first of
despair, then of victory-was a tennis racket that some soldier had brought along.
It lay lonesomely on the sand, clamped into its press, not a string broken”.
● “Two of the most dominant items in the beach refuse were cigarettes and writing
paper”.

Human Casualties:
● “Men were floating in the water, but they didn’t know they were in the water, for
they were dead”.
● “On the beach lay, expended, sufficient men and mechanism for a small war.
They were gone forever now. And yet we could afford it”.

The sense of loss is felt whether the author is writing about human casualties or their
equipment. This feeling of emotion is effective since it creates a connection between the
reader and the author. The quote about the dead men floating in the water is said near
the beginning of the essay and sets the tone of the essay as loss and sadness. The rest
of the qoutes highlight the innocence of the soldiers and how replaceable they were. The
loss evokes sympathy in the reader and therefore creates an emotional connection with
the text. The quotes are very effective in aiding this connection.

6. Identify two instances of irony in this essay. Are they effective uses of irony? Why or why
not? How do they contribute to the overall description?

“The water was full of squishy little jellyfish about the size of a man's hand. Millions of
them. In the centre of each of them was a green design exactly like a four-leafed clover.
The good-luck emblem. Sure. Hell, yes."

The above quote is an effective use of irony because the four-leaf clover is traditionally
associated with good luck. However, the essay is talking about the many soldiers who
died, many of them flouting dead in the water beside the four-leaf clover design. The
four-leaf clover did not signify luck in this case, as it normally does because it is
surrounded by mass destruction of the war.
 “was a tennis racket that some soldier had brought along. It lay lonesomely on the sand,
clamped into its press, not a string broken.”

This is an effective use of irony because while the tennis racket is in excellent shape and
ready for use at Wimbledon, everything around it is lifeless or in a morbid state. The
perfect condition of the tennis racket is ironic compared to the mass destruction that the
war has caused all around it.

7. Pyle uses contrast frequently to highlight the differences between the living and the dead
and between the success and costs of such an invasion. Identify two examples of
contrast and explain how they achieve his purpose.

“There was a dog still on the beach, still pitifully looking for his masters. He stayed at the
water’s edge, near a boat that lay twisted and half sunk at the waterline. He barked
appealingly to every soldier who approached”

This statement perfectly contrasts life and death. The dog symbolises life after the Battle
of Normandy Beach, which resulted in the deaths of many men.

“was a tennis racket that some soldier had brought along. It lay lonesomely on the sand,
clamped into its press, not a string broken”

The above quote also contrasts life and death. Despite its owner's death, the tennis
racket has survived. It demonstrates that not all is lost after a war, as there is always
hope.

8. In the essay find an example of each of the following rhetorical devices below. In your
answer, quote the relevant phrase and provide a minimum two-sentence explanation of
how the device reinforces the main idea of the passage.

● Simile: “But there was another more human litter. It extended in a thin little line,
just like a high-water mark for miles along the beach.”

Pyle is using a simile here by comparing the high-water mark on the seashore to
a line of bodies on the beach. This gloomy contrast emphasises the central
theme of death. Pyle is comparing the endless waterline down the beach and the
bodies that follow it to something that many people have seen.

● Metaphor: “In this shore-line museum of carnage”

Pyle is making a comparison between the beach and a history museum because
museums are places where people go to see historical objects, and the battle on
the seashore is a historic event. Pyle refers to the coastline as a temporary
 museum because part of the wreckage from this catastrophe will be placed in a
museum for others to enjoy one day.

● Personification: “Was a tennis racket that some soldier had brought along. It lay
lonesomely on the sand, clamped into its press, not a string broken.”

The tennis racket is described as being lonesome, a human emotion. It helps the
reader to connect with the soldiers since it explains the sentimental importance it
held for them. A tennis racket, obviously, cannot experience emotion;
nevertheless, the feeling that a human may feel about an item is apparent. Giving
a characteristic to an inanimate item helps the reader to feel what the tennis
racket is "feeling."