Outside Reading Q2 Week 2

Part A:
Vocab
"quarter decking"- the term the drill instructors use for singling out one recruit and having them perform extra exercises in front of the whole platoon for 15 minutes.
"the pit"- a pit dug 7ft deep that is very hot due to its open position. The sand in there can reach 100 degrees and recruits who slack off are sent to "the pit" to due extra exercises, while being bitten by the sand fleas that inhabit Parris Island.
Figurative Language
-"Marine history is exactly the same as it was back in high school; hell." Here, this is an example of a metaphor. The recruit compares the history portion of training to hell, but in reality, is isn't hell.
-"After pugil stick training, I was as tired as an old dog." A simile. I know this because the recruit compares his tiredness to an old dog using like or as.
-Irony: One part of the section that I found ironic was that Junior Drill Instructor Zwayer demands perfection from Platoon 3086 in the fitness tests, but he himself can barely muster up a passing grade on them!

Part B:
"Week three has performed its function, sorting out the platoon and letting its members know where they stand. They have shed their old civilian selves. They aren't yet Marines, but they are moving in that direction" (115).

This quote is significant to the book, but also very significant to me. It symbolizes many things in the book. Such as how far the platoon has come from week one. They are cooperating and working as a team. Plus, they know what is expected of them; push themselves further than they believe they can go. So, it resembles a part of progress for the platoon, but also what still needs to be done. The training does get harder as the weeks go by and Platoon 3086 still has a long way to go before they become Marines.

To me, this quote has a lot of meaning. I know I talked about this in my week one post, but so far it has been the main message I have gotten out of this book so far: determination. Reading about this platoon really makes me want to push myself beyond what I imagine in order to become something great. I can use this throughout all aspects of my life too. I can use it to motivate me in sports, school work, social activities, and the list goes on. I think that this book has done a good job of telling the platoon's story, but it has also done a great job of establishing morals and life lessons that are of mistaken by society because they are hidden. Hidden, no. But embedded deep in the core of Marine culture.