Sample Reflection Paper (2/9/11)

Reflection Paper 2

                In my reading of Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq I’ve noticed how the occupation has affected Riverbend and her family. Through the progression of the occupation you see how it affects her family and their thoughts, feelings and the way they interact with each other.

                One example of Riverbend’s change due to the occupation is her feelings about the Mu’alaq bridge. In the beginning of her blog she talks about it as a sign of hope for the Iraqi people, however, now she talks about it like it’s a sort of plague. She says, “I dead having to cross it again because it was the scene of many horrible deaths” (pg. 141). This difference in outlook from the beginning of the blog to later on shows just how much worse the occupation has gotten. It has scarred her to the point that something she saw as a sign of hope and happiness is now a place of dread for her.

                Another example of Riverbend’s change is how she reacts to bombings and attacks on the Iraqi people. In the beginning of the blog she was upset about the attacks but managed to keep her cool and discuss it in a mature and composed manner. However, when they began bombing Tikrit in November of 2003 she becomes completely livid over the situation. This is unusual for Riverbend so you can really see just how much the occupation has begun to affect her. She even goes as far as to call Bush an “ass of a president” (pg. 144). Now I understand that she is clearly upset at this but she has never stooped to calling president bush an ass. Although I’m sure she has wanted to many times.

                A final example is how Riverbends family has stopped wanting to think about how things dealing with the occupation are going to progress. On pg. 170 she states that, “We’ve been avoiding discussing the possibilities of this last week’s developments… the rioting and violence. We don’t often talk about the possibility of civil war because conferring about it somehow makes it more of a reality.” The fact that they are trying to hide from this reality really shows just how terrifying the occupation and it’s affects has gotten for them.

                Overall, Riverbend and her family have been dealing with the occupation very well so far. I think it is only natural for them to start having these fears and anxiety over it. It’s only natural when you live in a constant state of chaos.