This is Hitman-Two-One-Actual that’s a solid copy. Go ahead. (Part 2)

If you have not read Part One, do so first by clicking on the link. 

Evan Wright’s Generation Kill, HBO’s Generation Kill and Nathaniel Fick’s One Bullet Away all look at the USMC 1^st Recon’s Bravo Company during the invasion stage of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Being a specific platoon within a rather specific branch of the military means these three different sources heavily overlap one and other, especially seeing as HBO’s series is based on Wright’s book, which in turn mostly focuses on the platoon Lieutenant Fick commanded. Using a text analysis tool known as Wordle, my goal is to look at, examine and compare the quantity of use of different words in from each source. Here are just a few of the results I gathered.

So what can we make out of these three clouds of words, I mean we know that the bigger the word is, the more frequently it was used in the text (of course having ruled out the common words of the English language – a feature automatically provided by the tool) and in total we have 150 words from each text. In order to really analyse the meaning of the cloud, you are going to have to read the books and watch the series (for a total of seven hours of film and 840 pages). Fortunately, as I have done this already, I can save you some time.

Evan Wright's Generation Kill

HBO's Generation Kill

Nathaniel Fick's Generation Kill

Some Key Words for Wright

• Marines
• Colbert/Colbert's
• Humvee
• Men
• Person, Fick, Team
• Recon
• One 
• Fire

Some Key Words for HBO

• Fucking/Fuck/Shit
• One/Two
• Fick
• Hitman
• Sir
• Roger/Copy
• Get/Just/Got (surprisingly some is not as large)

Some Key Words for Fick

• Marines/Marine
• Platoon/Batallion/Team
• One/Two
• Around/Along/North
• Men
• Sergeant
• War
• Time
• Highway

Let’s start with the biggest word in both Wright and Fick’s books, Marines. Followed by a not too distant singular marine, this word occurs the most because it is easiest way for the authors to provide a title to the men they are working/serving with and writing about. Using other words such as soldier to describe the men doesn't really occur in the books due to the elitism of the marines, especially recon marines, who are in a class of their own when it comes to combat and combat training. Each time the author, who is talking about the time spent with the marines, wishes to talk about more than one of the men they are with, or they do not know the name of a specific member of this military unit, they use the word marine. Even if you were to take this blog article, chances are marine will be one of the most common words. But why isn't it of as high usage in the series if it’s so popular in the books? Simple, you can see everything the author is describing. We don’t need someone to say the marines did this or that, we simply know by observing their actions.

One and Two. Why, they are numbers, numbers that when we think of why they would be used, it would be for one thing, describing. There are two unarmed men approaching our position, hold your fire; serves as an example of what we would expect two to be used for. But why do we see it so much, how many times can writers describes things in single/double groupings. The answer lies in communications. Throughout the invasion the marines rely heavily on radios to keep in constant contact with one and other, especially since they are in separate hummers. Evan Wright rides in the hummer code named Hitman-Two-One, and Fick Hitman Two. So every time a hummer’s call sign comes over the radio it is recorded into the transcript as the radio plays an important role in the series. But from this yet another question rises, why does Fick’s book have a high use of One and Two yet Wright’s does not? The answers this time lie with the writer. To Fick these call signs are like a spoken language that he is fluent in, and would use liberally as his book is directed more towards a military oriented audience. Wright’s materials are direct towards the general public, so he uses the names of the marines more frequently than he would the call signs to avoid confusion and allow for a better connection (names being more personable than Hitmen and numbers).

The last, and to us possibly one of the words our eyes are most rapidly drawn to when looking at fucking. Fuck, fucking and further down the line, motherfucker (bottom of the cloud, centered) are used quite frequently in the mini-series, but in Fick’s book its rarely used (as in not on the cloud) and in Wright’s book you have to search to find it (fucking is located by the S in marines). Why? The answer is essentially the opposite of what it was for marines. In the books most of the focus is on describing and in comparison, a very little number of words go towards dialogue; in the film everything is dialogue. Fick admits in his text and is described by Wright in his book as someone who does not swear a lot, which explains why there is a lack of profanity in One Bullet Away. The Generation Kill book/series have this increase in profanity due to the fact that you are learning about men who are well, rather foul mouthed; and in several cases, its rightly so.
these clouds, is

The moral of the story here is everyone should watch this mini-series as it tells a phenomenal story, just don’t watch it with your little cousin, brother, sister, that kid you are babysitting, or your parents if they give you a disapproving scowl every time you say dammit. And if you have an interest in combat, military of history firsthand accounts give Fick and Wright’s books a read, you won’t regret it. Stay Frosty.

Hitman-Two-One this is Hitman-Two-Actual. How Copy? (Part 1)

First seeing the use of Wordle, it looked like a cool tool but not necessarily one that would prove overly useful, asides from creating flashy visuals to show the more common words in a particular text. But then I began to wonder, what if I used this tool to compare texts, in particular different items focused on the same subject. It would indeed create great visuals, but it also keeps tabs on the number of times different words are used throughout a text. Through doing this there is no doubt that I would come to some interesting conclusions.

For this comparison I used the book Generation Kill. The book is written by Rolling Stone Magazine reporter Evan Wright and provides an in depth first-hand account of the invasion of Iraq. Evan rode in the back seat of a hummer, part of the United States Marine Corps First Reconnaissance Battalion, Bravo Company. Yet, what proves most unique and beneficial in terms of comparing the text is the fact that not only was the book turned into an HBO mini-series, but a Marine who commanded the platoon of Humvees that Wright rode in also wrote a book. Nathaniel Fick’s One Bullet Away looks at his personal career in the Marine Corps, most of which is focused on his time in Iraq. As Fick is a lieutenant it means that he was almost always no more than two-hundred or so meters away from Wright, which in turns means the two texts are covering very similar and at most times identical events.

So long story short, I took the text from Fick’s One Bullet Away, the text from Wright’s Generation Kill and the transcript from HBO’s Generation Kill and put them into individual word clouds. This is done in all honesty to satisfy my curiosity as I have read both books and watched the series several times. But in terms of research it can be said that I did this to compare a text written from the stance of the media/a non-combatant/someone with little knowledge in terms of military (asides from a brief assignment in Afghanistan), compared to a Marine lieutenant. I was also able to compare Generation Kill the book to the mini-series, which of course means that there would be a difference from a text consisting mostly of descriptions to a text consisting of primarily dialogue.

It is also important to keep in mind that while the series is highly accurate in accordance to the text it’s based on and most of the dialogue in the book has been translated to the series, there is still a large quantity of “made up” dialogue in the HBO series. However because of the creators great attention to detail and heavy communications with the marines who the series is based on dialogue that is made up still bares the mannerisms, similar opinions to an extent that it could have been said by the marines themselves. This helps to assure that commonly said words would have most likely been the words commonly used by the soldiers during the invasion.

Scene from HBO's Generation Kill, episode two "The Cradle of Civilization"

Results of Wordle’s use to come in Part 2

How things are going... for the project that is.

At this point in time my main idea/theme for my final project would be a form of internet exhibition based on the research I partook in this past summer at Murphys Point Provincial Park as the Gray Ratsnake Technician. I would use information gathered from this study as well as old data and information about the species and the park in order to create a more complete and "full" exhibit.

Of course there are a couple of issues that arise when attempting to cover such a topic. The first is the fact that this project for a digital humanities class. Need not fear, the fact that these snakes are an At Risk species means that they are already well on the radar of human beings, this in turn means human interaction, which in turn means the humanities ties in quite easily. Aspects ranging from "Why have we as human put the snake on the Species at Risk list?" to "what have we as humans done or not done to make this area such a hot spot for Gray Ratsnakes?" Along with that there is also the fact that being a part of nature, the snake and its environment fall under the Natural history side of things which is always entangled with cultural history. Then of course the history of research on the matter at hand can also be looked at, for example, "what was research like on this same species 20, 30, 40 years ago?" and how does that compare to the research I did this past summer. It goes on and on.

We knew snakes could
 swim, just didn't think
they would to the extent
that it would require
a boat...              

While the first issue, I must admit I solved rather quickly, the second issue stands in the sensitivity of the subject, and by that I'm not referring to the fact that snakes aren't the most popular creature in the world, but the fact that some parts of the data collected are not to be publicly revealed as per the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. None the less, I have done presentations on the material so in the long run the majority of the information can be used, as long as info on specific locations are not revealed... so long story short, this blog mostly particular post consists of me jotting my ideas down in order to convince myself that this is what I want to do...

On that note, the site, if constructed in the manner I am thinking of right now, would have your main page featuring general information, and then each sub-page would act like different "wings" or "halls" of a museum, featuring on more specific parts of the subject.


Having worked at the park some difficulties I actually foresee (as opposed to the previous that I was just sorting out) is the fact that a lot of the information I have learned about the park have been through small pamphlets that, if I can recall correctly are short some sources. However, even then, there are small facts that would be subject to that issue, and even then some of it is still good, merely needing to come with a bit of a disclaimer...

And thats where I am, as it stands, I've gathered a fair bit of the information on the subject and so forth at this point in time, now its just a matter of getting it all sorted out and formatted.

The Library of Congress Web Archives

The Library of Congress Web Archives covers information on around twenty-one more current (post 2000) events. Being the United State’s Library of Congress web archive, this means that there is a heavy focus on events in which the USA and its congress were heavily involved in, placing various limitations on what you can find (for as previously mentioned there are only 21 collections, and an additional visual images collection). The website has recently gone through a transformation in terms of formatting and can be found at this link: http://www.loc.gov/websites/ The upgrade’s most notable feature is the ability to better search for desired topics and significantly narrow down the search, this new styled website also makes the amount of information covered look more comprehensive that the previous site.

But what is the point of the Library of Congress Web Archives to start off with? Basically it has been put in place to capture web activity that corresponds with major US events. Browsing into certain events, such as the Invasion of Iraq in 2003 you can find websites covering a scope of information that related to “Operation Iraqi Freedom.” From political cartoons, websites for returning veterans and even site for pets with patriotic names. Pages for official military branches, anti-war website, news articles, and blogs are amongst the more frequently visited sites when it comes to this subject, but no matter what the source is this website does exactly what it is supposed to and what is desired by the likes of history students and professionals, especially those evaluating the digital humanities.

An in depth search brings me to the 2003 version of
the USMC website. This particular site is fully interactive.

By looking at this site we can gain valuable information on websites that are in some cases no longer existent, or that have been modified and modernized so much that they would not be recognizable.  What does this mean? Continuing with my example of the Iraq War, it means that we can gage public reaction on the internet; see how people felt about the conflict outside of the popular media, we as historians have been granted access to a massive collection of primary sources. We can also see how more official sources such as the United States Marine Corps and leading news agencies told the story of Iraq as they happened. And this case does not apply for only the Iraq war, information in readily available for other conflicts, elections and so forth. The Library of Congress Web Archives provides a large amount of preserved information on a specific scope of topics, which may also be its limitation as it does not cover as many sources as site like the Internet Archives. None the less even if you cannot find what you desire by using this source, which is bound to continue growing with time, it is definitely a good place to start when looking at more “current” US events.

The Effect of Digital Tools on my Education and Future

                As the world continues to get more and more technologically advanced, digital tools and approaches become more and more engrained in our day to day lives. Universities are no exception to these advancements as I am sure most of us can note how technology, especially those dependant on the internet, have become more and more so involved in our day to day lives. Email has connected us to the world around the clock so that students and staff remain up to date, at the same time this service also enables any quick questions to be answered without having to seek out a meeting time with another individual. Research can be done almost entirely online (depending on the subject of your research), as one now has mass collections of research from media, to articles, and books at their finger tips thanks to the digitizing and uploading of all of these formats on to easily accessed databases. In turn once your research project is complete it can even be submitted online. Entire discussion and courses are now being held online too, making it so you don’t even have to leave the comforts of your own room. While this can prove beneficial for students living in cities far from Guelph or who’s schedules are a bit hectic, you also lose the aspects of face to face interaction which for some people, myself included is a large part of a class. You can go entire semesters discussing subjects with a group of people, yet never know who the person is on the other end of the conversation. In online courses, lectures are replaced by readings and slide shows, which depending on your learning style can make learning significantly harder or easier. Yet it seems like this is the way our world is drifting as it becomes more convenient and seen as a financially better alternative.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what a University can do using technology, for all I have described so far is Email and Courselink. Depending on your classes, specific tools and software will be introduced to better help you with the subject. I took a geography class last year where the lab portions of the class were heavily reliant on a piece of software known as Whitebox (created by Prof. John Lindsay of the University of Guelph), which when coupled with LANDSAT images or even maps from Google Earth, it can be an incredibly powerful tool when it comes to studying the earth from the sky or space. A range of things can be achieved when using this software from reconstructing old aerial photographs, to stitching together numerous satellite images. I have also used programs such as PEAR to edit and be edited by other students when writing papers and technologies such as the clickers have served as an interesting way for classes to become a bit more interactive.

As I move on with my education and career, it is without a doubt that digital tools and approaches will be a part of my future. As a student of history, online databases will always prove one of the best starting points, while the creation of displays be it for work or for school will always rely on the likes of Photoshop, a great tool for producing visually impressive as well as informative displays. Digital photography has also been a part of my life, serving not only as a hobby but an effective way to document artifacts, locations and events that occur at work during the past and future summers. The limits of this new digital era are almost endless as it continues to evolve day in and day out.