My Best Friend Died by Suicide. I Wish I had Seen the Warning Signs

I denne study guide får du hjælp til at analysere Daniel Magruders artikel “My Best Friend Died by Suicide. I Wish I Had Seen the Warning Signs”, som er udgangspunkt for Assignment 4B fra den skriftlige eksamen i Engelsk A på STX fra 20. maj 2020. Ud over hjælp til analysen kan du også læse et summary af teksten og nogle idéer til at diskutere teksten.

Hvis du har brug for hjælp til Assignment 1-3 fra skriftlig eksamen på STX A den 20. maj 2020, kan du finde vores vejledning her.

Præsentation af teksten

Titel: “My Best Friend Died by Suicide. I Wish I Had Seen the Warning Signs” (2019)
Afsender: Daniel Magruder
Genre: Artikel

Daniel Magruder gør tjeneste i det amerikanske flyvevåben som oberstløjtnant. Artiklen blev publiceret på et website tilhørende The New York Times Magazine i 2019.

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Rhetorical questions

The article contains many rhetorical questions. For instance, Magruder asks “How could I have not picked up on his struggle? Why didn’t he confide in me or another friend?” (ll. 80-81). Here, the rhetorical questions express his feeling of guilt for not being able to identify his best friend’s problems. It also hints that he was not taught to recognize the signs of PTSD. When Magruder asks: “If he could kill himself, who else might be struggling?” (ll. 4-5), the rhetorical question highlights that anyone might become a victim of PTSD and that it is not a sign of weakness.

The rhetorical question “What was the point of prepping the guys for a war we aren’t winning?” (ll. 51-52) suggests that Landsberg started to feel detached from the military after losing his sense of purpose. This question also encourages readers to think about the usefulness of war and about soldiers failing to understand the meaning of their actions during war.