Thematic Synthesis Essay for

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Thematic analysis
In Chris Heath’s story as well as The Living and the Dead by Brian Mockenhaupt, the authors have effectively used nonfiction elements to clearly outline the themes in the books. In the two books, we can clearly identify the themes of death, war, isolation, and disillusionment among others. Death in the first story occurs when Terry Thompson commits suicide as well as when the animals are shot and killed. In the second story, many deaths are witnessed in the fight against the Taliban. Disillusionment and isolation are manifested by Thompson in the first story. The second story is based around a war against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Reference to actual events and dates is well utilized in both stories to clearly outline the themes. In the first story, the author starts by telling us the exact date the events occurred; it was on October 18, 2011. He then goes on to outline what happened. It was on the same date that Terry Thompson set free his fifty-six exotic animals on learning of his wife’s unfaithfulness before shooting himself dead. Forty-nine of the animals were killed(six black bears, two wolves, eighteen tigers, two grizzly bears, three mountain lions, one baboon, eight lionesses, one monkey, and nine male lions (“Animals: The Horrific Zanesville Zoo Massacre” 1). In the second story, the author also makes reference to actual events and dates that took place. The narrator tells us how thousands of Marines and soldiers had invaded the Taliban stronghold of Marsh in Afghanistan in 2010; this is a true event that did occur.

In Chris Heath’s story, he uses an outlay that clearly captures the reader’s interest and elicits suspense and the desire to know what was coming next. The retired teacher in the story starts by narrating how he saw a dark outline on the other side of the fence that he realized was a bear. He then goes on to narrate how the others animals started appearing. “Along came a wolf, then a second bear, much larger than the first.” (Bennet 148)This narration makes the reader picture the situation in his mind as it happened and imagine he was in the scene. In “The Living and the Dead’, the author captures the reader’s interest through eliciting their imaginations. As the narration starts, we are told that Tom decided when he was twelve years old after he met his father’s two friends. We are not initially told what he decided to do; the author then later says Tom had decided to join the Marines.
The first person point of view is also well incorporated into both stories to vividly outline the happenings. “I am telling you, the lion is bad enough, the lioness bad enough, the wolf bad, and the bear, but don’t be around the tiger.” This statement is meant to capture the reader’s attention as to how cruel a tiger can be. It also invokes a sense of fear against Tigers. In the second story, the first person viewpoint is used to explain in a clear way what happens in war. “So many people fail to understand what it is like to be responsible for the lives of the Marines and Navy corpsman under me.” (Bennet 444)
Both of these stories effectively use style to capture the readers’ attention and to better convey their themes. First person point of view is well utilized in both for the story to easily identify with the readers. Reference to the initial true story helps in holding the reader’s approval of the story as one worthy of their time.
Works Cited
Bennet, James. The Best American Magazine Writing 2013. Kindle ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013.
“Animals: The Horrific Zanesville Zoo Massacre”. Esquire. N.p., 2016. Web. 23 Nov. 2016.