The Things they Carried
Assignments
Mar 30/31: TTTC Final
- Log onto Google Classroom and to complete your final for The Things They Carried.
March 28/29: TTTC Section 7
- Read "The Lives of the Dead." While you are reading, record your thought in a Double Entry Journal; record at least 5 quotes in a double entry journal. Then answer the following questions:
- How does the opening paragraph frame the story we are about to read?
- Why is O'Brien unable to joke around with the other soldiers? Why does the old man remind him of Linda?
- What is the function of language in the chapter? Why do phrases like "kicked the bucket," crispy critters," and "roster peanut" used?
- Reread the final two pages of this book. Consider what the young Tim O’Brien learns about storytelling from his experience with Linda. How does this knowledge prepare him not only for the war, but also to become a writer? Within the parameters of this story, how would you characterize Tim O’Brien’s understanding of the purpose of fiction? How does fiction relate to life, that is, life in the journalistic or historic sense?
Mar 24/27: Strength and Selflessness essay
- Log onto Google Classroom and begin you "Strength and Selflessness" essay. This essay will be due at the end of the period next time.
Mar 22/23: TTTC Section 6
- Read "Notes." While you are reading, record your thought in a Double Entry Journal; record at least 3 quotes in a double entry journal. Then answer the following prompt:
- Write a half-page response considering how “Notes” expands the way we read “Speaking of Courage.” How does the last paragraph of “Notes” demonstrate O’Brien’s struggle to find the “truth” about the Vietnam War?
- Log onto Google Classroom and begin you "Strength and Selflessness" essay. This essay will be due at the end of the period next time.
Mar 20/21: TTTC Section 5
- Read "Speaking of Courage." While you are reading, record your thought in a Double Entry Journal; record at least 5 quotes in a double entry journal. Then answer the following questions:
- What is the narrator’s definition of courage? Do you agree or disagree? Why?
- Explain why it is so difficult for Norman and his father to talk?
- Discuss the symbolic meaning of the following: Bowker. Kiowa, the field, and the townspeople.
- Discuss the symbolic meaning of the field.
- Is Norman being too hard on himself? Do you think he is a courageous person? Justify your answer with textual evidence.
Mar 16/17: TTTC Section 4
- Read "The Man I Killed," "Ambush," and "Good Form." While you are reading, record your thought in a Double Entry Journal; record at least 5 quotes in a double entry journal.
Mar 14/15: TTTC Section 3
- Read "How to Tell a True War Story." While you are reading, record your thought in a Double Entry Journal; record at least 5 quotes in a double entry journal.
*Extra Credit*
- Read "On the Rainy River." While you are reading, record your thought in a Double Entry Journal; record at least 5 quotes in a double entry journal.
Mar 10/13: TTTC Section 2
- Read "Love," Spin," Enemies," and "Friends." While you are reading, record your thought in a Double Entry Journal; record at least 5 quotes in a double entry journal.
Mar 8/9: TTTC Section 1 Continued
- Finish reading "The Things They Carried". While you are reading, record your thought in a Double Entry Journal; record at least 5 quotes in a double entry journal. Then answer the following questions:
- In the list of all the things the soldiers carried, what item was most surprising? Which item did you find most evocative of the war? Which items stay with you?
- Why do the soldiers tell jokes about the war, death, and killing?
- Why do you think Tim O’Brien wrote The Things They Carried as a work of fiction? What are the advantages to mudding the waters between fiction and non-fiction?
- How has Jimmy changed by the end of the story? How will he be a different person from this point on? What has he learned about himself? Or to put it another way, what has he lost and what has he gained?
Mar 6/7: TTTC Section 1
- Read pages 1-12 of "The Things They Carried". While you are reading, record your thought in a Double Entry Journal; record at least 5 quotes in a double entry journal.