TTTC - final graded discussion questions

The questions that we will be using for the final graded discussion can be found on the student assignment drive as well as below. As always, be sure to prepare responses with specific references to the text.

1. Why do Tim O’brien and the other characters in The Things They Carried tell stories?
2. O’Brien suggests that we can use fiction to better understand truth. Using the text, explore the relationship between fiction and truth, and evaluate the narrator’s claim.
3. Examine the roles played by female characters in this novel and explain why you believe the author included them in this novel.
4. How do O’Brien’s female characters break from expectations? How do they follow expectations? Why is this important to the text?
5. Examine the themes of courage and cowardice in The Things They Carried. How does the text’s treatment of these themes go along with traditional values, and how do they defy traditional values? Relate the text’s treatment of these themes to postmodernism.
6. Compare and contrast how characters from The Things They Carried are differently affected by posttraumatic stress, and explore the importance of the similarities/differences that you discover.
7. Evaluate which chapter(s) best typifies postmodernism, and justify your response using the text.
8. Apply the story truths from “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” to the larger text of The Things They Carried. Use specific examples from the text to support your argument.
   

Bonus Assignment - 10 pts formative

To earn credit for this assignment, print and complete the corresponding worksheet (located on the student assignment drive) and turn in with a 1-2 page paper that compares or contrasts this film’s treatment of the Vietnam War with The Things They Carried. This paper should follow the guidelines established in the student handbook for formal papers.

Possible movies include: Platoon (R), Full Metal Jacket (R), Apocalypse Now (R), Deer Hunter (R), Good Morning Vietnam (R), We Were Soldiers (R), Born On the Fourth of July (R), Hamburger Hill (R), Casualties of War (R), The Killing Fields (R), and Green Dragon (pg-13).

Please note: many of the above mentioned films include strong language and scenes of graphic violence which may be difficult for some students to watch. If you do not feel comfortable with this, I recommend either Good Morning Vietnam or Green Dragon. I will also accept submissions based on Forrest Gump; students should focus on the relevant scenes from that film if they choose this option.

TTTC - readings for late April

While reading the first chapter of TTTC, take note of what we learn about each character based on what he carries. Additionally, reflect/take note of the burdens of the loads. The author is trying to communicate the truth of the soldier's experience to us through emphasizing the burden that each soldier carried with him day in, day out. We as readers must go beyond what we know from our own experiences to try to understand what it may have been like. Since we were not there, like the character Martha, we must carefully reflect on the details of the author's descriptions.

In the following chapters, focus on the concept of truth. "Love" focuses on Cross's experiences with Martha. This is very interesting for a number of reasons. There is much more to Martha than meets the eye - try to figure out why she may react as she does in certain situations.

"Spin" is very postmodern chapter, and it will end up being a chapter that I will refer back to all the way up to the test. In other words, this is a very important chapter - take good notes.

"On the Rainy River" takes the form of a traditional narrative - it is structured like a "normal" story that we are more accustomed to. Pay attention to what O'Brien has to say about courage, and take careful notes on that theme.

The Things They Carried... overview

The class text is a postmodern account of the experiences had by soldiers in Vietnam. We will journal, reflect, discuss, and annotate this text for postmodernism and its concept of "truth." We will also examine a variety of themes specific to individual chapters. The final assessments for this unit will be an individual, closed note test, and a graded discussion (notes and texts allowed). We will not be doing literature circles for this text.

The reading schedule for The Things They Carried (TTTC) is:

Thursday, 4/16 – pp. 1-26
Friday, 4/17 – pp. 27-30
A-day, 4/20-21 – pp. 31-38
B-day, 4/21-22 – pp. 39-61
Quiz pp. 1-61

Thursday, 4/23 – pp. 62-66
Monday, 4/27 – pp. 67-85
Quiz pp. 62-85

B-day, 4/29-30 – pp. 86-116
Friday, 5/1 – pp. 117-119
Monday 5/4 – pp. 120–130
Quiz pp. 86-130

A-day, 5/5-6 – pp. 131-154
B-day, 5/6-7 – pp. 155-161
Friday, 5/8 – pp. 162-180
Quiz pp. 131-180

Monday, 5/11 – pp. 181-188
B-Day, 5/13-14 – pp. 189-218
Friday, 5/15 – pp. 219-224
Quiz pp. 181-218

A-Day, 5/19-20 – pp. 225-246
B-Day, 5/20-21 – ReviewFriday, 5/22 – Final Test

Remember, readings are expected to be completed by the beginning of class on the day listed.

Resume - due dates and writing tips

Remember, the first draft due date for the resume is Monday, 3/16. This draft needs to be typed and with you when you walk in the door in order to recieve full credit. The final draft is due the following Friday, 3/20. Attach first draft and rubric to final draft with a paper clip.

if you were absent at all the first week, make sure to get notes from a classmate, and see me before or after school for help/questions. You can also visit the following website for info on quality resumes: http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/high-school/36957.html

If you would like additional info on constructing a resume, feel free to run a websearch about tips for a "high school resume." Be careful though, as there is a lot of garbage available online that will not provide you with good information. Many sites have poor tips, and others may be trying to sell you something. Additional reliable information can always be found in resource books at your local library.

Fitzgerald biography and journal prompts

The text of the biography can be found at
http://www.sc.edu/fitzgerald/biography.html

1. Identify and explain how the following excerpt is ironic. Be sure to include specific examples from the text to support your response. After, reflect on what pressures and forces you think impacted the Fitzgeralds to live the way they did. (1/2 page)

During the 1920s (Fitzgerald’s) income from all sources averaged under $25,000 a year - good money at a time when a schoolteacher’s average annual salary was $1,299, but not a fortune. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald did spend money faster than he earned it; the author who wrote so eloquently about the effects of money on character was unable to manage his own finances.


2. Consider the following excerpt and respond to the prompt below.

When critics objected to Fitzgerald’s concern with love and success, his response was: “But, my God! it was my material, and it was all I had to deal with.” The chief theme of Fitzgerald’s work is aspiration - the idealism he regarded as defining American character. Another major theme was mutability (capable of being changed) or loss.

How is Fitzgerald similar to and different from Dexter Green, Nick Carraway, and Jay Gatsby? In what ways are Daisy Buchanan and Zelda Fitzgerald similar? (1/2 page)

Chapter 5 ponderings

In the opening of the chapter, Gatsby offers Nick some kind of business opportunity. Nick cuts Gatsby off and refuses before he is finished explaining it. This is important - both the offer and the fact that it is so quickly refused.

Gatsby seems incredibly concerned about insignificant details before the tea date. What does this tell us about Gatsby? Later he seems incredibly nervous and uneasy - even while pretending to be bored. Why is this?

Daisy is dressed in Lavender (another flower) - I find this interesting.

The Secret of Castle Rackrent - This is an allusion to a novel published around 1800. Be the first in your section to email me with the significance of this allusion for five bonus formative points.

Gatsby knows to the month how long it has been since he has seen Daisy...Daisy says that it's been "many years."

There is lots of discomfort in this little room... So much so that Nick leaves his house to Gatsby and Daisy. Thirty minutes later, the rain has stopped outdoors, but Daisy has been crying indoors.

Important quote from this chapter: "...it occurred to him that the collossal significance of that light had now vanished forever... now it was again a green light on a dock. His count of enchanted objects had diminished by one." Jot this down and re-read it after you finish reading chapter nine - it will have new meaning.