The Things You Carry Writing Activity What do

The Things You Carry Writing Activity

What do you carry? • Think about some of things you carry in your own life or would carry if you were going to war. • These things could be physical items (a special necklace, an important book, a letter or photograph) or these things could be more figurative (the loss of a loved one, pride for your country, love for someone special).

Drawing on the writing of Tim O’Brien • Think about what we discussed during our talk about the selected reading from the novel The Things They Carried. Consider O’Brien’s characterization tools: earned abstractions, selection of detail, juxtaposition of ideas, and any other tools you observed (word choice, tone, structure, and general style. ) • How could you allow his writing style to influence your own style? Try to include some of the aspects in his writing in your own. • Be prepared to explain your stylistic choices when we share as a class.

Sharing • Keep in mind that we will be encouraging people to share, so perhaps there are some things you’d rather not share with the class. • However, this is a safe space and everyone will act with respect, understanding that some people may be sharing some very sensitive/personal information with us.

I carry a jacket or a coat for protection For protection from the world Or to hide from the world and what is inside Or to hide the truth and the lies Depending on the weather I carry my feeling, my emotions, my personality, and my thoughts There a lot of things I carry But there also things that carry me My life carries my It gives me hope and it gives me the will Because of my life I am who I am because of the things I carry -Rhonda Spigh

The Things I Carry The things I carry: A wallet, keys, chap-stick, a phone, Rolaids; Not much, just to get me through the day. Those things stay the same. My wallet: an assortment of collected cards, my ID, my ATM card, my Exxon card; Three dollars (soon to be two), Canadian money, old receipts, things I’m too lazy to throw away. My keys, just two keys: a house and a car with the beeper thing, I guess I’d call it a remote. My chap-stick; I never need it unless I don’t have it with me. A phone: so I can know what I’m doing, without it I’d probably be lost (literally). Rolaids: Heartburn’s a pain. Today I carry a white Abercrombie and Fitch shirt, khaki pants, and wallabies. Depending on what day it is, I can be seen with a laptop and a couple of books at my side. I carry with me the carelessness that I have decided to adopt, my ambitions, and my fears. I carry friendship. The weight of each of these is undetermined, but they do not weigh me down. -Jared Herring