Vietnam Unit Focus on The Things They Carried

+ Vietnam Unit Focus on: The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien

+ Unit Overview/Expectations n Total of 6 stories from TTTC n Culminating assessments: n Short answer response (similar to what we did for March) (TUESDAY, JUNE 9) n Integrated Socratic Seminar (MONDAY, JUNE 8) n Use your time wisely! I am giving you this all upfront, so make sure that you do not leave everything until the last minute because there are not smaller deadlines. Time management will be key. I suggest reading a story every other day or so. n Content warning: These stories are about war, and as a result you will encounter violence and explicit language in your reading. It is essential to understand the content about Vietnam Mr. King is presenting you with, reading O’Brien’s work is meant to contextualize this and help us consider the many and varied impacts of war on the individual, as well as the collective.

+ Stories to Read: n The n In Things They Carried the Field n On the Rainy River n How To Tell a True War Story n Speaking of Courage, Notes (*these are two stories, but Notes is very short, and the two are meant to work together) n The Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong *The PDF for the entire short story collection is linked on my website

+ Tim O’Brien n Macalester College (B. S. Political Science)- Post-war graduate work at Harvard n Vietnam War Veteran: 23 rd infantry division, 3 rd Platoon n Semi-autobiographical n Collection of Short Stories or “Vignettes” n Originally published in Esquire and other magazines n Published in 1990

+ The Things They Carried n Post Modern n Semi-autobiographical n Published n Set in 1990 during the Vietnam War n Powerfully explores the horror and complexity of war through a series of vignettes n O’ Brien “carries” his readers through geographical and emotional territory that they will never forget n O’ Brien’s message is that life demands courage and no one marches without burdens.

+ Key Ideas n Truth n Mortality/Death/The threat of death n Fiction n Moral constant responsibility: right vs. wrong in times on war n Loss of innocence vs. reality: Tim O’Brien n Courage & Cowardice the character vs. the author. n Storytelling & Memory n Social Obligation: Fight or n Guilt & Shame flight when drafted to war/pressures from government/city/town/family, etc.

+ War Terminology The following few slides may be helpful when you are reading to explain some of the acronyms and terms you will come across. If you are not familiar with war or war terminology, I suggest reviewing this as a resource first.

+ Military Terminology n AK-47: Assault rifle used by Viet Cong n AO- Area of Operations n AR- Army Regulation n ARVN-Army of the Republic of Vietnam n AWOL- Absent without leave n CC- Company Commander n Charlie- Viet Cong; the enemy

+ Bouncing Betty: antipersonnel mine with two charges: the first propels the explosive charge upward, and the other is set to explode at about waist level

+ n Claymore: antipersonnel mine carried by the infantry which, when detonated, propelled small steel cubes in a 60 -degree fan-shaped pattern to a maximum distance of 100 meters

+ n C-rations- Combat Rations. Canned meals for use in the field. Each usually consisted of a can of some basic course, a can of fruit, a packet of some type of dessert, a packet of powdered cocoa, a small pack of cigarettes, and two pieces of chewing gum.

+ n Dust off- medical evacuation by a helicopter. n DMZ- Demilitarized zone n Fatigues- standard combat uniform n Frag- Fragmentation grenade n Flak jacket- filled vest worn to protect from shrapnel n KIA- Killed In Action n Klick- 1 kilometer or 1, 000 meters (2. 5 laps around a track) n Mama-san: term used for any older Vietnamese woman n MIA- Missing in Action

+ n Willy Peter- White Phosphorous (WP) n WIA- Wounded in Action n Napalm- a jellied petroleum substance which burns fiercely

+ n M-16: Standard US Military rifle used from 1966 on n M-60: Standard lightweight machine gun used by US forces in Vietnam n M-79: US Military handheld grenade launcher.

+ The Things They Carried

+ Before You Read: Respond in your journals. What does O’Brien mean by this? “A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things men have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie. There is no rectitude whatsoever. There is no virtue. As a first rule of thumb, therefore, you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil. ” –Tim O’Brien

+ What are you carrying? *We would have done this activity as a class. Consider how this applies to you, pre-online school. It might also be interesting to consider how this has changed… n. Look through your bags that you bring to class each day. n Write down a few items that you find inside n Think about the items you listed answer the following questions: n What is significant about this item? n What does this item say about you? n How much does it weigh? n Be ready to discuss this as a class.

+ What else do we carry? n What other things do you carry around with you, besides the physical things? n Emotional n On “baggage” if you will your journal paper, describe something that you “carry” that is not physical. n It could be a memory, piece of advice, burden, etc. n Why does this item take “up space” in your life? What is significant about it? n How much does it “weigh”? Does it weigh you down or lift the load a bit?

+ Which “baggage” weighs the most? n Discuss: Which baggage is heavier, the physical things you carry, or the emotional baggage you carry? Explain. n Now, compare your experiences to the soldiers. Which of baggage is heavier for them & why? n “They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror, love, longing- these were intangibles, but the intangibles had their own mass and specific gravity, they had tangible weight” (20).

+ “The Things They Carried” Discussion Questions n What do you notice about Tim O’Brien’s writing style? What are some of his key techniques? n What is it about the first vignette, “The Things They Carried” that makes it such a strong introduction to the book? n What characters are we introduced to and what do we learn about them? n What is it about O’Brien’s writing style that makes it so convincing to the reader?

+ In the Field

+ Discussion Questions 1. . Is this story more of a “true” war story than the account in the chapter “Speaking of Courage”? 2. What point of view is used to narrate “In the Field”? 3. Why is the young man not identified in the story? What is the character’s purpose in the narrative? 4. In “In The Field, ” O'Brien writes, “When a man died, there had to be blame. ” What does this mandate do to the men of O'Brien's company? Are they justified in thinking themselves at fault? How do they cope with their own feelings of culpability? Consider all of the following characters: 5. What, in the end, is the significance of the shit field story (or stories)?

+ On the Rainy River

+ Discussion Questions 1. How did Tim feel about the Vietnam War while he was at college? Do his actions and language support the idea that he “hated” the Vietnam war? 2. What were Tim’s options once he received his draft notice? Who did he hold responsible for his situation? Who did he think should go to war instead of him? 3. What does Tim say is Elroy Berdhal’s role in his life? What sort of person was Elroy? How did Tim know? 4. How do the opening sentences prepare you for the story? : “This is the one story I’ve never told before. Not to anyone. ” What effect do they have on the reader?

+ Discussion Questions (cont’d) 5. Why does O’Brien relate his experience as a pig declotter? How does this information contribute to the story? Why go into such specific detail? 6. At the story’s close, O’Brien almost jumps ship to Canada, but doesn’t: “I did try. It just wasn’t possible. ” What has O’Brien learned about himself, and how does he return home as a changed person? 7. In this chapter, we learn the 21 -year-old O'Brien's theory of courage: “Courage, I seemed to think, comes to us in finite quantities, like an inheritance, and by being frugal and stashing it away and letting it earn interest, we steadily increase our moral capital in preparation for that day when the account must be drawn down. It was a comforting theory. ” What might the 43 -year-old O'Brien's theory of courage be?

+ How To Tell a True War Story

+ Discussion Questions 1. According to O'Brien, how do you tell a true war story? What does he mean when he says that true war stories are never about war? In what sense is a “true” war story actually true? That is, in O’Brien’s terms, what is the relationship between historical truth and fictional truth? 2. Why does this story begin with the line: “This is true. ” How does that prepare you, as a reader, for the story? In what sense is “this” true? 3. Find a few of O’Brien’s elements of a “true war story. ” (such as, “A true war story is never moral. ”) Why does O’Brien believe these elements are important to a “true” war story? 4. Why is the baby water buffalo scene more disturbing than the death of one of O’Brien’s platoon members, Curt Lemon? 5. O’Brien explains that this story was “not a war story. It was a love story. ” In what sense is this a “love story”? Why?

+ Speaking of Courage, Notes

+ Discussion Questions for “Speaking of Courage” 1. What narrative point of view is used in “Speaking of Courage”? What problems does Norman confront when he returns home? What seems to prevent him from dealing with them successfully? 2. Why is this story called “Speaking of Courage”? Assume the title does NOT hold any irony. In what sense does this story speak of courage? 3. Like other male characters in this novel, Norman Bowker develops an active fantasy life. Why do these men develop these fantasy roles? What do they get from telling these fantasy stories to themselves? What does this tell you about O’Brien’s understanding of the way fiction relates to real life? 4. Why is Norman unable to relate to anyone at home? More importantly, why doesn’t he even try?

+ Discussion Questions for “Notes” 1. What is the effect of “Notes, ” in which O'Brien explains the story behind “Speaking Of Courage”? Does your appreciation of the story change when you learn which parts are “true” and which are the author's invention? 2. Why does O'Brien include Norman's letter in the story? 3. What does O'Brien say about storytelling in “Notes”?

+ The Sweetheart of Song Tra Bong

+ Discussion Questions 1. Characterize Rat Kiley. After reading the entirety of the story, why does this story seem particularly “true” to Rat? What meaning might he derive from it? 2. Characterize Mark Fossie and Mary Anne Bell. 3. Describe the changes in Mary Anne Bell from the time she arrived in Vietnam to be with her boyfriend until the end of the chapter. Be specific and record moments from the text (page numbers and descriptions) that demonstrate how she changed. 4. Why do you think she changed? What did the change symbolize? How long did this metamorphosis take?

+ Discussion Questions (cont’d) 5. Look up the definition of the word metamorphosis. In what ways (note that this a plural noun) does this word apply to the transformation of Mary Anne? 6. Does it matter that Mary Anne is a woman? How so? What does the story tell us about the nature of the Vietnam War? 7. Does it matter what happened, in the end, to Mary Anne? Would this be a better story if we knew, precisely, what happened to her after she left camp? Or does this vague ending add to the story? Why? 8. “You’re in a place where you don’t belong. ” Any parallels to today? How does our lack of understanding of a people and their place destroy us (as it does Fossie)? How does it make monsters of us?