English 101
Professor Tompkins
Literary Analysis
April21, 2016
Your second assignment
is to write a critical paper based upon your knowledge of and insights into The Things They Carried.
We spent a about the
book. Think about those discussions and the presentations you’ve made in
preparation for this assignment. You have four prompts to choose from. You are
NOT being asked to summarize what happened, nor are you being asked begin the
essay by simply serving up a rewritten version of the prompt you’ve chosen.
Instead, you must
think about the book and chose the prompt you feel you’d most like to write
about. To complete the assignment satisfactorily, you must offer original
insight into the book. You must use examples in order to prove the validity of
your thinking. Your paper should be interesting, show imagination, and demonstrate
the strength of your writing skills.
You paper will be 800-1000
words long. You will write it using Microsoft Word or Pages, and you will turn
in a printed version AND email the final draft to me.
Use MLA format, and
use Turnitin.com before turning it in.
Choose to respond to
one of the four prompts listed below:
1. In “How To Tell A True War Story,” O’Brien writes
about the role storytelling plays in the lives of these soldiers. Toward the
end of the chapter, he refers to Rat Kiley and his letter to Curt Lemon’s
sister. He writes, “It wasn’t a war story. It was a love story.” What does O’Brien mean when says it was a
love story, and what does a 19-year-old man know about love?
2. Although the book is about
the Vietnam War, the final story focuses not on the war but on an episode from
O’Brien’s childhood. Discuss how this story relates to the rest of the book,
and why O’Brien ended his story this way?
3. Mary Anne, "The Sweetheart
of the Song Tra Bong,” is one of the few women featured in the book. Her
story – unlike most stories in the book – is clearly not true In fact, this
chapter is about more than the reaction to a woman landing in the middle of
things, but about storytelling itself. Rat is a passionate storyteller – as his
letter to Curt Lemon’s sister shows – and he’s not above stretching the facts
to make his point. The story of Mary Anne is so involved, and questionable, and
Rat is so passionate about it, that Mitchell Sanders offers a critique along
the way, interrupting not to say its untrue, but to refine the telling of it.
What can we learn about storytelling from this chapter.
4. Tim O'Brien's writing constantly seeks to give
meaning to the events that happened in Vietnam.
During our class discussions, we find ourselves talking about the narrator as
O’Brien is telling you his own story. Create a written portrait of Tim O'Brien
based on three or four carefully selected passages that describe the narrator's
inner thoughts as evidence to support your ideas. What does each reveal about
his concerns, hopes, and fears?
How do certain word choices reveal the way he sees the
world?
No comments:
Post a Comment