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“Field Trip” from The Things They Carried Author Tim O’Brien. By Caroline Lowcher. Diction. Simple vocabulary Colloquial- muck, bumpy, pigsty, States, stupid, mush, gunk Italicized words- emphasis ex. “What did you want” (O’Brien 183)? “He looks mad” (O’Brien 188).
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“Field Trip”fromThe Things They CarriedAuthor Tim O’Brien By Caroline Lowcher
Diction • Simple vocabulary • Colloquial- muck, bumpy, pigsty, States, stupid, mush, gunk • Italicized words- emphasis ex. “What did you want” (O’Brien 183)? “He looks mad” (O’Brien 188). • Point of view- 1st person
Imagery • “…all I could do was slap hands with the water” (O’Brien 187). • “…he picked up a shovel and raised it over his head and held it there for a time, grimly, like a flag, then he brought the shovel down…” (O’Brien 187). • “Soft heat waves shimmered up out of the earth” (O’Brien 187). • “…bumpy dirt roads and a hot August sun, ending up at an empty field on the edge of nowhere” (O’Brien 182).
Tone • Guilty - menacing, sentiment, coldness, pity… “…I looked for signs of forgiveness or personal grace” (O’Brien 181). • Honor - burying Kiowa’s moccasins - recognition, meaningful, decent, best… “I wanted to tell Kiowa that he’d been a great friend, the very best…” (O’Brien 187).
Setting • “The war was as remote to her as cavemen and dinosaurs”. • O’Brien uses setting to compare the place where Kiowa died to what it looks like now. • O’Brien struggles in finding familiar landscapes. • Second week of August • afternoon • Marsh around river • Grassy field
Theme • Emotional Burden • “The Things They Carried” • Guilt of Kiowa’s death • Hiding the deeper images of his past • Physical Burden • Kiowa’s moccasins • Reoccurrence of muck
Characterization • Indirect “…I looked for signs of forgiveness or personal grace…” (O’Brien 181). • Kathleen: “Listen, this is stupid…” (O’Brien 186). • O’Brien going into the water. • Wedging the moccasins into bottom of the river. • No Direct • Kiowa’s actuality - Appears real because O’Brien is visiting the site of his death.
Meaning • Attempt to “bury” O’Brien’s guilt • Different effects of visiting Vietnam to O’Brien and Kathleen - distance between Tim and Kathleen • Effect on the reader • Change in scenery/field appearing smaller at Kiowa’s death site - O’Brien’s older, not at war, or change in land
Effect • The reader can try to feel what O’Brien feels when visiting Vietnam. • relate more than Kathleen, but not as much as O’Brien • O’Brien putting the past behind him • Sadness • understanding
Relationship with the Novel • Postwar story like “Speaking of Courage” • Falling action • Letting go/overcoming burden of Kiowa’s death
Works Cited • O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Turtleback : A Division of Sanval, 1999. Print. Pictures • galenfrysinger.com • http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/voracious/vietnam.jpg • http://everywheremag.com/people/AmyD • http://images.travelpod.com/users/rachel_john/roundtheworld.1134572040.ho_chi_minh_mausoleum.jpg • http://img7.travelblog.org/Photos/56633/333788/t/3730010-St-Joseph-s-Cathedral-0.jpg • http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/VietnamCuChiTunnels.jpg • http://vietnamtravelnotes.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/original-tunnel-entrance-cu-chi-vietnam.jpg • http://www.boomerbeat.ca/VIETNAM-WAR.jpg • http://www.everythingveteran.com/images/SoldiersInVietnam3.gif • http://www.farandfurther.com/my-khe/my-khe-map.jpg • http://www.paperlessarchives.com/VIETPHOTO2.jpg • scrapetv.com • http://www.rnw.nl/data/files/imagecache/must_carry/images/lead/Orphans-Tormod-S--Flickr-65.jpg • http://www.wadlin.com/images/DC_vietnam_statues1.JPG • http://z.about.com/d/asianhistory/1/0/d/0/-/-/DongHaVietnam1966.jpg • http://z.about.com/d/asianhistory/1/0/f/0/-/-/VietCongBombingNatArchives.jpg • http://z.about.com/d/cruises/1/0/7/r/4/Cu_Chi_Tunnels_03.JPG