Things We Carry: Day 1

1. Things We Carry: Day 1 • Bellringer: Princeton Vocabulary #1 • “Reading” Narrative Due & Reflection • Introduction to the Text and the Author

2. Narrative Reflection • What did you hope to accomplish in your “reading” narrative? • Did you try anything new? Did you use another piece of writing as a model? • What should your reader look for?

3. Princeton Vocab #1 1. Acquiesce: to give in; to agree 2. Affable: friendly; agreeable 3. Assuage: to reduce pain 4. Astute: clever; ready-witted 5. Augment: to add to; to increase 6. Complacent: smug; self-satisfied 7. Denounce: to speak against publicly 8. Depravity: corruption 9. Desecrate(d): to show disrespect; to deface 10. Didactic: intending to teach

5. Things We Carry: Day 2 • Bellringer: Princeton Vocabulary #2 • Freewrite & Discussion • Unit Agenda/Preview “Things We Carry” • Things They Carried Assessment

6. Princeton Vocab #2 • Discern: to distinguish one thing from another • Disdain: contempt • Disparity: inequality • Dubious: doubtful • Euphonious: melodious; pleasant sounding • Expedite: to quicken • Futile: hopeless; without effect • Immutable: unchanging; permanent • Innovate: to make changes; to modernize • Novel: new, interesting • Pedestrian: commonplace; ordinary

7. Freewrite: Brainstorm the things you carry. Consider some of the tangible objects that you keep with you at all times. Then, on a more figurative level, consider some of the intangibles: emotions, burdens, sources of pride, etc.

8. What We Carry Consider some of the “things you carry” as an individual, and some of the things carried by your generation: burdens, joys, stress, ipods… Discuss the effects of the thing(s) you carry with other members of your age group, and possibly with those of another generation to get a full perspective of the issue. Then, create a fact-based fiction or a modified nonfiction piece, weaving together your own experience with others’ experiences in order to capture the essence of the time and place. This assignment will be graded according to the holistic writing rubric, and should demonstrate mastery of idea development, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions. This assignment must be typed in legible size and font…your choice…. (Does not have to be MLA format—Yay!). Workshop Draft DUE: _____________ INSTRUCTOR DRAFT DUE: _____________

10. Why is the first story in The Things They Carried written in third person? How does this serve to introduce the rest of the novel? What effect did it have on your experience of the novel when O’Brien switched to first person, and you realized the narrator was one of the soldiers? • In the list of all the things the soldiers carried, what item was most surprising? Which item did you find most evocative of the war? Which items stay with you? • In “On the rainy River,” 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 do you think of this? Assess Understanding

12. Things We Carry: Day 3 • Bellringer: Princeton Vocabulary #3 • Write & Discuss: “How to Tell a War Story”

13. Princeton Vocab #3 • Philanthropist: someone who benefits mankind • Respite: a break; rest • Reticent: reluctant; restrained; uncommunicative • Revere: to worship; to honor • Scrupulous: concerned; conscientious • Squander: to waste • Static: unchanging; not moving • Strut: a self-important walk • Tentative: not final; uncertain • Zeal: enthusiasm

14. Extension Discussion: “How to Tell a True War Story” The Things They Carried is what we call a “historical fictional narrative”; that is, it’s not entirely true. Yes, O’Brien went to war. Yes, O’Brien experienced many of the things that he writes about. But the experiences of the characters in the book, with the exception of the narrator/O’Brien character, did not exist. Or did they? We, as readers, do not know whether the stories O’Brien writes are true or not… So how do we know if what we are reading is real? What is the point in reading this text? That’s what this chapter serves to do—it makes us critique the novel in a way that asks WHY? Why are we reading this? The following questions are meant to make you think; I know it’s your favorite thing to do. Please respond on a separate piece of paper. There is no limit to how much I want you to write, though I want you to THINK about your answers. Remove yourself from Reno, from Nevada, from your life. Think, and answer honestly. • On pages 67 and 68, Rat writes a letter to the sister of a friend that was killed; “Rat almost bawls writing it.” Why would he be so upset that the sister doesn’t write back? • Read the paragraph at the bottom of page 68 that starts, “A true war story is never moral.” Read the entire paragraph and respond to it; what does it mean to you? • Page 77, two-thirds of the way down says, “That quiet—just listen. There’s your moral.” What does that mean? • The scene with the baby buffalo on pages 78 and 79—what reactions does it create for you? Why is that? • Page 81 talks about “the immense pleasure of aliveness.” Describe a time in your life when you have felt this aliveness.

15. How to Tell a True War Story: #1 • Rat writes a letter to the sister of a friend that was killed. Why would he be so upset that the sister doesn’t write back?

16. How to Tell a True War Story: #2 • Read the paragraph that starts, “A true war story is never moral.” Read the entire paragraph and respond to it; what does it mean to you?

17. How to Tell a True War Story: #3 • “That quiet—just listen. There’s your moral.” What does that mean?

18. How to Tell a True War Story: #4 • The scene with the baby buffalo—what reactions does it create for you? Why is that?

19. How to Tell a True War Story: Bonus • What is the role of shame in the lives of these soldiers? Does it drive them to acts of heroism? Or stupidity? Or both? What is the relationship between shame and courage, according to O’Brien?

21. Things We Carry: Day 4 • Workshop Draft “Things We Carry” Due (2 Copies) • Bellringer: Freewrite & Discussion: Remembering…. • Princeton Vocabulary Quiz • Things They Carried Assessment • Workshop “Things We Carry”

22. Freewrite: “Sometimes remembering will lead to a story, which makes it forever. That’s what stories are for. Stories are for joining the past to the future. Stories are for those late hours in the night when you can’t remember how you got from where you were to where you are. Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story” (O’Brien 38).

23. Princeton Vocab Quiz

24. Writer’s Workshop:1. Writer: make comments on your own piece2. Reader: read copy3. Responder: complete handout

25. Assess Understanding: • In “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” what transforms Mary Anne into a predatory killer? Does it matter that Mary Anne is a woman? How so? What does the story tell us about the nature of the Vietnam War? • The story Rat tells in “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong” is highly fantastical. Does its lack of believability make it any less compelling? Do you believe it? Does it fit O’Brien’s criteria for a true war story?

27. Things We Carry: Day 5 • Bellringer: Freewrite • Writing Adventure: Memoir Synthesis

28. Freewrite: “Fiction is the lie that helps us understand the truth.” – Tim O’Brien

29. Feedback • Revisit Writing Adventure #9: Boxing Synthesis • Read your own piece and think about the score it might receive • Switch with partner. Read colleague’s synthesis and give score/feedback on back of paper. • Discuss. What should we do with next synthesis? • Revisit Reading Narratives • Take turns reading aloud to your partner if you want to….

30. Writing Adventure #11: Memoir Synthesis

32. Things We Carry: Day 6 • Bellringer: Freewrite • Nonfiction Preview • “More US Soldiers…”

33. Brainstorm: WAR

34. Nonfiction Preview

35. Silent Seminar: “More US Soldiers…”

37. Things We Carry: Day 7 • Bellringer: Freewrite • The Things They Carried Unit Assessment

38. Brainstorm: • How does Tim O’Brien use word choice, sentence structure, tone, figurative language, and other stylistic devices to achieve his purpose?

39. The Things They Carried Unit Assessment

41. Things We Carry: Day 8 • Bellringer: Freewrite • “What We Carry” Show & Tell • O’Brien’s Perspective

42. Reflection: How does this relate to your piece? “…It occurred to me that the act of writing had led me through a swirl of memories that might otherwise have ended in paralysis or worse. By telling stories, you objectify your own experience. You separate it from yourself. You pin down certain truths. You make up others. You start sometimes with an incident that truly happened… and you carry it forward by inventing incidents that did not in fact occur but that nonetheless help to clarify and explain” (O’Brien 158).

46. The Things They Carried Discussion • What is a major theme found in this novel? Discuss how the theme is explored. • How do the various settings contribute to the overall effect of the piece? • Why do you think O’Brien wrote this book? What was his purpose? • Explain the title. Why did O’Brien choose this title? • Do you think Tim O’Brien is a reliable narrator? Why or why not? • In “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” what transforms Mary Anne into a predatory killer? What does the story tell us about the nature of the Vietnam War? • At times O’Brien says that certain things are true and later that they are not true. How do we tell if his statements are factual, and is that important? • Why is the story about Linda and Timmy significant? What does it show us about the rest of the book? • The language used in The Things They Carried is raw and full of slang. Is the profanity necessary? Explain how the novel would be better or worse without it. • 10. Does this book belong among the classic works read by teens? Why or why not?