What's the "Big Idea"?

Even though The Things They Carried is set during the Vietnam War, in what ways is it relevant today, with regard to war and politics as well as our personal struggles? 

As you read the novel, which parts did you connect/relate to best in terms of the struggles, character relationships, or in other ways?

What did you gain from reading this novel? What would you say is the "Big Idea" (or universal lesson) of this novel that will stick with you after reading it? After everyone posts their big ideas, be sure to vote on the best one and we'll have a contest called the BEST BIG IDEA BLOG CONTEST. You will receive a fabulous prize when the 2014 school year commences (think less trophy and more pack of gum to avoid disappointment). Good luck--may the best blogger win!

P.S. Any big ideas from Sparknotes, etc. are disqualified; all big ideas must be the property of your brain.

Ghost Soldiers

The narrator of the story "The Ghost Soldiers" says, "When you're afraid, really afraid, you see things you never saw before, you pay attention to the world." What might he mean by this?

Discuss O'Brien's war injuries and want he wants revenge on Bobby Jorgenson.

Examine O'Brien's reaction to being reassigned away from the heat of battle and what happens when the men from Alpha Company return to base.

Discuss O'Brien's meeting with Jorgenson and O'Brien's and Azar's plan for revenge.

How has O'Brien changed throughout the war?

Speaking of Courage...

In "Speaking of Courage," the narrator says, "Sometimes the bravest thing on earth was to sit through the night and feel the cold in your bones. Courage was not always a matter of yes or no." How does the narrator define courage? How do you define it?

Analyze the effects of the war on Norman Bowker.

Examine his thoughts after he returns from the war: what might have been, what he wishes for, and what he finds.

Discuss the medals that Normal received, and analyze why he keeps referring to the medal he did not receive.

Why does Bowker write to O'Brien? What is the effect of this letter on O'Brien?

What happens to Bowker? Why?

Bittersweet

In "Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong," what causes the transformation in Mary Anne Bell?
How does Rat Kiley's telling of the story add to the tension?
What does the story say about the Vietnam experience?
What was your reaction to this story?
O'Brien states: "What happened to her...was what happened to all of them. You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterward it's never the same" (114). What is your response to this quote? How does it apply to Vietnam? Can you relate this idea to life as well? How so?

On Rainy River

At the end of "On the Rainy River," the narrator says, "I was a coward. I went to the war." What does he mean by this? Do you agree?

Why has O'Brien never told this story before? Why does he decide to do so now?

Describe Elroy and analyze his influence on O'Brien and his ultimate decision. How does O'Brien reach his decision about whether or not to go to war? What role does shame/embarrassment/masculinity play in this decision?

What were your thoughts while reading this section? As always, feel free to respond to the above prompts or add your own ideas, questions, and interpretations. You may also respond to your classmates' posts, so we can have some interesting exchanges and debates.

What Are the Things They Carry?

In the title story, how do the things the men carry help define them as individuals?

What can you tell about the men based on what they carry?

Are the literal things they carry symbolic of something figurative they carry?

What do they things show us about what they men value, desire, fear, etc.?

What are some of the more interesting items?

What is the best thing that someone carries? The worst? The strangest?

Which "things" were unexpected? What would you carry if you went to war?

The Things They Carried: What is the Truth?

To begin, I must confess that this is one of my favorite books. We'll be rolling up our sleeves in writing workshop this year and writing in many genres, and O'Brien has that storytelling magic that we will strive to imitate in our own ways, as we tell our own stories. As you read this book, think about this question: What are the things you carry (both literal and figurative)? Are these things a help or a burden to you? Why do you carry them? Hmmm...that sounds like a good creative writing assignment for the beginning of the year if I do say so myself.

The narrator of The Things They Carried has the same name as the book's author. How did this affect your response to the book? As you read, think about O'Brien's claim, "A thing may happen and be a total lie; another thing may not happen and be truer than the truth." Although this is a work of fiction, does it indeed tell the "truth"? How so?

In "How to Tell a True War Story," what does the narrator say on this subject? What do you think makes a true war story?

In "Good Form," the narrator says, "I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth." What does he mean by "story truth" and "happening-truth"? Why might one be "truer" than the other?

Reader's Choice

It has suddenly struck me that I have left no room for people to create their own topics, ideas, questions, and interpretations outside of the topics provided. Since that is usually where the magic happens, consider this post that place. Please use this post to comment on your thoughts as you read the novel. Ask questions, begin discussions, provoke thoughts...your choice!!

Style Watch

There you go, Twilight fans! Don't say I never did anything for you. As you can see from the bio picture, these are women with style! Anyone who can pull off a hat with a feather is impressive in my book. But, now, speaking of  books, what do you notice about Angleou's and Hurston's writing style? As you may have noticed, there is a topic involving comparing Hurston's/Angelou's style to O'Brien's's style. This is a rather broad topic, so I'll try to help narrow it down a bit.

When addressing the style of each author, you may choose to analyze the diction, or word choice, of each. (Is the word choice formal or informal? Does the author write in a way that is imagistic and poetic or rather terse and straightforward?)

Other ideas to consider: Does the author use dialect? Long or short sentences? Lots of dialogue or not so much? Is there anything else that stands out about the author's style? What sort of atmosphere, tone, or mood is each writer able to create? How are the writers similar and different in these areas? Also, what impact or effect does the author's style have on the novel? Does the style help the readers to understand the time period or culture? Does the style tend to alienate readers or draw them in to the story? Does the narrator seem to have a particular bias or philosophy that spills onto the page?

*These are questions to think about for the essay topic. For this post, feel free to stick to Hurston's/Angelou's style and we'll save O'Brien for later. (Unless you've already read both novels...in which case I now appoint you Most Impressive Person of June/early July. Anyone?)

Gender and Society

In Their Eyes Were Watching God and/or I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, how does gender (society’s vision of what it means to be male and female) affect characters’ identities, decisions, and/or lives? In the society presented in the novel, what does it mean to be a man? a woman? Do the society's expectations of masculinity and femininity affect Janie's and Maya's life in any significant ways? Are there any other characters that seem driven by societal expectations of gender (say, Joe Starks, for instance)? How has society's concept of gender roles changed over time? How has it not changed?

Symbols: Hair, Hair Everywhere! (and Hurricanes...)

As you know, symbolism occurs when a person, place, or thing (such as hair) represents itself and something beyond itself. Hair, strangely enough, is a symbol in Hurston's novel. Other symbols that Hurston uses are the weather/hurricane and the pear tree. If you are reading Maya Angelou, what are some symbols (caged bird, perhaps?) that you've noticed? The cool thing about symbolism is that you have to figure it out. Calling all literary sleuths: How (in the world) is hair a symbol in Hurston's novel? What about the pear tree and/or hurricane? What does the title of each novel refer to? How does this passage relate to a possible theme of the novel? Hmmmm...

What is Love?

What is love? There are a multitude of quality pop and country songs (as well as rock ballads) that explore this very question. You may have a Heart ballad stuck in your head right now just from reading the title (or that might just be me, '80s lady...).

Again, Hurston, Angelou, and O'Brien have struck a major chord with all of human existence when they each attempt to present a vision of love within their novels' pages. One of the questions that seems to come up when attempting to define love (or really anything, for that matter) is: what is it not? How does Hurston define love? How does she show what it is not? Do you agree or disagree? We'd love to hear your thoughts...

Life is Just a Dream...Or Is It? Illusion/Dreams/Fantasy vs. Reality

Hurston and O'Brien both explore the notions of illusions and dreams vs. reality, which begs the question: what is the purpose of dreaming and imagination in life? Where does Maya's story fit into this theme?  Does the word "dreamer" have a negative or positive connotation to you? Can using one's imagination or vision make reality better? What happens when there is a huge disparity between the dream and the reality? Can one dream too much? Not enough? What are the consequences of each?

Discuss dreams in the novel you're reading. How closely matched to reality are they? Do dreams help or impede Janie's or Maya's life progress?

Identity: Defining Self on One's Own Terms or Being Defined By Others

So, you've probably heard of the idea of self-fulfilling prophesy that we become who we think we are, for better or for worse. This question of identity-of understanding and defining who you are-is yet another gigantic life question that shows up in Angelou's & Hurston's novels and in life. One major issue that surrounds questions of identity is who defines it? Do I get to decide who I am in life or do others decide that for me in various ways? This seems like the most obvious question in the universe. Of course, everyone should get to decide their own identities! But, when we look into the hallways of the high school, into the conference rooms of the business world, around the family dinner table, is this always the case? Do we have friends, family members, and co-workers that influence the way we think or feel about ourselves? Are they, in some ways, helping to shape our identities, in negative and positive ways? Or, do they provide feedback, and it's up to us to accept or reject it into our self concepts/identities like a really good peer edit in writing workshop?

As far as Janie and/or Maya are concerned, how does each define herself in the beginning of the novel? Are there points when she lets others define her? What are the consequences of this? How does this change as the novel progresses? What realizations does she make?

Individual Desire Vs. Social Responsibility

This theme seems to be the theme of the year...don't quote me on this, but I believe it comes up in every major work that we'll read this year (mainly because we're going to be reading about some oppressive and corrupt societies from which people feel the need to break free...). It is, as you know, a great problem of everyday life as well; what we want to do doesn't always neatly line up with our social responsibilities. For example, I feel like eating four doughnuts but I have a track meet in twenty minutes. Hmmm, what should I do? Okay, not the best example because I also risk stomach upset on a massive scale.

Let's have you come up with the example. Let's say you want to become the greatest [fill in blank of your dream job here] but society, or the powers that be, will not allow you access to this career because you are (too young, too old, too female, too male, etc). What should you do? In this case, we need to ask the question: Who is right in this situation? You or society? Are you a moral person living in an immoral society? If that's the case, what should you do? On the other hand, does society ask us to make sacrifices that are actually beneficial to us in the long run? Is there a middle ground? When living in groups of people, will we always have to make individual sacrifices in order to live together? How do we know when we've sacrificed too much (to society, a community, or a relationship)? Are there some things that should never be sacrificed? Where do we draw the line?

Getting back to our novels, do Janie and Maya do what they want to do or what others or society thinks they should do? Do they make some mistakes? Does this change throughout the course of the novel? How do Janie's three marriage illustrate this theme? When are they happiest? When are they most successful in society's eyes? Do these match up? Hmmmm, what do you conclude from all of this? What is the message, according to Hurston and Angelou? Where do you weigh in on this discussion?

If your eyes are watching Their Eyes Were Watching God or I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (or you've started reading one of them, that is), feel free to start posting your comments. We're going to try something new for this book that I hope will be beneficial to you. I'm going to post discussion prompts that relate to your possible essay topics, so you have a focused discussion forum in which to rehearse and develop your thoughts for your essay. Reading the ideas and interpretations of your peers will help by reinforcing some of your ideas while challenging others, helping us all to stretch our thinking in new ways. When you are making your astute observations, remember to support your view with detailed examples and/or relevant quotes from the novel (you're much harder to argue with that way!).

Essay Clarification

In case there are questions about the essay, here's a quick clarification (or directions for the directions!). The essay will explore one topic within two novels, Their Eyes Were Watching God OR I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (choose one of those to read) and The Things They Carried (we all read this one). Select a topic from the topic list at this time. Next, record quotes addressing this topic in your quote log as you read (also in packet). You are required to have three quotes from each novel in your quote log and in your essay. The other four quotes on the quote log may be from either novel but should still address the topic.

After reading both novels and completing the quote log, develop your thesis using your topic and at least one literary device. See packet for essay guidelines. The quote log should be useful when writing the essay-use these quotes to support your thesis in your essay. Make sure you use MLA format (again-see packet), size 12, double-spaced, and 3-5 pages. Please email me or respond to this post if you have any questions. Feel free to start commenting on Their Eyes Were Watching God or I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings when you've started reading it. Someone has to go first-why not you? I will be happy to give fake extra credit to anyone brave enough to get our blog blogging.

Reminder: you need to have 4 blog posts (1 paragraph minimum each) by July 20th for your first deadline. Start as soon as possible. The comments don't necessarily have to reinvent Hurston scholarship; just start out by posting your responses, questions, and interpretations as you read. However, brilliant insights are always welcome, of course. Be sure to avoid repeating what others have already said; that will make me think you're not actually reading the comments (gasp!). Post something soon-make an English teacher's day. Have a wonderful summer!

Practice Post

As soon as possible, do a first practice post-no, this doesn't count toward the "big four" posts per book-we're just doing a test to make sure you can post successfully. Tell me a little about yourself-your interests, extracurricular activities, of course, your favorite book of all time, and anything else you'd like to share.