The Things They Carried
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Transcript of The Things They Carried
The Things They Carried
An introduction to Tim O’Brien and his fictional account of the Vietnam War
Vocabulary
Prior Knowledge (Vocabulary)
Fabricated Psychological warfare Propaganda Communists Protagonist
Vocabulary
Fabricated Made up, created.
– The child fabricated a lie when asked how the lamp became broken.
– The child made up a lie when asked how the lamp became broken.
back
Vocabulary
Psychological Warfare Tactics that use propaganda to try to
demoralize an enemy in war, usually including the civilian population
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Vocabulary
Propaganda Something communicated in a biased
way in order to shape or change the ideas of a targeted audience
information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.
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Vocabulary
Communists One who believes in a system of
government in which the state plans and controls the economy shares all goods equally with the people
Create closed state economies that barely trade with capitalist countries
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Vocabulary
Protagonist The central figure of a story; The
character with the lead role.
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Vietnam
Relevant Facts About the Vietnam War
No fixed date that the US entered into war with Vietnam
Series of steps from 1950 – 1965
Vietnam
Relevant Facts about the Vietnam War
Eisenhower fabricated a government of South Vietnam– Advisers to psychological warfare against
North Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam Timeline– 1950 – Truman sent economic and military aid to
the French who were trying to retain hold on their Indochina colony.
– 1954 – The defeated French conceded to a communist government north of the 17th parallel.
– 1960 – JFK approves Aid– 1964 – US began sending combat troops as a
result of The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
Vietnam
Vietnam Timeline– 1965 – 1966 Military escalation because S.
Vietnam couldn’t handle things– 1967 – Draft began. Antiwar Protests happening
across US– 1969 –My Lai Massacre where US soldiers kill a
village full of civilians– 1972 – Ceasefire– 1973 – Paris Peace Agreement
Click here for an online timeline offered by pbs.org
Vietnam
Vietnam Demographics
Location Religion People
Vietnam
Vietnam Demographics Location – South of China, East of Laos and
Cambodia, West of South China Sea
Here is an interesting interactive map of places mentioned in the book
Vietnam
Religion Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism,
Christianity, and Tam Giao (tri-religion, …)
Religions
0
20
40
60
80
100
Percentage ofpracticing members
9.3 6.7 3.2 80.8
Buddhist Catholic Other* None
*Other religions include: Hoa Hao (1.5%), Cao Dai (1.1%), Protestant (.5%, and Muslim (.1%)
Vietnam
People of Vietnam80% ethnic Vietnamese
20% - 50+ different ethnic minority groups, hill tribes
Languages spoken: Vietnamese, Chinese, English, French, Russian
What Do You Need to Know About the Book Before
Reading It?
It is ALL fiction! Facts are not important!
Emotional effect of incidents is what is important.
Tim O’Brien (author) vs. “Tim O’Brien” (character,
narrator) Protagonist and sometime narrator is
“Tim O’Brien”. This “Tim O’Brien” in the book is NOT REAL.
Even when “Tim O’Brien” talks directly to the reader, it is the fictional “Tim”.
Example of the narrator “Tim O’Brien” speaking directly to
the reader
“Now and then, when I tell this story [about the baby water buffalo], someone will come up to me afterward and say she liked it. It’s always a woman. “…. What I should do”, she’ll say, “is put it all behind me. Find new stories to tell.”
“I wont say it but I’ll think it.“I’ll picture Rat Kiley’s face, his grief, and I’ll think, You
dumb cooze.“Because she wasn’t listening.“It wasn’t a war story. It was a love story.”
~ “How to Tell a True War Story”, pgs 84 - 85
Tim O'Brien
Tim O’Brien
The author Tim did actually go to Vietnam and really was in the Alpha Company, but is writing a fictional account.
Lit devices
Literary Devices found in The Things They Carried
Imagery
Mood
Point of View
Characterization
Symbolism
Metaphor
Irony
Lit devices
Vivid language that puts a picture in the mind of the reader
Example:– “His jaw was in his throat, his upper lip
and teeth were gone, his one eye was shut, his other eye was a star-shaped hole…” (pg. 124)
Lit devices
Feeling author wants the reader to have while reading
Example:– In the story “Ghost Soldiers” Tim wants
the reader to feel the fear of being on night watch.
Lit devices
The attitude or outlook of a narrator or character.
Example:– The narrator “Tim O’Brien” is against war
and thinks himself a coward for going to Vietnam
Lit devices
What the characters are like; their personalities
Example: – Henry Dobbins is superstitious and
believes in luck because he carries extra rations and his girlfriend’s pantyhose.
Lit devices
Compare two things that are unlike in any way (without using like or as)
Example:– The disjointed telling of the story is a
metaphor for life as a soldier in Vietnam
Lit devices
An object that represents a larger idea
Example– The Silver Star is a medal that
symbolizes courage and honor
Lit devices
The opposite of what is expected happens
Example:– When 2 characters are goofing off and
having a good time, a bomb goes off and kills one.
Tim O'Brien
Tim O'Brien biography:The Early Years
Born in Austin on Oct. 1, 1946 and grew up in a small town in Minnesota– He shares this birth date with several of
his characters Dad was an insurance salesman Mom was an elementary school
teacher
Tim O'Brien
Tim O'Brien Biography:College Life
Political science major at Macalester College, attended peace vigils and war protests
Graduated in 1968
Tim O'Brien
Tim O'Brien Biography:To Go to War?
Received his draft notice upon graduation
Was against the war: hated Boy Scouts, bugs, and rifles.
Considered deserting to Canada once he received his classification as an infantryman
Tim O'Brien
Tim O'Brien Biography:In Vietnam
Assigned to the 3rd Platoon, Alpha Company, 5th battalion, 46th Infantry as a foot soldier
Served in Vietnam from 1969-1970 Returned home with a Purple Heart
– Was wounded by shrapnel from a hand grenade
Tim O'Brien
Tim O'Brien Biography:Views on Vietnam
Now believes it was an act of cowardice to go to war instead of fleeing to Canada
Was 22 years old and feared the disapproval of his family and friends, his townspeople and country
Hated every minute of Vietnam
Tim O'Brien
Tim O'Brien Biography:Life after Vietnam
After returning to the states, he became a grad student at Harvard.
Left Harvard to become a newspaper reporter for The Washington Post.
Began writing fiction about Vietnam
Tim O'Brien
Works by Tim O’Brien If I Die in Combat (1973) Northern Lights (1975) Going after Cacciato (1978) The Nuclear Age (1985) The Things They Carried (1990) In the Lake of the Woods (1994)
Tim O'Brien
Tim O'Brien Biography:Current Whereabouts
Is currently a visiting professor and chair at Southwest Texas State University where he teaches in the Creative Writing Program
Tim O'Brien
Tim O’Brien Claims he still gets calls from people,
asking questions, offering their own opinions about what happened.
They want to know, missing the point of the novel, that life often does not offer solutions or resolutions, that it is impossible to know completely what secrets lurk within people
Vocabulary
Abbreviations found in The Things They Carried
AbbreviationPart of speech
Definition
SOP N Standard Operating Procedure
CO N Commanding Officer
PFC N Private First Class (rank)
RTO N Radio Transmissions Officer
LP N Language/Listening Patrol
CS N Tear gas
MRE N Meal ready to eat
VC N Viet Cong
Resources
http://www.indexmundi.com/vietnam/demographics_profile.html
http://www.illyria.com/tobsites.html
pbs.org