Today’s Agenda
- 1) Journal Entry:
For the next ten minutes, I want you to write on the following subject:
Describe one thing that you have always wanted to own, but that you have never owned. Describe what this thing is, why you want it, and when it was you first recognized that you wanted it. What is preventing you from getting this thing? How would your life be better if you had it?
2) Group Work
Get into groups of 3, and for the next five – seven minutes, I want you discuss the following topic:
If you were trapped on an island in the middle of the sea in a place where you HAVE access to all the basic things you will need for survival (food, water, shelter, ect) and could take FIVE things – not people – with you, THAT YOU ALREADY OWN or POSSESS, what would those five things be, and why?
3) For the past two classes, we have been discussing the importance of CHARACTER in short stories, and how important it is to pay attention to characters in short stories. Why is it important to pay attention to characters in short stories? How can an understanding of character INFORM our understanding of The Story of an Hour, A&P, The Yellow Wallpaper, or A Good Man is Hard to Find?
For today, you were to read The Things They Carried.
Problems with Plot structure?
Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling action?
If you don’t understand the plot, consider the characters!
Who are the main characters in The Things They Carried:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Group Work:
In your group, you are to come up with a substantial list of the things they carry. Categorize these items by their COMMON FEATURES!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
What do these items suggest about each of these characters?
Jimmy Cross
Henry
Dave
Ted
Mitchell
Rat
Kiowa
The Dead Boy
3) What do the things they carried symbolize?
4) What do YOU carry?
5) What do the things you carry symbolize?
Journal Entry on this topic.
Read for next time:
Watch These YouTube Videos For Next Class:
(The following videos is an older Youtube Post.)
Listen to these Podcasts For Next Class:
Gabe Cheney
Adam Crowley
EH 112
7 September 2008
The Things They Carried
Tim O’Brien
Cause and effect. Newton’s Third Law-for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The bottom line is what you do effects what happens next. Whether it’s not tying your shoe, or not buckling up, something is going to happen because of it. It might be that someone tells you to tie your shoe or that you trip and fall. Regardless something happens as a result of your decision not to tie your shoe. The same thing can be applied to this short story by Tim O’Brien. 1st LT Jimmy Cross has a lot of things going on in his mind. He has the similar worries that everyone else does along with some additional baggage. Unfortunately the reaction to his actions happens to cost someone their life.
Being a platoon leader as 1st LT Cross is a hard enough job. He has to look after his troops and make decisions as to what they are going to do next. Their well being a lot of the time depends on what he decides. This means that he has to have a clear mind and look at all the possible consequences of his actions. When his mind is constantly thinking about his obsession with Martha, this compromises his ability to think clearly and effectively.
A perfect example of this is when Ted Lavender was killed while the perimeter was not being secured. As LT Cross was gazing into the tunnel, he wasn’t thinking about making sure his men were doing their job and keeping a close look out for snipers of VC, he was thinking about being buried alive in the tunnel with Martha. As a result of his negligence, Lavender was shot in the head. If they were supposed to fan out as security then Lavender shouldn’t have even been relieving himself in the first place. If the LT had been paying attention, he would have corrected the situation and hopefully presented the death.
A good thing did come of the situation and that was when LT Cross burned the letters and pictures of his fake significant other Martha, hopefully this will help him to get past that and do a better job of leading.
Comment by Gabe Cheney — October 7, 2008 @ 2:33 pm |
Good post, Gabe.
Comment by assistantprofessorcrowley — October 7, 2008 @ 2:46 pm |
The one thing that i have always wanted to own was a brand new car, right off the lot. The one car that i would love to have is a white Mazda 6i, Standard, Auto doors and locks, tinted windows, moon roof and spoiler. I have always had a car that has been crashed and fixed up ever since i got my liscense. My father is a mechanic and auto body tech. I get the cars that come into the shop and the owners no longer want. I have been fortunet enough to get a car this way when it was 7 days old with 138 miles on it for only $4,000. In between selling my old car and getting this one is when i saw this Mazda crusin down the road. I instantly told my father that once the new car was fixed i was selling it right off and getting this car. But the only thing that prevented me from doing so is the hurt that i saw in my fathers eye once i told him i didn’t want that car. My father thought he was doing a good thing by getting me this car, but it just wasnt what i wanted. Its automatic, no power windows or locks, and its a 2 door. For me, a four door would be more sufficent because i always have people in my car, and i usually have a young child for majority of the week, and its a pain in the ass to get a child in and out of a two door car when you are as busy as i am! My life woudl jsut be so less stressfull having that car, cuz one i wouldnt hate my car so much, it would allow more room for others and myself, and its just overall a better running car i think than my little chevy cavalier.
Comment by Jen Campbell — October 7, 2008 @ 4:40 pm |
the class overall would bring
computer
cellphone
pictures
gun
sun glasses
ipod
fishing pole
soccer ball
radio
generator
dvds
diary
hair brush
toilet paper
Comment by Jen Campbell — October 7, 2008 @ 4:50 pm |
MAIN CHARACTERS IN “THINGS THEY CARRIED”:
Jimmy Cross
Henry Dobins
Ted Lavender
Dave Jensen
Mitchell Sanders
Norman Bowker
Rat Kiley
Kiowa
Comment by Jen Campbell — October 7, 2008 @ 5:01 pm |
GROUP RAT –
carried morphine, plasma, malaria tablets, surgical tape, comic books, medical supplies (M&M’s),and brandy.
these were all things that he can use if someone has an injury, because he is the medic of the platoon! HTe comic books and brandy are used for comfort.
Comment by Jen Campbell — October 7, 2008 @ 5:13 pm |
10/07/08
The thing that I have always wanted but I have never owned is a 1967 ford mustang. It would have to be the 427 cobra jet; this car is just amazing to the looks and the sound that it makes. The reason I have always wanted one of these cars is because it is very uncommon. If you have one of these cars you want to hold on to it and not let it go. The reason I want one of these car is because I love old cars and my dad had mustangs when he was growing up. The other reason is I think that it would be fun on a nice day to get out and drive one of these cars just for the sake of driving it. These cars were ahead of the market when they were out. To own one of these cars is like winning the lottery for some people. These cars just ruled the road in their day they had a dominating stains on the road that put others to shame. The main thing that is keeping me from owning this car is money. Even if I found one of these cars I don’t have enough money to buy it unless it is a giveaway or something. Then the final thing that is keeping me from owning this car is the fact that they are so hard to find and if you do find them they are most of the time rusted out.
Comment by Michael Austin — October 7, 2008 @ 5:17 pm |
I think it tells people that I like cars. I think it shows people that I might be selfish, I mean I could have anything I wanted why would I choose to have an old car, why not wish and hope for world peace or something like that. Maybe I could have wished and wanted a cure for cancer or something like that. But I think the fact that I like old car may tell people that I like to work on car and I love to see what these old cars can do. I would like to think that people don’t think of me as an uneducated gear head that does nothing but drink and work on cars in front of a trailer while getting yelled at by his old lady, Because that’s not what I am. Most of all I think that everyone is thinking about the greater good of themselves and not of others.
Comment by Michael Austin — October 7, 2008 @ 5:35 pm |
I think that is says that I am person who likes room and convience throughout my day and at the same time style and up-to-date happenings. I think that not all people woudl percieve me different, but I think others that do not know me would question how could i have a brand new car so young, they would possibly think I was spoiled, but in reality I work for eveything I have and it was not bought for me. Some would percive me as lucky, that I am able to have such a nice car because of my credit score to get the loan and the good job that pays me enough to pay for the car each month.
Comment by Jen Campbell — October 7, 2008 @ 5:37 pm |
Tammie Arsenault
10/7/08
Approaches to Literature
Adam Crowley
The Lottery
By: Shirley Jackson.
When I first read this story I had absolutely no idea what The Lottery was about, but after reading it for a second time I still am not sure what the “Lottery” is about. After reading this the second time I realized something about this poem that the thing that these characters in this story carry with them is their family. They don’t really carry anything physical with them or on them like the soldiers in “The Things They Carried,” do. In “The Things They Carried” the characters actually carried physical things like weapons, food, etc.. In the story “The Lottery” there were many characters there where a couple that carried the black box and the stool for the day of the lottery. But other then those, the one thing that stood out to me the second time I read this is that the men are the ones that carry their families. The piece of paper that they take from the box when their name is called then depends on which member of the family “wins” the lottery.
Comment by Tammie Arsenault — October 9, 2008 @ 4:07 pm |
[...] Tuesday, October 7 [...]
Pingback by Welcome to Eh 112: Approaches to Literature « Approaches to Literature, Fall 2008 — October 15, 2008 @ 7:46 pm |