Julie

I have posted my ideas so far- I cannot check the group that much because my house here does not have internet, but I am able to go over to my aunt's house sometimes. I don't have something for every chapter, but this was my attempt to organize mentally and begin to think about the focus for some lessons. I am seriously not married to any of these ideas. I am going to copy and paste what you all have already put up so I can read it and get back to you. Also, please don't hate me, but I am starting to freak about the things due on Tuesday. Would you all want to move our meeting to Tuesday afternoon (Jes I know its your birthday so don't feel pressured) or Wednesday? I am afraid that I will need Monday, especially since I will probably kill six hours in the car Sunday coming back. Let me know how you feel, and I hope you are all having a great break! Overall Comments: ** · Style elements and themes in the book repeat- therefore I think we should do a lot of the “frontloading” thing: spend more time on earlier chapters and concepts so that they can just read the last part of the book for emotional effect- if you like this idea, I think we should draw a chapter line somewhere so that we stop analyzing and just let them read · I don’t really have a lot of connecting texts listed in here, but rather activities that I think I could find texts for should we decide to use them. I like Kara’s idea of using this text as a jumping off point. After I know what we are doing or want to cover with the text I will know how to think about counterpoint · I have also put in my suggestions for how we should break the book into section. As with everything here, I am just throwing it out there and am totally flexible · I don’t think we have to do something specifically for each chapter, but I’m not sure how we should do this. I think we should acknowledge each, I don’t know · For the same reason, I have some specific activities but this ended up for me being a sort of organizing of concepts from which I can build activities. Sorry, hope this is still helpful
 * hello group!

· List poem · Vets from different wars, then and now; their role in society and how do we think differently about Vietnam Vets vs. WWII Vets? · Weight (obviously) in diction, concepts · Inadequacy of speech/words · Ambiguity/ breakdown of dichotomies o In the landscape o Mentally- everything is ambiguous- literally and figuratively the lack of solid ground · Movies/TV/ technology · Consumer society/American myth · Maybe at the end of unit we could show movies/books that are referenced or intersect (Apocalypse Now and Heart of Darkness) draw comparisons across time and circumstance even as we contrast Vietnam with other wars and this book with other storytelling techniques- common human themes, not just a break from convention · Detachment/desensitization · Coping mechanisms · Who are the higher ups? · Maybe trace retelling of individual stories · Boredom · Silence · Fear vs. courage · Dignity/pride vs. shame
 * Overall Themes/Motifs/Concepts: **
 * Wow, this is a fantastic list Julie--I feel like you covered all of the main points that we need to touch on. <3 KPav**
 * Dichotomies to break down: **

I know we may not even use these, but just for the heck of it:

I’m not sure if we should do vocabulary quizzes, but it is definitely a concrete assignment and could be helpful to students. This list could certainly be shortened, grouped differently, etc. Maybe we could think of ways to integrate the vocabulary into the lessons better without just ding boring quizzes. Also, I do not want to drill kids too much and take away from the reading. Open to suggestion/rejection.
 * Potentially Challenging Vocabulary by Chapter: **

Ch. 1: The things They Carried · Elusive · Intransitive · Topography · Phantom · Carotene · Compression · Sullen · Insignia · Volition · Carriage · Inertia · Wistful · Zeal · Velocity · Mortification · Unencumbered · Sentimental · Laxity

Ch. 2: Love

Ch. 3: Spin · Monotony · Exuberance · Servile

Ch. 4: On the Rainy river: · Discredit · Reservoir · Amortizing · Consensus · Shrouded · Pinstripes · Fundamental · Imperative · Tedious · Endeavor · Impending · Smug · Fathom · Province · Smoldering · Eviscerated · Censure · Acquiescence · Platitude · Pious · Maul · Reticence · Vastness · Tangible · Configurations · Pivoting

Ch. 5: Enemies

Ch. 6: Friends · Tourniquet

Ch. 7: How to Tell a True War Story · Rectitude · Obscenity · Quadruple · Canopy · Truism · Drudgery · Grotesque · Implacable · Proximity · Concord · Ambiguity · Trite · Puffery

Ch. 8: The Dentist · Posturing · Sheepish

Ch. 9: Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong · Bedlam · Mundane · Superlatives · Tantalizing · Logistics · Novelty · Coy · Ashen · Moldering · Encompassed · Impassive · Speculation

Ch. 10: Stockings · Eccentricity · Talisman · Invulnerable

Ch. 11: Church · Pagoda · Shrines · Altar · Potlucks · Monastery

Ch. 12: The Man I Killed · Dainty · Animate

Ch. 13: Ambush · Peril

Ch. 14: Style

Ch. 15: Speaking of Courage · Moored · Patios · Affluent · Causation · Fickle · Municipal · Bivouacked · Viaduct · Causeway · Quaint · Flourishes · Phosphorescent

Ch. 16: Notes · Feigned · Reproached · Smugness · Inevitable · Catharsis · Substantially · Complicity

Ch. 17: In the Field · Devout · Interchangeable · Conviction · Discretion · Tactically · bearings · salvaged · traction · munitions

Ch. 18: Field Trip · Menacing · Obligatory · Sentiment · Mausoleum · Relics · Embodied · Vulgarity

Ch. 20: The Ghost Soldiers · Bungled · Gangrene · Earnest · Credentials · Levitate · Ordnance · Rapport · Gyroscope · Comportment · Imperatives · Coherence · Atrocity · Resonance · Molting · Soapstone · Lucid

Ch. 21: Night Life · Defoliant · Bracketed · Protoplasm

Ch. 22: The Lives of the Dead · Approximation · Translucent

I think Kelly is right that the kids don’t need to know all of the terms, so here are my suggestions for how to approach the terms in general: · “research station” with books on Vietnam, the time period, etc. · “class glossary:” either we can make one or we can decide up pages (taking into consideration that some have way more terms than others) and ask them to briefly look up the terms and write them on a page that will be put into a class glossary that everyone can reference throughout the reading- only problem- I don’t know how to make them look at future terms without ruining parts of the book- this idea might need refining or we can just not use it · when we intro each lesson we can briefly define select terms that we think are most relevant
 * Glossary: **

I am pretty sure that I am the only one obsessed with this, so just writing it here might get it out of my system and it wont hurt my feelings if we don’t want to think about this at all

· I actually am starting to think that this should be very short and that we should intro the concepts with the story (see below). I might have resisted this very idea earlier, if so, I apologize.
 * Intro to Unit **

· Bring in a box/rucksack the weight of what the men would have carried and have kids try it on · begin discussion of terms/class glossary · begin character charts (Jessica- this might be the best thing ever)/make lists of what certain men carried; have them track the weight of the items they carried (physical weight) vs. emotional weight? · have kids make a list of what they would carry/bring in objects/representations and put all those in a rucksack/box · have kids make a before and after list of things they would carry · Note how author attempts to organize things they carried: by necessity, function of rank/field specialty, mission, superstition- what function do authorial systems of organization serve? What systems of organization should we have students use for their reading? · Style: he doesn’t use quotes for dialogue here but does later in the book- how does he slide into the mind of the men because they don’t show their feelings in words
 * Ch. 1: The Things They Carried: Stepping into the Story World **

I actually think this chapter is the time to intro the history to the time period and Vietnam. I think we should make the intro to the unit about war stories and war in general/storytelling. Or maybe I’m wrong here. I think in this chapter though we should definitely get them set up for their “entrance” into this experience. Maybe we could have them think about what they would bring to war even before we intro the novel, and then that way they will start with an immediate personal connection with the situation.

Also, this ch. Intros: · Judgment on fear (Lavender) · List poem · Young love and virginity, drugs, sex, religion, racism

Do we talk about these issues now? Do some sensitivity control? Can we link this with a discussion of the time period?

They need to know: · Vocab · Specialized terms · War history · Social context · Geography · Style of writing/ literary devices

Maybe start having kids brainstorm on what a concept means, Townsend style: What does “courage” mean? By seeing the different variations and then comparing them as they read to O’Brian’s definitions they can start to break down cultural myths surrounding these concepts. Can even go further with “what does courage in war mean?” Our meaning-making processes.

Literary devices: listing, repetition, sliding between perspectives through not using punctuation/using collective pronouns to describe independent experience

Hmm… so I think that maybe this chapter should be combined with the introduction of the unit in a sort of 2-part introduction, and then we can start dividing the book into chunk units. This way we can all collaborate on bringing them into the story world. Also, I don’t think we should get too bogged down (I’m mostly talking to myself here) with the detail, literary devices, etc. and just ease them into the story and writing style of the author. I don’t think we have to explain why we are doing certain activities at this point, like the list of things they would carry or something like that. They can make their own connections or we can build off of the concepts of these activities later on. For now just get the relationship going with the text and set up their resources. Sorry it took me so long to get to this point. <3



· Time shift! begin tracking chronology? Life maps of characters on the back of their character sheets? Help them to make a spatial representation of the time sequences or like a web of character experiences if they are not into the list · I don’t think we should go too far into what the author is doing here stylistically, just let the kids absorb and start the processing · Maybe introduce idea of “unspoken meaning” (“how men could do those things” Martha). How does it feel to never know the whole story about someone? We can never fully know anyone. (“there were things about her he would never know”) · Compare tone of this chapter with last
 * Ch.2: Love **

· Begin title tracking/awareness? · Define concept of “spin” · Introduce the “shaping of memory” and “remembering as rehappening”- these are very important themes in both Post Modernism and PTSD, and on a less severe scale in the way that we all make sense of life; also the whole premise of this story, so: maybe we can have them so a writing activity where they retell a story several different ways before the author starts doing it in the story, and then when they encounter it they will already have approached it as a literary technique and might focus a little more on why the author chooses the details that he does · Concept of peace: how is their idea of this word changing? Compare traditional representations of peace, maybe have them brainstorm the word- introduction to the transformation of meaning, like the transformation of memory ( but don’t talk about Post Modernism yet! Just let them try to process this concept inductively- but how can we find situations to compare this phenomenon to in their lives?) · Azar blowing up the puppy- this is some pretty scary stuff, it is building up to the baby buffalo and the man he killed- what about senseless violence and cruelty? How do we begin to approach this topic and should we do it here? How do we deal with the potential humor of this situation? How is the humor and cruelty a way of coping with having to kill human beings? I don’t know what to do with this
 * Ch. 3: Spin **

· Here is where we should intro the history of Vietnam and its cultural context! The intro should be about war in general and here we should get into how Vietnam is different- that way we let them get into the story world before we give them too much context · Also I think here we should intro Post Modernism (briefly I promise!) since they have been experiencing it a little already and we might have already started (without explicitly saying it) doing deconstruction, dealing with time fragmentation and the mutability of memory and experience- now that they have done it a little I think discussion of the major concepts will make sense and will help them anticipate the style/purpose of the rest of the story- they will be prepared when things get ambiguous · “audience of your life activity” I did in my text prep- I don’t know if I’m allowed to use it or not, and I’ll explain it to Kelly so I don’t have to type it all here · also, because he talks so much about his dreams, maybe we could ask kids to try to concretely write down their dreams and think about what it takes/costs to make dreams come true. I feel like at some point someone needs to tell kids that they have to think about how to get there concretely, or else they never will. Even with hard work goals are hard to reach, and without plans and work it is impossible · break down dichotomy between brave/cowardly (text prep) · step back and think about the governments role and justifiability in sending kids to war; begin to talk about the perspective of the soldier (only an introduction to this idea though- don’t
 * Ch. 4: On the Rainy River **

I think we should make this a section, even though it seems really short, because this feels like a natural break in the novel, like these first four chapters have really been an introduction to the rest of the experience. I feel like there is a lot to deal with here textually and contextually, and that after the kids have situated themselves in the more concrete stuff we can start introducing partner texts and discussing the larger themes and issues involved in war and personal experience. This section is their base and their preparation, and after this they can start doing some intense personal and literary work.

· Another dichotomy, plus some crazy shit going on · Think about guilt and obligation, redefining · Weight theme coming on strong · Maybe if we did conceptual prep on these ideas/ brainstorming, then we can compare O’Brian’s definitions and ironies, or they could be keeping a dichotomies chart and fill it in for homework
 * Ch. 5: ** ** Enemies and Ch. 6: Friends: **

· Central chapter · Maybe here is where we should introduce the idea of the war story genre and breaking with conventions, rather than in the beginning? We can pull in a bunch of related texts, talk about narrative structure, point of view, storytelling and how O’Brian breaks with convention or echoes an age old theme · Discuss concept of truth · Start discussing “moral” issues of war · Cultural attitudes towards Vietnam vs. other wars- how has Vietnam changed how American think about/ write about war? · What are some true war stories now? · The baby buffalo, cruelty, graphic violence- again, how are we going to help kids approach this or react to it? Also, think about how soldiers are really kids/babies- this is symbolic · “it wasn’t a war story, it was a love story” · I think this chapter can take a lot of time, but Im not sure what kind of activities to give it
 * Ch. 7: How to Tell a True War Story **

1. The Things They Carried- lesson 1 2. Love 3. Spin 4. On the Rainy River- lesson 2 and 3? · 61 pgs 5. Enemies 6. Friends 7. How to Tell a True War Story- lesson 4 and 5? · 24 pgs 8. The Dentist 9. Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong- lesson 6? · 31 pgs 10. Stockings 11. Church 12. The Man I Killed- lesson 7 · 14 pgs 13. Ambush 14. Style 15. Speaking of Courage- lesson 8, 9? · 24 pgs 16. Notes- lesson 10? 17. In the Field 18. Good Form 19. Field Trip- lesson 11? · 26 pgs 20. The Ghost Soldiers- 12? 21. Night Life 22. The Lives of the Dead · 36 pgs
 * Tentative Group Breakdown (not for us as people but for lessons, and then we can maybe mix them up)**
 * Group 1**
 * Group 2**
 * Group 3**
 * Group 4**