'Style' Blog

If i were in the same scenario as the men when they encoountered the dancing girl, I would react to her strange tactics in a way where I would have no clue what is going on because everything that belonged to this girl was destroyed so I would expect her to be distraught rather than happy, so happy that shes dancing.

Explain the importance of the field. How would you feel if your dad brought you back to an important memory?

The importance of the field in the story is that it was a memory and it is also a beautiful place, unlike the muddy field that the soldiers were in. If my dad brought me back to an important memory it would mean everything to me because a memory part of what makes me who I am. Also, it would be like a bonding moment with me and my dad if he were to take me back to that memory.

Why is the story called "Speaking of Courage (Consider the title to be ironic and not ironic)?

The title is ironic because the main character in the story, Norman Bowker, is more of a coward rather than someone who has courage because he's afraid to do anything.

Think about a time when you felt you had to use a lot of courage in your life.

A time when I had to use a lot of courage in my life is when I began competitive swimming. The reason why I used courage is because at first swimming was very tough, so tough that I though that I was never going to be good at it. Instead, I toughened up and swam almost everyday and I got much better and I became a better athlete.

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2. The character named Tim O’Brien provides an interesting structure to the discussions of this work of fiction: how much of Tim O’Brien the actual person is “in” Tim O’Brien the character?

Not much of Tim O’Brien the actual person is “in” Tim O’Brien the character because he didn’t do things in the story that he said.

3. “The Man I Killed” describes intimate aspects of the dead man’s life. Where do these details come from? That is, how does the narrator know these things?

O’Brien imagines that the man he killed was born in 1946 and that his parents were farmers; that he was neither a Communist nor a fighter and that he hoped that Americans would go away. He imagines that the boy began studying at the university in Saigon in 1964, that he avoided politics and favored calculus.

4. How do these stories relate to each other?  Themes are tied to form in this novel. The multiple-story, multiple-perspective format emphasizes how similar and yet how different the Vietnam War was for the different men. One theme in particular is developed these three stories: the idea of moral responsibility for our actions, even in war.  How is this theme woven throughout and tied to perspective in the three stories?

This theme isn’t really woven throughout all three stories because in “Good Form” O’Brien talks about the difference between real truth and story truth and not about his actions in the war. In “The Man I Killed” he reflects on the boys life that he killed and how his life was cut short so the theme is sort of tied in to this story.

6. Why does O’Brien keep writing war stories? To what extent is this book a collection of personal memories?  To what extent is it “a work of fiction”?

O’Brien keeps writing war stories because some of them were requested by other people or that he wanted to show the memories. For example, “Speaking of Courage” was written at the request of Norman Bowker, who hanged himself in the YMCA. I think that The Things They Carried is more of a work of fiction because it talks about things that didn’t really happen more than the memories that were talked about.

7. What does O’Brien mean when he says there is a difference between “story truth” and

“happening truth”?

When O’Brian talks about the difference with “story truth” as appose to ”Happening truth” he is talking about how the story is told and the censorship which is applied to the story told. It is told in a way that is more presentable in the present to other people. In his book O’Brian says this and uses a description of the body of a man he killed and how he describes it to show this. In the happening truth he is more forward and honest talking about how there where many bodies and he felt regret and remorse for this man. However in his story truth he simple tells how the man died, the state of his body and bullet wound, and says he killed him.

8. What kind of multi-media, documents, and sources can you use to make your presentation a solid, coherent, in-depth, and challenging? Keep in mind that you have to use the book, no matter what.

For our presentation we can use interpretation tools such as sparknotes and cliffnotes to better interpret the works, and to form our actual presentation we will likely use Prezi to creat a good vivid visual aid for our presentation.

9. How will you ensure that the audience participates attentively throughout?

 The way that my group and I will ensure that the class will participates with the lesson; is that we will give 5-10 questions on what we have discussed during the class, my group and I will have the class act out what is going on, but let the student lead the acting, and we will have the class take a short quiz on what they learned.

10. Do you want to assign a blog or homework (to be done in advance or after your session)?

Yes, my group and I will assign a blog to do during the class forthe students to do. The blog will be on which ever chapter they liked the most and they will have to explain why and give qoutes from the book in there blog post.

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When we are preparing for a student-led presentation, my expectations are to explain everything to the students so that they understand what I and my group are talking about. I expect for my group to understand the material that they are going to talk about to the other students. I expect for the other students in the class to be quiet during the presentation and have respect for me and my group. I also expect for them to have many questions for us after the presentation is over.