Outside Reading Week 7 Post B

Dear Mr. O'Brien, 

As I reach the end of your novel I become more interested. Especially because they're is even more story telling now, and is becoming much more intense story telling. The stories told are such a stretch and seem so unreal, but there is an air about them that truly makes you believe they really happened, and I'm convinced that they did.  

One story in particular that  I found really controversial for the time, and super intriguing was the one about the young girl who came to Vietnam because her boyfriend shipped her in. It seems sort of borderline controversial because having a woman on the battle field was probably looked down upon by most, but the men in their unit didn't have a problem with it. In fact, they all seemed to fall in love with her, but she seemed to fall in love with the war. She learned how to help soldier when they were wounded, learn to work and M-85, and began going on ambushes with the "greenies" without others knowing at first. They say that she became obsessed with the war and ambushes because she felt completely herself when she was out there. Eventually, they began to see less and less of her. Until she would be gone for days. One late night her and the 6 "greenies" return to their tent, and the other soldiers were, of course, very curious, and her boyfriend upset about what she was doing. So finally, the peer into the tent and find a jaguars head on a pole and Mary anne, the girl ,with a necklace of human tongues around her neck while she chanted and lied there with the rest of the crew. From then on she was a completely different person, and she and her boyfriend broken off. Later on, she was never to be seen of again, but assumed to be alive and out in the forest. 

Now this is a very odd story, and very hard to believe, but with the passion for writing Mr. O'Brien shows, something makes you believe that he is telling the truth. That is what I truly like about his novel. Is that despite what we may think of the war, and what we may find to be true or not, I can't help but believe and feel what he says. I think it is that element that gave him an award from his book and critics acclaim. It was a very well written, easy to comprehend, and intriguing novel, and to be honest, I'm not one for war stories, but this has changed my view of what they really are about. 

Outside Reading Week 7 Post A

VOCAB-

bivouacked: a military encampment made with tents or improvised shelters, usually without shelter or protection from enemy fire. n. 

viaduct: a bridge for carrying a road, railroad, etc., over a valley or the like, consisting of a number of short spans. 

Figurative Language-

1) "[...] most of the lawns were scorched dry like October corn"(146). An example of a simile to describe the effect the summer takes on grass when it's dry out, causing it to look similar to the corn seen during the October month. 

2) " The pair of mud hens floated like wooden decoys[...]"(147). Another simile to explain what the hens on the lake appeared to be. 

3) "Her eyes were as fluffy and airy- light as cotton candy"(151).  This is an example of personification, and it's personification because one's eyes cant be cotton candy, but they can appear to seem like cotton candy, but can't physically be cotton candy. 

Quote-

" There was a slight tear at the lobe of one ear, a sprinkling of blood on the forearm. He wore a gold ring on the third finger of his right hand. His chest was sunken and poorly muscled--  scholar maybe"(128).  I really like this quote because it shows Tim O'Brien's attention to detail. Also, I find it interesting that Mr. O'Brien thinks he may be a scholar because of his appearance, yet his appearance seems to be pretty dissembled and  hard to make out exactly what he looked like before the bombing, but I suppose if you killed a man you would be able to figure out a lot about him. 

Theme-

 The new major theme appears to be odd phenomenon in the event of a war. 

Week 6 Post B

Dear Mr. O'Brien,

I continue to enjoy your book as I endeavor further into it. Your recollection is impeccable and your writing makes me feel as though I was in the war right by your side. One excerpt from your novel that I really enjoy was your description of the thoughts soldiers develop while at war  along with what they, and you, witnessed. One story I will never ever forget you mentioning is the one of the baby water buffalo. It really brought me to tears thinking about how they tortured that innocent baby animal, and I actually feel very strongly about this. I know this is  a time of sorrow and many, many horrible things happened to you and your men, but I just can;t understand why you would continue with it and let a man torture that innocent animal. I honestly wouldn't care then if his best friend just died. It was really sick and twisted, and the soldier certainly didn't get any pleasure out of it, and if you ask me he just shot another weight onto his shoulders. 

Along with that story I also mentioned I liked the description of the war that you present, especially the one on pages 80-82. I feel like you execute the emotions perfectly. I bet any one soldier who was in the war can, but you wrote just wrote it down. Though they are all very complex feelings I can understand, or at least begin to, why you felt those things.  Well done.

Sincerely,

Grace

Week 6 Post A

VOCAB-

 ambiguity: doubtfulness or uncertainty 0f meaning or intention.

trite: lacking in freshness or effectiveness because of a constant use or excessive repetition. 

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE-

1)" In a true war story, if there's a moral at all, it's like the thread that makes the cloth"(77). Here a simile is used to compare the truth in war to the thread that makes cloth. He's saying that you need to tell the truth to be able to tell a war story.

2) " [...]Like a killer forest fire, like  cancer under a microscope[...]"(81). Another simile used to describe what war looks like. He obviously feels it is a morbid looking time because it's like "cancer" and "forest fires."

3) "Though it's odd, you're never more alive than when you're almost dead"(81). This quote feels like a part of figurative language just because of its thought and logic. Like your physical well being is not very lively when you're close to death, but the idea of almost reaching death creates a lively feeling. 

QUOTE-

" War is hell, but that's not the half of it, because war is also a mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead."(80).  This is only an excerpt from a longer description of war, but in entirety the description is as well put as it can be. I think hoe the author describes the war is exactly how I would expect it to feel, and he captures every emotion. 

THEME-

Knowing and reflection upon how war effects one. 

Week 5 Post B

Dear Mr. O'Brien,

I have read the next three chapters in "The Things They Carried," and I would just like to say I enjoyed them, mostly because they were war stories, but that was the whole point. I liked you telling the reader the truth about war stories and how the "normal" sounding ones were probably made up and the "crazy" ones were probably the ones that actually happened. 

One of the stories you told I thought was really weird and sort of depressing, but you tell it in a very un-depressing manner.  You said, "Sharp gray eyes, lean and narrow-waisted, and when he died it was almost beautiful, they way the sun light came around him and lifted him up and sucked him high into a tree full of moss and vines and white blossoms"(70).  This seems like one of those stories that is "crazy," but actually happened, which I think is what freaks me out the most. The idea of someone being blown up into a tree while playing with a grenade sounds perfectly "crazy" to me, but I believe it actually happened. Also, how you describe his death as "beautiful," I find a little weird, but at the same time I can picture it perfectly and how you thought it was beautiful. 

That was just one of my favorite war stories told in those chapters. Although  I also like hearing about your companions back on the war grounds because I'm a firm believer in friends and having people you would kill yourself for, or in one case, kill them in their favor. Like the two soldiers who hated each other at first, but then became really good friends, and made a pact to kill the other if they were ever amputated. Of course one of the men has his leg blown off, but doesn't want to be killed so his friend promises to not kill him. It is partly morbid, but also heartwarming. 

Sincerely, 

Grace

Week 5 Post A

Vocab-

 gook: a native of the Southeast Asia to the south pacific, esp. when a member of an enemy military force. 

 swank: dashing smartness, as in dress or appearance;style. 

Figurative Language-

1) "Rat pours his heart out"(68), is a metaphor used to describe this man's passion for what he was doing. You can't literally pour your heart out, but it is a common phrase to describe letting your feelings out. 

2) "A deep pinkish red spilled out on the river[...]"(71). This quote may be considered some sort of personification because in the context he is talking about the color of the sky reflecting onto the river's water. So the sky is not literally poured into the river, but the author uses this term to describe what it looked like. 

3)  One of the soldiers is telling O'Brien of these men that hid in the mountains and began hearing noises like a radio, and the soldier says that it' s like "[...] like the mountains are tuned into Radio ------- Hanoi"(73)., but the mountains can't play music from a radio themselves so he uses personification to describe what it was like. 

Quote-

" In any war story, but especially a true one, it's difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen. What seems to happen becomes its own happening and has to be told that way"(71). I really like this quote because he makes an interesting point. It has a real genuine feel to it, and it makes me feel like i'll never know what the war is really like no matter how many stories i hear. It's a "you had to be there" kind of thing, and he makes that apparent to the reader here, and at the same time it makes the book that much more interesting.

Theme-

Not knowing what the war  was really like, and never knowing what it was really like. Also, companionship in the army and how it was so unique.  

Week 4 Post B

Dear Mr. O'Brien, 

 I'm in the middle of your chapter of confession, "On the Rainy River." I find your confession actually fairly odd, I was expecting something a little more dramatic. I mean, yours is pretty dramatic, but I expecting you committed like the mother of all things that one could do. It's interesting that you are so ashamed of attempting to run away from the war. If you were my son I would understand or at least try to, and as a parent I probably wouldn't try and stop you. But I do understand your thoughts of thinking that people might think that of you. 

One thing in particular I took to the bank from reading this chapter is: to thank those you might not have a chance to thank ever again. Just like with you and the old man from the lodge you stay at. I know what you're talking about when you want to thank those people that didn't even know they helped you out, and I think sometimes those are the most important people to thank. It's just a funny little thing that I think people don't recognize that much, that is: those people who we don't take much notice of or don't even know, and are sometimes know the most about us or help us in an unexpected way. 

Week 4 Post A

Censure: strong or vehement expression of disapproval. 

acquiescence: agreement or consent by silence or without objection; compliance. 

Figurative Language-

1) "Even after a hot bath, scrubbing hard, the stink was always there--like old bacon, or sausage, a dense greasy pig-stink that soaked deep into my skin and hair"(43). Although it is, in a way, a description, it can be considered a simile because it is comparing something using like. He is saying his skin and hair smell like pig bacon. 

2) "I sometimes felt the fear spreading inside me like weeds"(44). Obviously, this would be a simile because he is describing a non human-like thing using the word "like." And weeds can't literally grow inside him, but it can feel as though there is. 

3) [...] just take off and run like hell" Yet another simile. You can't run like "hell" it's not possible, but it is an expression used commonly to describe doing something like there's no tomorrow. And what makes this is a simile is that it too uses the word "like."

Quote-

"If you support a war, if you think it's worth the price, that's fine, but you have to put your own precious fluids on the line. You have to head for the front and hook up with an infantry unit and help spill the blood. And you have to along your wife, or your kids, or your lover. A law I thought"(42).  This quote overall just really speaks to me, mostly I think because it makes sense. It makes so much sense to just send those to war who believe it is the right thing to do. Why would you make people who don't believe in war, go to war and lose their wife, kids, or lover? It's beyond the point of unfairness. They didn't ask for that. 

Theme-

Feelings of remorse and shame have seem to arise from this section of the novel.