Discuss how “The Things They Carried” differs from a “traditional” story. Do these things help or hinder O’Brien’s work? You might consider the elements of plot, point of view, self-awareness (meta-fiction), character development, symbolism, or any other devices. Though the story reads more like a memoir, how is that we can still call it “fiction”? (Or, can we?)

1. Essay should be approximately 3-4 typed, double-spaced pages, approximately 850-1000 words. Follow MLA format.
2. Be sure to have a clear thesis at the end of the introduction. You will prove the thesis in the body of the essay.
3. Avoid using first person “I” and second person “you.”
4. Be sure to use brief, relevant quotes from the story you are discussing.
5. Secondary Sources. Steve Kaplan: “From the Undying Uncertainty of the narrator in Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried” p. 577-582

You should quote at least two times from the article(s) you select.
Do not use any other outside sources. (But, be aware, if you do use any other sources you MUST cite them properly within the text of your essay and include them on your Works Cited.)
6. Include a list of Works Cited. Your list should include both the story and the article(s) used.
7. The final essay will be turned in directly to Turnitin.com.
8. Be sure to see my grade pointers at the bottom of this page.
Topic Choices: Choose one numbered item. Each of these has a central issue or question that you should use as the focus of your essay. But, you do not necessarily need to respond to each and every question within a numbered item.

Essay 2 Topics:
1 Discuss how “The Things They Carried” differs from a “traditional” story. Do these things help or hinder O’Brien’s work? You might consider the elements of plot, point of view, self-awareness (meta-fiction), character development, symbolism, or any other devices. Though the story reads more like a memoir, how is that we can still call it “fiction”? (Or, can we?)

2 To some degree, each of the critics in this chapter comment on the idea that the stories in the novel The Things They Carried are metafictional—that is, they in various ways draw attention to the fact that they are stories and thus also become about stories, storytelling, and about the relationship between fiction and reality, stories and truth. The novel’s title story and opening chapter—“The Things They Carried”—is, however, the least metafictional story in the book. Analyze what, if anything, seems metafictional in and about the story and why and how exactly that might matter. Do the story’s metafictional aspects make it seem less or more “true” or emotionally engaging, and if so, in what ways?

3 Identify the central argument of one of the three articles in this chapter and write a response.Use the story itself—“The Things They Carried”—to extend, refute, or complicate (take in a different direction) one of these authors’ interpretations. You may include in your discussion comments on the way in which the author uses secondary sources.

4 Lt. Cross carries a pebble from Martha with him. Martha describes her reasoning for picking up the pebble, which she found along the beach where “things came together but also separated.” This seems to bring out a central theme of the story, this idea of “separate-but-together.” Discuss this theme as seen not only specifically with Jimmy and Martha, but in other aspects of the story. How does Lt. Cross feel about this concept? How does it work to describe the way the soldiers were in Vietnam? And, on the idea of fiction (or metafiction), can it be applied to the idea of storytelling-the teller and the audience?

5 Death is clearly a central theme of “The Things They Carried.” The soldiers in the story handle death differently throughout the text. Some carry ghosts, while others seem not to be impacted at all by the deaths of their fellow soldiers (or their enemy). Discuss how two or more of the characters deal with / are impacted by death. What does the manner in which O’Brien includes the story of Ted Lavender’s death-multiple times, repeating information, returning to it in odd places-say about death and this death in particular?

looking for:
• A strong, clear thesis. This thesis will be at the end of the introduction paragraph.
• Good, logical paragraphing. Each paragraph should be distinct. Each paragraph will have its own “issue” or topic that helps to support/prove the overall thesis of the essay.
• Plenty of specific quotes from and specific references to the story.
• The TWO required quotes from the secondary sources. These alone are worth 10 points of the overall essay grade.
• A clean, error-free Works Cited. (The Works Cited is also worth 10 points of the overall essay grade.)