AP English Language 21 September 2010 O’Brien’s Diction The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien is a historical fiction novel that presents a variety of anecdotes and dialogues exposing the reality and impact of the Vietnam War. The stories of several characters let the readers understand the wide impact of the war. O’Brien presents all these stories by the use of dialogue‚ and he does this successfully by maneuvering his diction. By the use of slang‚ soldier jargon‚ and vulgar language the author
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The Power of the Truth Novelist Tim O’Brian once said “A lie‚ sometimes‚ can be truer than the truth‚ which is why fiction gets written.” In his novel The Things They Carried‚ O’Brian argues that “story-truth is sometimes truer than happening-truth” (171). O’Brian opposes the idea of absolute truth‚ and believes that all truths are subject to change. He believes that a fictional story can be more true than an actual event. However‚ a story‚ no matter what story‚ cannot be more true than an actual
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some characters experience some kind of changes throughout the story. The story called The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien talks about a young Lieutenant‚ named Jimmy Cross‚ unable to lead his men because he keeps thinking about Martha‚ ended up cost one of his men’s life‚ during the war. The story takes place in Vietnam and the war is called Vietnam War‚ one of the most controversial military conflict in the U.S history. Tim O’Brien uses characterization to describe the transformations Jimmy
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The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross carried letters from a girl named Martha‚ a junior at Mount Sebastian College in New Jersey. They were not love letters‚ but Lieutenant Cross was hoping‚ so he kept them folded in plastic at the bottom of his rucksack. In the late afternoon‚ after a day’s march‚ he would dig his foxhole‚ wash his hands under a canteen‚ unwrap the letters‚ hold them with the tips of his fingers‚ and spend the last hour of light pretending
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In the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe there are many conflicts that occur that are for the most part all handled differently. Sometimes the conflicts are handled in a positive or negative way which always brings with it huge consequences that shape the story as it goes. Everybody reacts differently to conflict depending on their culture‚ own preferences‚ and their view on the conflict. In Things Fall Apart the character Okonkwo faces many conflicts which he usually handles with his culture’s
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“The Things They Carried.” There are many ways shame can show itself during war although you wouldn’t think so since they are serving our country. It drives them to do things that they wish they had not. O’Brien really brings all of the possible shameful acts to the reader’s attention. Shame is the reason that Tim O’Brien decided to go to Vietnam. Many of the characters feel shame as a primary motivator‚ too. Not only does it lead them to war‚ but it keeps them there. It is the one thing that
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Mr. Nenopoulos CAI September 2‚ 2014 The Things They Carried In the following book The Things They Carried by Tim O Brien‚ the title of this novel suits the story well because of many reasons. This book is written about the American soldiers that served in the Vietnam War. In the beginning of this book O Brien instantly gives us a huge nudge as to why this book titled this by telling us what each soldier carried on their backs during this war. He explains how heavy the equipment they have to carry
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English III (B) The Leader Without Leadership During the war‚ there must be a leader who is responsible for the whole team and is able to lead a group of people. In the novel‚ The Things They Carried written by Tim O’Brien shows many different kinds of leaders during the Vietnam War. Jimmy Cross is one of the leaders in the book. He represents the failure as being a lieutenant of Alpha Company. As being a failure‚ he often gets distracts on a girl named Martha‚ who is his unrequested college
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shame and loneliness. In The Things They Carried it is clear that most of the soldiers in the war do not come back with a sense of pride or honor. Most come back wishing they had never gone at all. Tim O’Brien reveals that because Vietnam precipitated such traumatic experiences‚ his storytelling is a great way to cope with his shame and loneliness‚ emphasizing that the war experience is not one of patriotism and heroism‚ but one of loneliness and guilt. The "things" part of the title represents
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both memories and the current happenings in one’s life. In the beginning of The Things They Carried‚ by Tim O’Brien‚ O’Brien describes the lasting turmoil both he and Lieutenant Jimmy Cross feel as a result of the war: “... Jimmy rubbed his eyes and said he’d never forgiven himself for Lavender’s death. It was something that would never go away‚ he said quietly‚ and I nodded and told him I feel the same about certain things” (26). The tragedies of war can never be understood by one who has not experienced
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