O’Brien: The Things They Carried and Characters/Poems

Picture Vietnam Soldiers

Map Vietnam

Picture landscape Vietnam

Veteran Poem  Think of Me You know you can not bring me back You know that I am gone I walk the streets of heaven now It's my eternal home But think of me now and then Just as you do today Remember that I died for you So America could stay A land where men are equal A land where men are free A land I lived and died for When you think of Freedom Think of me Written by Loyde P. "Snake" Arender on May 25, 1988Loyde P. "Snake" Arender

What is a Character?  Character - The combination of qualities or features that distinguishes one person, group, or thing from another. This is generally a distinguishing feature.  Example: Kiowa  Devout Baptist p. 3  Carried New Testament presented to him by his father who taught Sunday school p. 3  Carried his mothers distrust of white man p. 3  Carried his grandfathers old hunting hatchet p. 3  He enjoyed not being dead p. 18  He admired Lieutenant Jimmy Cross’s capacity for grief p. 18.

Class Exercise:  Students number off 1 to 5. Get into your assigned group.  Each group pick a character from the list below:  Martha  Kiowa  Jimmy Cross  Henry Dobbins  Dave Jenson  Ted Lavender  Norman Bowker  Mary Anne  Rat Kiley  Mitchell Sanders

Class Exercise cont.:  Upon picking your character, notate on a piece of paper the qualities of him or her.  Write the specific characteristics  Write the page #  Do this while reading pages  Notate unfamiliar words on 3/5 cards:  Word  Definition  Notate how used in the book. (write the sentence it is used in)  Write it in a sentence you created

Class Exit Card:  In your group notate 5 adjectives, nouns, and/or verbs that best describes your character. Then answer these questions using the adjectives, nouns, and/or verbs.  What does this character represent for you?  Does this character seem real to you? Why?  Write a poem describing this character. Example: Kiowa (you may draw a picture to go along with your poem)

Poem  A man of history  Strong in religion  Carried moccasins for silence  Carried many things  Bullets, rifles, pens, and paper  Flares, tobacco, helmets, and guns  Carried for safety  Carried many things