1. The Things You Carry
Writing Activity

2. What do you carry?
Think about some of things you carry in your own life or would carry if you were going to war.
These things could be physical items (a special necklace, an important book, a letter or photograph) or these things could be more figurative (the loss of a loved one, pride for your country, love for someone special).

3. Drawing on the writing of Tim O’Brien
Think about what we discussed during our talk about the selected reading from the novel The Things They Carried. Consider O’Brien’s characterization tools: earned abstractions, selection of detail, juxtaposition of ideas, and any other tools you observed (word choice, tone, structure, and general style.)
How could you allow his writing style to influence your own style? Try to include some of the aspects in his writing in your own.
Be prepared to explain your stylistic choices when we share as a class.

4. Sharing
Keep in mind that we will be encouraging people to share, so perhaps there are some things you’d rather not share with the class.
However, this is a safe space and everyone will act with respect, understanding that some people may be sharing some very sensitive/personal information with us.

5. I carry a jacket or a coat for protection
For protection from the world
Or to hide from the world and what is inside
Or to hide the truth and the lies
Depending on the weather
I carry my feeling, my emotions, my personality, and my thoughts
There are a lot of things I carry
But there are also things that carry me
My life carries my
It gives me hope and it gives me the will
Because of my life I am who I am
I am who I am because of the things I carry
-Rhonda Spigh

6. The Things I Carry
The things I carry:
A wallet, keys, chap-stick, a phone, Rolaids;
Not much, just to get me through the day.
Those things stay the same.
My wallet: an assortment of collected cards,
my ID, my ATM card, my Exxon card;
Three dollars (soon to be two),
Canadian money, old receipts, things I’m too lazy to throw away.
My keys, just two keys: a house and a car
with the beeper thing, I guess I’d call it a remote.
My chap-stick; I never need it unless I don’t have it with me.
A phone: so I can know what I’m doing, without it I’d probably be lost (literally).
Rolaids: Heartburn’s a pain.
Today I carry a white Abercrombie and Fitch shirt,
khaki pants, and wallabies.
Depending on what day it is, I can be seen with a laptop
and a couple of books at my side.
I carry with me the carelessness
that I have decided to adopt,
my ambitions, and my fears.
I carry friendship.
The weight of each of these is undetermined,
but they do not weigh me down.
-Jared Herring