The Things They Carried Quote Project
You will be provided with a list of quotes from Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried. Select a
quote from the list, or another from the book which you feel applies most directly to YOU.
ON BACK
Writing elements:
+Write at least one paragraph explaining how your quote relates to you on a personal level.
+Write another paragraph explaining how the quote connects to the book.
Visual Elements:
You are encouraged to flex your creative muscles on the display portion of the project. Your visual
elements can be printed words/photos, clipart, cut and pasted clips from magazines and/or
writing/drawings done by hand. You will have one 12” X 18” sheet.
You need:
+ Your quote of choice featured in some form.
+At least one image which appropriately connects you the quote.
+At least one image which connects the quote to the book.
+At least one image connecting the quote to a historic or current event.
You have one week to complete this grand total of two paragraphs and four visual elements. You
have at least one full class period to get started; your project is expected to reflect the time
provided having been well spent. Follow the provided rubric for maximum points.
The Things They Carried Quote Project Rubric
Writing Elements:
One paragraph connecting a TTTC Quote to you personally
One paragraph explaining the context of the quote in the book
Visual Elements:
A visual display of the quote on your paper
One image connecting the quote to you personally
One image connecting the quote to its book context
One image connecting the quote to a historic or current event
TOTAL:
/5
/5
/2
/3
/2
/3
/20
Quotes to Consider
You are not limited to this list; find one that fits you!
“They shared the weight of Memory. They took up what others could no longer bear” (14).
“They were afraid of dying but they were even more afraid to show it” (20).
“Men killed and died because they were embarrassed not to” (21).
“On occasions the war was like a Ping-Pong ball. You could put fancy spin on it, you could
make it dance” (32).
“Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember
except the story” (38).
“I was ashamed of my conscience, ashamed to be doing the right thing” (52).
“I survived, but it’ not a happy ending. I was a coward. I went to the war” (61).
“. . .you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to
obscenity and evil” (69).
“In any war story, but especially a true one, it’s difficult to separate what happened from
what seemed to happen” (71).
“It comes down to gut instinct. A true war story, if truly told, makes the stomach believe”
(78).
“Garden of evil. Over here, man, every sin’s real fresh and original.” –Mitchell Sanders (p.
80)
“To generalize war is like generalizing about peace. Almost everything is true. Almost
nothing is true” (81).
“. . .proximity to death brings with it a corresponding proximity to life” (81).
“In the midst of evil you want to be a good man” (81).
“Often in a true story there is not even a point, or else the point doesn’t hit you until
twenty years later. . .” (82).
“It was as if she had come up on the edge of something, as if she were caught in that noman’s-land. . .” (105).
“You come over clean and you get dirty and then afterwards it’s never the same “ (114).