The Things They Carried
Reading Calendar and Assignment Sheet
Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried is a remarkable book, one that defies simple description
and characterization. On one level, it is a book about the Vietnam War, but it just as importantly
a meditation on storytelling. The book plays out our need to tell the most important stories in our
lives, and it lays bare the inherent challenges and satisfactions and impossible frustrations we
confront whenever we do so. We will be focusing on both of these issues – the nature of war and
the essence of narrative – throughout our exploration of the book.
Below you will find an assignment calendar for our consideration of the book; I will make every
effort to stick to this schedule as closely as possible. Along with the day’s reading assignment, I
will expect you to come to class with notes on the relationship between form and content in the
stories you’ve read, highlighting the ways in which the narrative approach to each story serves or
confuses or complicates that story’s project.
In addition, you’ll be expected to “test out” this approach to story-telling at home, spending 30
minutes per night on applying the techniques that O’Brien employs (and that we’ve discussed) to
your own elusive subject. Once we have finished the book, you will be asked to submit both a
“multi-genre” portfolio which, like O’Brien’s book, briefly considers the same event from a
variety of perspectives and of narrative approaches, as well as a “finished” version of ONE
of these efforts.
Date
W. 10/23
Tu. 10/29
Th. 10/31
M. 11/4
W. 11/6
Fr. 11/8
W. 11/13
F. 11/15
Tu. 11/19
Th. 11/21
M. 11/25
W. 11/27
Chapters
Thinking about the Personal Essay
“The Things They Carried,” “ Love,” “Spin”
“On the Rainy River,” “Enemies,” “Friends”
And your 1st fragment
“How to Tell a True War Story,” “ The Dentist”
And your 2nd fragment
“Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” “Stockings,”
“Church”
And your 3rd fragment
“The Man I Killed,” “Ambush” “Style” “Good
Form”
And your 4th fragment
QUARTER EXAM – IN CLASS ESSAY!!!
“Speaking of Courage,” “Notes, “In the Field”
(“Field Trip,” “The Ghost Soldiers” “Night Life”)
The Lives of the Dead
Final Discussion The Things They Carried
And your 5th & 6th fragments
The Sonnet – An Introduction
The Sonnet – An Introduction…Continued
Hamlet Quiz & Field Trip…to the Library!!
Final TTTC Essay Due Today
In class
1st Harkness & Discussion
2ndHarkness & Discussion
3rd Harkness & Discussion
4th Harkness & Discussion
5th Harkness & Discussion