The Things I Carry

Students completed questions for Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong and began brainstorming and drafting their TTIC essays. Here are the questions: Names: __________________________________ The Things They Carried: chapter questions - 20 points Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong 1. This story plays with truth. O’Brien tells us, “I heard it from Rat Kiley, who swore up and down to it’s truth, although in the end, I’ll admit, that doesn’t amount to much of a warranty” (101). How does O’Brien engage you in a story which, up front, he’s already admitted is probably not “true”? How is this a “true war story” even though it is fictional? 2. How does O’Brien use physical details to show Mary Anne’s change? (Think of her gestures, her clothes, her actions.) How, specifically, has she changed? And why? 3. Why do you think O’Brien keeps stopping the story so that other characters can comment on it (i.e. page 108)? How do these other conversations add to Mary Anne’s story? 4. Does it matter what happened, in the end, to Mary Anne? Would this be a better story if we knew, precisely, what happened to her after she left camp? Or does this vague ending add to the story? Either way, why? 5. Why do you think she changed? What did the change symbolize?