This was tricky.  Because this was a newer text (for my classroom), there already was a whole set of poems before another war book that we do - All Quiet on the Western Front.  With that in mind, I set out to find poems (and songs) that were not only about war - but were about Vietnam as much as possible  I also wanted poems that were about memory - about catharsis (I could write a book about the need for catharsis in our classrooms) and I wanted as many songs as we could fit in - especially since many of my students would be familiar with songs of that era.

For so many years, we read "Soldier's Home" by Ernest Hemingway as a prelude to beginning All Quiet on the Western Front.  When The Things They Carried was added to our class - it made so much more sense to put it here.  Like so many of the soldier's described in O'Brien's Vietnam era novel - Harold Krebs (from "Soldier's Home") is dealing with and feeling the weight of the things that he has brought back with him from the war - many of these having to do with his own lies about the conflict. 

We begin the book with a discussion - a teacher led Ringmaster Teacher discussion.  There is so much to cover here - and the teacher can set the tone and pace for what is to follow: until the last discussion - they will all (with the exception of one Group Work) be led by the students using Divided Readings (each row gets a section) - though everyone reads the entire book.

We will discuss that day's reading - starting with the students.  Every student (who read) will have a chance to contribute.  One thing that I found, is the fact that they will have to directly contribute to the discussion, makes it even more likely that the students will do the reading (they still get a quiz though).   This section includes the incredible "On the Rainy River".

Later in the book - when the students learn that "The Things They Carried" is a work of fiction - some of them will be disappointed, aggravated, and some even angry.  We will come back to these pages - specifically - What is a True War Story - to see why they really shouldn't be.  We will discuss that day's reading - starting with the students.  Every student (who read) will have a chance to contribute.  One thing that I found, is the fact that they will have to directly contribute to the discussion, makes it even more likely that the students will do the reading (they still get a quiz though).  

The reading is pretty short for this section - which is great because the chapter on Mary Anne ("Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong") reads like a minature novel in itself.  I created a group work - because I wanted to change things up - and I thought it was perfect for this section and I wanted to bring back the poems that the students had at the very beginning of this unit (which I always ask them to keep in their copies of the books).    If you decide to go with a row reading the descriptions for these lessons are going to be, pretty much... the same.   

So much in this reading -  one of the ideas that stands out is the Chapter, "The Man I Killed".  We learn things about that man - that Tim (the character) could never know.  Again, the author is preparing us for the idea that this is a work of fiction - not a memoir.  The descriptions for these lessons are going to be, pretty much... the same.

WARNING: Some of these chapters deal with suicide - and it is advisable to consider this when teaching this part of the book.  Like "On the Rainy River" - the chapter called "Speaking of Courage" is one of the most powerful and moving of the book - and I believe the two chapters are closely related.  The choice that Tim (the character) makes at the Rainy River comes to head in many ways in this chapter - the consequences - and what he could have done if he had been brave enough to follow his heart. 

At the beginning of the book, there is a mention of the "thing" that cannot be discussed.  I believe today's reading is about that incident - what happens in the field.  But what is so great is that throughout the book there are candidates for what that "thing" is - and even here - it is not definitive - but perhaps, Tim's (the character's) interaction with his daughter - is.  

 "Ghost Soldiers" is a very intense chapter.  It also echoes Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness (I give the students a handout with the last page of that novel along with the lyrics to "Those Were the Days" (mentioned importantly in the chapter).- especially the ending.  Tim longs to get revenge on a fellow soldier (an idea we shall see soon again in All Quiet on the Western Front) - and when he gets it - he finds out that he has become what he has tried to avoid - what he has promised himself he would never be.  

 Though this is initially a Teacher Led (Ringmaster Teacher) discussion - the second half of the class is given over to the comments, questions, quotes that each student has brought in for the discussion.  There is obviously a lot to cover - once more the metaphysical rug is pulled out from under us - we learn about Timmy's "girlfriend" that caused the death of his best friend - and the childhood that he is trying to heal by writing this book - which may not, in the end, be a book solely about Vietnam - as much as it is about every trauma and sadness that we all must bear and must carry around with us.

 This essay prompt was designed for my AP Literature class - but really could be used with any class that is studying rhetoric, writing, and literary analysis.  WARNING: The prose sample from the book is very graphic and explicit in its descriptions of the aftermath of the death of "the man that Tim killed".