The Things They Carried Pre-Reading

Tim O'Brien's novel The Things They Carried is a shocking exploration of the Vietnam war and its effects on soldiers, civilians, and countries. In it, O'Brien recounts stories influences by his own experiences in the war. In order to examine the ideas that are brought up while reading the novel, we must understand the importance of the war itself.

Map

• On which continent is Vietnam located?
• What are the countries that border Vietnam?
• What are the two major cities in Vietnam?

Video

• Based on the video, what is the Vietnam terrain like?
• How could this terrain be difficult or dangerous for unfamiliar soldiers?
• What other general observations can be made about Vietnam or the Vietnam war based on this scene from Forrest Gump?

Create a folder in your Google Drive titled "TTC Journals." At the end of the novel, you will submit all of your journals to be graded as a quiz.

This journal will reflect on the different things we carry with us on a daily basis...both tangible and intangible things. There are questions below to get you thinking and writing, but let the questions inspire commentary and questioning about the things we carry and the things that weigh most heavily on us.

Consider what you carry with you on a daily basis.

1. What is in your backpack or school bag?
2. Approximately how much does it all weigh?
3. What are the items that you must carry with you at all times?
4. Does their weight correlate with their importance?
5. What intangible things do you “carry” with you (i.e. parental pressures, responsibility, etc.)?
6. What weighs more heavily on you: the tangible or intangible things?