Introduction
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Award. It is a fictional novel that blurs the line between truth and reality. It tells the story of the Vietnam War through the eyes of the men who fought in it. In addition, it defines their personal burdens, both physical and emotional and shows how they managed these burdens.
Task
Your team has been assigned a specific activity. You will use the links provided as well as other resources to become experts on your roles. You and your team will work together and discuss your topic, complete a group assignment, and then each group member will complete an individual assignment. When you are done, the class will come together to discuss the overarching themes of The Things They Carried.
The dicussion will focus on the following questions:
1. What is courage?
2. Is war (and/or violence) moral?
3. What is truth?
4. How do humans cope with isolation, loneliness, and loss?
Discuss each question with your group and come to a consensus. Write down your group's answer to each question, with a list of reasons to support it. Use your answers during the class discussion.
Process
You will be working together as a group exploring web sites, answering questions, and performing tasks. You should start with the pages that are labeled 'Background Information' before dividing into groups. Each group has its own Task to complete and a separate set of web sites to use.
Phase 1 - Background Information
As you read through the background websites, make a list of twenty facts about Vietnam.
Phase 2 - Roles
These roles were chosen because they each define the most important elements of The Things They Carried. Each of you has been assigned a particular role with links and instructions below.
Physical and Emotional Burdens:
Your group will be looking at the physical and emotional burdens that we all carry. First, read through the links and summarize the information in each one. Then, look through your backpack, purse, pockets, or think about your locker. Answer the following questions:
1.What do you carry every day in school?
2. What things do you carry that are very visible to the world?
3. What hidden things do you carry?
4. What things are totally invisible, that is, abstract or symbolic?
5. What do others make you carry?
6. What things do you carry that you’d like to put down?
Make a chart and sort out all the things that your group carries in the following categories:
-Necessities
-Luxuries
-Things I Love
-Concrete Things
-Abstract Things
-Things That Make Me ME
-Things I Wish I Could Put Down.”
(Items may fit under more than one category.)
1. Estimate and write down a symbolic or actual weight for each item.
2. Each group member should pick the three most significant items (they can be positive and/or negative weight.) Think about these three things, then choose one to focus on.
3. Each group member must write a letter to someone (most likely someone connected to your weight) in which you talk about this “thing you carry.” Write a letter that truly makes your reader understand this thing you carry, why you take it with you, and how its weight affects you. The letter may be serious or humorous, but it should be powerful. Consider including the following:
• Why am I carrying this?
• Did I make the choice or is someone making me carry it?
• Do I wish I could put it down?
• What does it weigh?
• What does it demand of me to carry it?
• Where would I be without it?
War and Love:
Your group will be looking at the relationship between war and love. Read through the first two links and summarize the information in each one. (Read at least five of the actual war letters.) Go to the Love's Shadow link and read the top section about soldiers. Watch the three video segments on the right. As you watch the three segments, make a group list of what the clips convey about:
-war in general
-military rituals
-soldiers
-the community that war creates
Then, each group member should pick one of the characters in The Things They Carried and write a Dear John letter to him or her. Make sure you include details that involve your character.
Truth in Storytelling:
Your group will be looking at truth in storytelling. First read through the links and summarize the information in each one. Then, each group member should make a list of 10 events, major and ordinary, that have happened to him or her since school started this year. With your group, brainstorm one of the events from each member. First, decide on a theme or moral of the story, and then jot down other's views and suggestions about how to add fictional ideas and details to emphasize that theme. Each group member should write a short story about the event which includes both fictional and actual details.
Phase 3 - Reaching Consensus
You have all learned about different parts of The Things They Carried. Now group members come back to the larger WebQuest team with expertise gained by searching from one perspective. You must all now complete the Task as a group. Each of you will bring a certain viewpoint to the answer: some of you will agree and others disagree. Use information, pictures, movies, facts, opinions, etc. from the web sites you explored to convince your teammates that your viewpoint is important and should be part of your team's response. Your WebQuest team should write out an answer that everyone on the team can live with.
Evaluation
| works excellently with group members | works well with group members | contributed somewhat to the group | did not contribute to the group |
| highly engaged in class discussion | somewhat engaged in class discussion | slightly engaged in class discussion | not engaged in class discussion |
| completed the process excellently | completed the process | nearly completed the process | did not complete the process |
| completed the task | did not complete the tast |
| 4 pts | 3pts | 2pts | 1pt |
Total: _____/16
Conclusion
Now that you have analyzed The Things They Carried, decide whether or not Tim O'Brien wrote it as a pro-war novel, or as an anti-war novel. State your opinion and write down three facts or details that you think support your opinion.
When the class has completed all of the activities, each person must hand in:
1. A list of twenty facts about Vietnam.
2. A short summary of each website you looked at in your role.
3. Your assignments completed as part of your role.
4. Your group consensus answers to the task questions.
5. Your three facts or details that support your opinion about Tim O'Brien and his view on war.
Credits
Content adapted from Mr. Holloway's webquest