LINK TO THE ASSIGNMENT: (Read up to pg 17)
THE INSTRUCTIONS:
- Please use Times New Roman, size 12, and double-spaced.
- Every question is answered in paragraph form with a minimum of five complete sentences. Yes, five complete sentences, and please do not use simple subject-verb sentences just to keep from thinking of something to say.
- Finally, please do not, and I repeat, do not use quotes or paraphrases from the story. The assignment is your thoughts and not the story.
Reading Questions for The Things They Carried
Chapter 1: The Things They Carried
1. What item was most surprising in the list of all the things the soldiers carried? Which item did you find most evocative of the war? Which items stay with you?
2. In what sense does Jimmy love Martha? Why does he construct this elaborate, primarily fictional, relationship with her: What does he get out of it?
3. Why do the soldiers joke about the war and killing?
4. How is the idea of weight used and developed in the story? How do you, as a reader, feel reading those weight lists? What effect does it have on you?
5. How has Jimmy changed by the end of the story? How will he be a different person from this point on? What has he learned about himself? Or, to put it another way, what has he lost, and what has he gained?
