Enemies and Friends - Journal Topics

Why is the stolen jackknife more than just a stolen jackknife? Why does it start a feud that ends in paranoia and a "war within a war"?

Jensen copes with his paranoia by separating himself and keeping his back against a stone and remaining "always on gaurd." Why does this defensive move fail? Why is it horrible, in real life, to have to live in fear, believing that someone is out to get you?

Are people born to become crazy or do circumstances and environment make us crazy? In your answer refer directly to the novel.

Sun Tzu, the infamous writer of "The Art of War," wrote in 420 BC, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." Is this the better way... to befriend those who you do not trust?

Eventually, Dave and Lee find peace and learn to trust. They even make a formal pact with one another to kill the other if they are wounded in a way that will leave them disabled. But when Lee is injured neither can stand to their word. Lee begs to not be killed and Dave does not even consider finishing Lee off. What was the pact really about then?

Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong - Journal Topics

What are the rules of story telling? Rat keeps "breaking the rules." How does he do so... what's wrong with his tone and the ending? How is this story really about story writing?

Mary Anne goes through many stages of transformation in this story? What are those stages? What do they represent? Why does she become so frightening to Fossie?

Why do all the other guys, like Rat, love Mary? Why would they rather love her than some pretty girl back home?

Explain: "The girl joined the zoo. One more animal - game over."

There is yet another allusion to Lord of the Flies in this chapter. The decayed head of the large black leapard is like the head of the pig... If you have read "The Lord of the Flies" explain the relevance of this recurrent allusion.

What does this story tell us about the nature of women and the societal expectations for women?

What are these journal entries all about?

20 Paragraph Responses - As you read a novel, your understanding and appreciation will be enhanced if you take a moment to write about each chapter as you go. This novel has 22 chapters, but I am only asking you to write 20 responses.

The Topics - you can write about anything. Really! You could pick 20 quotations and respond to those. You could find 20 parts of the book and reflect on what just happened OR you can use the writing prompt/journal topic suggestions that I am creating, here on this blog, as your headings.

Reflect/Think/Write - See the rubric for how you will be graded. Show me your thinking. Remember that I know the novel. Please avoid re-telling of the story.

Journal Topics - How to Tell a True War Story

- "This is true." This novel is a fiction, that seems an awful lot like a memoir. How can we know what is true and what is fabricated? How can we know this in the real world? Look at the scandal that erupted over the untrue (or just a little bit true) memoir, "A Million Little Pieces." Why is "the truth" so important to us?

- " A true war story is never moral...you can tell a true war story by its allegiance to obscenity and evil." Re-read the passage on pp. 68-69. Do you agree?

- What "seems to happen" in the true story about Rat that is told at the beginning? Does the story have a moral, a lesson?

Spin - Journal Topics

1. Describe how “the war was like a ping-pong ball.”
2. What does the last paragraph tell us that stories are for?
3. What types of memories are included in this chapter and why are they important?

The Things They Carried - Journal Topics

- What do the things they carried reveal about the soldiers? How are these things symbolic (what do they represent)?

- "The died so as not to die of embarrassment." How do the social expectations for men, in general, play into the soldier's lives in the war?

- (p.22-23) Re-read the poetic passage about the "freedom birds." What does the tone, symbolism and imagery of the paragraph reveal about Tim (the protagonist)?

Use examples - quotations to support your thinking...
Have a main idea - no rambling...