If reading Tim O’Brien’s novel The Things They Carried with only a superficial eye you may find his continuous contradictions to be frustrating and awkward. You may think the admission that most of the content in his stories is not factual to be downright unnecessary. Unfortunately, reading this culmination of stories at that level will cost the reader an experience from which they could gain much insight and knowledge about a time in history and a swarm of veterans that our generation knows little about and lacks even the tiniest understanding of. This novel is as much about the general nature of being at war as it is about fear, love, bravery, and the psyche of the mind.
Dear Jennifer:
ReplyDeleteYou did it! I know that you were having a hard time with this assignment and I also know that you were frustrated by the amount of time that it was taken but now take a step back and look what you accomplished--this is a really solid, complex understanding of The Things They Carried. As you did with most things in this class you took the assignment head on and you did some nice analytical readings of the songs that when taken together give a nice nuanced view of O'Brien's book. For example, i think your use of Led Zeplin's song really did a nice job shading the understanding of O'brien as well as your look at more nuanced understanding of LOVE and bravery. ALl this was an improvement from your earlier drafts and I think you have learned how to write more short compact nuanced sentences--great!
Good luck in the future and I hope you continue to work at and become stronger critical thinker and writer. You have made some really nice improvements in this class due to your hard work and dedication and I hope you continue to do so.
Take care.