For your second post you should read (re-read for some of you who read it in 9th grade) "How to Tell a True War Story" by Tim O'Brien. You can find the story at the link below:
How To Tell A True War Story
As you did with the last post, choose a literary element to analyze and connect your analysis to the theme of the text. Think about the unique structure of the narrative when you think about theme. Some questions you may consider are below:
How To Tell A True War Story
As you did with the last post, choose a literary element to analyze and connect your analysis to the theme of the text. Think about the unique structure of the narrative when you think about theme. Some questions you may consider are below:
- Why does O'Brien repeatedly talk about the act of writing the story?
- What is he saying about writing a war story?
Tim O'Brien conveys to us that theme is a war story is never really told completely, and if it isn't it's the biggest lie. O'Brien uses the element of characters in the novel. In other words O'Brien uses character's to show the reality of a war story, and not just some heroic tale of winning a war, or fast paced pact action. O'Brien expresses the fact their are no morals in a war story, every soldier behaves to his choosing in the text O'Brien states," A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things they have always done"( O'Brien). O'Brien clearly states that a war story has no order or respect, and if your going to tell it, you should tell by the accounts of real people, human beings just like you and me.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your theme and explanation that the point is there is no way to tell a true war story. However, you could have gone into depth more about the characters and talked about how they are characterized to earn full credit. 13/15
DeleteThe author Tim O'brien uses mood to create the theme in his famous writing "how to tell a true war story". He uses the mood of expectancy, anxious, calm and depression to get the theme across that stories with deeper meaning are hard to believe. He makes readers anxious to know a story and after he tells it he begins to explain the insight to what he just told. The stories he tells from his experience at war are depression and yet calm and so simple. He quotes that " In many cases, a true war story cannot be believed". May stories he has told have left the impression that he is not telling the truth. He gives readers a certain mood that makes people question what they just read or heard. With this, the theme developed it that stories with a deeper meaning are hard to believe.
ReplyDeleteChoose one adjective to describe the "anxious" mood. Connect it to theme. The stories are "despressing" (adj) not "depression" (noun). Make sure you proofread. BUT GREAT ANALYSIS! All of your points build on one another to make a convincing argument! 14/15
DeleteTim O'Brien uses theme and mood in the short story, "How To Tell A True War Story". He uses a mood of sorrow which relates to the theme that people that go to war don't return home the same, if they do return home. As stated in the text, "A true war story is never about war... It's about love and memory. It's about sorrow. It's about sisters who never write back and people who never listen." Going in to the war, soldiers think they will get all the love they want and need, but once they do families lose hope and give up on them. This doesn't always happen in all the cases; some do have happy endings. However, the war stories tell something deeper, it tells about people characters. Telling a true story that happened isn't important to them. the only thing important is the correlation it has with them and their inner feelings that they aren't courageous enough to convey themselves.
ReplyDeleteGet rid of this sentence: "This doesn't always happen in all the cases; some do have happy endings." It doesn't help advance your argument -- only detracts from it. Your analysis towards the end of this post gets confused. You should return to your point about the mood of sorrow and explain how you identified that mood and connect it to the theme. 13/15
DeleteIn this story Obrien uses theme as way to describe characterization in the story. The author uses soldiers in wars as an example of the importance of showing your love and care for your family. in the story it states " its about love and memory'" he was referring to families in general but in the story he was talking about people writing letters back because the soldiers expect the support from there loved ones, unfortunately someone died.
ReplyDeletethe author is explaining many different moods in this story. He also states " The only thing important is the correlation " this not the case they just waited to long to express there feelings. He also explains how it was harder for charters to explain how they feel.
DeleteNeither of these posts talks about specific things that happen in the story. You need to refer to actual events and develop a theme based on your evidence. The point you are trying to explain in these points is very vague and undeveloped. 7/15
DeleteIn the narrative " How to tell a true war story" , the author O'Brien expresses the deeper meaning of the text through the literary element of an allegory. O'Brien explains how he's in war with a few guys & they're getting to know one another by telling stories. Some can be believed and some can not , his friend in the war was telling many stories about him "fishing" in grenades , he was not really fishing , he was just trying to avoid the grenades. In the text it states,"Like the time at this river when he went fishing with a whole damn crate of hand grenades...a true war story cannot be believed. If you believe it, be skeptical. It's a question of credibility..". Clearly, the author was telling that the war stories can not be believed . Example, the war story the guy told had a figurative meaning and a literal. The figurative meaning was him fishing in grenades because he's in war and he has to try to escape them. The literal meaning was the guy telling a joke in war relating fish to their task.
ReplyDeleteThe figurative meaning is more related to the theme of the difficulty of relating a true narrative, but I like that you identified the different types of stories as allegories. 12/15
DeleteIn the novel How To Tell A True War Story by Tim O'Brien, he uses theme to convey that a true war story isn't what people make it seem to be but it's really just a false statement. The author uses characters to express the theme by showing how a true war story is made from risks that a person take. He states, ". . . Then he tells a few stories to make the point, how her brother would always volunteer for stuff nobody else would volunteer for in a million years, dangerous stuff, like doing recon or going out on these really badass night patrols" (O'Brien). The author shows that a true war story is not made up from winning the war, but a true war story is made by taking risks that no one else would take without being asked to do it.
ReplyDeleteTheme statement is unclear -- not really a universal message about humanity, but an observation from the story. You need to develop this point more. 11/15
DeleteIn the narrative "How to tell a true war story" the author Tim O'Brien uses the literary element of mood to relate to the fact that war can change someone's life drastically because it ruins some relationships. In the text the mood of darkness and solemness repeatedly comes up in the text because soldiers gets lonely at times when they are in war. They think they would keep in touch with their loved ones but instead some of them don't. A man by the name of Rat was talking to O'Brien about his girlfriend back home and he began to tear because they were really in love but his feelings changed as times went on. In the text it says, " And then the letter gets very sad and serious. Rat pours his heart out. He said he loved the guy. He says the guy was his best friend in the world. They were like soul mates, he says, like twins or something, they had a whole lot in common. He tells the guy's sister he'll look her up when the war's over.So what happens?Rat mails the letter. He waits two months. The dumb cooze never writes back." Rat was really in love with his girlfriend and this is ruined when he goes to war. Their communication with one another began to decrease and their relationship was not the same. Eventually it got to the point where they no longer spoke to each other. O'Brien is saying a war story can be devastating even when it is not even about war when he says, "A true war story is never about war... It's about love and memory."
ReplyDeleteGood analysis of the somber mood and how it contributes to theme. Great vocab! 14/15
DeleteTim O' Brien use theme in the story "How to tell a true war story" by expressing that a war story is bigger than just a story told about war but it's your own experience.He discuss how many crazy things happen in the war that many people would not believe is true but it wouldn't be a war story if its not believable. Tim O' Brien brings up many moments that occur in the war when he had fun with his buddies and times when he experience death around him. In the text he states "In the end of course,a true war story is never about war.. its about love and memory. Its about sorrow...Its about sisters who never write back and people who never listen"(1). This connect back to the theme because its showing how a war story is not just about a war and what happens in the war but more about the memory that a person have and a experience that a person remember.
ReplyDeleteIn response to what you said I can agree what you said but I believe mood is what best fits using your evidence.
DeleteTim O' Brian uses mood to tell the true story of a war. Brian uses mood by saying how war isn't just about fighting for your country, but instead war is emotional and would have you and experience things you never saw before. Brian uses the moods of happiness, depression, sadness and even death. He does this all by bringing up different time periods of how he seen his friends die and/or how he the best laughs with them. In the text Brian states the real and true meaning of a war story. As stated in the text, he stated "In the end of course, a true war story is never about war... its about love and memory. Its about sorrow... its about sisters who never write back and people who never listen" (Brian). With this quote, it proves all the different moods and feelings within being in war. Being in the war is hard and would have you see the most tragic deaths, but is also about the good memories once shared. Therefore, Brian uses mood to prove how war isn't just about fighting but more about the expression, experience and feelings you gain from war. Tim O' Brian tells the real story of a was story.
Interesting attempt to connect mood to theme. You could make this argument stronger by settling on one concrete word to describe the mood that encompasses all the different feelings you listed (happiness, depression etc.) such as CONFLICTED. The conflicted mood develops a theme about how those who go away to war are torn when it comes to how they should recount their experience to others once they have returned. 12/15
DeleteJasmine: you chose a good quote to support your theme statement. However, his point is more that it's impossible to communicate the experience of war to someone who hasn't been there. That would be a more convincing theme statement. 13/15
DeleteRashana May
ReplyDeleteIn the story "how to tell a true war story" the author Tim O'Brien uses many literary devices to show the importance of the war but one that I noticed the most is mood. Tim shows gloomines and danger as modes from being in the war during his experiences. In the narrative Tim O'Brien constantly repeats the idea of "the dumb cooze never writes back". The letter Tim wrote to Rat sister was a personal letter that discuses the horric and elated times he shared with his best friend Rat before his death. Tim had seen many dark and dangerous scenes in the war Anne he felt that he was obligated to shares his and Rats experience in the cold war. Tim felt like to write about a war you didn't know whether to believe it or not because a war story should never end in happiness and everything in the story are not always believable. Tim realized the war took him through much pain where he didn't want to talk about the war anymore.
Good summary of the events of the story and attempt to connect to theme. However, you don't develop any of the points you introduce and circle back to your claim, so this post is wandering and unclear. 12/15
DeleteIn the narrative "How to tell a True War Story" the author O' Brien uses the literary element mood and irony to develop the theme that people who go to war come back different then they went and no one will understand. The mood of the text is despair and sadness because the author says that, that is the only real way to tell a war story. In the text he says, "A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain men from doing the things they have always done. If a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie." He's saying that the story should not uplift you or in the end make you feel any better about the situation. You should feel the same and if it does not do this then you are not reading a true war story. Next he uses irony to develop the theme as well. He says that war is hell but also beauty... how is that its both. In the text he describes it saying, "The truths are contradictory. It can be argued, for instance, that war is grotesque. But in truth war is also beauty. For all its horror, you can't help but gape at the awful majesty of combat. You stare out at tracer rounds unwinding through the dark like brilliant red ribbons. You crouch in ambush as a cool, impassive moon rises over the nighttime paddies. You admire the fluid symmetries of troops on the move, the harmonies of sound and shape and proportion, the great sheets of metal-fire streaming down from a gunship, the illumination rounds, the white phosphorus, the purply black glow of napalm, the rocket's red glare. It's not pretty, exactly. It's astonishing. It fills the eye. It commands you. You hate it, yes, but your eyes do not." he's saying that yes we hate war, but we don't because it is astonishing to us. It pulls us in and makes us like it and notice the little thing
ReplyDeleteThis response relies to heavily on quotes. You need to justify the quotes and connect them to your claim about theme/irony/mood. Instead your response ends in the middle of a quote. 9/12
DeleteIn the novel "How To Tell A True War Story", the author Tim O'Brien tells his experience and different stories of other soldiers that happened during the Vietnam War. O'Brien creates the theme that a true war story is never moral and should never make you feel uplifted by the of the story. In the novel, he gives a brief story that happened to several of the soldiers in the war. In the novel, he talks about how two soldiers, Rat and Kurt Lemon, and how they would play games with smoked grenades. O'Brien states, "The game involved smoke grenades, which were harmless unless you did stupid things, and what they did was pull out the pin and stand a few feet apart and play catch under the shade of those huge trees. Whoever chickened out was a motherfucker" (1). This shows how the things they did was not moral because regular people wouldn't do such thing. People would consider this not normal and most likely be afraid to play such a game.
ReplyDeleteYou're missing the real significance of this anecdote. The story show's the boys' innocence and naivete, but also the dire consequences of their behavior. This leads the reader to the theme of the incomprehensible, brutal, powerful, indescribable nature of war. 10/15
DeleteTime O'Brien suggest that what one thinks is a war story, is not true. He expresses this in the theme that even the truth has some lies attached. Tim says "a true war story can not be believed". When people listen to war stories they believe them and they think and they think that all of the details are true. In the story of how the solider died part of it was true, the fact that he died, however how he died was a lie. It got back to the soldiers home as he died an honorable death, when he didn't . He was killed by accident
ReplyDeleteImproving your justification and development could earn you a higher score. You state many facts about the text correctly, but do not justify or explain clearly how you've arrived at your conclusions. 12/15
DeleteIn the narrative " How To tell A True War Story" the author Tim O'Brien uses imagery, in order to express to his readers the scenery of what war was really like. He also uses mood to create an analogy of how things were bad within the war but how young men were brainwashed to not know that they would soon die for a lost cause. He sets a solemn mood that is repeatedly brought up in the passage to express a sense of sorrow for these naive men who were being put into the war. For example according to the passage it states, "The dead guy's name was Curt Lemon. What happened was, we crossed a muddy river and marched west into the mountains, and on the third day we took a break along a trail junction in deep jungle. Right away, Lemon and Rat Kiley start goofing off. They didn't understand the spookiness. They were kids, they just didn't know." They were kids then that weren't aware of what they were going to soon face within their lives. The author uses sorrow in a way to make his readers feel sympathy for these group of soldiers that encounter a lost of their naiveness.
ReplyDeleteGreat analysis and connection to theme! 15/15
DeleteTim O'Brien uses the literally element of mood to show how how Rat felt when his friend died. As soon as his friend had died Rat writes to his sister to inform her about what has happen. However, she never replies back to him which pisses Rat off because it was her brother that died not someone random. He was hurt to see someone he was close to be taken away. In the text states, "Rat pours his heart out. He said he loved the guy. He says the guy was his best friend in the world. They were like soul mates, he says, like twins or something, they had a whole lot in common." Here tells its reader how he felt towards his friend Curt. They were great friends during the war and to see him die was devastating and sad. Th author used the mood of the letter Rat wrote to the sister depict his sad feelings. Sometimes during a war the most thing we could be grateful while fighting is taken away just like Curt was from Rat.
ReplyDeleteIf you are analyzing the mood of a text the first step is to pick an adjective to describe the mood. You should connect it to theme and explain how you came up with that adjective. This post is mostly summary and doesn't convince the reader of your claim. 12/15
DeleteTim O'Brien uses the literary element of charactization to develop the them that war stories need to be qquestioned, that not all should be believed right away. We learn of a soldier named Lemin that was killed on the fied in a almost magical way. O'Brien says, "His face was suddenly brown and shining. A handsome kid, really. Sharp grey eyes, lean and narrow-waisted, and when he died it was almost beautiful, the way the sunlight came around him and lifted him up and sucked him high into a tree full of moss and vines and white blossoms." As O'Brien describes the soldiers deatg her shows the beauty in how this man died as he was blown away. This fact should be question because war and death together does not create beauty. We question O'Briens story telling as he recounts his war events of how sane he was at the moment and the truthfulness as shown through characterization.
ReplyDeleteGood analysis of a small detail that reinforces this theme. 14/15
DeleteIn the narrative "How to tell a true war story", the author expresses the theme that war stories are heartbreakingly immoral and tense through detail. Through the details of some war stories the author establishes that war stories are immoral. For instance when the author tells the story of his friend shooting the baby buffalo it states,"He stepped back and shot it through the right front knee. The animal did not make a sound. It went down hard, then got up again, and Rat took careful aim and shot off an ear. He shot it in the hindquarters and in the little hump at its back. He shot it twice in the flanks. It wasn't to kill; it was just to hurt. He put the rifle muzzle up against the mouth and shot the mouth away. Nobody said much...War is hell, but that's not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror". Through the authors description readers grasp how gruesome and frightful the war is on the soldiers themselves. The detail shows how the actions of the soldiers in the war are immoral and it is mostly due to their own hurt. The details helps readers understand the effect of the war on the people that participate in it.
ReplyDeleteWhile your analysis of the theme of this particular scene is correct, I'm not sure it applies to the text overall. His point is that we cannot categorically define war in any specific way (tense and immoral, according to you). 13/15
DeleteIn the narrative, "How To Tell A True War Story", the author, Tim O'Brien, uses diction to explain Rat's dedication and true appreciation to his fallen soldier. "Rat almost bawls writing it." This shows that O'Brien used good diction to
ReplyDeleteINC 8/15
DeleteTim O'Brien uses diction and allusions to convey the theme of “How to Tell a True War Story”. He alludes to a letter a friend of his wrote to convey the theme that the truth about war is hard to accept. O'Brien wrote this to inform the reader that a true war story has no morals. If the story makes you feel good or relieved after reading a war story than 9 out of 10 times the story was a lie. Tim alludes by saying ,” I had a buddy in Vietnam. His name was Bob Kiley…A friend of his gets killed, so about a week later Rat sits down and writes a letter to the guy's sister.” O'Brien's friend, Bob, letter contributes to the theme that the truth about war is hard to accept because of the diction he chooses. In the letter he says words like “cooze“ instead of “bitch”. He is a young man who has been traumatized by the war. The war has changed him completely. He doesn't refer to the sister as a female, but a cooze. His word choice strengthens the letter to convey the theme that the truth about war is hard to accept.
ReplyDeleteAn-Nisa Jones
Good analysis! 15/15
DeleteTim O'Brien uses diction to develop the theme that war stories aren't inspirational and uplifting. O'Brien tells the story of a man named Lemon dying and his best friend, Kiley writing a letter to Lemon's sister. Months go by and Lemon's sister never writes back. Kiley is angry and calls her a "cooze". O'Brien states, "A true war story is never moral... very old and terrible lie". He claims that war stories aren't inspirational or enlightening. If they are, they aren't true war stories. Diction helps develop the theme of war stories not being encouraging because O'Brien's word choice emphasizes that there isn't a possibility of war stories being refining and knowledgeable that people will be able to learn from them.
ReplyDeleteGood job identifying "cooze" as an interesting example of diction. If they aren't encouraging, what are they? You could have taken your analysis of theme further by deciding on a descriptive adjective. 13/15
DeleteAmiyah Williamson
ReplyDeleteIn the narrative " How To tell A True War Story" the author Tim O'Brien used the literary element mood to develop that a person can change after going through a war and that can change their relationship that they have back at home. In the text the mood lonely and sadness come up multiple times because the soldier gets really home sick and lonely being away from the people they have love for back at home. For example O'Brien had a friend name Rat and Rat was telling him about his girlfriend back at home and how deeply in love he was with her, but later on he starts to lose those feelings that he once had for her, his feeling towards her had changed . In the text it states," And then the letter gets very sad and serious. Rat pours his heart out...Rat mails the letter. He waits two months. The dumb cooze never writes back." Rat emotions had change for this girl, he was very much in love with her and all that change because of the war and how far apart that they were from each and the war ruined the relationship that they had and their relationship was to longer the same as before the war. O'Brien is saying that the war can change a person only if you allow it to change you.
You misunderstand some key details. Read more carefully, the girl is not Rat's girlfriend -- he doesn't even know her. The story is more about the fact that he is so lonely and scared and alone that he falls in love with a girl he's never met. 10/15
DeleteThe excerpt from "The Things They Carried", "How To Tell A True War Story" by Tim O'Brien uses diction to enlighten the reader that war shouldn't be seen in just black and white. He wants to let the reader know that war isn't just about violence. O'Brien stated that "in truth war is also beauty". A statement such as this a contradictory in itself. War is grotesque and gruesome. Not to be associated with beauty, or so we thought. O'Brien's word choice enlightens a reader such as me to a different view of war. He doesn't agree that war is "beautiful", but he does believe that it is astonishing. Throughout the later parts of his narrative, he states that was IS a variety of things, including beautiful. This word choice supports his theme that war shouldn't be seen in only black and white.
ReplyDeleteStrong thematic analysis. 13/15
DeleteIn this story, the author is trying to explain "a true war story". He explains that a true story is often unbelievable. If you are able to believe a war story, then it is most likely not a real war story. The stories that we are exposed to are real war stories. The stories told are unbelievable and they seem to go on forever, with no ending. He keeps talking about the act of writing a war story because that is in essence what he is doing. He also knows that there are a lot of fake war stories out and he doesn't want readers to think something that is false is real.
ReplyDeleteYour discussion of the idea of a true war story is pretty good. You could have taken it a step further and developed your ideas more by coming up with a specific theme statement in your claim and circled back to the same idea in your justification. Your justification in this response falls a little flat because it doesn't connect back to a solid claim. 13/15
DeleteIn the short story, "How To Tell A War Story" the author uses a simile to convey the theme about the effects that a war story can have on soldiers during battle as well as the meaning of war. The author describes the truth and lies about war. He compares war to peace. He allow the reader to see a contrast between opposites. He states" To generalize about war is like generalizing about peace". This connects to the theme by using a simile to contrast the concept about war as well as the opinions that others have about it. The author uses a simile in the text so that the theme can be seen through two unlike opposites being compare as well as contrast. War and Peace being generalizing leads to the story of the battle field and the art of war as well.
ReplyDeleteGood job correctly identifying and analyzing the effects of this literary element. You could have improved your analysis by explaining what theme is developed as a result. What does it say about the experience of war that we can't generalize about it (just like with peace)? 13/15
DeleteTim O'Brien "The Things They Carried" uses the literary element of character to show how Rat Keily changes after his friend dies. Rat Kiley's best friend Curt Lemon was killed by a mine on the ground and Rat takes his frustrations out on a waster buffalo. " Lemon was dead. Rat Kiley had lost his best friend in the whole world. Later in the week he would write a long personal letter to the guy's sister, who would not write back, but for now it was a question of pain." Rat had changed from a happy and playful soldier to one that was sad and became more serious. He released his frustration on a defenseless animal not caring as the Vietcong did not care that his best friend died
ReplyDeleteGood analysis of Rat's character. You could have received full credit by connecting it to theme. 13/15
DeleteThe short story " How to Tell a True War Story" by Tim O' Brien uses diction to show or display the theme to the reader. The theme of this short story is the harsh powers of the truth. In the war, a boy loses his best friend and when he tries to write the unknown sister of his war best friend he wasn't written back. Besides calling her a female dog, he uses the word Cooze. O'Brien describes the boy who wrote the letter as, " He's 19 years old- it's too much for him- so he looks at you with those big gentle eyes and says "cooze", because his friend is dead, and because it's so incredibly sad and true she never wrote back". This quote shows how heartbroken and sad the boy was by using a negative word to describe the dead friend's sister. That feeling connects to the theme of the negative overpowering power of the truth because although most war story end with something uplifting, there was nothing uplifting about this story because a good, loving, friendly guy died. People like the dead boy's war friend was sad.
ReplyDeleteGood analysis of an important diction choice. 13/14
DeleteIn Tim O Briens " How tell a War Story" the author uses imagery to convey a theme that sometimes the truth can not be explained, it is the result of an experience. The author implies that a war story, can seem so surreal, that it is beyond being believed. A true war story "In other cases you can't even tell a true war story. Sometimes it's just beyond telling" (obrien. Often times, war is a traumatic experience that one will never forget. The decision to embark on this journey of life and death comes with challenging obstacles. The author describes a task that requires men to isolate themselves: they sit in the forest for a week spying onto he enemy in hopes to reveal their schemes or plans. While in the forest, the men are forced to refrain from talking in order to stay focused on the enemy. However, naturally, man can not completely isolate himself without becoming insane. After attentively listening the men begin to hear noises : "All these different voices. Not human voices, though. Because it's the mountains. Follow me? The rock - it's talking. And the fog, too, and the grass and the goddamn mongooses. Everything talks. The trees talk politics, the monkeys talk religion. The whole country. Vietnam, the place talks." Since the men believe the noises to be the enemy, they call for an immediate attack. However, the men are incapable of telling the captain the schemes of the enemy. Forced into a state of insanity, the men do not tell he truth of what actually happened in the mountains : "Then they all salute the fucker and walk away, because certain stories you don't ever tell." (Obrien1). The event seems unreal, however it is so true one will not believe it. A war story may seem obscure, but it may indeed be so true so it's truth will not be explained, no believe by man.
ReplyDeleteGood analysis! 15/15
DeleteWell, Tim O'Brian repeats this idea that if "you dont care for obscenity then you dont care for the truth". He makes it seem as though it isn't a good story if it isn't obscene. He also states that when writing a true war story, "if there is rectitude" or if there is "virtue" or if it makes you feel good then it "you have become the victim".
ReplyDeleteWhat is the significance of these quotes? Lacks justification/claim. 9/12
DeleteIn the short shory , " How To Tell A War Story" the author uses mood that corresponds with the theme. Tim O'Brien uses the mood bereaved to explain the theme that once your gone its possible that you will not come back. This short story is explaining the experience of a man that went to war with his best friend and one of them didnt come back. In this experience the author is trying to explain to the reader that you have to have positive thoughts that your family and friends are going to come back from the war. And even if they don't you have to realize that they were doing something positive and not negative thing. Stated in the text it says " A true war is never about war" this quote is explaining the fact that you deciding to go to war is not just about the war its about having the memory of your loved ones and your family. Because you never know if there going to come back or not because of the simple fact that they are at a war when people get killed constantly. The mood is dereaved because of the sadness of the death of his best friend but he has also realized that they were doing something positive and the theme shows that when someone close to you dies you have to sometimes understand the positive in the situation not the negative.
ReplyDeleteYou switched it around. It should be "bereaved mood." Be more specific with your theme. Once you've gone where? To war? There isn't evidence in the text to prove what you are saying about having positive thoughts. In fact, the text has a sombre/bereaved mood as you stated. Analysis unclear. 11/15
DeleteIn " How To Tell A True War Story" the author uses mood to explain that a true war story is not often very true. The mood of the story was sadness. The author explains how "you can tell a true war story by its absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil". The author tells a story about two guys at war that were best friends. One of the friends had died and it left the other really heartfelt. He talks about writing a letter to his friend's sister and her not replying. Her not replying really made him sad because he poured his heart out into that letter. He really cared and loved that man, Bob. He states, ". . . Then he tells a few stories to make the point, how her brother would always volunteer for stuff nobody else would volunteer for in a million years, dangerous stuff, like doing recon or going out on these really badass night patrols" (O'Brien). The author shows that a true war story is not made up from winning the war, but a true war story is made by taking risks that no one else would take without being asked to do it. In the story how the solider died part of it was true, the fact that he died, but how he died was a lie. To the soldiers at home he died an honorable death, when he didn't . He was killed by accident, he didn't volunteer to die like how he volunteered to do other things. O'Brien is basically saying that a war story could never be true. There is always some parts missing or added to it. If your really going to tell a "true" war story you have to be true.
ReplyDeleteYour justification introduces a different theme than the one you include in your claim. This confuses the reader and weakens your argument. 11/15
DeleteBelen Campos
ReplyDeleteIn the short story, "How to Tell a True War Story" the author uses diction to develop the theme, a true war story consists of many things except morals, instructions, encouragement of virtues and models of proper human behavior. The author uses those exact words in his short story after Rat decides to write a letter to the sister of one of the soldiers who died. Tim O’Brien is encouraged to write this short story because the girl never decided to reply. Rat poured his heart out in his letter but never received a reply. The author uses words like “never”, “moral”, “encourage”, “models” “instruct” in order to describe what in his point of view doesn’t make up a true war story. If a story is not any of the words listed then a war story is straight facts. The author indicates that a true war story should not have a lesson to it at the end. It should not motivate others to do anything or feel any type of way. It should not direct people to where they should end up. In the short story the author develops the theme through various single words of what a true war story consists of.
Use quotes when using author's exact words. If they aren't encouraging, what are they? You could have taken your analysis of theme further by deciding on a descriptive adjective. 13/15
DeleteVERONICA B:
ReplyDeleteIn "How To Tell A True War Story", Tim O' Brien expresses the contradictory qualities of war stories that often depict occurrences that are so ironic that they are questioned; they are stories that portray events that are rooted in both truth and fallacy, yet such qualities of each war story are indistinguishable, provoking listeners to question their validity. O' Brien recalls the stories that are told by his fellow soldiers. To O' Brien, each story retains the the notion that in a time of distress and pressure, one is overwhelmed with the reality that "anything's possible" (O' Brien). For the sake of that reality, a soldier may, in times of war, be prone to experience moments during which they may hallucinate certain occurrences and events. In light of such hallucinations, O' Brien states that, to a soldier, "a thing may happen and be a total lie" while "another thing may not happen and be truer that the truth". It is this lack of judgement that leaves the validity of any war story unmeasured. O' Brien even recalls that in the instance at which a war story is concluded, one seeks to find a reason behind its telling; however, they are only left to remember that "[they have] forgotten the point again". By acknowledging how difficult it is for one to find a theme behind war stories, O' Brien brings attention to the idea that war stories, as emotionally significant as they are, are incapable of actually helping one to learn about the truths of war. Their incapability to do so can be attributed to the inability of soldiers to distinguish the truth from an illusion of their stressed minds. This notion has been presented through O' Brien's irony as he expressed, to readers, that the intentions of any individual who tells a war story is to tell the truth. Ironically, though, the truth can hardly be retained since, as is the case for most soldiers, the truth remains indefinite, blurred by the hallucinations that are endured in the midst of war itself.
Excellent analysis! 15/15
DeleteTARAE C:
ReplyDeleteIn the short story " how to tell a war story" , the author uses satire to develop a theme."The truths are contradictory. It can be argued, for instance, that war is grotesque. But in truth war is also beauty. For all its horror, you can't help but gape at the awful majesty of combat. You stare out at tracer rounds unwinding through the dark like brilliant red ribbons. You crouch in ambush as a cool, impassive moon rises over the nighttime paddies. You admire the fluid symmetries of troops on the move, the harmonies of sound and shape and proportion, the great sheets of metal-fire streaming down from a gunship, the illumination rounds, the white phosphorus, the purply black glow of napalm, the rocket's red glare. It's not pretty, exactly. It's astonishing. It fills the eye. It commands you. You hate it, yes, but your eyes do not." "Right away, Lemon and Rat Kiley start goofing off. They didn't understand the spookiness. They were kids, they just didn't know. ""Rat pours his heart out. He said he loved the guy. He says the guy was his best friend in the world. They were like soul mates, he says, like twins or something, they had a whole lot in common." He uses this to get to the audience and the reader. The humor he uses in the war stories and how they tell them developed a theme .
What theme is developed? What is he saying about war in all these quotes? You selected very good, important quotes but don't explain them in your own words or cut them down to a more reasonable size. 10/15
DeleteSHAYDAIAH W:
ReplyDeleteIn the book "How To tell a true war story" the author Tim O'Brien uses several Literary elements . However he uses these two more then he use others and they are mood and Imagery .He uses mood in this story when he explains how bad things was during the war and also to show how rat felt when his friend past away. He also uses imagery to show the readers the scene of the war. He wanted the readers to imagine what the war looked like and what type off things and people that was there. In the story it says "Rat our his heart out. He says the guy as his best friend in the whole wide world. When some pours their heart out to someone else it usually simplify the meaning of love and caring , and this was what Rat was doing to his friend .This show the reader uses mood because the character Rat was very sad in this scene.
Your examples from the text don't match your claims. "Rat poured his heart out..." is more an example of characterization than imagery (it's not a vivid description). You also don't give any textual examples to prove what mood is developed or even describe the mood with a specific adjective. 10/15
DeleteMILAN B:
ReplyDeleteIn Tim O'Brien's story, How To Tell A True War Story, he tells a real war story in a way that really shows that someone has been through war. The story is not like any other cliche stories that just recites what the person has been through and how it made them feel. He instead talks about not only himself, but other soldiers and their families. He talks about how they feel every emotion there is to feel in war. There was sorrow, hope love, and so much more. He tells the true meaning behind war and the true meaning behind a true war story.
Missing text evidence. I like what you say about cliches but you don't provide any evidence from the text to back up what you're saying. 8/15
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