Homework for Tues/Thurs Group Due 2/2

Read and annotate "The Big Trip Up Yonder". Write a 1-2 paragraph response to the prompt that is included with the story.

Homework for Tues/Thurs Group Due 1/26

Write a letter from Lucille to Ruthie explaining why you decided to leave home. Use Lucille's voice in your letter, and cite examples from Housekeeping to justify your decision. Your letter should be at least two paragraphs long and may be typed or handwritten.

Example of a Bell Jar

Example of Shorthand

Homework for Saturday Group due 12/17

  1. Finish reading The Bell Jar
  2. Study vocabulary
  3. Read "The Yellow Wallpaper" excerpts and write your answers to the discussion questions
  4. Read "I Want a Wife" and consider how the essay portrays a woman's position in society. What similarities do you notice between womanhood as portrayed in this essay and in The Bell Jar?
  5. Write a paragraph in response to the following prompt:

          Does Sylvia Plath's poem "Metaphors"offer a positive, negative, or mixed               image of pregnancy?

          Your paragraph should be typed and organized as follows:

  • Sentence 1: State your claim (your answer to the prompt) and introduce your evidence (e.g. diction, imagery)
  • Sentences 2 - ?: Explain how your evidence supports your claim
  • Last Sentence: Restate your claim in stronger, broader terms

Homework for Tues/Thurs Group Due 12/6

Use Sylvia Plath's sketches of Doreen and Betsy on pages 4 and 6 as models to write two, paragraph-length  character sketches of characters that you invent. These sketches should present two different fictional individuals as caricatures of a particular profession (e.g. high-school students, parents, athletes, teachers, etc.), one reflecting the positive characteristics that are associated with that profession and the other reflecting the negative. Try to incorporate some humor into your sketches, and remember to use good judgement in rendering your characters.

Homework for Saturday Group due 12/3

While reading Soldier’s Home and the first chapter of Slaughterhouse Five, please consider the following questions and write down your answers:

  1. What, if anything, does each story have to say about the themes that are taken up in The Things They Carried? 
    • heroism / bravery / cowardice
    • shame and social pressure
    • guilt / confession / catharsis
    • truth vs. fact ("story truth" vs. "happening truth")
    • desensitization
    • loss of innocence
    • burdens 
  1. What stance does the author of each story seem to take regarding the righteousness or validity of war? Do these authors tend to agree or disagree with Tim O’Brien’s position on war?

  1. What is the main point of each story? How does each story use detail and imagery to illustrate its point?

Homework for Saturday Group due 11/26

Choose two images from "Speaking of Courage" that you believe are important. Write one paragraph for each image in which you discuss that image's significance. In your paragraphs, you may consider:
  • potential symbolism
  • tone
  • structural significance (i.e. how the image contributes to the form or structure of the story)
Each paragraph should be typed. Please be prepared to share your thoughts and writing with the group next Saturday.

Reading Questions and Vocabulary for "Night Life" and "The Lives of the Dead"

“Night Life”

  1. Explain the term “night life”. How is this term used in the last line of the story?
  2. How does night life affect the men in the platoon? How does it affect Rat Kiley?
  3. What evidence of desensitization can you find in this story?
“The Lives of the Dead”

  1. Why do the men shake hands with the dead villager?
  2. Why does the “awesome act of greeting the dead” bother Tim (214)? Does he ever get over being bothered by it?
  3. What reason does Tim give Kiowa on page 215 for not shaking hands with the man? Can you make a connection between this reason and one of the major themes of the book?
  4. Why does Tim’s mother give him a “hard look” after his comment about Linda’s red cap (217)?
  5. Consider the section between the page breaks on pages 218-219. What is the point of this section? How does the conversation between Sanders and “Lavender” support this point?
  6. Why do you think Linda smiles during the most gruesome parts of the movie she watches with Tim?
  7. In what way is Tim a coward in the story he tells about Linda on page 221?
  8. What transpires in the “conversation” between Linda and Tim on page 223?
  9. How do the men use language and stories to cope with death?
  10. Consider the paragraph that begins after the page break on page 229. O’Brien writes: “I never shook hands—not that—but one afternoon I climbed a tree and threw down what was left of Curt Lemon. I watched my friend Kiowa sink into the muck along the Song Tra Bong. And in early July, after a battle in the mountains, I was assigned to a six-man detail to police up the enemy KIAs.” How might the details that follow the pivot “but” related to the fact that Tim never shook hands with the dead?
  11. According to Tim, what is the “magic of stories” (231)?
  12. Why does Tim write stories?
  13. Why do you think O’Brien chose to end this book with a story (Linda’s) that does not take place in or during the war? 
approximation, n. (222)
translucent, adj. (222)


Homework for Saturday Group due 11/19

Write a three-paragraph essay on an object you carry regularly. Describe the object, the mood it evokes, and the reasons for its importance. Consider using details to achieve an appropriate tone for your essay.

Bring a typed rough-draft of your essay on Saturday. Be prepared to share your essay with the class.
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