The novel, The Things They Carried By Tim O'Brien is a great Vietnam novel. The book is told from Tim's perspective but the book is actually fictional. O'Brien combines memories and stories to create this novel.
The novel tells of a platoon sent to fight in the Vietnam war. Set up in different stories for each chapter, O'Brien re-tells the tangible things the soldiers carried (rations, radios, ammunition, etc.) but also the things they carried inside them (guilt, anger, sorrow, and more) The young men who were drafted into the war quickly lost their innocence and found it hard to adjust to life after the war.
This novel has an ELP level of 9.0, suitable for 9th grade and up. The Vietnam war is something that is important for student's to read about. I feel that O'Brien's novel would be a great way to integrate the harsh realities of war into a classroom.
O'Brien has wrote numerous other books, although this is the only one I have read.
Has anyone else read any others?
Although this book is listed as a 9th grade reading level, I would caution teachers because it includes very strong and graphic language. Even in the twelfth grade classroom, some students may be too immature to handle the content. Teachers who are considering teaching this novel should make sure they are comfortable with its language and content and with the maturity level and needs of their students.
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to read this book. Thanks for including it and for your cautionary note.
ReplyDeleteYou'll appreciate this brief video analysis of a political cartoon about My Lai: http://teachinghistory.org/best-practices/examples-of-historical-thinking/24171
It's by a History Prof and includes add'l analysis. All of it is useful for social studies, of course, but it would additionally provide good context for discussion in English. Check out the website for other resources like this that work across disciplines.
-Marta
Thanks for that link, Marta. I think this would be a good addition to teaching the novel because it's really hard to separate fiction from non-fiction and O'Brien's beliefs versus actual history. I know as an AP English student, I loved the book but if baffled me, as I wasn't familiar enough with the actual history to separate the two!
ReplyDelete