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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What personal item did Tim "bury" in the river?

2. What Army position did the narrator hold?

3. Which feeling does the narrator not admit to about the war?

4. Which is not a way the men coped with the night mission?

5. What does Tim think would have happened if he ignored the man on the trail?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the purpose of the visit to the battlefield where Kiowa was killed?

2. What power do stories have for people dealing with death?

3. What is Norman's assessment of his valor and bravery?

4. How does Rat Kiley cope with the difficult mission of up all night, and sleeping during the day?

5. Who does Tim go on a trip with and where do they go?

6. How is Norma Bowker's life before the war and after the war contrasted?

7. Contrast the two times Tim was shot.

8. What does Tim invent about the man he killed?

9. Explain who feels blame for Kiowa's death.

10. Explain Tim's dilemma about how he killed a man on the trail outside My Khe.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

"The Things They Carried: A Work of Fiction" is described as 22 short stories tied into a novel. Select a chapter from the novel and explain how the title relates to the story, and evaluate if the chapter could stand alone as a short story. Identify its weaknesses and strengths and how it fulfills or fails to satisfy the requirements of a story: beginning, middle and end.

Essay Topic 2

Although the book is labeled "a work of fiction," it reads very similar to a memoir- a recollection of events and people from the author's past. Explain any indications that Tim O'Brien may not be a trustworthy narrator. Where in the text are there signs he is leaving something out, or passages where the reader should second-guess his account? Are there particular passages where a reader may be more likely to believe O'Brien's narrative? Use no less than three specific areas of text to evaluate Tim O'Brien as a reliable or unreliable narrator.

Essay Topic 3

As a new book critic for a top national newspaper, you have just been assigned the novel "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien. Give a full critique of the story and evaluation of the text for other potential readers. What is significant about the novel that makes it a good recommendation for readers? What detracts from the novel's appeal and makes it not a book you would recommend? Finally, is there any way the book ties into modern life and current events to make it timely?

(see the answer keys)

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