Field Trip
• (Setting) What
features of the setting does Tim O’Brien draw our attention to? Why does he
choose those, particularly?
•
(Character) How does he use Kathleen?
• (Action) What
brief moments of suspense does Tim O’Brien create? Why do they come to nothing?
•
(Style) How does Tim O’Brien effectively
interweave narrative, dialogue and analysis here?
• (Ideas) Does
this story represent an act of closure? Is it complete closure?
The Ghost Soldiers
• (Setting) Does
Tim O’Brien attempt to create a truly supernatural setting here? Does he
succeed?
•
(Character) Show how, as the narrator’s
character fades into ghostliness in this story, Azar emerges as if from inside
him, and takes over.
•
(Action) What, in the way the narrative is
handled, makes The Ghost Soldiers more of a ‘conventional’ short story than
most of the other stories in the collection?
• (Style)
Consider the different examples of humour in this story. What do they add to
it?
•
(Ideas) What are the ironies of the story?
Night Life
•
(Setting, Style) How does Tim O’Brien convey
the intensity of the night’s blackness?
•
(Character) In what ways is Rat Kiley treated
sympathetically both by the writer and by his comrades?
• (Action) How
does Tim O’Brien prepare us for the outcome of this episode? Is there any
surprise in that outcome?
•
(Ideas) What does this story suggest about the
power of the human imagination?
The Lives of the Dead
•
(Setting) In what ways does life after death
seem to be more real than life before it?
•
(Character) How does Timmy show his sensitivity
as a child? How is that sensitivity reflected in his adult responses to the
experience of war?
•
(Action) How in this story do we see a process
of drawing-together taking place?
• (Style) ‘We can
use similes to capture the intensity of a perception or to explore and explain
complex experiences.’ Illustrate that comment from The Lives of the Dead.
•
(Ideas) Explain how, as Tim O’Brien sees it,
stories can ‘save us’.
No comments:
Post a Comment