The Things They Carried Final Formal Passage Analysis
For the final assignment for The Things They Carried, choose one of the prompts below and
write a 500 word formal analysis of a passage in one of the stories. Your response will be
concise, formatted like an essay, written in the third person voice, and include 3 – 5 textual
citations.
Prompts:
1) Explain how a scene of violence contributes to the meaning of the overall story.
2) Is accepting the draft to enter the Vietnam War an act of courage or cowardice?
3) How does shame fit into O’Brien’s portrayal of the war experience?
4) What does O’Brien mean when he writes of one story, "That's a true story that never
happened"?
5) What does Marie Anne’s transformation into a predatory killer tell us about the nature of
the Vietnam War?
6) Within the horror of war there can be found great beauty.
7) Choose one character and describe how they were profoundly changed by the experience
of war.
8) O’Brien uses repetition to induce the repetitive nature of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Choosing a Passage:
Choose a 1 – 3 paragraph passage from any story in The Things They Carried to respond to
the prompt. The passage should be a good fit with the prompt, as you will analyze it in detail
for its stylistic qualities, as well as how it relates to the story as a whole.
Structure of Passage Analysis:
Your passage analysis will be structured as follows:
Introduction (3 sentences): Introduce the prompt and relate it to the story and passage. Be
sure to include Tim O’Brien’s name and the full title of the story. Remember: You should
reword and restructure the prompt to suit the focus of your response.
Body (2 paragraphs):
Paragraph 1 – Begin with a topic sentence that relates the general meaning of the passage to
the prompt. Discuss how the passage relates to the prompt with a consideration of the story
as a whole. Avoid plot summary!
Paragraph 2 – Begins with a topic sentence that generally relates the stylistic features of the
paragraph to your focus. Build on the first body paragraph as you write a well-organized
response that explains how stylistic elements such as voice, diction, syntax, imagery, detail,
and tone support the passage’s relevance to the prompt.
Conclusion (2 – 3 sentences): A concise and final summary of your response.