...That They Carried”, the setting is really important because it shows where Jimmy Cross’s mind is while he is supposed to be protecting his soldiers from the enemies in Vietnam War. The settings in the story vary in terms of both time and space. Most of the stories take place in Vietnam and also relates memories from his hometown, New Jersey, and his crush, Martha. Throughout the story, Jimmy Cross can never focus on his soldiers because he is busy thinking about Martha, who is in New Jersey, while he is in the Vietnam fighting the war. From here, we can see how the setting automatically makes us think how careless Jimmy Cross is as a Captain because he is not doing his duty of for protecting his soldiers. Moreover, the author describes the description of the jungle place where the soldiers has to fight is very dangerous because there are so many traps placed in the ground. By imagining the description of the jungle, it sounds very scary because the soldiers could die easily if they do not pay attention on their road. Nonetheless, Jimmy Cross still acts very carelessly because his mind can never focus in the war but think about something else. Furthermore, one of his soldiers, Ted Lavenders, got shot in the head and died because he took some Tranquilizer to have less fear. The only person to blame for Ted Lavender’s death is Jimmy Cross because as a captain he does not care about any of his soldiers including Lavender. From here, we could see why the setting is very important because...
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...Brigette Maloney Professor Kuykendall English 1302-017 March 13, 2016 The Things They Carried The story of “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien is about a soldier and a platoon leader named Lieutenant Jimmy Cross who was assigned to lead a group of soldiers on a combat mission in Vietnam. Lieutenant Jimmy Cross constantly daydreams about Martha, the woman he’s in love with. He blamed himself and felt guilty for one of the soldier’s (Ted Lavender) death due to his lack of attention and vigilance. The story talks about the experiences and the conditions that these soldiers endured in Vietnam. The setting, language and tone of the story suggest that the impact of war not only causes physical strain, but it also causes an emotional, psychological,...
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...Part I: Defining and Understanding Stream of Consciousness Stream of Consciousness is a method used by authors to help us get into the mind of the narrator as he or she tells a story. It captures how the narrator is thinking in real time, and as a result, the narrator’s thoughts guide the style of the literature. Earlier in the novel, O’Brien used stream of consciousness to convey the thoughts of First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross in the chapter “The Things They Carried.” Now, “In the Field” returns us to this character’s unique point of view again. Read the passage below, and as you read answer the questions below the passage. A crime, Jimmy Cross thought. Looking out toward the river, he knew for a fact that he had made a mistake setting up here. The order had come from higher, true, but still, he should’ve moved to higher ground for the night, should’ve radioed in false coordinates. There was nothing he could do now, but still it was a mistake and a hideous waste. He felt sick about it. Standing in the deep waters of the field, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross began...
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...Evaluating A Story: “The Things They Carried”, By Tim O’Brien The Vietnam War really tested the emotions of the soldiers who deployed there. “The Things They Carried” explained from the physical items carried to the emotional burdens of soldiers fighting in Vietnam. Tim O’Brien, the author had also served time over in Vietnam. This story gives the reader a good understanding of the daily things that can occur. Even if it is abrupt and traumatic, the soldiers have to carry on to continue their mission. Tim O’Brien really writes with a simple style. The sentences themselves were not very long, but more so to the point. He had explained things in detail, but it was not overly done. I thought the style of writing went well with the soldiers mindsets of the checklist of events that go along with their lives over there. From getting one thing done to another, as simple as it is, the sentences complimented the events that played a long. The word choices were with good vocabulary, and they didn’t require anything higher than a high school education. He used several military abbreviations that one outside of the military may not understand (example: PFC stands for Private First Class). The tone of the story is sadness. Realizing the events that happen over in a war zone can be really sad. It is a shock to read about a man, an American Soldier just fall down and die. There was also emotional shock with some of the soldiers who had to just shrug it off, and even the shock of realizing...
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...Andres Pena COP 1102 “The Things They Carried” What does becoming a soldier mean? Does it mean that duty comes before love or does it mean the opposite? Could it be that soldiers do not have control of their feelings? From the mind of Tim O’Brien, “The Things They Carried” describes young soldiers that were automatically bumped up into manhood. The author treats the inner conflict that each soldier had to bear during the Vietnam War while fighting for their country. Witnessing horrific scenes of war and the emotional and physical burdens that each of them carried, O’Brien unfolds how these men had no choice but to fulfill their patriotic duty. As the leader of the platoon, First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross goes through an inner conflict between love and duty, carrying his orders in his mind and Martha in his heart. But how far can war or following orders, impair the human side of compassion and love? Although, soldiers become men at war, O’Brien focuses in a story where war makes men emotionally handicap, leaving mental scars that may never heal. The story is told by a third person’s point of view, however, O’Brien includes a touch of his personal experiences during the war where he spent a year in Vietnam (Hicks). As Josiah Bunting said, “The things he carried into war are very different from what he carried away from it” (Bunting) expressing O’Brien’s experience at war and how his experience as a soldier would convince readers to believe that the different traumatic moments...
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...novel that details the daily activities of Alpha Company (a platoon of soldiers) throughout the Vietnam War. O’Brien depicts the harsh realities and terrors associated with war and the harsh effects soldiers are faced to deal with on an ongoing basis. Given the time frame and settings of both these chapters at first glance, “The Lives of the Dead” and “In the Field” appear to be critically different, but after further analysis one can easily fathom that they are in fact quite similar. O’Brien emphasizes these similarities by using the theme of death and the effects correlated with it, regardless of the situation. The effects of death are then identified by studying several characters reactions to the death of various platoon members and key people within their lives. By doing this O’Brien is able to connect these chapters seamlessly, and thus strengthen the theme of death throughout his novel. “The Lives of the Dead” is an unique chapter as it not only captures what it is like to be a soldier in the Vietnam War, but it also focuses on the experiences one faces with death. Furthermore, how it doesn’t matter your age, gender or status death will ultimately play a key role in your life. After Lieutenant Jimmy Cross sent in an air strike on a seemingly deserted area that resulted in the death of one old man, the members of Alpha Company are forced to cope with the death. Once again, the majority of them take it as a joke shaking his hand and one member Dave Jensen even goes as far as...
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...an emergency preparedness and response plan. Local, state, and national public health agencies such as the Red Cross, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and local and state EMS should have participated in this emergency situation. Summary of event Neighborhood is a community located near a forest and along the bank of the river with a population of 64, 200 residents. A forest fire has been raging for five days and is nearing the town of Neighborhood, destroying numerous acres of land. Firefighters are battling to obtain control of the forest fire, whereas the health care workers are battling to keep the patients breathing. The seniors are coming to the senior center clinic with breathing problems, and the hospital is overcrowded with patients with breathing issues. The hospital has shortage of staffs and the quality of care is law. The city officials are urging the citizens to stay indoors and not to go out unless it is necessary because winds are blowing the smoke toward the town. The smoky condition of the air is affecting everyone, but those with pre-existing lung problems are suffering the most. The officials also advised that if the fire advances toward the town they would inform the people about the plan (Pearson Health Science, 2011). Jimmy Bley and his wife Cecelia are lifelong partners and both are in their 70s and have health issues. Jimmy has hearing...
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...each man but of the war in general and the shame and emotion involved. It is what he does not directly say but rather implies with his descriptions of each soldier that bring the deeper message to the surface. The detail and element of characterization Tim O’Brien uses to describe each soldier in “The things they carried” reveals the deeper meaning that the emotional baggage each soldier carries with them weighs upon them more heavily than the physical items, essentially interfering with their duties of war. Jimmy Cross, the main character O’Brien highlights, appears to carry the most emotional baggage with him as the story opens explaining how he carries “the letters from a girl named Martha (274)”. The letters are not only symbolic of past emotions that he brings with him to war, but also of irony. Letters among all the other items he carries are the lightest, yet they weigh upon him so heavily. Along with his duty as a first lieutenant and platoon leader, “Jimmy Cross carried a compass, maps, code books, binoculars, and a .45 pistol that...
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...James Harold Doolittle Edmond Pukaj Spartan College of Aeronautics Abstract James Doolittle was a man with an outstanding resume in the American Air Force and one of Americas most well-known aviation pilots whose contributions in the Second World War was extremely crucial to increasing American morale. Doolittle also played a major role in creating new instrumentations to improve night flying and flying in hazardous weather. Doolittle broke and set many records in the aviation world and made the impossible possible with his extraordinary flying skills. Made himself a role model for upcoming generations of pilots. General James “Jimmy” Harold Doolittle was a very important individual in American aviation history. Many recognize Jimmy Doolittle as the individual responsible for coordinating the planes that took off on the aircraft carrier The Hornet, for the raid on Japan in the Second World War. James Doolittle was placed in charge of defining which plane to use for this mission. He decided on the B-25 plane determining that it had the highest potential to make the short take-off of the Hornet. Doolittle was known as being a daredevil, scholar, pilot and General. Doolittle’s particular expertise and passion was for flying. He is considered to be the American aviation pioneer. Although his flying expertise is what he is most commonly credited for his accomplishments far exceed this criterion (Daso, 2003) James Doolittle was born on December 14, 1896 in Alameda, California...
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...In the beginning of the novel, Cross escapes the reality he is in by reading letters from Martha. That is his only reminder of home and what life used to be like for him. Religiously reading the papers distracts him from preventing Ted Lavender’s death. He now realizes that he cannot be living in a different world in his head and decides to burn the letters he is receiving. Following the death of Kiowa, Cross writes a letter to Kiowa’s father that is never sent in order to come to terms with the immense guilt he is facing. The letters serve a purpose of explaining the death of Kiowa and taking responsibility for what occurred. The numerous drafts he wrote do no provide justice for the preventable death of Kiowa. The letters were the only audience Cross had since he must be brave and courageous in front of his men. Cross believes “there had to be blame” in the death of his friend, so he places it on himself (169). The loathing towards himself is an unhealthy coping strategy because he carries unhappiness for the remainder of “In the Field.” He grows into a person that takes too much responsibility for events that are not necessarily his fault. Cross went from running away from his duties to confronting himself about Kiowa’s death and taking...
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...Geanean Mckenzie Professor Weiss Modes Of Analysis Character Of Analysis Essay 2/16/14 In Tim O’Brien “The Things They Carried” The first story in the collection introduces the cast of characters that reappear throughout the book. The cast is made up of the soldiers of the Alpha Company, led by First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross. The platoon is deployed to fight in the Vietnam War. The narrator, O’Brien, is one of the soldiers, and he distinguishes one soldier from another in this first story by the items that they carry. Authors as far back as Homer described soldiers going into battle by naming the things that they carried: goatskins filled with water, spears, and locks of hair from their beloved ones. O’Brien updates this literary strategy. His characters carry the modern implements of war. But the feeling evoked is similar: static lists make the characters seem already dead, prematurely mourned. The lists are like wills. The first story is told in third person, with some insight into the mind of Jimmy Cross. This movement between perspectives is called free indirect discourse, and serves to distance the reader from the soldiers. The reader sees them as if they were in a movie, moving slowly across an unfamiliar landscape, carrying their various burdens. The ancient movement of men going to war is juxtaposed with the rough, modern language of the soldiers themselves. They use slang, swear at each other, and try to diffuse the feeling of danger and helplessness by describing death...
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...Ryan Canady 3/7/11 EWRT 1B A Soldier’s Burden Tim O’Brien is regarded as the preeminent American novelist of the Vietnam experience and his novels have gained widespread critical and significant popular success. His popularity can be attributed to his ability to translate the experience of wartime into perspectives on the larger questions of life and death. The three stories by O’Brien listed in the title are based on his own personal experiences and memories of his time in and after the Vietnam War. Although these stories are based upon real experiences, he embellishes some facts or puts instances from separate events into one timeline making his work is fiction. I believe that O’Brien wrote these stories not only as a therapeutic release for himself, but he is able to retell these stories and give an incredible insight to such a dark and controversial piece of American history. But his career has spanned a wider range of topics than his experiences from Vietnam. One consistent theme in his works is morality and the timeless struggle that humans have had with it. Along with morality, the amount burden that people carry, both physical and emotional, is a major theme in the stories I will be discussing. Another great attribute to O’Brien’s writing is his uncanny ability to blur the lines between fiction and reality. This style of writing is commonly referred to as metafiction; which is fiction that discusses the function and effect of storytelling. He believes that...
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..."Empire" is a dramatization of the life in the shoes of one of four heroin dealers in the New York City area known as South Bronx. It is a story told by Victor Rosa, the main character referred to by many as Vic, as the viewer follows him around the city The movie begins by naming all the main drug dealers and their territories across the South Bronx region, Victor's territory noticeably bigger than the others. Out of the four competitors, we only see one that Victor has any trouble with later in the movie and that is the drug dealer known as Tito. Tito is another successful, Hispanic drug dealer who sells his product in the territory just south of Victor. Due to the location of these two territories it isn't uncommon to see a pedlar cross into another dealers area of sales. The first outbreak of violence between the two gangs erupts after Victor is informed by an appointed leader in his crew that one of Tito's men had been witnessed selling their product across the "invisible line". Usually these gang leaders wouldn't handle business themselves but when it comes to cutting into their profits, that is when the leader of the crew must make a statement by taking matters into their own hands. Victor and two of his men show up on the street corner where they find Tito's men continuing to push their product. The two members Victor arrived with proceed to raise their weapons at two of the opposing members keeping them at bay while Victor vigorously beats the one holding the product...
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...Community Preparedness and Response NUR/408 Community Preparedness and Response This paper discusses The Neighborhood - Pearson Health Science season two, episode five at the University of Phoenix student website. The examination of the actions of health care workers in response to the health concerns of key characters will be highlighted including the community hospital, senior center, school, and the Bley household. The role of the preparedness of the public health agencies, who initially responded to the community emergency, and who should monitor the effects on the community health will be assessed. Identification of how public health care teams can enhance the citizens’ preparedness for emergencies will be explored as well as suggestions to improve personal preparedness in a similar community emergent event. The Neighborhood The Neighborhood has a population of 64,200 including all ages from zero to over 90 years-old. An uncontrolled forest fire has been burning for over five days. As firefighters battle the fire, city officials state the community is not in any danger. However, the thick smoke is covering the town. The healthcare workers are working hard to treat people of the community with chronic lung problems (Pearson Health Science, 2009). Hospital The local hospital is a 362 inpatient bed facility (Pearson Health Science, 2009). The raging fire has the emergency room and local offices seeing an increase of patients suffering breathing problems...
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...“I don’t care that this happened and I certainly don’t care about the facts, as what’s done is done. I do, however, care about you two! I care to see how you grow, better yourselves, how you love, and how you hurt. And that is the real truth!” Her version of the truth allowed us to understand that facts are not everything when telling the truth, as they do not help us learn from our mistakes. A story similar to this though in a very different setting is the first chapter in the book The Things They Carried. As Lieutenant Jimmy Cross is distracted thinking about the Martha, the woman he loved from his hometown, he fails to notice that the enemy is shooting at one of his soldiers, Ted Lavender. Subsequent to when the soldiers carry the deceased man away, the Lieutenant blames himself for Ted’s death and states his love and great desire for Martha has caused him to be preoccupied and unable to fixate on his task to protect his soldiers and troop. Thinking about this event with solely facts in mind does not show the full picture because Cross is leaving out the feelings he experienced...
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