You can work on creating a number of different interpretive questions in your small groups.
Each person in the class should post a good interpretive question to the blog, and focus that question on one of the stories or themes we have read to date.
Use the Comments feature on this post, so that all of our Interpretive questions are in one place.
Thanks,
Mike
What does Mary Ann represent to the other men at the camp?
ReplyDeleteFriends: Why did Strunk beg Jensen to not kill him?
ReplyDeleteQuestion for the dentist:
ReplyDeleteWhat motivated Lemon to get his tooth pulled after he showed his fear of dentists?
Enemies- Why was Jensen so overly-paranoid about Strunk getting revenge on him?
ReplyDeleteWhy did Tim O'Brien write the chapters of "Friends" and "enemies so short and why did he choose to separate them in the progression of the novel?
ReplyDeletewhy was the authors purpose for writing the sweetheart of the song tra bong
ReplyDeleteFor the short story "Friends" -
ReplyDeleteDoes O'Brien really believe that you can make friends during the war or are the "friends" made more so just life support buddies?
In the chapter friends, Why was Jensen relieved when Strunk died?
ReplyDeleteIs there a deeper meaning to Curt Lemons sister ignoring Rat Kileys letter?
ReplyDeleteHow does Curt Lemon's choice to have his tooth pulled relate to the recurring theme of bravery and overcoming fear in the story
ReplyDeleteIn "The Dentist", what possesses Curt Lemon to go so far as he did to keep up his facade of toughness?
ReplyDeleteLauren cobb: why do you think Curt Lemon went back to the dentist
ReplyDeleteWas it hard for the men to express their feelings and emotions like explained in "How to Tell a True War Story?"
ReplyDeleteWhy is it so hard for people to believe a true war story?
ReplyDeleteEnemies- Why didn't Lee Strunk or any of the other troops try to talk to Jensen before things got worse like yelling and shooting the gun up in the air?
ReplyDeleteFrom Sweetheart: "What type of love might Rat Kiley have towards Mary Anne Bell given his description on page 108? (After saying how he loved her)"
ReplyDeleteAnd since I did the wrong chapters, here's one from The Man I Killed: "What would we think of the dead man if we did not have the story of his life?"
How does Jenson resolve the conflict with Strunk?
ReplyDeleteWhy won't Jenson kill Strunk after the pack they had made?
Why do these solider's highly value there good luck charms? Is it for the luck, or is there more to it?
ReplyDeleteIn "How to Tell a True War Story" O'Brien talks about morals. Does he consider this book to be moral-less or is it like a "A thread that makes a cloth. You can't tease it out"?
ReplyDeleteIn "Enemies" what was the motive behind Jensen caving in his own nose?
In the chapter "Friends" the author depicts that war is death, destruction, fear, and stressful. How did the pact between Strunk and Jensen play into that.
ReplyDeleteDoes war bring these men together? Almost every war story we hear is about how soldiers are bound together like brothers through their experiences. O'Brien says that if a war story is too good to be true it is. War is not a fairytale but many war stories make it out to be heroic and brotherly. As we saw in "Enemies" and "Friends" the soldiers hate each other at moments and then become closer than before. Is this always the case? Does he end up contradicting himself?
ReplyDeleteWhat causes Mary Anne to change into a predatory killer? Does her gender plan a role in this?
ReplyDeleteIn how to "tell a true war story" O'Brien talks about how often the unbelievable stories turn out to be true, while the believable stories are lies. What would that mean about moral stories that he believes to be unbelievable?
ReplyDeleteFriends: Why did Dave Jensen not kill Strunk?
ReplyDeleteWhy were the war stories exaggerated is it to make it more intriguing or to suppress the emotion behind them?
ReplyDelete