Character Reflections
Who is the main focus of "Speaking of Courage"?(Ch.15)
Norman Bowker
What does the lake symbolize in "Speaking of Courage" and "Notes"?
Guilt, trauma, weight of memory, etc.
Where does most of "Speaking of courage" take place?
Around a lake in Norman Bowker's hometown.
What literary device was the most prominent?
Subjective, include why
ex: Imagery, lake
"He drove around the lake, thinking about how he almost won the Silver Star." What does this quote reveal?
What medal does Norman Bowker wish he had earned?
The Silver Star
What theme connects "Speaking of Courage" and "Notes"?
(subjective, multiple answers)
ex:The difficulty of opening up about war experiences
What happed to Kiowa during the night Norman remembers?
He died in the "shithole" after from drowning during an attack.
What point of view is "Speaking of Courage" written in?
Third person (focused on Norman Bowker).
"If I could have saved Kiowa, I would have told the story differently." What does this quote show about O'Brien's guilt?
He blames himself for not saving Kiowa and struggles to find truth in storytelling.
Tim O'Brien
What does Bowker's silence with his father represent?
Bowker's failure to express emotional pain and guilt.
What object does Norman imagine showing his father?
The Silver Star Medal
How does "Notes" change the readers understanding of "Speaking of Courage"?
It shows that the story was based on Bowker's real letter and experiences.
"Speaking of Courage" takes place on a certain holiday, whats the irony?
Its a day celebrating freedom, but Bowker feels trapped by his memories.
How does Norman Bowker die later in the book as revealed in "Notes"?
He hangs himself in a YMCA locker room.
To give Bowker's experiences a voice and meaning through storytelling.
How does Norman's driving in circles around the lake symbolize his mental state?
It represents his approach to life postwar as stagnant, and unable to move on.
What does O'Brien mean when he says Bowker "would've been embarrassed" by the first written version of the story?
That fiction fully express the true pain and feeling within Bowker.
"Theres no place to go. Not just in the physical sense, but emotionally too." What does this suggest about life postwar?
Veterans often feel lost and disconnected.
What does O'Brien say Bowker's story shows about the difficulty of returning from war?
The soldiers struggle to find purpose and connection in "ordinary" life.
What broader message about storytelling does "Notes" suggest?
Stories can preserve truth even when tweaks are present throughout.
What time of day and holiday does most of the story take place?
Early evening on the Fourth of July.
What's O'Briens main purpose in showing how he rewrote Bowker's story?
(subjective)
How does "Speaking of Courage" and "Notes" touch upon in writing truth v fiction?
They both show that emotional truth matters more than the actual events in war stories.