Characters
This character carries a tomahawk and a New Testament
Kiowa
Martha went to school here
Mount Sebastian College
Tim is this many years old when he writes the book
43
"Boom, Down."
Kiowa, describing Ted's death
When we read about a female character, this theme is likely at work
loss of innocence
She gave Jimmy a smooth pebble from the beach
the Tip Top lodge is next to this river
Rainy River
Tim is drafted in this year
1968
"watch out how you vote: send guys to war, they come home talking" this way.
Dirty (vulgar)
"The things they carry" refers to what two types of things
physical items and intangibles like "fear"
He broke his own nose
Dave Jensen
Tim almost went here to avoid the war
Canada
Tim worked here before the war.
Armour meat packing plant
"It doesn't matter: I love her."
Jimmy Cross, about Martha
this "I" word is frequently used as a language device to point out inconsistent ideas
Irony
He's the medic
Rat Kiley
Lee Strunk dies in a helicopter over this village
Chu Lai
Tim felt this way about the war before he went.
He didn't believe it was a just war and didn't want to fight in it
"I stole his jack knife."
Lee Strunk
2 grammar "errors" used deliberately to emphasize excess of emotion
run on sentences and over-long paragraphs
This man helped Tim make a huge decision about Vietnam
Elroy Berdahl
Tim is from this state
Minnesota
Tim kills this character.
the thin, dainty young man on the trail
"Not biting."
Elroy Berdahl on the Rainy River
Tim exaggerating details of a story is an example of this figurative language
hyperbole