The Things They Carried
The Things They Carried
The Things They Carried
The Things They Carried
Definitions
100

O'Brien describes going to war as an act of______

Cowardice

100

How does the "Young Soldier" (often identified as O’Brien himself) react to Kiowa’s death?

He focuses on finding a lost picture of his girlfriend.

100
"A true war story is_______moral." 

never

100

"It’s to keep the dead alive, to bring them back into the light of the present."  What is the word that best defines bringing back the dead?  

Resurrection

100

A metaphor is a figure of speech that directly compares two unrelated things by stating one thing ___ the other.

is

200

A paradox is a statement, proposition, or situation that seems self-_____________but upon closer investigation, reveals a deeper, often profound truth.

Contradictory

200

Who felt the burden of responsibility for Kiowa's death? 

Lieutenant Jimmy Cross

200

"I know one thing; that I know nothing" is an example of a__________.

paradox

200

In "How to Tell a True War Story," _who_ tells a story about a troop that hears music in the mountains.

Mitchell Sanders

200

A character must decide whether to do the right thing or the easy thing.  This is an example of an _____conflict. 

internal

300

In "On the Rainy River," 'Brien considers social exile as more of a motivator than the fear of______.

death

300

O'Brien is sympathetic to which character's decision to shoot himself?  

Rat Kiley

300

Rat Kiley’s torture of the baby water buffalo is a reaction to what?  

The senseless death of Curt Lemon.

300
The chapters "On the Rainy River" and "In the Field" deal with O'Brien's sense of ___ regarding what might happen and afterwards, what had happened.

shame

300

_____ are personal or societal beliefs regarding right and wrong behavior, enabling cooperative living.

Morals

400

In "On the Rainy River," Elroy Berdahl's presence functions as a mirror to O'Brien's own________. 

conscience

400

In "Night Life," Rat Kiley’s descent into mental instability is triggered by what?  

 "the silence" - the lack of external stimuli allowing the mind to become a predator.

400

How does the "Young Soldier" (often identified as O’Brien himself) react to Kiowa’s death?

He focuses on finding a lost picture of his girlfriend.

400

Which aspect of "_______-truth" does O’Brien most frequently criticize as being inadequate because it doesn't convey the "gut feeling" of an experience

happening

400

A ______ act is a non-verbal gesture, action, or object used to convey a specific, often political or social, message without words.

symbolic

500

O'Brien prioritizes the emotional impact and "feel" of an event over ____________. 

objective, chronological facts.  

500

For O'Brien, what acts as a defense mechanism against the finality of death?

Storytelling

500

O'Brien values ___________ impact over objective, chronological facts. 

emotional

500

In "The Lives of the Dead," O’Brien writes, "I’m forty-three years old... and I’m still at that prep school at the age of nine.  This is a  ______narrative where the past and present are constantly intersecting.

circular
500

A quagmire is a difficult, complicated, or unpleasant ________ that is hard to escape, similar to being stuck in soft, wet, boggy ground.

situation