1st/2nd AP LANG/ENG 1101
**MAJOR WRITING ASSIGNMENT HW DUE MON. 9/27:
Now that you have finished reading TTTC, PACE YOURSELF over the next five days and complete the following (*for an initial completion grade and x2 more grades/more info to come):
- choose THREE (3) chapters from the text that strike you as significant thematically and rhetorically (use of the rhetorical appeals) and:
- complete a TYPED RHETORICAL ANALYSIS EXTENDED PARAGRAPH for each one (*THAT'S x3 EXTENDED PARAGRAPH DRAFTS, KIDS!)
- EXTENDED PARAGRAPH = 8-12 SENTENCES PER PARAGRAPH
- CREATE ONE 'RUNNING' DOCUMENT FOR ALL THREE, AND SHARE WITH ME as a Google Doc, PLEASE, BY YOUR CLASSTIME MONDAY 9/27!!!
- GUIDING QUESTION FOR YOUR WRITTEN ANALYSIS: **In the chapter "---," *HOW (*and what) does O'Brien use literary elements/language choices/techniques to appeal to his readers and convey his argument/point(s) in each chapter?
- **use the "Death of ETHOS/PATHOS/LOGOS" guide sheet given to you in class THURS. 9/23 (RHETORIC SECTION/*also linked on THURS. 9/23 Classroom) to help you craft your sentences to convey your analysis
******GREAT**SAMPLE EXT. PARA. RESPONSE TO GUIDE YOU (LINE OF REASONING [LoR] examples highlighted)****
NAME LAST NAME
Mrs. Krieger
AP Language
14 September 20--
The Things They Carried: "Spin”
Throughout Tim O’Brien’s narrative, he reminds his readers of the importance of storytelling in a world where nothing remains perpetual, where life is finite. Indeed, the importance of narrative comes though in its ability to immortalize—to bind—time forever. O’Brien’s claim that “stories are for joining the past to the future…Stories are for eternity, when memory is erased, when there is nothing to remember except the story" validates the importance of preserving our memories through the art of storytelling (38). However, for O’Brien, stories will never replace the memories of actually having been there to experience a scenario, namely the grim realities of war. For instance, in the chapter “Spin,” O’Brien states that he is a forty-three year-old writer holding on to a passionate obsession for war stories. Using his authoritative voice and style, the author/narrator draws his audience into the ethos-evoking world of a ‘true war story,’ seeking to convince readers of the raw truth and intensity that must come with the territory. As he writes about his violent past, it “turns into a kind of rehappening” (32). O’Brien potently lives in his past, yet he still says “…I should forget it. But the thing about remembering is that you don’t forget…” (33). Here, the repetition of the word “forget” rhetorically reminds readers—and civilians—of the heavy burden that comes with memories of war, thus evoking a response from readers to remind them that O’Brien speaks credibly about this volatile subject. As he continues, quick, fragmented tales of days before, during, and after his platoon flow with sorrow and regret. Astounding readers with his narrative, O’Brien persuades readers to believe his tales through gruesome scenes of terror and violence—whether physical or psychological. Most peculiar, though, are his pleas that, at times, the war was not all death and pandemonium; at times came peace—but peace tempered with subtle mental chaos. For example, as G.I. Norman Bowker lies under the stars on a calm night, he longs for his father to write him a letter telling him that it is acceptable to come home without medals—an indication of the heavy internal conflict Bowker carries amidst the physical chaos of combat. Indeed, O’Brien’s ability to tell his war stories unflinchingly grips readers with intensity. Through both repetition and narrative techniques that evoke an ethos-reaction, The Things They Carried exhibits the quality of “joining the past to the future”: a penchant that O’Brien himself so intensely strives for within his own narrative (34).
Work Cited
O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried. Mariner, 2009.
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