Modern Dilemmas in-class test essay
Unit: War
The Price of Sacrifice
Assignment:
You will be randomly given a letter or a poem written by an actual Vietnam veteran. In a well-developed, in-class essay, you will connect your assigned letter or poem to other works from this unit. Your response will be in the form of a multi-paragraph essay that I will give you class time to write. Your topic sentence will state your main idea, which will be a THEMATIC CONNECTION BETWEEN THE WORKS. To do this, you MUSTconsider the motifs and themes we discussed and how they transcend all the works in this unit. You SHOULD also consider the writing style and literary devices of the written works we read, the visual presentation of the films we watched, and any other relevant connection you find pertinent to your statement of theme.
Sources:
“The Kill Team” by Mark Boal
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
A Soldier’s Heart by Raney Aronson-Rath
“Soldier’s Home” by Ernest Hemingway
Born on the Fourth of July by Oliver Stone
The Invisible War by Kirby Dick.
Although Hemingway’s Krebs is a World War I veteran, O’Brien’s characters and Ron Kovicare Vietnam vets, the men from “The Kill Team” are Iraq War veterans, and the men and women profiled in the two documentaries are from various military missions, you should consider what all these vets have in common.
Consider yourself burdened with telling their stories-what do you consider the price they paid for their service?
Level 2:Essay will be five paragraphs, focusing on threedifferent sources from the unit list; your essay will discuss at least three different characters and three different works. Each Developing Paragraph will connect the selected work to the letter or poem you were assigned. You need 1 DQ per DP.
Level 3:
Essay will be four paragraphs, focusing on twodifferent sources from the unit list; your essay will discuss at least twodifferent characters andtwo different works. Each Developing Paragraph will connect the selected work to the letter or poem you were assigned. You need 1 DQ per DP.
Level 4:
Essay will be threeparagraphs,focusing on twodifferent sources from the unit list; your essay will discuss at least twodifferent characters andtwo different works. Your Developing Paragraph will connect the selected works to the letter or poem you were assigned. You need 1 DQ in your DP.
You may consider the traits of the “Lost Generation” if you need help:
Exhibit grace under pressure
View life as transitory
Enjoy life’s pleasures
Are Physically/emotionally broken
Have little regard for consequence
Struggle to confront truth
Experience a loss of faith
Are emotionally detached or indifferent
For your analysis, consider how Hemingway’s and O’Brien’s style of writing is a means to an end. In other words, setting, form, point of view, symbolism, and other literary devices are all tools writers use to project a particular theme. Directors like Oliver Stone and often achieve the same end through lighting, music, dialogue, voiceovers/monologues, setting… Producers working on documentaries, like the PBS one, purposely edit and juxtapose scenes for thematic effect as well. Consider this as you explore this essay.
You were responsible for taking
your own film notes.
For citing purposes, you may cite as
Letter by addressee, example (“Dear Fannie”)
Poems by title (“Tunnels”)
Films by director (Stone)
Literature by author (Hemingway)
You do not need to include a works cited page, since I provided you with the sources.