The Things They Carried

Length: 800 In his TEDxCUNY talk, Aakaash Varma (a junior at CUNY) discusses “Putting the 'story' back in history.” He quotes Tim O’Brien toward the end of his talk to emphasize the importance of narrative in making historical events real. Watch Varma’s talk (https://youtu.be/aXbi_H064yU), read Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” in your textbook (page 344), conduct some research on the Vietnam War and write a paper in response to the following prompt: How does Tim O’Brien put the “story” back in history? Your paper should present an argument in response to the prompt above. That is, this is not to be a descriptive paper that summarizes the story. It should have clearly connected points in support of your argument. Your reader should be able to follow these points easily and understand how each connects to your larger argument. Your argument cannot simply restate the prompt. Your paper should utilize the terminology presented in Chapter 5 of your textbook(theme, setting, plot, character, point of view etc). You do not have to use all of the elements of fiction discussed; indeed, it would be detrimental to your paper to try to do so. Instead, pick only as many as you think are important to supporting your argument. There is no need to define these terms again in your essay. You are entering a conversation about literature wherein your readers are familiar with this language of literary study. Your focus should be on your argument, not the terminology. Your paper must incorporate one reliable outside source that presents historical facts about the Vietnam War. You should integrate this information in presenting your argument. You will cite both O’Brien’s story and this outside source in MLA format and include it in a Works Cited list at the end of your paper.