Tim O’Brien keeps telling you the rules. What do they say about trying to tell the story of war?
“How to Tell a True War Story” is a chapter that stops every few pages to tell you what a true war story is, then tells you a story that does not quite obey. Your job over two class periods: collect the rules, test them on six very short stories, and write one of your own.
Twelve stations. Each story station has the same shape: a reminder of the story (you have the book; use it), a signpost with its anchor question, a ladder that pushes you past your first answer, and a rule card where you write one of O’Brien’s rules in your own words. The rules pile up in your rulebook. At Station 9 you use them to judge six stories. At Station 10 you plan your own, which you write for .
You are going to want to say war is bad and stop. O’Brien agrees that war is bad. He also thinks that answer explains almost nothing. The ladder exists so you do not stop there.
Saving and turning in. Your work saves automatically in this browser on this device. Before you leave each day, tap Save progress file (in the sidebar, or under Menu) and keep the file in your Google Drive. On a new device, tap Load progress file. At the last station you download a summary and attach it to the assignment in Google Classroom. That file is the only thing your teacher sees.
Two signposts, one ladder.
You already know these two. The chapter is built out of them. What is new is the ladder: a way to climb past the first thing you think without throwing it away.
Every story station asks the anchor question and then makes you climb.
- First answerSay the first thing you think. It is usually true. It is usually “war is bad” or “he was traumatized.” Write it down so you can see it.
- Second lookSomething in the text that the first answer cannot explain. You get a quote and a question. Answer the question, not the quote.
- Both at onceTwo things that are both true and do not cancel out. O’Brien calls this the truths being contradictory. Most of the chapter lives on this rung.
Moment: A father tells his son he is proud of him, then does not come to the game.
First answer: He does not really care.
Second look: He drove to the parking lot and sat in the car. Why go at all?
Both at once: He is proud of his son and he cannot stand to be seen being proud. Both true. Neither one wins.
Rat writes a letter. Then he says the ugly thing.
The chapter opens with its most tender moment and its most hateful one, in the same paragraph. The narrator says this is true. It is the first rule.
The sunlight killed him.
A 105 round killed Curt Lemon. The narrator knows that. He tells you the sunlight did it anyway, and he says that is the only honest way to tell it.
Happened or seemed? Six details from Lemon’s death. Tap one for each. One of them is a trap, on purpose.
“I had to make up a few things.” “It’s still true.”
Mitchell Sanders tells the best story in the chapter, swears it is true, and the next morning admits he invented parts. O’Brien says that is exactly right.
Which parts did Sanders make up? Tap every detail you think he invented, then check. Then decide whether it matters.
The part nobody believes.
This is the scene readers want to look away from. O’Brien says that is how you know. The normal parts are there to make you swallow this one.
End of Part 1
Everyone: save a progress file now and put it in your Google Drive, even if you think you will have the same device tomorrow. Next class, open TQuest; if your work is not there, tap Load progress file and pick this file. If you still have time today, keep going.
War is hell, and that is not the half of it.
O’Brien agrees with you that war is bad. Then he lists everything “bad” leaves out and tells you the truths are contradictory. This is the rung the whole chapter stands on.
Match the pairs. Tap a left half, then the right half O’Brien pairs it with. Each pair is two truths that fight.
“It wasn’t a war story. It was a love story.”
The chapter ends by taking back everything, telling Lemon’s death one more time, and handing you the last two rules.
Four tellings. Lemon’s death is told four times in the chapter. Find each one in your book. For each, write one detail that is new or changed in that telling.
Your rulebook.
Nine rules, in O’Brien’s words and yours. Put the three you trust most at the top. Flag one you would argue with. This is what you test the stories against next.
Move the rules. Use the arrows to reorder. Your top three get a mark. Tap Doubt on one rule you are not sure about and say why.
Six stories. Which ones are true?
None of these are by O’Brien. Some are not about war at all. For each: read it, give a verdict, tag the rules it follows or breaks, and say why. The key gives one reading. Yours can disagree; your reasons are what count.
Now write one.
For : a story of that you think counts as a true war story by Tim O’Brien’s rules. Plan it here. Write it wherever you write.
Turn it in.
Check the list, download your summary, and attach it to the assignment in Google Classroom. Your story itself is due separately.
Step 1. Download the summary. It is a single file named with your name and period.
Step 2. Open Google Classroom, find the TQuest assignment, tap Add or create, then File, and attach the download. Tap Turn in.
If the download does not work on this device, use the copy button and paste the text into a Google Doc, then attach that.