English 1B - Seminar 3

O'Brien and Carver

Read  The Things They Carried and What We Talk About When We Talk About Love. Choose one question for each story and write a brief (1-2 paragraph) response. Include at least one quote for each response.

The Things They Carried

1.  How are each of the characters developed?  In other words, what do we know about the characters, and how do we know those things about them?  How does O'Brien reveal to us what the characters are like?
2.  How does O'Brien handle the plot of this story?  How is information revealed to the reader - in a linear fashion, or does O'Brien distort the narrative arc?  Try to think of at least one reason why he might have arranged the plot as he did.

3.  What symbols do you find among the things the men carried?  How do the objects reveal something important about the man who carried them?

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love

1.  What do we talk about when we talk about love? How do you think Carver would define love?   Why do you think that?

2.  How does Raymond Carver use setting in the story.  Analyze the setting, and discuss what it suggests about the characters.  Jow do the specifics of the setting reveal Carver's attitudes about the concept of love?

3. How does each of the characters define love? How does each character act in his or her relationship? Are the characters' actions consistent with the way they define love?  

Free Choice: create another question about either story, and write a response.