Student Name: Emma Stanard
Title of Work : ​The Things They Carried
Extract Link:
Character
Choose a character or pair of
characters and what purpose
they serve in the work. Then,
describe how the author
achieves this purpose.
5-7 sentence Mary Anne: Mary Anne is a
explanation of ideas character who is meant to
in the work. portray a shift in identity that
contrasts in some ways and
parallels in some ways the shift
of identities of the soldiers.
Mary Anne is first introduced
as a young, innocent teenager
just out of high school. Once
she is in the midst of war,
however, her identity shifts and
she evolves into a completely
different person. Her loss of
innocence parallels the
soldiers’ loss of innocence due
to the traumas of war, and her
drastic change makes this shift
more apparent. However, while
Mary Anne really evolves into
a new person and even feels
more like herself after this
transformation, the soldiers all
Theme
Choose a theme in work and
explain its significance to the
work as a whole. Then, describe
how the author conveys this
theme.
One of the prevalent themes in
the book is the loss of innocence.
This loss of innocence is shown
throughout the work in many of
the characters. In this novel,
many of the characters become
emotionally detached and their
innocence lost because of horrors
witnessed during the war. This
idea of innocence and emotional
detachment can also tie to the
idea of changing identities by
showing how the loss of one’s
innocence really changes a
person and can lead to emotional
detachment. Some of the
characters that really exemplify
this theme are Rat Kiley, Mary
Anne, and Tim O’Brien.
Plot
Choose an aspect of the plot
(point of view, conflict,
resolution, etc) and explain how
the author crafts the work as a
whole.
The point of view is particularly
interesting in this novel. O’Brien
shifts the point of view between
vignettes, sometimes telling in
first person, sometimes in third
person. This contributes to the
novel by adding layers of
complexity that really illustrate
the complexities of war. The
novel is also not told in
chronological order. There are
stories told from his point of
view after the war, in the war,
and before the war, all
throughout the novel. This again
contributes to the complexities of
war and ties to the idea of
memory and trauma. The story is
not told chronologically because
that is not how events are
remembered. Events are
remembered in bits and pieces
Global Issue
Identify and describe a global
issue that the author addresses in
the work. Then, list how the
author develops the global issue.
One of the global issues O’Brien
explores in this work is the issue
of identity. Many of the soldiers
have lost their individual
identities and conformed to a sort
of collective group identity.
Because the war has reshaped
their identities, many of them
cannot move on when the war is
over and are stuck in the past. The
soldiers feel lost without the war
because it became such a huge
part of them. O’Brien also
explores the idea of changing
identities through the character of
Mary Anne. Although, the way
that Mary Anne’s identity
changes contrasts the shifts in the
identities of the soldiers in many
ways.
 seemed to have lost their and telling the story this way
individual identities to conform adds to the emotional quality.
to the group.

Author technique or ● Eyes motif ● Water buffalo symbol ● Begins during the war ● Norman Bowker- the war
strategies (bullet ● Diction referring to ● O’Brien when he first ● Story from his childhood changed him, he cannot
points) Mary Anne by her came to the war (shown is at the very end of the move on from it, ends up
name and later just later in the book) and book commiting suicide
You may wish to “the girl” once he had been in the ● Some told in third person ● Jimmy Cross- told to
consider: motifs, ● Imagery (necklace of war for some time (Speaking of Courage) think of his soldiers as a
symbols, character tongues) ● Some parts told in first fighting unit, prefers to
foils, narrative ● Colors motif person (Notes) recognize them as
technique, plot individuals with their
structure. own identities
● In “Ghost Soldiers”
O’Brien is no longer part
of the group because he
isn’t in combat with
them, feels like part of his
identity is missing
because of conforming to
group identity
● Mary Anne has a very
drastic identity change,
she evolves into a new
person