Hunter's group blog assignment - Vietnam War and Life

When I think of the Vietnam War... I think of death, suffering, and courage. I pick these three specific words for different reasons.. death because you are surrounded by it almost everywhere you go. You live everyday not knowing if you're going to be alive or dead. Suffering because you have families and friends back home and you don't know if you're every going to even see them again.. and it's a lot of suffering for families back home. Courage because going to war is something almost no one wants to do. You're going to war, possibly losing your own life, to serve for our country and protect us. 

The second video differs from the first in a sense that it shows us a different side to Vietnam. How the people and there way of living isn’t a bad one. We see it as this terrible place when really they’re just like us. You got to see the other side of Vietnam and not JUST the war. 

1. Create a strategy and a plan of action for how you will relate your session to the first, 

second, and third. 

 2. Why is the story called “Speaking of Courage?” (Consider that the title could be both 

ironic and not ironic). 

 The story is called “Speaking of Courage because the following story revolves around Norman Bowker who had just recently came home from the war. Bowker shows his father that he received seven medals, but Bowker’s mind is troubling himself. Bowker comes home with nothing to do. All he does is sit in his father’s Chevy, ride in it for 12 revolutions around the lake, and think about himself being a coward rather than courageous. The revelation around the lake is a metaphor referred to fighting in circles during the war. In the war, he shows that he is courageous by hearing Kiowa’s scream, but he is unable to save him because if he does, he will also sacrifice himself and the stench coming from the field haunts him. If he sacrificed himself to save his friend and faced his fears, he might have been honored with the Silver Star. The title of the story is ironic because if someone has the courage to do something, they will do it. The irony is that if the situation is life threatening, the person may have the courage to go to it, but the sissy ness behind this is to ignore the situation and run away from it. Speaking is difficult to Bowker. He has a hard time talking to his girlfriend and his father. He talks to the intercom at Mama Burger, which is in his fantasy life.   

 3. Describe the narrator’s (not Bowker’s) transition from military to civilian life. 

The narrator does transition from military to civilian life. The narrator returns to civilian life by moving from Vietnam to graduate school at Harvard. The way he tells the story of the war is by getting the attention of the people. He says that he got himself into this mess and the mistakes he has made. Since the war has several memories and life, the narrator has a hard time overcoming what happens during the war. 

 4). Like other male characters in the novel, Norman Bowker develops an active fantasy 

life. Why does he need fantasy?  Is his fantasy life different in any way from the real 

one? In the novel, Norman Bowker develops an active fantasy life by talking to the intercom at Mama Burger. He needs fantasy because he has no one to talk to. His is unable to communicate with his girlfriend as well as his father. His fantasy life is different from the real one because in the real one, he has no one to communicate with.

Later, he hangs himself with a jump rope at the Y. 

 5. How do these two stories show us the way that fiction relates to real life?  

These two stories show us the way that fiction relates to real life by the fiction of the lies that tell the truth. O’ Brien uses several metaphoric quotes throughout the book, including these two stories. The historical background about the war does not reveal the truth as much as how the characters experiences during war in Vietnam. In the last line of “Notes”, Tim O’ Brien says “Norman did not experience failure of nerve that night. He did not freeze up or lose the Silver Star for valor. That part of the story is my own.” This means that the author made up this story meaning that Norman letting go of Kiowa is false.

 6. Why does Norman not try to relate to anyone? Why does his father not engage? How 

do you understand Norman’s action, all the way to the end? 

 Norman does not try to relate to anyone because they will not understand the traumatic experience in war at Vietnam. He father does not engage because his son Bowker feels pressured by him that he needs to win medals during the battle. I understand Norman’s actions. The fact that he will not talk about his war experience to anyone, he tries to talk through the author, which turns out to be a failure. At the end, Bowker dies.

  7. Do medals matter – in military and/or civilian life? For whom, why, and how? 

For Norman Broker the medals were really important because his dad only asked him one thing which was bringing a lot of medals after the war. After his experience in vietnam he realized they were a lot of solders that got meddles without doing any important thing, like he said " ..many brave men do not win medals for their bravery, and that others win medals for doing nothing. "

 8. Describe the evolution of Norman Bowker's character. (Consider how he was 

introduced in the beginning of the book.) Explore the reasons why O'Brien might have 

chosen to change his narrative stance in “Speaking of Courage.” 

 In the beginning of the book, Norman is considered to be a gentle soldier who carries a thumb that was given by Mitchell Sanders and a diary. Later, he feels pressured by his father to win medals in Vietnam. Once he leaves war and heads home, he is unable to communicate with his father or his ex-girlfriend because they will not understand the harrowing experience that Bowker has been though while fighting in Vietnam. Eventually, he commits suicide at the Y with a jump rope.     

 9. How does “Notes” expand the reader’s understanding of “Speaking of Courage”?

In this account, Bowker has the failure of nerve. He does not save Kiowa, even though he could have. The title makes the story “Speaking of Courage” more ambiguous. Bowker does not believe that he is as courageous as he turns out to be. The revolutions around the lake relate to the boredom that Bowker feels relating to the death of Kiowa. 

 10. Have things changed since the Vietnam War? Are there similar (or different) stories about the war we are fighting in Afghanistan or the one we recently ended in Iraq? 

All of the wars are the same , maybe we got new weapons or new military but the human feelings are still the same.A lot of people died during war and for what purpose?All of the wars has been influenced by the government and nowadays the people is realizing that the war is unworthy it.

 11. What kind of multi‐media, documents, and sources can you use to make your 

presentation a solid, coherent, in‐depth, and challenging? Keep in mind that you have to 

use the book, no matter what. 

 My group could design a short assessment in a Power point presentation. I would have the audience write the answer to the question provided on the slideshow. Then, I will collect the papers and hear my audiences’ responses. Once, the audience responds, I will listen to their comments towards the question provided by my group. 

 12. How will you ensure that the audience participates attentively throughout? 

To ensure that the audience participates attentively throughout my group’s presentation is to have all the students be separated from their friends facing me with their laptops put away and their cell phones on the teacher’s desk. Another thing, I will do is randomly call on people to answer questions, so that I know that they are focused and paying attention. If they are unable to answer my questions, I will put them closer to me. These choices I feel should ensure that my audience participates attentively during the presentation.      

  13. Do you want to assign a blog or homework (to be done in advance or after your session)? 

I want to assign a blog or homework to be done in advance or after my group’s session. Even though, the students may have been focused throughout the situation, I would still like my classmates to understand the chosen sections better. If they are able to utilize this activity, the possible assessment may be a breeze to them.