Speaking of Courage/Notes

Freewrite (10 minutes):  What is courage?  Have you ever been courageous?  When?
If not, why?

Socratic Seminar
The Socratic method of teaching is based on Socrates' theory that it is more important to enable students to think for themselves than to merely fill their heads with "right" answers. Therefore, he regularly engaged his pupils in dialogues by responding to their questions with questions, instead of answers. This process encourages divergent thinking rather than convergent.
 
Participants in a Socratic Seminar respond to one another with respect by carefully listening instead of interrupting. Students are encouraged to "paraphrase" essential elements of another's ideas before responding, either in support of or in disagreement. Members of the dialogue look each other in the "eyes" and use each other names. This simple act of socialization reinforces appropriate behaviors and promotes team building.


Character Development


Works of fiction trace the development of characters who encounter a series of challenges. Most characters contain a complex balance of virtues and vices. Internal and external forces require characters to question themselves, overcome fears, or reconsider dreams. The protagonist may undergo profound change. A close study of character development maps, in each character, the evolution of motivation, personality, and belief. The tension between a character’s strengths and weaknesses keeps the reader guessing about what might happen next and the protagonist’s eventual success
or failure.

 Discussion Activities
Discuss the evolution of Norman Bowker’s character throughout the book. How does “Speaking of Courage” show us the complex relationship between one man, his fellow soldiers, and his family and friends in his hometown? Does learning about Norman Bowker’s post-war life change the way we feel about his actions during the attack that took Kiowa’s life? “Speaking of Courage” is the only story other than the title story, “The Things They Carried,” that is written in the third-person point of view. Why might O’Brien have chosen this narrative stance?

In “On the Rainy River” O’Brien writes, “Courage, I seemed to think, comes to us in finite quantities, like an inheritance, and by being frugal and stashing it away and letting it earn interest, we steadily increase our moral capital in preparation for that day when the account must be drawn down” (p. 40). Ask your class if they believe there are any heroes in the book. If so, how do they display courage? Does the narrator’s opinion of courage change during the course of the book?

pg. 161  What is O'Brien getting at?  What happened to Kiowa and the buddies who tried to save him in the "shit" field?