The Things They Carried Chapters 5-8

Question 1

Mitchell Sanders said, "‘Well that’s Nam,’. ‘Garden of Evil. Over here, man, every sin’s real fresh and original.’"

Accepted Answer

A pun, A biblical allusion

Question 2

What did Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen promise each other?

Accepted Answer

If one of them got a wheelchair wound, the other one would kill them

Question 3

What does Rat Kiley do to the baby water buffalo?

Accepted Answer

Shoots it over and over with his gun

Question 4

Why did O’Brien place “Friends” directly after “Enemies”?

Accepted Answer

To contrast how the war distorts social codes

Question 5

Why does Strunk’s death “relieve Dave Jensen of an enormous weight?”

Accepted Answer

He doesn’t have to feel guilt for not following through with a pact

Question 6

Dave Jensen relieved about Mitchell Sanders death is an example of:

Accepted Answer

Situational Irony

Question 7

What song was Dave Jensen singing when they picked their comrade out of the tree?

Accepted Answer

“Lemon Tree”

Question 8

What is O’Brien’s role as a soldier & as a storyteller?

Accepted Answer

To make the readers believe & understand, To get the details right

Question 9

“[Dave Jensen] showed him what he’d done & asked if everything was square between them”(61).“Everything was square” is a

Accepted Answer

Idiom

Question 10

‘A new wrinkle. I never seen it before’” (76). What did Dave Jensen mean by “a new wrinkle?”

Accepted Answer

A new level of “losing it” or going crazy

Question 11

What does Dave Jensen do to ease the tension between him and Lee Strunk?

Accepted Answer

Breaks his own nose with the barrel of a gun

Question 12

“You’re never more alive than when you’re almost dead” (78) is:

Accepted Answer

Antithesis

Question 13

What are the qualities of a true war story?

Accepted Answer

A true war story is never moral, A true war story is about emotions, A true war story makes the stomach believe

Question 14

“He hit him hard” is an example of:

Accepted Answer

Alliteration

Question 15

What does Mitchell Sanders mean when he says, “Hear that quiet, man? That quiet--just listen. There’s your moral” (74)?

Accepted Answer

There is nothing in silence, so there is no moral

Question 16

True or False: True war stories are never about the war

Accepted Answer

True

Question 17

In “The Dentist,” what message is being sent about mental versus physical pain?

Accepted Answer

Physical pain is easier to deal with than mental anguish

Question 18

Why did Curt Lemon have the dentist pull out a perfectly good tooth?

Accepted Answer

He wanted to prove he was brave and could handle it

Question 19

“War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery” is an example of:

Accepted Answer

Paradox

Question 20

In O’Brien’s definition, how are the stories of Curt Lemon’s death and the LP’s experience true war stories?

Accepted Answer

The stories never end. The details may change, but the intangibles are true

Question 21

How is the baby water buffalo symbolic of the soldiers themselves?

Accepted Answer

They are silent and in pain, Their deaths and random and unfortunate, They’re young & innocent

Questions 21