We study literature to view different author's point of views around the world and how they see things. By reading and studying their outlooks on the work, we as students are able to analyze and reflect how these authors think and maybe even learn and form new opinions on different things. We study The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien because the majority of his audience have probably never experienced war and his stories express how he felt and what it was life for soldiers during the Vietnam War. This is important because we are able to understand and sympathize with these veterans and possibly form a new opinion around them.

2. How are we affected by literary texts in various ways? How are we impacted by TTTC?

We are affected by literary texts through literary devices and personal stories. We are impacted by TTTC because at the end of the story we feel sympathy towards soldiers and learn new lessons

3. In what ways is meaning constructed, negotiated, expressed and interpreted in TTTC?
Meaning is constructed, negotiated, expressed, and interpreted in TTTC through his personal stories and his ability to see how the other soldiers around him felt. He had multiple stories from soldiers who all experience different things during the war and some the same. This is important because it gives the story a greater meaning by not just providing his own experiences, but others as well

4. How does the structure of style of TTTC affect its meaning?

The structure of style of TTTC affect its meaning because it allows the reader to interpret and analyze the text. O'Brien writes down stories that seem very simple and surface level but some parts of the story have very dark and powerful meanings behind them.

When O’Brien first receives the draft note, he is overwhelmed and soon explains why he shouldn’t go to war. His reasons were short at first but then he lists out why he has life wrapped around his finger all in one breath. This sentence structure depicts how O'Brien felt when he received the notice. He was anxious and his all of these thoughts were running through his head. Furthermore, his battle with gender stereotypes surfaces when he states that “[he] was no soldier.” Soldiers were viewed as men who were rough around the edges and focused more on the good of the country than academics, which was not true. O’Brien doesn't exactly fit into his stereotype around soldiers which makes him feel as though he was going to fail as a good soldier.

3To what extent do literary texts offer insight into another culture?
Literary texts offer insights into another culture because the reader is able to explore what it was like to live in a different time period, like slavery. Although we haven't experienced it, the author is sharing their history and experience.
6. How does language represent social distinctions and identities? 
Language represents social distinctions and identities because it gives the story a voice and the speaker is given a personality. Language usually builds the character's story because if they were a former slaver, for example, their form of speaking wouldn't be as formal as others and this gives the story character.

And its gall coats the red of my tongue,

Mixed with the blood of the lynched boys

From its iron bridge hung,

Mixed with the hopes that are drowned there

In the snake-like hiss of its stream

Where I drank of the bitter river

That strangled my dream:

The book studied-but useless,

Tool handled-but unused,

Knowledge acquired but thrown away,

Ambition battered and bruised.

Oh, water of the bitter river

With your taste of blood and clay,

You reflect no stars by night,

No sun by day.

The bitter river reflects no stars-

It gives back only the glint of steel bars

And dark bitter faces behind steel bars:

The Scottsboro boys behind steel bars,

Lewis Jones behind steel bars,

The voteless share-

cropper behind steel bars,

The labor leader behind steel bars,

The soldier thrown from a Jim Crow bus behind steel bars,

The 150 mugger behind steel bars,

The girl who sells her body behind steel bars,

And my grandfather's back with its ladder of scars

Long ago, long ago-

the whip and steel bars-

The bitter river reflects no stars.

"Wait, be patient," you say.

"Your folks will have a better day."

But the swirl of the bitter river

Takes your words away.

"Work, education, patience

Will bring a better day-"

The swirl of the bitter river

Carries your "patience" away.

"Disrupter! Agitator!

Chronicle offers insight into Columbian culture because we can see their different stereotypes amongst themselves and they have very old fashioned ways of thinking. They believe that women should stay home and take care of their husband and children while men had to work and provide for the family.

The structure or style of a literary text affects meaning because it shows the character's emotions through the style of riding. If they go back in time, something in the present triggered the character's past memory. The stream of consciousness also shows how the character is feeling because the sentences are long and choppy but they are "writing down" all over their thoughts.

Time and Space

Cultural or historical context is important because slaves, for example, were treated differently and much crueler than people in today's society so we need to understand how they thought and acted before judging. When Sethe killed Beloved, the audience sees her as a monster while maybe African American mothers back then also thought it was a good idea.