Reading Schedule
Read  at least the portions of the books listed before coming to class on the dates below.
 
Please note that the films will be shown in Physicians Auditorium on scheduled Mondays, from 1:00-4:00.  I hope you make every effort to attend these screenings since it’s much better to see these war films on the big screen with a real audience.  If you can’t make a film screening, though, you may rent the movie yourself and watch it at home.

Week 1:
W 12 January
Course Introduction

Week 2:
M 17 January
MLK Holiday—No Class

HISTORIC AND LITERARY BACKGROUNDS

W 19 January
George Herring,  “American and Vietnam:  The Unending War”
Tobey Herzog, “Thematic Contexts” (from Vietnam War Stories:  Innocence Lost)
**Both articles available as PDF files on my website

Week 3:

M 24 January

The Quiet American (Parts One and Two)

 

W 26 January

The Quiet American (Parts Three and Four)

presentations; position papers due

EYEWITNESS ACOUNTS

Week 4: 
M 31 January
A Rumor of War (Prologue and Part One)

W  2 February
A Rumor of War (Parts Two, Three, and Epilogue)
presentations; position papers due

Week 5:
M  7 February
Dispatches (through “Khe Sanh”)

W  9 February
Dispatches (finish book)
presentations; position papers due

Week 6:
M 14 February
The Deer Hunter (Physicians Auditorium, 1:00-4:00)

W 16 February
Discuss The Deer Hunter
position papers due

Week 7:
M 21 February
When Heaven and Earth Changed Places (Chapters 1-5)

W 23 February
When Heaven and Earth Changed Places (Chapters 6-end)
presentations; position papers due

FINDING A FORM

Week 8:
M 28 February
Dien Cai Dau (Through "Tu Do Street")

W  2 March
Dien Cai Dau (finish the book)
presentations; position papers due

Week 9:
M  7 March
Spring Break                                                

W  9 March
Spring Break

Week 10:
M 14 March
Apocalypse Now (Physicians Auditorium, 1:00-4:00)

W 16 March
Discuss Apocalypse Now
position papers due

Week 11:
M 21 March
The Things They Carried (through “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”)

W 23 March
The Things They Carried (finish book)
presentations; position papers due

WAR’S AFTERMATH

Week 12:
M 28 March
In the Lake of the Woods (Chapters 1-18)

W 30 March
In the Lake of the Woods (finish book)
presentations; position papers due

Week 13:
M  4 April
A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain (through "A Ghost Story")

W  6 April

A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain (finish book)

presentations; position papers due

 

Week 14:

M 11 April

Platoon (Physicians Auditorium, 1:00-4:00)

W 13 April
Discuss Platoon
position papers due

Week 15:
M 18 April
In Country (through Chapter 18)

                         

W 20 April

In Country (finish book)

presentations; position papers due

 

Week 16:

M 25 April

Discuss drafts of research papers

 

W 27 April

Discuss drafts of research papers

 

Final Exam;  Saturday, May 7, 12-3 pm                         

Go To:

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Position Papers

Your position papers should be approximately 500 words (they should be no more than two typed pages), so you'll have to think carefully about what you want to say and make every word count.  You’re required to turn in 8 position papers over the course of the semester. Remember that late position papers are not accepted.  You may either respond to one of the suggested topics or come up with your own if you’d prefer. 

Click on the book to see specific topics for each.

The Quiet American  (Due Date: Wednesday, January 26 )

Possible Topics: 
-- Which of Greene's main characters, Fowler or Pyle, do you think finally comes off better by the end of the novel? Does Greene want us to like or sympathize more with one than the other of these two men? Why? How does his presentation of character seem to fit with Greene's ideas about the French War in Vietnam, or about colonialism in general? What evidence in the book supports your view?
--What do you think is the function of Fowler’s English wife in the text? Why does Greene include this character?
--Explore the theme of religion in the novel—how does Fowler’s faith (or lack thereof) affect the decisions and choices he makes? What do you think Greene is saying about religious faith in general?
--Do you think Phuong is presented stereotypically in the book? Why or why not?

A Rumor of War  (Due Date: Wednesday, February 2)

Possible Topics:
-- On page xvii of the Prologue, Caputo writes that evil was inherent not in the men but in the circumstances of the war. Does Caputo change this view anywhere in the book? Contradict it?
Where does Caputo finally believe the evil of the war lies? Who's to blame?
--Toward the end of his Postscript to A Rumor of War, Caputo writes that the Vietnam War "was not an anomalous chapter in our national history." He adds, however, that "it was an anomalous chapter in our national mythology" (353). Using specific examples from the book, can you explain what you believe Caputo means by these statements?
--In his Postscript, Caputo discusses some of his stylistic decisions in writing the book. What about the book’s style strikes you? Why does Caputo write the book in the manner he does? How does style help support theme? Do you think that Caputo’s structural and stylistic choices are successful?

Dispatches  (Due Date:  Wednesday, February 9)

Possible Topics:
--We’ll talk quite a bit about Herr’s use of language in the book. How would you characterize his style? What sources does he seem to be drawing on with his use of language? Does the language work for you?
--Dispatches is often described as an example of the New Journalism. In your view, how does Herr’s reporting in the book differ from conventional journalism? What does Herr have to say about conventional war reporting? What do you think Herr believes the role of the war correspondent to be?
--Critic Maria Bonn criticizes Herr for conflating war experience and sexual experience and thus reinforcing patriarchal notions of heroism and glory. “Despite Herr's search for new means of representation and for a new way of understanding,” Bonn argues, he finally locates himself squarely in old stereotypes and sensibilities." Do you agree with this assessment or not? Do you find the book sexist?
--Finally, do you think Herr romanticizes the war in Vietnam or not? If so, does this seem to you to be a problem? How do his final conclusions differ from or concur with those drawn by Caputo at the end of A Rumor of War?  

The Deerhunter   (Due Date: Wednesday, February 16)

Possible Topics:
--Because the Clairton scenes are so realistic, the Vietnam scenes seemed melodramatic and strange to many critics. The Russian roulette scenes, for instance, have no historical validity. What do you think about this issue? Do you agree with critics who dislike the Vietnam portions of the film or do you think they work? Why do you think Cimino chose to make the two halves of his film so different?
--Critics also disagreed about the depiction of Vietnamese in the film, some arguing it was racist and stereotypical and others disagreeing. What do you think?
-- What do you think about the two deer hunting scenes in the film? Why are these included? What do they show? What does Michael's "one shot" philosophy in the hunt before going off to war say about his character? What's going on with the conflict between Michael and Stan? How does the second deer-hunting scene differ from the first? How has Michael changed? Has his relationship with Stan changed as well?
--Comment on the western frontier mythology in the film. Does the film’s title evoke James Feminore Cooper’s The Deerslayer, for instance? Is Michael at all like a typical western hero?
--What do you think of the film’s ending? What is Cimino trying to accomplish? Does the ending work?

When Heaven and Earth Changed Places (Due Date: Wednesday, February 23)

Possible Topics: 
--Obviously, this book comes from a very different perspective than those we've already read in the course. Does anything in the book so far surprise you or contradict some of your assumptions about the war in Vietnam? Did you learn anything new, particularly in light of the two books we've already read and the film we've seen? How would you compare Hayslip's narrative of her experiences to those of Caputo and Herr?
--What do you think of the structure Hayslip uses—the way she juxtaposes her past as a young girl and woman in Vietnam with her present (1986) return to the country? Does this structure seem to work well? Why do you think Hayslip uses it? Are the two stories of equal interest?
--After reading the whole book, do the charges made against Hayslip by various Vietnamese ex-patriot communities in the U.S. ring true? Do you believe Hayslip is too kind to the Communists in the book, particularly those in power in the mid-80’s?
--What do you think of Hayslip’s relationship with Anh? Do you find it believable? What about Hayslips’s relationships with men in general?      

Dien Cai Dau  (Due Date: Wednesday, March 2)

Possible Topics:
--Explore a repeated image or motif that you’ve noticed Komunyakaa using in more than one poem. How does this repeated image work through the book as a whole?
--What special concerns of African American soldiers in Vietnam does Komunyakaa raise in his work? How does the issue of race figure into his poetry?
--How would you characterize Komunyakaa’s style as a poet? Are there other poets you’d compare him to, or schools of poetry you’d place him in? Are there ways you feel he is noticeably different from other contemporary poets?
--Choose one of Komunyakaa’s poems and provide a brief close reading of it.  

Apocalypse Now   (Due Date: Wednesday, March 16)

Possible Topics:
--Focus on a particular scene of your choice from the movie and explore and interpret what the scene is all about. You might choose one of the opening scenes in the film: Willard in his hotel room when he's called to his mission or the scene with the General at lunch when Willard is actually given his assignment. Or you might choose one of the stops on the strange journey upriver: Colonel Kilgore and his surfing obsession; the USO show; searching the Vietnamese sampan; the nearly surreal scene at the Do Lung Bridge; or the long ending scene at Kurtz's compound. Whichever scene you choose, you should think about what happens in it, about what Coppola seems to be saying in the scene, about what the scene adds to the whole point of the film.
--One common criticism about American depictions of the Vietnam War is that they erase the Vietnamese themselves. Do you think Apocalypse Now does this? You might consider, for example, the ways that Southern California culture is exported into the Vietnam of the film—surfing, drugs, rock-n-roll. Or what about the way the film depicts Americans fighting other Americans as Willard enacts his mission to kill Kurtz?
--Why do you think Coppola included the references to T.S. Eliot and literary modernism in the film? (Kurtz quotes from Eliot’s “The Hollow Men”; the books on Kurtz’s shelves include Sir James Frazer's The Golden Bough and Jess Weston's From Ritual to Romance, books on cultural mythology very influential on the moderns, especially on Eliot’s “The Wasteland”).    

The Things They Carried  (Due Date: Wednesday, March 23)

Possible Topics: 
--How reliable is narrator Tim O’Brien? Does author O’Brien have ironic distance from his narrator, or are the views of the narrator meant to represent those of the author?
-- In an October 1991 interview, Daniel Bourne made the following comment to Tim O'Brien:
Speaking of credibility, in The Things They Carried there are numerous devises--come ons, enticements, snares for the reader--such as starting out stories with "It's time to be blunt" or "this is true," having one story supposedly give the facts about the evolution of another story, or naming the narrator after yourself. It seems to me that an appropriate metaphor for talking about this aspect of the book would be that you're seducing the reader, and that obviously the reader can have ambivalent feelings toward such a seduction. Do you see that?
O'Brien replied to Bourne's comment in this way:
I'd say that maybe it is an appropriate metaphor, probably not one I would use, but it's certainly appropriate. I guess that's what I was trying to do, to make the reader feel those sorts of ambivalences. Hearing a story, being seduced, then having the seducer say "by the way, I don't love you, it all isn't true." And then doing it again. And then saying, "that also isn't true, just kidding," and doing it again. It's not just a game, though. It's not what that "Good Form" chapter is about. It's form. This whole book is about fiction, about why we do fiction. Every reader is always seduced by a good work of fiction. That is, by a lie, seduced by a lie. Huckleberry Finn did not happen, but if you're reading Huckleberry Finn you're made to believe that it is happening. If you didn't believe it, then it would be a lousy work of fiction. One wouldn't be seduced. And I'm trying to write about the way in which fiction takes place. I'm like a seducer, yet beneath all the acts of seduction there's a kind of love going on, a kind of trust you're trying to establish with the reader, saying "here's who I am, here's why I'm doing what I'm doing. And in fact I do truly love you, I'm not just tricking you, I'm letting you in on my game, letting you in on who I am, what I am, and why I am doing what I am doing." All these lies are the surface of something. I have to lie to you and explain why I am lying to you, why I'm making these things up, in order to get you to know me and to know fiction, to know what art is about. And it's going to hurt now and then, and you're going to get angry now and then, but I want to do it to you anyway. And for you. That's the point of the book.
Comment on this exchange. How did you react to being “seduced” as you read the book?
-- Why do you think O'Brien chose to end his collection with "The Lives of the Dead"? Is this even a war story? What does it add to the collection as a whole? Do you think O'Brien made a good choice in concluding with this story?  

In the Lake of the Woods  (Due Date: Wednesday, March 30)

Possible Topics: 
--What do you think happened to Kathy Wade? Which scenario in the book is most persuasive to you? Explain.
--Explore the role of the narrator, or reporter, who is telling the story. What are we to think of him? Why do you think O’Brien includes this figure? What function does he serve in the book?
--What do you think about the metaphor of magic in the book? Why is John Wade called Sorcerer, for instance? Why the details about his obsession with magic as a child? How does this theme relate to larger issues of the Vietnam War, the nature of evil, human love, etc. in the book?  

A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain  (Due Date: Wednesday, April 6)

Possible Topics: 
--Which story in the collection do you feel is the strongest? Why?
--Do you think that Butler, a white American male, does a good job of getting inside the skins of characters very different from himself—Vietnamese, women, children? Do you find the voices of his characters believable?
--What recurring themes do you see in Butler’s work? Briefly discuss a thematic concern that you feel develops over more than a single story.
--How does Butler use both traditional Vietnamese myths and tales and American myths and tales in his work?
--How do you read the ending of the puzzling last story in the collection, the title story?  

Platoon  (Due Date:  Wednesday, April 13)
 

Possible Topics: 
--What do you think of the device of the voice-over, Chris’s letters home to his grandmother? Do these work well, or are they corny, unbelievable, melodramatic, as some critics argue?
--Discuss some of the racial, class, and even regional tensions that Stone depicts among the men in Chris’s platoon. Do you think Stone does a good job with this?
--Explore the significance of the characters Elias and Barnes, or Chris’s “two fathers” as he calls them. What does each represent? Can we read them symbolically as many film critics have done? What do you think of Stone’s depiction of these characters—is it successful, persuasive, interesting, or is it overly dichotomized, simplistic, melodramatic?
--What do you think about the depiction of the Vietnamese themselves in the film? How does it compare to portrayals of Vietnamese we’ve seen elsewhere this semester? Perhaps pay special attention to the brutality in the Vietnamese village, sometimes called the “My Lai scenes” of the film.  

In Country   (Due Date: Wednesday, April 20)
 

Possible Topics:
--Why do you think Mason relies so heavily on images from popular culture in the novel (tv shows, rock songs, movies, etc.)? Does American popular culture help Sam understand the war, or does it hide the truth of what happened?
--How is this specifically a woman’s book about the war? Does Mason address gender stereotyping in the novel? What does she have to say about it?
--Why all the recurring images of dead and/or mangled babies?
--Explore the sub-theme in the novel of the changing American South, the homogenization of small town life. What kinds of changes are occurring in Hopewell, KY? Are these changes good or bad?
--Finally, do you think Sam can ever come to any kind of substantive understanding of what happened in the war? Is her quest successful? Or, does Mason reinforce what’s become a cliché of Vietnam War literature—if you weren’t there, you can’t possibly understand what happened?

• English 517 Page
• Susan Farrell homepage
• CofC homepage

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  Annotated Bibliography

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  Research Paper  

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Presentation  

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Final Exam  

The final exam will consist of identifies, short answers, and longer essay questions. I'll give you more information about the final near the end of the semester.

• English 517 Page
• Susan Farrell homepage
• CofC homepage