Day 5

The Things They Carried Lesson Plan

Discussion of Thought Questions

  1. 1

    Explain the double meaning in the title "Field Trip" and its significance in the story.

    The title addresses both O’Brien’s and his daughter’s experience—for Kathleen it is a somewhat interesting occasion, like a school "field trip," and for O'Brien it is both a literal trip to a field and the memory thereof. O'Brien's experience and Kathleen's experience greatly contrast with one another; these differences reflect the gulf between O’Brien and his fellow soldiers and those who were not there, especially someone as young as a ten-year-old.

  2. 2

    How does the story “The Ghost Soldiers” reveal the development of O’Brien’s character over the timeline of his war experience?

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