"On the Rainy River" & "Enemies"

• Engels
• Upper Secondary (Key Stage 4)
• GCSE

Lesson objectives 

Check your understanding of the homework reading 

Consider the use of imagery and the choices authors make

Consider a descriptive passages within a chapter 

Write a response paragraph and consider an example response

Information summative for this unit 

Rate the word 1 to 4

1. I do not know the word, and I have never seen it before. 

2. I've heard or seen the word before, but I'm not sure what it means. 

3. I know the word and can recognise and understand it while reading, but I probably wouldn't feel comfortable using it in writing or speech. 

4. I know the word well and can use it correctly in writing or speech. 

Stupefaction 

Word of the day

Stupefaction (n) - astonishment; the act of stupefying 

Stupefy = in an insensible state

'make' insensible

Write three synonyms for stupefaction 

In his stupefaction Nigel sounded as outraged as a scientist who had obtained an apparently impossible result in the laboratory.

amazement, bewilderment, perplexity, stupor, surprise, wonder, wonderment, dumbfounded, transfixed

Word of the day

Intrepid (adj) - fearless, bold 

From Latin in and trepidus (trembling, alarmed)

Write down three antonyms for intrepid.

In spite of poor visibility, the intrepid explorer continued his climb up the snow-covered mountain

Word of the day

Intrepid (adj) - fearless, bold 

Antonyms: afraid, cowardly, meek, timid, fearful

1. What are Tom O'Brien's plans before he receives the draft letter?

2. Describe in detail the narrator's job at the Armour meat-packing plant.

3. At what game does Elroy Berdahl often beat Tim O'Brien?

4. How does O'Brien spend his time at Tip Top Lodge? Be specific.

5. What is the EMERGENCY FUND?

6. Explain the significance of the Rainy River fishing trip?

Descriptive passages 

An author needs to communicate to the reader or listener. He or she needs put the reader into a position of understanding and one of the most effective ways to do this is to describe the person, scene, event or object in such a way that the senses are stimulated.  

Imagery 

Questions a writer may ask him or herself

• How can I use a fresh comparison to help the audience see, smell, hear, feel or taste what I or my narrator is experiencing? 
  
• What different methods could I use to organise this description? 
  
• How will this description help me to achieve my overall purpose for this piece or chapter? 
  

Decapitated 

eviscerated 

hocks

carcass

maneuver (manoeuvre)

Word of the day

demagogue (n) - a leader who promises things to people to gain power. 

From Greek demos (people) and agogos (leader)

After the election, the demagogue's supporters were disappointed when he did not fulfil his campaign promise.

Write down another word that takes the root demo.

Word of the day

demagogue (n) - a leader who promises things to people to gain 

Democracy, demography, demonic, demoted, demobilised, demonstrate, demolish.

2. Description relies on imagery, language that appeals to the senses. Quote passages from this extract that appeal to as many senses as possible: 

Touch = tactile imagery 

Sight = visual imagery 

Taste = gustatory imagery 

Smell = olfactory imagery 

Hearing = auditory imagery  

3. Why does the author use this descriptive passage in this chapter? What is the purpose in including it? How does it connect to the main thesis or theme identified in this chapter? 

1. Write a one of two sentence summary of the pig passage. From, "I spent the summer of 1968 working in an Armour meatpacking plant ...draft notice tucked away in my wallet."

Usually a author will use a descriptive passage to describe a person, a place or an event. This can slow the pace of the action down. 

Write one paragraph analysing the use of this passage as a device within the chapter. 

-Construct a topic sentence that can be debated and include the topic, thesis or theme of this chapter and the reason O'Brien uses this passage. 

- short summary of the content of the passage. 

- two, three or more quotes from the passage to support your TS.

- analysis of the the reason why O'Brien included this passage. 

-Link to your TS

Upload your paragraph to your Class Notebook in Teams. 

O’Brien includes a descriptive passage of an Armour meatpacking plant within the chapter, “On the Rainy River” to foreshadow some of the sensual experiences of war and the narrator’s eventual decision to adhere to the draft and fight in Vietnam. The passage describes O’Brien’s summer job which involves eviscerating blood clots from the necks and chests of decapitated pigs. This descriptive passage is placed just after he receives his draft letter and before he decides to attempt to dodge the draft by fleeing to the Canadian border. The olfactory imagery used to describe that O’Brien would “go home smelling of pig” and the smell was a “dense greasy pig-stink”, allows the reader to imagine the smell of blood and death that resulted from “standing for eight hours a day under a lukewarm blood-shower”. As O’Brien has the “draft notice tucked away in [his] wallet”, the association is made to the smells of war, combat, and death. Additionally, tactile imagery is employed to suggest to the reader the physicality of warfare and the exertion required by the soldiers. The “heavy” machine that O’Brien manoeuvres is at least “eighty pounds” and this together with the references to “trigger”, “muzzle” and “gun” aid in conveying the focus of this chapter which is the decision to go to war and foreshadows the likelihood of death and bloodshed.

O’Brien includes a descriptive passage of an Armour meatpacking plant within the chapter, “On the Rainy River” to foreshadow some of the sensual experiences of war and the narrator’s eventual decision to adhere to the draft and fight in Vietnam. The passage describes O’Brien’s summer job which involves eviscerating blood clots from the necks and chests of decapitated pigs. This descriptive passage is placed just after he receives his draft letter and before he decides to attempt to dodge the draft by fleeing to the Canadian border. The olfactory imagery used to describe that O’Brien would “go home smelling of pig” and the smell was a “dense greasy pig-stink”, allows the reader to imagine the smell of blood and death that resulted from “standing for eight hours a day under a lukewarm blood-shower”. As O’Brien has the “draft notice tucked away in [his] wallet”, the association is made to the smells of war, combat, and death. Additionally, tactile imagery is employed to suggest to the reader the physicality of warfare and the exertion required by the soldiers. The “heavy” machine that O’Brien manoeuvres is at least “eighty pounds” and this together with the references to “trigger”, “muzzle” and “gun” aid in conveying the focus of this chapter which is the decision to go to war and foreshadows the likelihood of death and bloodshed.

1. What do Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen fight over?

2. Why does Dave Jensen break his own nose?

What big ideas or major topics has
O'Brien tackled in the
novel so far?

Concepts HL Lang Lit 

The Things they Carried

Concepts we generated: 

friendship or relationships, trauma, tragedy, responsibility, love

• Each pair will be responsible for reading and then “teaching” the chapter assigned. 20 minutes per group. Your presentation of the chapter will include:​
  
• a summary of the chapter (meaning a clear outline of the narrative threads in the story) and the importance of the title to the chapter​.
  
• a discussion the theme, concept or purpose of the chapter​. 
• a discussion of how this chapter relates to the whole novel.
  
• identify at least three literary aspects of the text you found interesting (clearly showing them in examples from the text).​
  
• an activity to connect to the chapter (think creative task, or visual thinking strategy to help the class connect the chapter with a concept or theme or an interesting literary aspect of that chapter) 
  

Teaching chapter presentations on Monday 8th and Wednesday 10th April summative

Chapter 

student

First presentation on Monday 8th April 

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