Pablo Picasso and Tim O'Brien

Pablo Picasso's work, Guernica, is one of the most famous depictions of war. GThe work was created in 1937 and depicts the German bombing of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War. Guernica is a town located in the north of Spain. On the day of the bombing, "It was market day in Guernica... [The Germans] attacked when there were a lot of people there. And they knew when their bombing would kill the most" (pbs.org). The attack on Guernica lasted for more than three hours. Picasso aims to depict the aftermath of this event in his work.

Please consider his work and then:

1. Explain five disturbing images in the work. Pay close attention to detail. Then, explain two questions you have about the work or images in the work.

2. Explain what Picasso's message is regarding this event

3. Explain what you feel O'Brien's message is regarding his experience in Vietnam.

4. Explain how Picasso's message is similar or different to the message O'Brien hopes to convey in his book.

**Remember that this assignment is for class. You are expected to use proper grammar, capitalization, spelling, punctuation, etc.

Vietnam War Generation Journal

The Vietnam War Generation Journal's objective is to publish works that reflect issues from the Vietnam War. They publish a variety of works including nonfiction pieces, essays and poetry.

You will be examining the poetry archive. There are hundreds of poems written by veterans regarding their experience in Vietnam. During today's class, you should find one poem and explain how the poem relates to The Things They Carried. You are expected to respond in one paragraph. Make sure to have a strong topic sentence and use three quotations from the poem to enhance your point. You should be able to make several connections between the book and the poem. Do not copy and paste your poem into your answer.
Then, please print out (or if it's short, write out) the poem you found. Also, make sure you know the author! We will be using the poem in class tomorrow.

http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/sixties/HTML_docs/Resources/Poetry.html

Making Connections

Please read the article by New York Times Writer, Tim Arango. After you have read the WHOLE article, please make FOUR connections between this article and your text, The Things They Carried. Make sure to name specific characters, places, scenes, etc. Yes, it is a different war and a different time, but emotions, reactions, impact, etc are often the same. Think about it...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/07/world/middleeast/07photo.html?_r=2&hp

Mob Mentality: Modern Day Egypt vs Dickens' France

As you know from reading A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens believes that mobs can cause problems. In psychology, there is a term for this: mob mentality. Social psychologists, however, prefer terms such as "herd behavior" or "crowd hysteria." Regardless of how you term the behavior, psychologists have concluded that people in mobs often react differently to situations than people gathered in small groups.

After watching the 60 minutes video on Lara Logan, please respond to the following questions.

1.) How does the video impact you emotionally?

2.) What characteristics do you feel Lara Logan possesses that allows her to overcome adversity? How can you apply this to your life?

3.) Consider Dickens' concern about mob behavior. How do you see evidence of mob mentality in A Tale of Two Cities as well as in Lara Logan's story.