Essay+Topics

=Essay Topics= //**A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier**//

1. A Long Way Gone features an unusually large number of heartbreaking scenes of violence and psychological trauma. Beah is both victim and victimizer in this narrative, and the effects on his psyche become apparent through sleeplessness, nightmares, and headaches. Happily, Beah is able to survive his war experiences, get some physical and psychological healing, and create a new future for himself. What solutions to the effects of violence on an individual does this book seem to offer? Can you identify any solutions that might work for a whole culture?

2. A Long Way Gone has been heralded as “one of the most important war stories of our generation.” The book is a memoir about the children who are trapped in a cycle of brutality and abuse during the Sierra Leone civil war. At its core, however, it is also a story about community, family, and survival. Would you consider A Long Way Gone a war story? Why or why not? Why should this be an important story for our generation? What lessons should we learn from this story?

3. What role do parables and storytelling play in the community? Can you identify any themes or messages in the parables that the author included? Consider the following parables and discuss what lessons the author learned from the stories. What lessons can we learn from these stories?

a. The wild boar parable (p. 53)

b. The Bra spider (p. 72)

c. The trickster monkey (p. 217)

4. The structure of the story is in three worlds: past, present, and dreams. Why do you think the author chose to write the book in this manner as opposed to chronologically? How do you think it enhanced the story? What does Beah mean when he writes on page 20 that “these days I live in three worlds: my dreams and the experiences of my new life, which trigger memories from the past”?

5. Violence is, of course, a major theme in these pages—physical, psychological, social, and otherwise. Indeed, some of the more violent passages in this book make for very difficult if not unsettling reading. In a brief essay, reflect on what Ishmael’s many violent experiences taught you about the consequences or aftereffects, both intended and unintended, of violence.

6. Finally, discuss this harrowing account of civil war and childhood as a medita- tion on finding one’s ultimate purpose. How does Ishmael, at a relatively early age, arrive at what seems to be his calling in life?


 * //Catch-22//**

1. Think about chronology in the novel. How does the disordered, tangential presentation of events affect the flow of the story? What devices does Heller employ to allow the reader to piece together the order of events? What kind of unified narrative, if any, ultimately emerges? What does this portrayal say about the idea of time in Catch-22?

2. Discuss the chaplain. How does his religious faith develop and change as the story progresses? What does his timidity say about the power of moral absolutes in the world of the military? What is the significance of his sensation of déjà vu?

3. Think about the novel’s use of setting and scene. What effect do the rapid shifts between the base and the hospital, or between Pianosa and Rome, have on the presentation of the story? What does each location seem to represent?

4. What does Snowden’s death mean to Yossarian?

5. How does Catch-22 differ from other war stories?

1. One of the most challenging aspects of this novel is piecing together the order in which events occur. How does Heller manipulate time, fragment the action and confuse cause and effect? More importantly, how does this confusing form fit the function? In other words, how does the way in which this story is told fit with what is actually happening in the story? 2. How is insanity defined in Catch-22? What characteristics do "crazy" characters have? Is madness the norm or an exception during wartime? 3. Does there seem to be any system of justice in the novel? Are "good" characters rewarded while "evil" ones punished? Can we clearly say who is "good" or "evil"? If not, is there such thing as justice at all? 4. Define the logic of Catch-22. What part does this logic play in the story being told? 5. Catch-22 is an allegory of the common man vs. the bureaucracy of modern-day America. In Catch-22, how does the administration of the Air Force abuse its power? How does it keep its men enlisted and active? If it doesn't care for the well-being of its men, what are its goals? 6. Are there any purely "good" characters in the book? If so, who are they and how is their goodness expressed? On the other hand, how do the more flawed characters demonstrate their cynicism, deceit, blindness, or lust for power? 7. Few of the characters ever form lasting friendships with fellow soldiers. How is the individual kept isolated from his peers? In what ways do they cope with their loneliness? 8. Why is Yossarian so obsessed with death? Is he correct in assuming everyone is out to kill him? How do the deaths of Nately and Snowden change him? 9. How does Yossarian keep his personal integrity amidst all the corruption and apathy in Pianosa? What particular characteristics does he value? And what moral lines does he refuse to cross? 10. Do you consider the ending of Catch-22 a happy or sad one? How might it be construed as a triumph for Yossarian? A defeat? Is it the only way out of the mad system of Catch-22?

//**The Things They Carried**

1. What is the function of memory in the novel? According to O’Brien, does remembering the past preclude “endings” such as the ending of O’Brien’s personal and emotional conflict over participation in the Vietnam War? Both Kathleen and Linda discuss “endings.” With whose version do you think “O’Brien” ultimately agrees and why?

2. Comment on three characters’ loss of innocence in the novel, more specifically how these characters move from innocence of war to experience the ravages of Vietnam. What is the catalyst for their change? Do you think these characters completely lose their innocence, and if they do, how does O’Brien demonstrate this?

3. “The Man I Killed” is the only story that focuses primarily on a Vietnamese character. Why does this shift in focus occur in this particular story? Why are Vietnamese characters largely absent from the rest of the text?

4. Although the work is supposedly about the Vietnam W// ar, the final story focuses not on the war but on an episode from O’Brien’s childhood. Discuss how this story relates to the stories of the war. What is O’Brien’s purpose in ending his collection of stories this way?

//All Quiet on the Western Front//
1 . According to the text, how does war empower petty, power-hungry men? Think especially about Himmelstoss. How do the other characters cope with their forced subordination? 2 . In what ways does the novel critique the romantic rhetoric of war, honor, and patriotism? How might this critique extend to nineteenth-century ideas of nationalism? Think especially about the soldiers’ reaction to Kantorek’s letter. 3 . What is Paul like as a character? Has the brutality of war completely stripped away his humanity, or does he retain vestiges of his old self? 4 . Discuss how the goals of the novel, as stated by the epigraph or suggested by the text, affect the work’s form and style. Does Remarque compromise his realistic style in order to deliver a message? Is Kantorek too one-dimensional a character?