Epigraph Response For The Things They Carried

Michael DiGiacomo
Mrs. Dunphy
AP Lang Period 3
2 April 2017
TTTC Take Home Assessment
Andersonville was one of the largest prison camps built during the American Civil War. Located in Georgia, the camp kept thousands of Union soldiers. The majority of them ended up dying from disease, poor sanitation, maturation or were tortured with violence. Even though Andersonville took place during the Civil War, it still reflects the events that occurred in Vietnam. Like the Civil War, there were many prisoners of war (POWs) who were forced to live in camps during the Vietnam War. These captives would die and suffer from similar consequences like the POWs in Andersonville, thus proving war never changes. According to the epigraph, readers should read the The Things They Carried as the truth because it says the book”.. is commended as a statement of actual things by one who experienced them to the fullest,” (Ransom, epigraph). The epigraph claims that the author, John Ransom, experienced all the events mentioned in his diary. Therefore the author’s placement of this quote at

Fossie believed that if he brought MaryAnne to his living quarters, then she would have offered him comfort and companionship. Instead of attending to his needs, MaryAnne becomes curious about the language and the locals to the ammunition procedures. Kiley says “at least she was real,” as a way of stating how genuinely enlivened she was by the nature of war. He describes how “The war intrigued her. The land, too, and the mystery,” (O’Brien 92). Mary Anne’s tongue necklace also represents her love for war and desire to be apart of Vietnamese culture. Mary Anne is fearless and “real” because she’s willing to be consumed by the “jungle” of war both literal and figurative. O’Brien effectively utilizes MaryAnne’s character as an example of the independent and abnormal woman of this time