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Memoir and Truth

Dive into the debate surrounding fiction and truth in literature. Discover Tim O'Brien's perspective on the truthfulness of story-truth compared to happening-truth. Explore the emotions conveyed in "The Things They Carried" and how fiction can evoke genuine feelings. Uncover the concept of metafiction and its impact on the relationship between fiction and reality. Join the discussion on the role of verisimilitude and melodrama in storytelling.

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Memoir and Truth

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  1. Memoir and Truth “the purpose of writing is to enhance mystery, not solve it.” -Tim O’Brien

  2. Does a story need to be a work of non-fiction to be a work of truth?

  3. Does the fact that Harry Potter, Hunger Games, or (insert a favorite FICTIONAL novel here) are not true make them any less amazing?

  4. Read the “Good Form”excerpt from The Things They Carried Do you agree with O’Brien that story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth? What is the difference between happening-truth and story-truth? When O’Brien says,“What stories can do, I guess, is make things present (O’Brien 172),” what does he mean?

  5. From Good Form- The Things They Carried • “I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth” (O’Brien 171) • “I can look at things I never looked at. I can attach faces to grief and love and pity and God. I can be brave. I can make myself feel again” (O’Brien 172). • “’Daddy, tell the truth,’ Kathleen can say, ‘did you ever kill anybody?’ And I can say, honestly, ‘Of course not.’ Or I can say, honestly, ‘Yes’” (O’Brien 180).

  6. Do you believe the emotions and feelings that were felt as a soldier in the Vietnam War have been accurately communicated through The Things They Carried?

  7. What are examples of this in our society (stories that are untrue/unrealistic, but we believe them anyway)?

  8. Metafiction • Fictional writing which self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artifact in order to pose questions about the relationship between fiction and reality • Patricia Waugh, Metafiction: The Theory and Practice of Self-Conscious Fiction.New York: Methuen, 1984.

  9. Verisimilitude • The quality of realism in something

  10. Melodrama • Exaggerated emotions, stereotypical characters and interpersonal (between individuals) conflicts

  11. “Artful Dodge Interview: A Conversation with Tim O’Brien” • What do you think is O’Brien’s opinion of fiction vs. nonfiction. • Was it O’Brien’s goal to share the truth in its entirety in the novel? It not, what was the purpose of his book? • Do you think a book’s success depends on whether or not the story was real or fabricated? Explain your answer.

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