Why do you think this chapter is titled "Good Form"? Support your explanation with specific details from the text. If you could, what would you rename this chapter and why?
13 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Brittany
This chapter is titled "Good Form" because O'Brien (the author) is referring to the way he wanted to write all the stories that O'Brien (the character) took part in. The author explains that, "Almost everything else (in the book) is invented. But it's not a game. It's a form. Right here, now, as I invent myself, I'm thinking of all I want to tell you about why this book is written as it is."
I would rename this chapter "Fictional Explanation" because the author is expalining himself to the reader. He is using a different (a fictional) form of writing to get his point across.
O'Brien discusses how it is not a game, his way of telling us his experience but it is a form. O'Brien uses good form to convey his horrible experience because he makes us feel what he felt. Even if the truth is story truth, which really didn't happen but it makes you have the feeling of what really happened. "I blamed myself. And rightly so, because I was present," O'Brien didn't kill that boy on the trail but he was there and it felt to him like he did. I would change the title name to Honesty because O'Brien is trying to tell us honestly how he feels about what happened with the death of the boy he killed in Vietnam.
I think that this chapter is titled "Good Form" because O'Brien states " Almost everything else is invented. But it's not a game. It's form. Right here, now, as I invent myself, I'm thinking of all I want to tell you about why this book is written as it is" (179). He's talking about the good form of writing a book. I may have titled this chapter "True or False" because you don't really know which story he tells you is true. "This is true, but really it's not, but it makes a good story" is driving me crazy! Which is true, the happening-truth or the story-truth? It doesn't make sense to me! What I believe is that they are both true, but the happening-truth is who he is now and the story-truth is what he tells people. Maybe they are both true...
This chapter is titled "Good Form" because that's how O'Brien writes, with good form. It may not be with complete honesty. But by writing with good form, he is able to portray emotions, make the reader "feel what [he] felt"(179). By using this form of writing, he can "attach faces" to "faceless responsibility and faceless grief"(180). He uses this form to tell us everything he wants to tell us. And because he isn't bound to telling the "happening-truth", he can more fully make the reader appreciate the "grief and love and pity and God"(180).
I would rename this chapter Story-Truth because I think he's explaining how the whole book up to this point has been made up of story-truths, and how important they are to making the reader feel how O'Brien wants them to.
I would not say his explinations are fictional. They are story-truth, it's based off true events just toyed with. He is lying or making up the event he is just pulling at your heart strings. So, I'm not sure if fictional would be the best word choice. Maybe, instead of fictional use, Exaggerated Explinations.
Mrs. Matysak, O'Brien would probably change the word fictional. I really don't know what word he would use but it would have to do with some explanation as to why he uses the stories of other people as his own and then says later that he was the one that it happened to. This also explains why toward the beginning of the book he says something about stories that never happened are true stories.
I think that this chapter is titled "Good Form" because as he says,"it's not a game. It's a form"(179). He makes all of this stuff up but at the same time it is the truth, the real emotions, "[he] want[s] you to feel what [he] felt"(179). In this he has made his own form of writing, good form. If I were to rename this chapter I would probably call it "Perspective". I would call it this because he takes on different perspectives and explains how they are still true.
Form has definite structure. It has measurements and limits. O'Brien's chapter "Good Form" does not have definite structure. Truth has two meanings to it. There isn't anything defined that would not confuse a person or two. I don't think the title fits the chapter. O'Brien said that "story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth" (179). Where's the definite structure in that? He says that what really happened isn't quite as true to what he said that happened. Is this the part where you say one thing can have more than one meaning and walk away?
Shayna to Hayley I completly agree with you. Story-Truth would be a perfect title for this chapter. It is his story-truth that makes us able to relate to him on some occasions, or to any of the men he talks about. We feel stronger emotions for story-truth than we do happening-truth. By him using mostly story-truth we are able to understand better what he has gone through and just understand the novel better in general. I can imagine so many scenes and they stick in my head all because of how he has told his stories. Without story-truth i think it would be very hard to relate to any character in this book, to feel their grief, guilt, anger, or any other emotion.
I think this chapter was titled "Good Form" because O'Brien(narrator) feels like it is only right that he shares with the reader the importance of the difference in the truths. He wrote this novel the way he did to allow the reader to understand his feelings better whether they be emotional or physical. "I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth"(203). If I could rename this i would rename it "Fact vs. Fiction".
13 comments:
Brittany
This chapter is titled "Good Form" because O'Brien (the author) is referring to the way he wanted to write all the stories that O'Brien (the character) took part in. The author explains that, "Almost everything else (in the book) is invented. But it's not a game. It's a form. Right here, now, as I invent myself, I'm thinking of all I want to tell you about why this book is written as it is."
I would rename this chapter "Fictional Explanation" because the author is expalining himself to the reader. He is using a different (a fictional) form of writing to get his point across.
Would O'Brien label it fictional?
Kierstynn
O'Brien discusses how it is not a game, his way of telling us his experience but it is a form. O'Brien uses good form to convey his horrible experience because he makes us feel what he felt. Even if the truth is story truth, which really didn't happen but it makes you have the feeling of what really happened. "I blamed myself. And rightly so, because I was present," O'Brien didn't kill that boy on the trail but he was there and it felt to him like he did. I would change the title name to Honesty because O'Brien is trying to tell us honestly how he feels about what happened with the death of the boy he killed in Vietnam.
What is he never really killed that boy?
Look at your quotes Katie - you can't just use a comma to separate the quote from your explanation
I think that this chapter is titled "Good Form" because O'Brien states " Almost everything else is invented. But it's not a game. It's form. Right here, now, as I invent myself, I'm thinking of all I want to tell you about why this book is written as it is" (179). He's talking about the good form of writing a book. I may have titled this chapter "True or False" because you don't really know which story he tells you is true. "This is true, but really it's not, but it makes a good story" is driving me crazy! Which is true, the happening-truth or the story-truth? It doesn't make sense to me! What I believe is that they are both true, but the happening-truth is who he is now and the story-truth is what he tells people. Maybe they are both true...
Hayley Windbigler
This chapter is titled "Good Form" because that's how O'Brien writes, with good form. It may not be with complete honesty. But by writing with good form, he is able to portray emotions, make the reader "feel what [he] felt"(179). By using this form of writing, he can "attach faces" to "faceless responsibility and faceless grief"(180). He uses this form to tell us everything he wants to tell us. And because he isn't bound to telling the "happening-truth", he can more fully make the reader appreciate the "grief and love and pity and God"(180).
I would rename this chapter Story-Truth because I think he's explaining how the whole book up to this point has been made up of story-truths, and how important they are to making the reader feel how O'Brien wants them to.
LaTausha ---> Brittany
I would not say his explinations are fictional. They are story-truth, it's based off true events just toyed with. He is lying or making up the event he is just pulling at your heart strings. So, I'm not sure if fictional would be the best word choice. Maybe, instead of fictional use, Exaggerated Explinations.
Brittany
Mrs. Matysak,
O'Brien would probably change the word fictional. I really don't know what word he would use but it would have to do with some explanation as to why he uses the stories of other people as his own and then says later that he was the one that it happened to. This also explains why toward the beginning of the book he says something about stories that never happened are true stories.
Brittany
To Tausha: I agree, I just didn't really know what word to use. Epic brain fart. :)
Heather Rogers
I think that this chapter is titled "Good Form" because as he says,"it's not a game. It's a form"(179). He makes all of this stuff up but at the same time it is the truth, the real emotions, "[he] want[s] you to feel what [he] felt"(179). In this he has made his own form of writing, good form. If I were to rename this chapter I would probably call it "Perspective". I would call it this because he takes on different perspectives and explains how they are still true.
Tabitha
Form has definite structure. It has measurements and limits. O'Brien's chapter "Good Form" does not have definite structure. Truth has two meanings to it. There isn't anything defined that would not confuse a person or two. I don't think the title fits the chapter. O'Brien said that "story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth" (179). Where's the definite structure in that? He says that what really happened isn't quite as true to what he said that happened. Is this the part where you say one thing can have more than one meaning and walk away?
Shayna
to Hayley
I completly agree with you. Story-Truth would be a perfect title for this chapter. It is his story-truth that makes us able to relate to him on some occasions, or to any of the men he talks about. We feel stronger emotions for story-truth than we do happening-truth. By him using mostly story-truth we are able to understand better what he has gone through and just understand the novel better in general. I can imagine so many scenes and they stick in my head all because of how he has told his stories. Without story-truth i think it would be very hard to relate to any character in this book, to feel their grief, guilt, anger, or any other emotion.
I think this chapter was titled "Good Form" because O'Brien(narrator) feels like it is only right that he shares with the reader the importance of the difference in the truths. He wrote this novel the way he did to allow the reader to understand his feelings better whether they be emotional or physical. "I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth"(203). If I could rename this i would rename it "Fact vs. Fiction".
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