Exploring the Text

  1. What is the rhetorical effect of the first seven sentences? Based on the opening, what were your expectations of the story to follow?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 13 - On the Rainy River - Exploring the Text: What is the rhetorical effect of the first seven sentences? Based on the opening, what were your expectations of the story to follow?
  2. This is a fictional story in which Tim O’Brien has used himself—or a character by the same name—as the protagonist. Describe how you determine which details are factual and which are imaginative. What is the effect of mixing fact and fiction?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 13 - On the Rainy River - Exploring the Text: This is a fictional story in which Tim O’Brien has used himself—or a character by the same name—as the protagonist. Describe how you determine which details are factual and which are imaginative. What is the effect of mixing fact and fiction?
  3. Reread the questions in paragraph 2. Are they rhetorical? What purpose do they serve? Could we ask similar questions about events today? Explain your response.

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 13 - On the Rainy River - Exploring the Text: Reread the questions in paragraph 2. Are they rhetorical? What purpose do they serve? Could we ask similar questions about events today? Explain your response.
  4. What is the narrator’s conflict (para. 9)? How does this conflict relate to the theme of this chapter?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 13 - On the Rainy River - Exploring the Text: What is the narrator’s conflict (para. 9)? How does this conflict relate to the theme of this chapter?
  5. Why does O’Brien address the reader directly in paragraphs 58–60? How would you answer his questions?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 13 - On the Rainy River - Exploring the Text: Why does O’Brien address the reader directly in paragraphs 58–60? How would you answer his questions?
  6. Identify the rhetorical strategies O’Brien uses in paragraph 64. What are the effects of these strategies in this long paragraph?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 13 - On the Rainy River - Exploring the Text: Identify the rhetorical strategies O’Brien uses in paragraph 64. What are the effects of these strategies in this long paragraph?
  7. What is the effect of collapsing time in the final paragraph? What is the rhetorical effect of the irony in this paragraph?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 13 - On the Rainy River - Exploring the Text: What is the effect of collapsing time in the final paragraph? What is the rhetorical effect of the irony in this paragraph?
  8. If you have read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, compare Huck’s conflict about doing what he has been taught is “the right thing”—turning Jim in—with O’Brien’s statement at the end of paragraph 27. How are the situations of the two protagonists similar?

    Question

    uZxg83qH9uNZ3NUqyV8wT7hdxc9/5MQeJeZaOsQNhvI0w6Xk3EOeDQ1B873FE1s7
    Chapter 13 - On the Rainy River - Exploring the Text: If you have read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, compare Huck’s conflict about doing what he has been taught is “the right thing”—turning Jim in—with O’Brien’s statement at the end of paragraph 27. How are the situations of the two protagonists similar?