Tuesday, October 05, 2010

"IN THE FIELD"-TTTC

1. Post a comment, reaction, connection to the story.
2. Post a question about the story.
3. Commment on your partner's post.

47 comments:

  1. Everyone blames themselves for Kiowa’s death. Jimmy Cross blamed himself for camping by the river, the young man for using the flashlight, and the other man for not being able to pull Kiowa out of the field. It might be true that the combined mistakes lead up to his death, but I think it is the war’s fault. Everyone dies and it just happened that it was Kiowa’s time.
    Why doesn’t everyone blame the war? They all had no intention of killing Kiowa and did their best to save him.

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  2. "In the field talks" about how awful of a place this war was. Kiowa was lost in the mud and it took a very long time to find him. Once they found him, they had to dig him out with tools. That is how bad the enviornment of vietnam was.

    How do you think the soldiers felt while they were digging out their fellow soldier from the mud?


    Jake P. Per 1

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  3. 1. Comment:
    I think that it is interesting how Azar decides to mature during this story. This is because he starts to stop telling all of those jokes. He begins to realize that the war is a very serious thing, and you should not joke about it.
    2. Question:
    Why is Lieutenant Jimmy Cross more concerned about the picture of his girlfriend, than the actual death of the man?

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  4. "In the Field" was a discriptive and sad story in this novel. It told how Kiowa died from mortar fire all because of a flashlight that was turned on. A good quote to prove this is, "Like murder, the boy thought... The flashlight made it happen" (170). The enemy saw the light and mortared the area where the light was shining.

    Why was Kiowa burried so deep in the mud?

    Mike G

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  5. I think the soldiers just wanted to show respect to Kiowa when they go out to look for his body. The soldiers went to great lengths to find him, like searching for his body in harsh weather, waist deep in a "shitfeild," and all with their grieving hearts. This shows even in times of war, people still do care about one another, even when they are dead.

    Question: Why didn't Jimmy Cross mention in the letter to Kiowa's father about where his son's body was?

    -Carly P. Period 1

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  6. On page 177 it says "In the field, the causes were immediate. A moment of carelessness or bad judgmen t or plain stupidity carried consequences that lasted forvever." This quote is shown througtout "In The Field" and the entire novel. Just making one decision can change their lives forever.

    Why is everyone blaming themselves for only Kiowa?
    (no one blamed themselves when Curt Lemon died)

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  7. This chapter is a reflection on how all the other soilders feel about Kiowa's death. Almost every soilder in the platoon takes some sort of blame for the death of Kiowa. Jimmy Cross the platoon leader decides to write a letter to Kiowas father telling him how great of a soilder he was.

    question: Why does the soilder in the mudd want the picture of his girlfriend and him so badly?

    Conor D. Per 1

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  8. I think that this chapter, was the most decriptive yet. This chapter explained how Kiowa died, and how they found him. It also proves how something so simple as turning on a flashlight can get you killed in war. I think that alot of people felt alot of guilt for what had happened to Kiowa.
    Deirdre M. Per. 1

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  9. In the begging of the story we saw how Jim Cross held himself responable for kiowas death now this chapter told that stoy because of where jim had wanted to make camp on low ground but after loseing kiowa thought it would of been a better idea to camp in higher ground. After finding kiowa he was devestated so was everyone else blaming them selfs to what would inevitablely to happen to one of them in a war there are always chances of death

    why would they blame them selfs for this?

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  10. In the chapter “In the Field” I think it’s interesting that first Lieutenant Jimmy Cross had been writing a letter in his head, explaining things to Kiowas father. This just shows how much his platoon knew and cared about him.
    Why does everyone blame thierself for Kiowas death?
    S.KARLINS

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  11. Mike G-
    Your comment really made me think about how easily a soldier can be killed in a war. People might not always know this but even the slightest thing (like turning on a flashlight) can be fatal. This is why soldiers in war must always be vigilent and aware of their surroundings. I think this is what O'brien wanted to say in this section.
    I think Kiowa was so deep in the mud because of the harsh weather conditions and also because one of the soldiers couldn't pull him out of the mud.
    - Carly P. Period 1

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  12. Question: why does everyone blame themselves for Kiowas death?
    Deirdre M. Per. 1

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  13. All of the soldiers feel that Kiowa’s death was their fault. I think that they all feel guilty, but I don’t think it was any one of their faults. They all tried to save him, and even when they knew he was dead they dug up his body because they didn’t want to leave him there.

    Why do all of the soldiers feel so guilty about Kiowa’s death, when they know that there is nothing more they could have done to save him?

    Bianca K. Per 1

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  14. I believe this story is called "In the Field" because of the simple fact that the author started it off with the soldiers looking for Kiowa's body in the 'shit' field.
    Q: Why does Jimmy Cross blame himself so much for Kiowa's death?

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  15. Kiowa death may have been a series of unfortunate events, or could have been prevented. Blaming yourself for ones death doesn’t get you through what needs to be done. If everyone blamed themselves for every bad thing happening in the world there would be no corrections or lessons learned.

    -Why does Jimmy Cross blame the whole thing on himself? In your opinion.

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  16. Carly, I don't think Jimmy Cross mentioned the "shit field" in his message to his father because he didn't want to make Kiowa's death sound as bad as it really was. Another reason I think Cross excluded the "shit field" is because it may have been a disgrace for Kiowa's father to read that his son didn't die doing something heroic.

    Mike G.

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  17. It must have been very hard to lose a soldier in your platoon. No matter which way Kiowa were to die, the other soldiers would continue to blame themselves for the death.
    Why did Lt. Jimmy Cross let the field take Kiowa's body into the waste?

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  18. The whole chapter was about everyone blaming themselves for Kiowas deathe. Even though it was really none of their faults, it was because of a flaslight turned on. After the searched for such a long time and doing all they could to find the body and they all still felt so much guilt. Especially Jimmy Cross since he had them stay in that "shithole" that night.

    question: Why did Jimmy Cross say that it was his fault for Kiowas death in the letter, when it was really because of a flashlight being left on?

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  19. Brianna C. maybe to one was held responable for curt lemon because there was no chance of saving him and maybe there was a chance to save kiowa. Paolo

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  20. I think that what O'Brien was trying to symbolize to us in this chapter is the fact that he thought of his men as human beings, not units, and would take responsibility whenever a man was to die. I think the boy-soldier who was searching frantically for his girlfriends picture was the complete opposite, and was really very concieted on matters that weren't even important.
    Merrill

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  21. I think the men looking for Kiowa in this chapter have alot of respect and care for every single soldier that fought in this war. Even though it took a long time to find Kiowa's body and the environment they were searching in was harsh, they still never gave up. It takes alot of strength and heart to not leave even one man behind.

    How could the light of a flashlight cause so many explosions to occur?

    Rosalie D. per 2

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  22. "I the Feld" show how the soliders reacted to a death of one of their own. Trough out the story they were all feeling gulity when they were searching for Kiowa, in the muddy field. In this story Jimmy Cross was writing a letter to Kiowa's explaining what happened. When writing this Jimmy was listing all the things he had done wrong that caused Kiowa to die in his head.

    Qestion- Why did everyone blame themselves for the death of Kiowa?

    Kaili F. period 2

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  23. Comment: I found it very interesting how everyone dealt with Kiowa's death. Some people joked about it, some people seemed to not care (the young solider searching for the picture), and others just went about it as if they were just going about their everyday life. But all of them in the end felt the same way. The ones that joked about it felt ashamed, the ones that didn’t seem to care blamed themselves. But, they all were a little joyful l because they weren’t the ones that died in a field of waste.
    Question: Is Jimmy Cross an actual person or is he one of the characters O’Brien made up? He is a very space guy and I don’t believe there is any way you could be like that when you are in the middle of a war. I understand that you might get distracted sometimes, but it seems like every time they talk about cross he is in his own head and not paying attention to anyone else.

    Chandlar F. P. 2 (#8)

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  24. The story "In the Field" shows how one soldiers death can affect everyone. Everyone in the platoon blamed themselves or blamed someone else for Kiowa's death. Jimmy Cross said it was his fault for having them camp out in that field that night, the young soldier believes its his because he turned on a flashlight that may have let the enemy know where they are. Norman Bowker though says to Azar "Nobodys Fault, Everybodys". Meaning everyone knew Kiowa and where their the night he died and its all their losses and faults that a friend and comrade died. Not just one man


    Who was this young soldier searching for his ex girlfriends picture??

    Nikolaus V. Period 2

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  25. I think this chapter was a very significant yet depressing chapter. That was because they were all blaming eachother for Kiowa's death in which I dont think was any of their faults. It showed that the soldiers were really upset and they cared about Kiowa when all they could do is dig up his body. In my opinion, I dont think the soldiers realize how easy it is for them to get killed during their time at the war.

    Erica M.

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  26. Why does everyone blame eachother for the death of Kiowa?

    Erica M.

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  27. Comment on Nik V:
    I believe that the solider was Norman Bowker. He talked about how he was very close to Kiowa in the story, “Speaking of Courage.” And it said how he tried to pull Kiowa out, but he couldn’t.

    Chandlar F. P. 2

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  28. Kiowa passed away and everyones taking the blame for it. They all believe that because of one thing they didnt do differently caused his death. But the truth of the matter is, its war..and like it or not people are going to die in war, it just so happened to be kiowa this time.

    why doesnt all the soldiers blame war for Kiowas death?

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  29. I found it very interesting that Jimmy Cross felt so guilty that he wrote a letter to Kiowa's father about what an outstanding and brave soldier he was but in the the letter he says nothing of the way he died.

    Why did all the men avoid telling Jimmy when they found Kiowa's body?

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  30. I don't think it was any one persons fault that Kiowa died. I think it was a combination of all the mistakes made that day. I also think it was odd that the young soldier cared more about finding the picture of his girl rather than finding Kiowa's body.

    Why did Azar make so many jokes about Kiowa's death?

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  31. I think that the story was about blame, and how blame is thrown around during war. In addition to Jimmy Cross and two others blaming themselves, Nornam Bowker said he blamed everybody and Mitchel Sanders blamed Jimmy Cross. Despite that generally people blame themselves, mostly in war. You just have to try to stop thinking about it because as the O'Brian pointed out you could blame almost anyone for almost anything.

    Question:
    If you were there, who or what would you blame?

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  32. I can understand why everyone blamed themselves for the death of Kiowa because it's a natural feeling if you think you could have done things differently.

    Did Kiowa die from drowning or getting hit by a mortar?

    Tim O. Per 7

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  33. In this story, it descirbes how everyone in the group felt bad for Kiowa's death and how it really hurt there group. I think that no one should be blaming themself because they are in a war, stuff like this happens. In this story, I think also showed how Jimmy Cross should not be the Lieutenant. He really does not want to be in this war, and does not know how to handle it. But im glad they finally found Kiowa's body.

    Question: Why did Jimmy Cross focus so much on writing to Kiowa's father and not care about the rest of the war?

    -Julie S. p.7

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  34. i thought that this story was a bit disturbing to me, how they have to walk around in that feild looking for a fallen friend, and i felt really sad for the young man who kept blamed himself for the death of Kiowa. it was kinda werid how he kinda flashed back to where he saw Kiowa sink, and all he cared about was this picture of his girlfriend..that was sad. and how they had to be knee high, and poke the ground looking, feeling, searching for hours. Wow that was just amazing.


    my question is
    why would the group of guys keep the finding of Kiowa a secert to the LT?

    Elizavett s. P.7

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  35. Comment on Tim:
    I dont think it really says if he gets hit or not but I think it was a mix of all the chaos that happened then. There was mortar rounds shooting and the "shit field" took him under.

    -Julie S.

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  36. "In the field" really give the reader an idea of the horror of looseing a friend in combat. take for example the young soldier with his flashlight, the idea that he caused the mortar attack by turning his light on is not entirely false however he too could have shared Kiowa's fate.

    Nick M. per 7

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  37. Comment on Julie:
    I think he was more consumed with guilt at the time and wanted someone to understand how bad he felt and nothing else really mattered.

    Tim O.

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  38. COMMENT TO Sarah:
    I know exactly what mean when you said he wrote aletter to his father , but didnt say how he died, i think that he did that so Kiowa's family wounld have to imagine him sinking down into the ground. i personally think if my son/daughter would die like that, i would be curios of how they died, but i would want to rember them as they where before they left, and not want to imagine that horrabile death.

    and i have the same question, i would also like to know why they wounld tell Jimmy

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  39. 3. Comment on others:
    I think that the people blame themselves for this because they become so close to each other. They become like family during the war, and have each others backs at all times. This is why when somebody dies, they feel that it is their fault.

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  40. @ Jake P: well jake I dont think that they felt very happy about it, but at the same time they felt obligated to dig their friend out.

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  41. In the feild was about a group of men who found one of there kiowa in the mud dead. they all thought that it was there fault because they where all there when it happened.

    how would you feel if you found someone dead in the mud?
    Rob C.

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  42. To Jon R. I don't think it was anyone faults that kiowa died in the mud durning the rain. I also agree with you the fact that they all mae mistakes.
    Rob C.

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  43. In In The Feild, all of the soliders go back to pull kiowa back out of the field. I think they did this because they wanted to do it to make them selves feel better. It was like a self satisfaction
    period 7
    matthew c

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  44. 1.) I believe that Kiowa's death should not be blames on any one person. In my opinion, there are far too manyn things at fault to lay the blame on any one thing. The war, the vietnamese, Jimmy Cross, the photograph, the flash light, they can all be blamed.
    2.) Why did the kid use a flashlight openly in the dark like that? wouldn't it have been easier to just cover it with your hand first?

    Jim P.

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  45. I feel very sorry for both Kiowa and his friends in this chapter. The search for Kiowa was probably the hardest chapter I've have had to read in this book. I like how the young soldier use the lost of his girlfriend compared to the lost of Kiowa. I do not understand why Jimmy Cross did not own up to Kiowa's death to the other soldiers.

    Is Jimmy Cross going to be honest with Kiowa's father?

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  46. In response to Weylin , no on could blame the war because it did not seem ethical to them. They were just doing there responsibility and their duty to there country. When someone gets hurt they all feel connected and responsible.

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  47. I don't think they needed to put the blame for Kiowa's death on Jimmy Cross. I know in times of death and in that situation it's very easy to blame someone in peticular. People do make mistakes and you just have to learn from them but you don't have to blame someone for the death of someone else. Jimmy Cross has so much pressure put on him considering the fact that he's the LT, so he feels responisble for anyone in his group that dies.

    Question: Will Jimmy Cross tell Kiowa's father what really happened or will he lie ?

    Kelly D.

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