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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 342 024 CS 213 216 AUTHOR Johannessen, Larry R. TITLE Illumination Rounds: Teaching the Literature of the Vietnam War. Theory & Research into Practice (TRIP). INSTITUTION National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, REPORT NO ISBN-0-8141-2272-8 PJB DATE 92 NOTE 194p. AVAILABLE FROM National Council of Teachers of English, 1111 Kenyon Rd., Urbana, IL 61801 (Stock No. 22728-0015: $8.95 members; $11.95 PUB TYPE Guides - Classroom Use - Teaching Guides (For Teacher) (052) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC08 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Class Activities; Higher Education; High Schools; *Literature Appreciation; Popular Culture; Thematic Approach; *Twentieth Century Literature; United States History; United States Literature; Vietnam Veterans; *Vietnam War ABSTRACT Based on the idea that the Vietnam War is highly stgnificant as a vehicle for studying the power of language, engaging in critical thinking, and probing American values in a time of crisis, ,:his book presents a rationale for exploring the literature that emerged from that conflict and offers a framework for exploring it. The book outlines a large array of classroom activities and assignments designed to help students inquire and form their own conclusions, and supplies extensive information on resources for teachers and students. After a section on theory and research, the book offers activities based on researching the war; teaching poetry; drama and film; personal narratives; teaching novels; and character analysis in novels. The book also includes selected and annotated resources for classroom use, a list of 59 works cited, and 25 student activity sheets. (NKA) ********************************************************************** Reproductions suppliet1 by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** 4) - TEACH!. U OEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ()thee ducat.nrii Reaaa,(h and mpeovement E DUCATIONAL RE SOURCES INFORMATION PERMISSION 10 REPRODUCE I HIS CFNTERIERIC) MATTRIAL HAS BLEN GRANTT D B'T hS umen! has Oeen reproducer:I AS THE ter Pved 'qv^ the person or organ.lahon c,,,tprIalinuI ow, M.nOfhi/imps ha,p hpfon made to tmrpotre reipoOpt loon goaidy - - Po.,11% v.t.* op,,r,s sialpd dOCu mpnl do no! nc., essato, teotesernt &boat OF MR. IttAd.or V pC.. TO IHI DUCATIONAL RI SOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERICI f LARRY ft HANNES IP 4.4 L. 441' :V..- 1,,./ "44k "MEnaII11 M116. 2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE Illumination Rounds Teaching the Literature of the Vietnam War Larry R. Johannessen Saint Xavier University National Council of Teachers of English 1111 Kenyon Road, Urbana, Illinois.61801 3 Dedicated to the children of the Vietnam generation. NCTE Editorial Board: Richard Abrahamson, Celia Genishi, Joyce Kinkead, Louise Wetherbee Phelps, Gladys Veidemanis; Charles Suhor, Chair, ex officio; Michael Spooner, ex officio Staff Editor: David A. Hamburg Cover Illustration: Carlton Bruett Basic TRIP Design: Michael J. Getz Interior Design: Doug Burnett NCTE Stock Number 22728-3050 1992 by the National Council of Teachers of English. All rights reserved. Published in the United States of America. It is the policy of NCTE in its journals and other publications to provide a forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, or the membership at large, except in announcements of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Johannessen, Larry R. Illumination rounds: teaching the literature of the Vietnam War / Larry R. Johannessen. p. cm (Theory & research into practice) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-8141-2272-8 1. Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975Literature and the conflict Study and teaching.2. American literature-20th centuryStudy and teaching.3. War stories, AmericanStudy and teaching. 4. War poetry, AmericanStudy and teaching. I. Title 11. Series. P5228.V5J61992 810.9'358dc20 91-40482 Contents Acknowledgments ix 1 Theory and Research 1 Why Teach the Literature of the Vietnam War? 4 Media-Molded Myths and Images 5 Themes that Speak to Students 6 Exploring Our Beliefs and Values 7 Multiple Curricular Purposes 8 Critical Studies of Vietnam War Literature and Film 14 Out of the Shadows and into the Classroom 17 Using the Practice Section 23 2 Practice 29 Activities for Teaching Vietnam War Literature 29 First Contact: Introductory Activities 29 First Contact #1: Vietnam War Opinionnaire 29 First Contact #2: Patriotism, Pro{ !st, and War Opinionnaire 32 First Contact #3: Heroism Scenarios 34 First Contact #4: Mines and Booby Traps Simulation 35 Operation Search: Researching the War 38 Operation Search #1: History and Background 39 Operation Search #2: Music, Art, and Photography 40 Burning Tracers: Teaching Poetry 42 On Patrol: Activities for Short Stories 44 vi Contents On Patrol #1: Choices 45 On Patrol #2: "Night March" 47 On Patrol #3: Vietnam Lexicon 49 On Patrol #4: With the Enemy 51 On Patrol #5: The War at Home 53 Acts of War: Drama and Film 55 Acts of War #1: Drama 56 Acts of War #2: A Documentary Film: Letters from the Combat Zone 58 Acts of War #3: A Documentary Film: Frontline America 61 Acts of War #4: A Feature-Length Film 63 "Old Kids": Personal Narratives 67 "Old Kids" #1: The Adolescent Experience 69 "Old Kids" #2: Independent Reading 71 "Old Kids" #3: Guest Speakers 72 "Old Kids" #4: Living History 75 "Old Kids" #5: Home Front U.S.A. 78 Lessons and Legacies: 'reaching Novels 82 Lessons and Legacies #1: The Vietnam Experience 83 Lessons and hegacies #2: The Next Generation 85 Lessons and Legacies #3: Graphic Representation 86 "Some Truths": Character Analysis in a Novel 87 "Some Truths" #1: Character Analysis 89 "Some Truths" #2: Supporting Interpre tations 91 "Some 'truths" #3: Discovering Essential Truths 93 f1) Contents vii "Some Truths" #4: Planning and Composing 94 "Some Truths" #5: Revising and Sharing 95 Selected and Annotated Resources for Classroom Use 101 General Nonfiction Recommended for Teachers 102 Personal Narratives, Oral Histories 104 Novels 112 Drama 121 Poetry 122 Short Stories 124 Short Story Collections 132 Anthologies 133 Photography/Art Collections 133 Films 134 Works Cited 139 Appendix: Student Activity Sheets 1-25 143 Author 186 ix Acknowledgments I wish to thank Candy Carter, Peter Smagorinsky, andMichael Spooner for their ideas, support, and encouragement; and I especially thank Elizabeth Kahn, without whose insights, critical suggestions, support, and encouragement, this project would nothave been possible. Grateful acknowledgment is also made to the following poets, their representatives, and publishers for permission to reprint copy- righted material: "APO 96225" by Larry Rottmann originally appeared in Winning Hearts & Minds: War Poems by Vietnam Veterans(1972), and is reprinted with permission of the author. "Coming Home." From the book, To Those Who Have Gone Home Tired: New & Selected Poems by W. D. Ehrhart. Copyright1984 by W. D. Ehrhart. Used by permission of the publisher, Thunder's Mouth Press. "Fragment: 5 September 1967" by W. D. Ehrhart. From Winning Hearts & Minds: War Poemsby Vietnam Veterans (1972). Reprinted by permission of W. D. Ehrhart."The Man In Black" by Frank A. Cross, Jr. From Winning Hearts & Minds: WarPoems by Vietnam Veterans (1972). Reprinted by permission of Frank A.Cross, Jr. "The Insert" by R. L. Barth. From Carnying the Darkness:The Poetry of the Vietnam War, W. D. Ehrhart, editor, copyright 1985 W. D.Ehrhart. Reprinted by permission of Texas Tech University Press. "Corporal Charles Chungtu, U.S.M.C." by Bryan Alec Floyd. From The LongWar Dead: An Epiphany 1st Platoon, 11S.M.C. by Bryan Alec Floyd. Published by The Permanent Press, Sag Harbor, New York. A special thank-you is extended to the Navy Art Collection, Naval Historical Center for permission to use the coverillustration, Steel #26, "Mine on Patrol." Theory and Research -leaching about the Vietnam War is not a ?natter of wanting to recall all the pain; it is a matter of needing to remember, of reaching t: rough our pain to have students see themselves and their world more clearly." --N. Bradley Christie, "Teaching Our Longest War: Constructive Lessons from Vietnam" This generation of students is woefully ignorant of America's recent historical and literary past. I did not fully realize this fact until a few years ago. After twelve years of teaching high school, I was in my first semester of full-time college teaching. I knew that students were interested in the Vietnam War and that the college had not previously offered a course on the subject, so I put together a freshman literature course I called "Imagesof War." The course was filled before the first day of registration was over. I was certainly correct about student interest inthe subject. We spent the first part of the semester studying novels from World Wars I and II, and then I started my unit on Vietnam War literature. We studied some poetry and short stories, and we were just beginning James Webb's (1978) novel Fields of Fire, when the following incident took place. After class On the day I introduced the novel, a student came up to ask me a question: "I think Iunderstand all this stuff we are reading in the literature,"she said, "but what I can't understand is if we lost this war against the Vietnamese, how could we send our athletes there last summer for the Olympics?" Obviously, she had confused Vietnam with South Korea. It would be one thing if this were an isolated case (or if geography were the only problem students had), but, unfortunately, it is not. I have now taught the course a number of times, and each time, I have been amazed bv students' interest in the war and lack of knowledge about it, and I have been equally amazed by how what little they think they know is so distorted.