1. THE THINGS THEY CARRIED Creative Non-fiction: The “Writer’s Truth”

2. EPISTEMOLOGY Epistemology Defined narrowly, epistemology is the study of knowledge and justified belief or truth. As the study of knowledge, epistemology is concerned with the following questions:

3. QUESTIONS OF EPISTEMOLOGY: What are the necessary and sufficient conditions of knowledge? What are its sources? What is its structure, and what are its limits? How we are to understand the concept of justification? What makes justified beliefs justified? Is justification internal or external to one's own mind? (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/)

4. TRUTH AND STORYTELLING All humans attempt to make sense of their lives by identifying their life’s narrative. (Ricoeur, 1983) The effort to identify truth is crucial; to do otherwise would result in madness. Poe anyone? Some factors that influence our perception of truth: The difficulty of an experience The difficulty of talking about an experience The difficulty of writing about an experience We unintentionally revise memories as we recall them plasticity of the brain

5. WHY DOES IT MATTER? Truth may be ambiguous, but “stories are for eternity” (38). Does O’Brien’s account of Vietnam express a truthful account of the war? Is he a reliable narrator?

6. YOUR TASK: TIMED, INFORMAL WRITING 30 minutes In journal Find 4 passages in the first 50 pages revolve around “ambiguous” truths or “Writer’s Truths” about real situations. Analyze each passage: What is O’Brien’s purpose? Intent? What do the details add/change/take away from the story?