The Red Badge of Courage: Chapters 1-3

Question: 

1.  List and explain 5 tangible things and five intangible things the soldiers from your stories carry.

• The five tangible things the soldiers carry is found on page 20. “Presently few carried anything but their necessary clothing, blankets, haversacks, canteens, and arms and ammunition.” When in a war, especially when traveling, the less that is physically carried, the better. Of course, although each person doesn’t have many material possesions, each person carries feelings and ideals along with them. Something carried by everyone is rumors. “As the landscape changed from brown to green, the army awakened, and began to tremble with eagerness at the noise of rumors” (3). The soldiers carry rumors that they hear around with them, wondering if they are true or not. These people also have dreams, and they carry them around. “He had, of course, dreamed of battles all his life- of vague and bloody conflicts that had thrilled him with their sweep and fire” (5). This one man, in particular, dreams of battles, and carries this dream with him everywhere. Aside from dreams about things to come, memories are also carried. Henry remembers what his mother told him when he was about to leave when he had been enlisted. He remembers her exact words as she says things such as “You watch out, Henry, an’- you watch out, an’ take good care of yourself” (7). The memory of what his mother said carries on through the whole page and is carried with him always. The next thing is courage. “He could concieve of men going very insignificantly about the world bearing a load of courage” (13-14). In a war, a man must carry a bit of courage with him in order to deal with the all of the fighting and killing. Another thing that is carried is salvation. “The youth had been taught that a man became another thing in a battle. He saw his salvation in such a change” (25). These men saw thier feeling of protection from harm being changed as they carried this feeling.

1. Answer this question: “What do you carry?” List and explain what you hump around life, both tangible and intangible.  

• There are many things I carry in life. In terms of tangible things, I carry items such as my chapstick, rings, my purse, my keys, my cell phone, my camera, a bottle of water, and my playbook. Of course, my purse is like a bottomless pit and has many things in it such as my wallet with my driver’s liscence, a few dollars, honey drops for my voice, a pen and pencil, and probably a few other things. The intangible things I carry around include a love for my family and friends, guilt from things I may have done wrong, dreams and goals, questions or concerns I might have on my mind, and one of the greatest things I carry lately is stress. Stress is the biggest weight on my shoulders around play week and is probably the biggest load I have to carry.