Day 1:  Sentence Combining 

Here is the “Meet the Author” information about Jim Northrup, the author of “Wahbegan”,  from our Literature textbook.

Jim Northrup (1943-) is a Native American short-story writer, poet, and syndicated columnist. He presents in his writings the rich and singular lives of Native Americans.  He served in the Marine Corps and made a tour of duty through Vietnam.  He was in the military for six years.  In poems such as “Wahbegan,” he relates the experience of Vietnam and its aftermath. He lives with his wife and family. They live in the traditional life of the Chippewa in northern Minnesota.

Combine the following sentence sets from section above into one sentence.

• Jim Northrup is a Native American short-story writer, poet, and syndicated columnist.
  He presents in his writings the rich and singular lives of Native Americans.

• He served in the Marine Corps and made a tour of duty through Vietnam
  He was in the military for six years.

• He lives with his wife and family.

They live in the traditional life of the Chippewa in northern Minnesota.

Sensory Details/Figurative Language Sets

In his poem, “Wahbegan,” Jim Northrup describes the tragic, emotionally scarring effects that the Vietnam War had on a veteran.  Read the first stanza from the poem below, and create a sensory detail/figurative language set of your own to paint a detailed picture of war.  You should construct three to four sentences to show war using expressive action verbs, and adjectives to describe what is seen, smelt, and tasted.  

“Wahbegan”

            by Jim Northrup

Didja ever hear a sound

           smell something

taste something

that brought you back

5         to Vietnam, instantly?

Didja ever wonder when it would end?

It ended for my brother.

Random Note: Did you catch the pun in the poem’s title? It’s supposed to sound like “woe be gone,” which means “no more sadness.” The brother can’t be sad anymore because he committed suicide. I must have read this poem ten times before I noticed that trick.

Day 2:  Textual Evidence 

Please read the rest of the poem below, and construct text-based responses to the questions that follow.

He died in the war

10       but didn’t fall down

for fifteen tortured years.

His flashbacks are over,

another casualty whose

name will never be on the Wall.

15       Some can find peace

only in death.

The sound of his

family crying hurt.

The smell of the flowers

20       didn’t comfort us.

The bitter taste

In my mouth

still sours me.

How about a memorial

25       for those who made it

through the war

but still died

before their time?

• Which lines of the poem tell you that the man has suffered since the war?
• What evidence does the poem give to suggest that war does have lasting consequences?

Day 3: Literary Devices

A flashback in literature is a scene within a piece of writing that interrupts the sequence of events to relate events that occurred in the past.  While the poem “Wahbegan” does not use a literary flashback, in our culture, we also use the word “flashback” for when Individuals experience very strong memories of incidents that have occurred in the past, and now replay in their minds (usually traumatic ones).  In the poem, Northrup describes how the veteran’s experience of the war has resulted in “flashbacks” that cripple him emotionally.  

What is the cause of the man’s “flashbacks”?  Explain.

Reconstructing Sentences…  

Please choose a writing piece of your own to revise for sentence variety. Rewrite three sentences using variety in your sentence beginnings. Be sure to write your original sentence and your revised version.