The essay prompt is as follows: “Write an original, thesis-driven paper on the following: In the metafictional chapters in The Things They Carried, Tim O’Brien explains how a story should be told, what effect it should have on the reader, what relation it should have to the “truth,” etc. Interestingly, the book’s narrative is more than Tim O’Brien (the author) telling a story. The book contains chapters in which Jimmy Cross, Mitch Sanders, Rat Kiley, and Tim O’Brien (the character) tell stories. Examine the story, and the storytelling, of one character in the book. Is the storytelling consistent with O’Brien’s idea of a true war story? Does it diverge from it?”