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Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong

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Premise What would happen if you take an innocent being and place them in the midst of war? Tim O’Brien’s inspiration to write this story came from his own experience. He was drafted into the War and accepted to join the army because of his embarrassment not to, his original plans were to go to Harvard graduate school. Many individuals who go out and fight in the armed forces never expect the situations they have to observe and majority of the time have a life changing effect on the individual that may be irreversible. Controlling Idea If innocent beings go into the war inexperienced then the outcome will result losing themselves in the war. Protagonist In Tim O’Brien’s short story, Mary Anne Bell’s boyfriend flew her over to Vietnam so that he could keep her company during the war. Because she was curious about what was going on in the country, she ventured off and began to adapt to the lifestyle of war, which created a meaningful and irreversible change. (McKee 137) Conscious Desire The longer Mary Anne stayed in Vietnam, the more she began to enjoy her new life and assimilate to her surroundings enough that “she seemed comfortable and entirely at home.” (O’Brien 6)Her desire to be a part of the Vietnamese culture is external in the sense that she is fully aware that “Everything [she] wants is right here.” (O’Brien 8) Antagonist Despite of his lovesick intentions of brining his girlfriend with him to war, Mark Fossie shows a force of antagonism when he forces his engagement with Mary Anne a bit too early because he noticed that Vietnam was doing no good for her. Mark began to make plans to send Mary Anne back to Cleveland, Ohio when she clearly didn’t want to. Inciting Incident- Mary Anne upsets the balance of forces (McKee 189) when she takes a swim in the Song Tra Bong. She thinks of it as a nice dip in the river, while the medics see it as a threat to her because of the ambushes. Eddie Diamond notices that she will eventually change into the war atmosphere, which is pretty scary. What is the Act of Design The film adaptation for this short story will be in the form of a full length film containing 3 acts that show Mary Anne’s transformation from a soft and innocent women into a cold, hard soldier. Act 1 will include:

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