42 pages 1 hour read

Ron Kovic

Born on the Fourth of July

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1976

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Essay Topics

1.

Why is it so important to Ron Kovic that he was born on the Fourth of July, and what impact does this birthday have on his life? What impact might it have on the reader’s reaction to his story?

2.

Kovic dwells on the way members of his outfit in Vietnam perceive him after he has killed the corporal from Georgia. Why did he obsess over that perception during the war, and why does he spend so much time writing about it after the war?

3.

What is the impact of Kovic’s use of both the first-person and third-person literary voice? Why does he use both?