How to Tell a True War Story

1. A true war story is never moral. If a story seems moral, do not believe it. (pg 65)
2. You can tell a true war story if it embarrasses you. (pg 66)
3. In any war story, but especially a true one, it's difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen. (pg 67)
4. In many cases a true war story cannot be believed. (pg 68)
5. You can tell a true war story by the way it never seems to end. (pg 72)
6. In a true war story, if there's a moral at all, it's like the thread that makes the cloth. (pg 74)
7. Often in a true war story there is not even a point. (pg 78)
8. You can tell a true war story by the questions you ask. (pg 79)
9. You can tell a true war story if you just keep on telling it. (pg 81)
10. And in the end, a true war story is never about the war. (pg81)

While I was reading this chapter, I came across a few new literary terms. On page 66 after Rule 2, I found (what I think to be) an epanalepsis: "If you don't care for obscenity, you don't care for the truth; if you don't care for the truth, watch how you vote." I found this epanalepsis a bit humorous and very true. I understand that sometimes obscenity is necessary to tell the truth, and if you don't want to know the truth, then how can your actions (especially voting) be creditable?

I also found that Rule 4 is an antithesis. The subject of the sentence is "a true war story," obviously something that is valid. But the verb of the sentence is "cannot be believed." How can something like a true war story not be believed?

Another literary device is Rule 6 which is a simile. "A moral is like a thread that makes a cloth." It is necessary because with out it, there would be no cloth, no point to the story.