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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Eugene say he hates at the beginning of the play?

2. What is the correct answer for the men to answer when their name is called in the roll?

3. How many sex positions does Eugene say there are?

4. Who confesses to stealing Wykowski's money?

5. How long is Wykowski with the prostitute?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the army find out the identity of the escaped soldier?

2. What does Eugene tell Wykowski about his motives?

3. What does Epstein threaten that he will do to Wykowski on the troopship?

4. What does Eugene do at the end of the scene?

5. What communications does Eugene still have with Daisy?

6. What does Rowena say about her home life?

7. What does Eugene's attitude seem to be after the other soldiers have read his writings?

8. What courtesy does Epstein give Eugene that none of the other soldiers do?

9. Why is Eugene uncomfortable and nervous in Act 2, Scene 1?

10. Describe Eugene's relationship with the other boys.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Boot camp takes young men who are adapted to civilian life and attempts to adapt them for life in a war. Discuss this aspect of the characters' time in boot camp.

1) What makes a person a good soldier in the play? How good or bad are the same personality traits in civilian society? Which of the soldiers are well adapted to being in a war?

2) Which of the characters are best adapted for civilian life, and why? How well-suited are their characteristics in war?

3) Do the characters learn strategies for adapting their civilian behaviors to becoming soldiers? In what ways?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the culture of the army in the play.

1) What does the army expect from its soldiers? What type of discipline, regulations, and values does the army promote?

2) Why is army food bad, and why are the soldiers required to eat all of their food?

3) The army brings together many different men from different cultures. How does the diversity of soldiers contribute to the culture of the army? Does it cause conflict? Does it have any benefits?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the play as a coming-of-age story.

1) How does Eugene mature during the course of the play? What knowledge, experience, and understanding about the world does he gain?

2) In what ways is boot camp a rite of passage that serves as a transition from childhood to adulthood?

3) How is Eugene's visit to the prostitute a rite of passage? What other rites of passage are there in the play?

(see the answer keys)

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