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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. What does the prostitute ask Eugene when he comes out from hiding?

2. What do the boys eat at the beginning of Act 1, Scene 3?

3. What does Wykowski say that the prostitute told him?

4. What does Toomey make Carney do as punishment?

5. What borough of New York City is Eugene Jerome from?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Carney decide not to visit the prostitute?

2. What does Hennessey do when he tries to defend Epstein and Eugene?

3. What does it show about Carney's character that he talks to Eugene about what Eugene wrote?

4. Who does Eugene talk to at the end of the scene, and why?

5. Why is Carney upset at what Eugene wrote?

6. What does Eugene say when Wykowski asks if he means what he wrote?

7. What does Toomey want from the soldiers?

8. How does Eugene react to Rowena when she talks about herself?

9. What is the scene at the beginning of Act 2, Scene 9 reminiscent of?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

An "other" is someone who is different and becomes outcast. Discuss being different and the concept of the "other" in the play.

1) In what ways are each of the characters different and therefore outcast from the others? Which are outcasts in the culture of the army?

2) How do the characters react to the things that make other characters different? Do any of the characters relate their own status as "others" with ways in which others are also outcasts?

3) How does the idea of an outcast "other" relate to war? Who becomes the "other" during wartime, and how do the soldiers think and talk about this during the play?

Essay Topic 2

The play BILOXI BLUES is about soldiers during wartime, but little is actually seen of the war. Discuss the role of war in the novel.

1) Why does the play show Eugene's experience before shipping overseas, and then end with his retelling of events during the war, but not show the war itself?

2) How real does the war seem to the soldiers in boot camp?

3) What affect does the existence of the war, which the soldiers will soon have to become a part of, have on their decisions and attitudes?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss homosexuality in the play.

1) How do the soldiers view homosexuality, and why? Why do they use homosexuality as an insult?

2) Why does Eugene suspect Epstein is gay, and why does this make him reluctant to become close to Epstein? Why are the other soldiers quick to think that Eugene might be right?

3) Does Hennessey's experience as a homosexual man in the army change how he reacts to the other soldiers and instances of bigotry? What is the army's reaction to homosexuality, and why?

(see the answer keys)

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