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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 is missing from Koffler's car when he goes looking for Daphne?

2. What ability of Koffler's does the group tell Banning about?

3. At what hotel is McInerney meeting with D. Franco?

4. What is Pickering going to watch in the Fiji Islands?

5. Why does Pickering want Banning to be added to the Magic messages list?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Pickering do when MacArthur moves his headquarters? What does Pickering tell Knox about the Pacific operations?

2. What does McInerney want Galloway to do and how does Holcomb respond to that idea?

3. Where does Pickering see his son and what do they talk about?

4. Why does Banning meet with Eric Feldt and what happened at that meeting?

5. How does the jump with Koffler and Howard go?

6. What do Barbara and Ernie do the day before Barbara ships out? What are Barbara's plans and how do they change?

7. How does Howard become a member of Banning's group?

8. What does intelligence intercept reveal about the Japanese plans for the Pacific?

9. What does Banning do after Stecker leaves, and to what position does he assign Koffler and why?

10. Who picks up Barbara after she receives her new orders and what do they do?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Most protagonists are a mixture of admirable traits and character flaws, and Koffler is no exception. His determination and survival powers might contrast to his feelings of inferiority about his family background. Discuss the following:

1. Trace and analyze situations when Koffler demonstrates his determination. Give specific examples to illustrate your analysis.

2. Trace and analyze Koffler's character flaws offering specific examples of these flaws in your discussion.

3. Discuss how you think Koffer's admirable traits helped him obtain rapid promotions in the military. Have his flaws impacted his career at all? Do any of those who work with him seem to notice these flaws? Who? How does the reader know this?

Essay Topic 2

Counterattack is one book in a series of novels involving McCoy and the other characters. Discuss the following.

1. What are two advantages of writing a series of novels about the same characters? Illustrate your statements with details from the text.

2. What is a disadvantage of writing a series of novels about the same characters? Illustrate your statements with details from the text.

3. Do you prefer to read a stand-alone book, or a series of books with the same main characters? Explain your response.

Essay Topic 3

Griffin has tried as much as possible to use historical events and facts around which to weave his work of fiction. Discuss the following:

1. Do you think Counterattack qualifies as an historical fiction? Why or why not?

2. If much of the events in the book are historical, what surprises you about the way the events play out?

3. Do you think the culture of that era is more or less advanced than you imagined? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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