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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. After the Japanese attacks, what is the U.S. stance on the India situation?

2. While Ryan's operation is planned, how do Clark and Chavez destroy their target?

3. An airbase on which island is important to the U.S. strategy that Ryan and the others develop?

4. How are the three Comanche helicopters refueled over the Pacific?

5. What is the Rangers' initial mission?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Durling resolve the political crisis of Kealty's legal problems?

2. What troubling things does JAL pilot Torajiro Sato witness?

3. What leads to Yamata's kidnapping of Koga?

4. How are the Japanese air defenses destroyed?

5. Explain the arrangement suggested by both Nagumo and the Japanese ambassador.

6. How does Yamata intend to manipulate the vote over which nation Saipan wishes to be a part of?

7. As part of Ryan's plan, what naval assets are immediately dispatched against Japan and what is their mission?

8. Explain Ryan's plan for saving the U.S. and European economies.

9. How is Chris Cook's betrayal discovered?

10. What complications at home force Ryan to act quickly in forming a plan, and keep much of it secret?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Secrecy is crucial to many of the operations planned and carried out in this novel. The author even keeps the reader in the dark about many of these plans until they are executed. This secrecy is achieved in different ways, and when this vital information is leaked, it causes major problems for both sides.

Part 1) Explain how secrecy is used by both sides for strategic advantage.

Part 2) Discuss the ways that both sides achieve and maintain secrecy. Compare and contrast their methods.

Part 3) Use examples from the book to illustrate how successfully maintaining secrecy over an operation can yield enormous results, and how leaked information causes immense problems.

Provide support for your conclusions with quotes from the novel.

Essay Topic 2

In the novel, multiple characters commit acts of treason, or contemplate whether what they are doing could be construed as treason. These decisions are difficult for some to make, they are trivially easy for others. Some characters are not even aware that they are committing treason, and have complex beliefs that prevent them from seeing this.

Part 1) Describe the progression of one character who intentionally commits treason. Explain why and how they do this and how they rationalize this action.

Part 2) Give one example of a character resisting the invitation to commit treason, or giving careful contemplation to whether their acts are treasonous. Explain the issues at hand and why this character thinks as they do. Explain why this character resists committing treason, where others do not give it the same level of consideration.

Part 3) Find and analyze one example of a character whose actions could be construed as treason, but which are not specifically named as being such.

Part 4) Discuss the overall impact of treasonous events in the novel. Explain how these betrayals provide advantages in the intelligence wars between the U.S. and Japan.

Use examples and quotes from the book to support your conclusions.

Essay Topic 3

Just before the Japanese strike on the U.S. fleet and Pacific islands, the U.S. and Russia jointly celebrate the destruction of their last nuclear weapons. Nuclear disarmament is complete between these two superpowers who vied for decades and came close to initiating suicidal nuclear war. This is a goal that many politicians, statesmen, and diplomats dreamed of throughout the cold war. In the novel, it's implications are crucial.

Part 1) Explain how the joint disarmament occurs and why the U.S. and Russia agree to work together on this issue.

Part 2) Describe the reaction in these two countries and throughout the world when the last missiles are destroyed. Is this reaction reasonable and believable?

Part 3) Explain the strategic consequences of the disarmament.

Part 4) Speculate whether the disarmament seen in the novel could really occur between the U.S. and Russia. Explain how these events, or events nearly like them, could occur.

(see the answer keys)

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