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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. How is Cacciato dressed when Paul Berlin spots him in Chapter 18?

2. Which of the following names is not among the dead listed in the beginning of Chapter 1?

3. What action do the two older women continually do as they ride with Third Squad?

4. What does Third Squad discover in the mountains as they clear bodies in Chapter 27?

5. How does Cacciato respond to the Third Squad's lighting a smoke grenade early in their pursuit?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Paul Berlin hope regarding Cacciato?

2. What news does Doc Peret deliver to Lieutenant Corson at the beginning of the novel?

3. Why does Paul Berlin feel guilty for Frenchie Tucker and Bernie Lynn's deaths?

4. What is the result of Chapter 3's vote?

5. Why does the Squad take a vote on whether to continue pursuing Cacciato in Chapter 3?

6. What difficulty arises when Lieutenant Corson tries to leave Li Van Hgoc's tunnel in Chapter 15?

7. Describe Paul Berlin's call home in Chapter 24.

8. What are Sidney Martin's values regarding war as described in Chapter 25?

9. How does the Squad figure out that they are on the same train that Cacciato took?

10. Why do Stink Harris and Bernie Lynn have a falling out?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In many ways, Going After Cacciato is a rumination on the idea of desertion. Paul Berlin longs to walk away from the war, and his fantasy of Cacciato's flight to Paris offers him a window into a desertion scenario. Write an essay about the agonized decision to desert, focusing on three moments in the novel:

Part 1) Why do the men of Third Squad choose to hold a vote on whether to continue the pursuit after they cross into Laos? What arguments are made, and who among the Squad cannot brook the idea of continuing on?

Part 2) When Third Squad is arrested for desertion in Tehran, how does Doc Peret defend them to Captain Rhallon? Why do they personally believe that they have not abandoned their greater mission?

Part 3) Sum up the Paris debate held between Sarkin Aung Wan and Paul Berlin. How does Paul Berlin defend his decision not to leave Third Squad? What temptation does he overcome?

Essay Topic 2

One recurring theme throughout the full Tim O'Brien cannon is the war story. Write an essay about the idea of the war story and its function in the world of the combat serviceman. How is the war story a form of first-aid to the traumatized soldier? When do the characters in the novel bust out their well-developed war stories? How are war stories that are, perhaps, the least factual also the most truthful? Do they add meaning to the meaningless violence of war?

Essay Topic 3

Choose one member of the Cacciato search party and write an essay analyzing his attitude toward the mission. At any point in the mission, does he grow convinced that Third Squad is deserting? What was his attitude toward Cacciato before Cacciato disappeared into the jungle? How does the mission to Paris change this character's attitude toward the world, the war, and his fellow soldiers?

(see the answer keys)

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