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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 to be the measure of victory in the battle?

2. What do Caputo and his platoon have in common?

3. Why is Caputo relieved that the dead boy had no identification on him?

4. How does Caputo describe the descent of a helicopter?

5. What happens for about twenty-five of the men?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Caputo sense at his old base camp when he goes to collect his belongings?

2. What does the hospital corpsman tell Parker about his friend, Esposito?

3. After a group of VC disappears once again, what does Caputo want to believe?

4. Why does he say he fears being an unsat or a marginal?

5. Describe the Communist stronghold that Caputo first sees in Vietnam.

6. Describe the French Fort overlooking the paddies west of Hill 327.

7. Why do the men continually have to be reminded to keep five paces between them and the next man?

8. How does Caputo describe himself as he watches the action of the offensive from the hill?

9. What does Caputo say the old salts used to tell him is the most memorable moment in an officer's life?

10. What is the news that makes Caputo sorry he is not there instead of being in Okinawa?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

A recurring theme in the book is fear. Using examples of extreme fear in the book, write a paper about how fear can cause people to do things they would not normally do. You may want to relate this to a personal example of behavior when you were very frightened.

Essay Topic 2

Write a paper about how something that is at first repulsive and horrible can become so common place that it is scarcely given any thought later on. Use Caputo's experience as the Officer In Charge of the Dead. Relate that to civilian activities such as undertakers, doctors and nurses, and other such professions.

Essay Topic 3

Using the colonel who had bodies dug up to show a visiting general and the colonel who wanted his horseshoe pitch done during preparations for a VC offensive, discuss in a paper how some people rise to the top without having the necessary qualifications. Discuss in the paper whether you think this is a phenomenon limited to the military.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 757 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample