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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 the meaning of Sympathetic Detonation?

2. Why are Caputo and the rest of the men so exhausted?

3. What is the effect of burning magnesium?

4. What exhilarates Caputo after the Hoi-Vuc village wipe out?

5. During the summer, how is life for the Vietnamese peasants?

Short Essay Questions

1. Coming across a clearing, how does Caputo manage to get to the other side?

2. Why are the VC attacking with small arms each night for several days?

3. What are some of the contradictions Caputo itemizes about the war?

4. What becomes Caputo's chief responsibility and how does he begin to see himself?

5. Under assault conditions, what is the assistant adjutant's responsibility?

6. What does Corporal Stasek say about the bodies the colonel wants left out for the clerks and General Thompson to see?

7. What does Caputo say about the effect of his job as Regimental Casualty Reporting Officer?

8. Why is the old Vietnamese man lucky the night of the interrogation?

9. Why does Caputo order the village fired upon by white phosphorus shells?

10. What is Caputo's opinion of Maj-Gen Lew Walt the night of the first VC assault on the battalion base camp?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Self-preservation is a big consideration for anyone. In the case of Vietnam, there was no way to look at a person and know if he or she was South Vietnamese or VietCong. Write your opinion about the moral dilemma of having to make such a determination and whether it is right to err on the side of personal safety.

Essay Topic 2

Caputo discusses the deterioration of morals as the war goes on. Write your opinion about how extremely adverse situations may affect human morality. Give examples from the book of behavior in Vietnam that would not even be considered in main street USA.

Essay Topic 3

Now that you have read about the experiences of the Marines in Vietnam, write a paper about how difficult it probably was for most of them to step back into civil society at home. Perhaps you have known of someone coming back from a war who had a problem readjusting. Give your opinion about the responsibility of the people who send young men to war in helping to rehabilitate them after they return.

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