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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 does Eugene feel about the army?

2. What did the men hang Epstein up by?

3. Who does Toomey confine to the barracks for the weekend?

4. Who does Wykowski accuse of stealing from him?

5. What does Sergeant Toomey have when he enters the scene?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Toomey do to punish Eugene during the march?

2. What does Hennessey's fantasy say about his character?

3. What does Epstein threaten that he will do to Wykowski on the troopship?

4. What does Hennessey do when he tries to defend Epstein and Eugene?

5. What state is Toomey in during Act 2, Scene 7?

6. What does Eugene do at the end of the scene?

7. What does Toomey tell the soldiers about their future service in the war?

8. Describe how Toomey wakes up the soldiers.

9. Which soldiers does Toomey not let leave the table, and why?

10. What does Eugene's attitude seem to be after the other soldiers have read his writings?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the play as a coming-of-age story.

1) How does Eugene mature during the course of the play? What knowledge, experience, and understanding about the world does he gain?

2) In what ways is boot camp a rite of passage that serves as a transition from childhood to adulthood?

3) How is Eugene's visit to the prostitute a rite of passage? What other rites of passage are there in the play?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss humor in the play.

1) How do the characters use humor in their interactions? How do they use humor as insults? How does humor form part of their friendship?

2) In what ways does the author use humor in the play? How does the author combine serious issues such as prejudice and war with humor?

Essay Topic 3

The play BILOXI BLUES is about soldiers during wartime, but little is actually seen of the war. Discuss the role of war in the novel.

1) Why does the play show Eugene's experience before shipping overseas, and then end with his retelling of events during the war, but not show the war itself?

2) How real does the war seem to the soldiers in boot camp?

3) What affect does the existence of the war, which the soldiers will soon have to become a part of, have on their decisions and attitudes?

(see the answer keys)

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