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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 does Dianne tell Koffler?

2. What does Franklin Neville do for work?

3. What did Stecker recommend to Harris for Howard?

4. What does Frank Knox want Pickering to do?

5. Fleming tells Fowler that he is meeting whom?

Short Essay Questions

1. When does Neville board the plane and what happens to him?

2. Who is Franklin Neville and on what subject is he an expert? What has he written on the subject?

3. What did Stecker recommend for Joe Howard, why and in what position will Howard work for Stecker?

4. What is Steve Koffler doing in Lakehurst, how does he feel about it, and why is he doing it?

5. Describe Koffler's visit home the first day.

6. In what service is Joe Howard, what award did he win, and what is his next assignment?

7. Why is Joe Howard on the USS Tangier and what happens on the way to her destination?

8. Where has Galloway been sent after flying the plane without permission and what do the Marines plan to do about him?

9. Sum up the conversation between Pickering and Frank Knox, who Fowler brings to Pickering's motel room.

10. From where did the attack on Pearl Harbor come, when did it occur and what was the result of the attack?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Most people and regular soldiers detest spies and the idea of spying. Spies are not considered in the same vein as soldiers in uniform and are not protected by the customs and regulations that govern the treatment of soldiers who are in uniform when captured. It was carefully pointed out that what Pickering was doing would not be considered spying, yet that is essentially what his organization is doing. Discuss one of the following:

1. Why do you think spies are not accorded any rights under many countries' laws and/or customs?

2. Even though all countries abhor spies, often even their own, they still spy, and men and women are still willing to be spies. Discuss why you think this is so.

3. Research and analyze the history of spying in either America.

4. Does Pickering seem the image of a typical spy as you visualize one? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

At the conclusion of a novel, most readers either consciously or unconsciously engage in processing the book and usually come to a conclusion as to whether they like the book or not. Discuss one of the following:

1. Would you consider Counterattack a "good" book? Why or why not? Use examples to illustrate your stance.

2. What do you think are the elements of an outstanding novel? Analyze one of your favorite novels to see if those elements are present.

3. What are some reasons you might consider a novel a failure? Analyze a novel you think is a failure and see if those elements are in that novel.

Essay Topic 3

Griffin is masterful in his description of battles and life in general for a soldier during the second world war. Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze Griffin's descriptive passages about life as a soldier. How does he use descriptions of the five senses to make the reader feel s/he is there? Do you find his descriptions compelling? Seemingly accurate? How would Counterattack be different if Griffin did not include such descriptive passages?

2. Analyze Griffin's descriptive passages about the social structure of the times and discuss what you think it would be like to be a person of wealth and/or privilege such as Pickering, or Fowler. Contrast that to the lives of those who are in a lower social strata such as Koffler or Howard to one in service to someone of wealth and/or privilege.

3. Describe and analyze Griffin's descriptive passages about the topographical setting and the physical descriptions of the people. Does Griffin do an adequate job of actually making the reader "see" the land or sea where the action is taking place? How about getting a visual image of the characters? How does the descriptions of the setting add to the novel? Do you like having an idea of how a character looks? How would the novel be different without such descriptions?

(see the answer keys)

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