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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. Why do the Vietnamese allies turn against the American troops?

2. Who opens fire on the Vietnamese soldiers?

3. At the end of the fight over land in Vietnam, what is dropped by jet plane into the clearing?

4. Who does Richie feel certain is the good guy in the Vietnam war.

5. What is the name of the Vietnamese New Year?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Richie do with his Purple Heart?

2. Who is with Brew when he dies?

3. When does Richie realize that Johnson would have been a natural-born leader?

4. What offer does Gearhart make for the troops, when it is realized that the squads are unequally staffed?

5. What do the American soldiers see when they return to the village in Vietnam that they had recently tried to pacify?

6. How does it come to be that Richie is shot?

7. How do the American soldiers prepare the bodies of their fallen soldiers so that the enemy cannot mutilate them?

8. How does Monaco escape the clutches of the Vietnamese soldiers?

9. How are Richie and Peewee separated from the rest of their troop?

10. What power struggle arises between Johnson and Stewart in the battlefield of the reclaimed hill?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The letters that the soldiers send home are the only outlet that they have to their families.

Part 1) Explain the importance of the letters written from the soldiers to their families.

Part 2) Explain the importance of the letters written from family to the soldiers.

Part 3) Compare/contrast the letter writing processes of Richie and Peewee.

Essay Topic 2

All of the soldiers in Richie's squad have joined the army for very different reasons. Choose three soldiers from Richie's squad and briefly describe their reasons for joining the army. Then, explain how those motivations affected the soldier's performance in battle.

Essay Topic 3

In many of his missions throughout Vietnam, Richie wonders whether the American troops are there to help the Vietnamese villages or there to harm them. Choose two instances in the novel in which the moral ambiguity of the situation was highlighted. Then, explain how those instances led to Richie's uncertainty over the war in general.

(see the answer keys)

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