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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 Snake's mother think about as she holds his letters in her hand?

2. What are the men wearing as they gather in the road to get in the convoy headed for battle?

3. What does a Vietnamese boy offer to sell to the soldiers as they work?

4. How does Snake make it over to Goodrich?

5. How does Cat Man feel as the helicopter flies away?

Short Essay Questions

1. What effect does sitting in the rain have on Hodges' men?

2. How is Senator wounded in the cemetery?

3. What is Kersey's reply when Hodges asks if there is anywhere dry where his men can wait out of the rain?

4. What does Hodges notice in his old classmate that he meets in the mess hall?

5. Why does Goodrich go to the Regimental Legal Officer's tent?

6. Describe Snake's feelings about serving in Vietnam?

7. What does Waterbull tell the men in the letter he sends to the unit?

8. What is in the letter that Bagger takes from a dead VC soldier?

9. How do Goodrich's parents welcome him back home?

10. What is Hodges' reply when his classmate asks him if they can still win the war?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

1) Analyze how Webb depicts the soldiers during the final battle of the novel.

2) What role does fate plays in their lives?

3) How does Webb make use of figurative language during the battle?

4) How do each of these things relate to Snake, Senator, and Hodges?

Essay Topic 2

1) Write an introduction to the novel discussing James Webb's writing style, use of dialogue, irony, imagery, and point of view of the characters.

2) How do these literary elements affect the story?

Essay Topic 3

Each of the characters presented in Hodges' unit had different reasons for enlisting in the Marines.

1) Summarize the reasons of at least four of the characters in the novel.

2) Compare the character's views when they enlisted to their attitudes toward the Marines once they are actually serving in Vietnam.

3) How does each of the characters lose their innocent view of their role in the war? Cite examples from the novel.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 659 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample