View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What finally breaks the unnerving calm at the end of Chapter 16?

2. At what town does Lieutenant Corson decide to cut off Cacciato in Chapter 10?

3. In Chapter 21, the delirious Lieutenant tells Paul Berlin what truth about their situation?

4. What body part does Vaught lose after leaving the front?

5. Where is Paul Berlin's place in the march order?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Lieutenant Corson.

2. How does Sidney Martin aggravate Third Squad in Chapter 25?

3. How does Paul Berlin succeed in keeping Sarkin Aung Wan with Third Squad?

4. What is the result of Chapter 3's vote?

5. Describe some ways that the men of the Paul Berlin's platoon organize themselves.

6. Why does Paul Berlin feel guilty for Frenchie Tucker and Bernie Lynn's deaths?

7. Why do living circumstances become awkward for Third Squad in Delhi?

8. How does the quiet of the village in Chapter 16 become insidious?

9. How does Sarkin Aung Wan react to Paul Berlin's description of their mission?

10. How do two men from Third Squad die in Chapter 9?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

O'Brien juxtaposes the elegant, surprising and deeply thematic story of Cacciato's flight to Paris with the banal and meaningless true stories of various deaths in Third Squad.

Write an essay about the meaninglessness of battle, focusing on three squad deaths. How do these men die? Is it for a great cause? How does the squad respond to their deaths, and what lessons are learned from their passing?

Part 1) Bernie Lynn and Frenchie Tucker

Part 2) Buff

Part 3) Sidney Martin

Essay Topic 2

Choose one member of the Cacciato search party and write an essay analyzing his attitude toward the mission. At any point in the mission, does he grow convinced that Third Squad is deserting? What was his attitude toward Cacciato before Cacciato disappeared into the jungle? How does the mission to Paris change this character's attitude toward the world, the war, and his fellow soldiers?

Essay Topic 3

The action of Going After Cacciato is characterized by long stretches of quiet and peace punctuated by by moments of sudden frenzy and violent panic. Write an essay about the dynamic between quiet and panic, in three parts:

Part 1) Why does Third Squad stop dead in its tracks when it arrives in Delhi? How is Lieutenant Corson affected by the peace of the region, and how do the other men respond? What finally breaks the quiet?

Part 2) How does Paul Berlin settle into Paris life more completely than the rest of the Squad? How does he nearly forget about the War entirely? What finally breaks the quiet?

Part 3) Write a paragraph about the silent village the Squad happens upon? How does the quiet drive the men of Third Squad to the breaking point? What finally breaks the quiet?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,041 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample