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 is the ratio of support personnel to combat personnel in Chu Lai?

2. In Chapter 8, who is supposed to relieve Paul Berlin of his post?

3. What does Cacciato leave as a booby trap for Third Squad in this chapter?

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

5. What appliance did Doc Peret disassemble as a child?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What finally prods Third Squad to consider killing Sidney Martin?

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

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

5. How does Third Squad end up on a cart with three Vietnamese women in Chapter 6?

6. What does Paul Berlin hope regarding Cacciato?

7. How does the Squad figure out that they are on the same train that Cacciato took?

8. How does Paul Berlin lose Cacciato in Mandalay?

9. What difficulty arises when Lieutenant Corson tries to leave Li Van Hgoc's tunnel in Chapter 15?

10. Why do Stink Harris and Bernie Lynn have a falling out?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Paul Berlin is clearly a surrogate for Tim O'Brien in Going After Cacciato, developing the narrative as it is happening. Write an essay analyzing the storyteller role of Paul Berlin in the novel. How is Berlin's greatest weakness his tendency to self-mythologize? Is the central narrative of the novel, in fact, a massive self-delusion? In the end, is the creation of this delusion something beautiful, alarming, or both?

Essay Topic 2

Going After Cacciato is a mixture of fantasy and harsh reality, and the way in which Tim O'Brien interweaves these is as daring as any of the battles in the story.

Write an essay, in which you focus on three moments when fact and fantasy intersect. How does O'Brien make clear to the reader that he is shifting between these two planes? Where do these connections happen, and what characters do they involve?

Essay Topic 3

The narrative of the novel begins with the announcement that Cacciato, the simpleton, has set off into the jungle to walk to Paris. Although the men of Third Squad are annoyed, they do not question the impetus that drove Cacciato. Write an essay on Paris as a symbol in Going After Cacciato. Why does the idea of walking to Paris appeal to all of the men in the Squad? What does Paris represent to each of them, and what doe they find themselves doing once they arrive?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 954 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample