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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 did Billy Boy and the others do to pass the time on the afternoon he died?

2. Which two people stay in the apartment in Chapter 44, refusing to search for Cacciato?

3. Who does Lieutenant Corson tell Paul Berlin to look out for when the latter says he will be staying in Paris?

4. According to Oscar Johnson, what is the only lesson to be learned from Buff's death?

5. What did Paul Berlin consider majoring in when he thought of attending the University of Iowa?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Lieutenant Martin precipitate his own murder in Chapter 34?

2. Describe the girl from California in Chapter 40.

3. Why does Doc Peret have to admit to the Cacciato chase in Chapter 33?

4. Why does Third Squad intensify its search for Cacciato in Chapter 44?

5. Describe Captain Rhallon.

6. Why does Cacciato require convincing regarding the Martin murder?

7. In Chapter 31, what haunting event happens to Paul Berlin on his first day in the mountains?

8. What does Buff's body look like when Cacciato finds it in Chapter 41?

9. What news does Captain Rhallon bring Third Squad at the end of Chapter 33?

10. What argument does Captain Rhallon make in Chapter 29 regarding the importance of a well-respected mission in War?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

The character of Cacciato in the novel exists on two different planes: the Cacciato that exists, and the the Cacciato that exists in Paul Berlin's mind.

Write an essay about Cacciato as he appears in three different points in the novel. It this appearance real or invented? What is Cacciato doing, and how does this further the story? Does Cacciato seem to have any major objective?

Part 1) Cacciato in Delhi

Part 2) Cacciato outside the prison cell in Tehran

Part 3) Cacciato in the World's Greatest Lake Country

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay charting the progression of Oscar Johnson. How does he begin as a sympathetic figure - a man who cares for the safety of Third Squad - and slowly become a major antagonist to Paul Berlin? What does Oscar care for primarily? How are his grievances against the cavalier Sidney Martin similar to his grievances against the incompetent and deluded Paul Berlin?

(see the answer keys)

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