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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 are Third Squad arrested in Chapter 29?

2. Why does Doc declare the Nazis and Japanese lost World War II?

3. With what word does Paul Berlin describe Billy Boy Watkins' death in Chapter 32?

4. Who eventually searches the VC tunnel in Chapter 34?

5. What season is it at the end of Chapter 40?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Stink Harris jump off the ship at the end of Chapter 38?

2. Describe Captain Rhallon.

3. How does Doc Peret get Third Squad out of trouble with Iranian authorities in Chapter 29?

4. How does Third Squad gain control of the VW van?

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

6. What does Paul Berlin rationalize is the essential purpose of the Vietnam War at the end of Chapter 40?

7. How does Third Squad manage to depart the ocean liner at the beginning of Chapter 40?

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

9. What lesson does Oscar Johnson declare should be learned from Buff's death?

10. Describe the girl from California in Chapter 40.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

There are two Paul Berlins in Going After Cacciato: the weak-willed bad soldier of the real chapters, and the one that presses onward and gets the girl in the Cacciato story. Write an essay comparing these two. How does the protagonist of the novel reinvent himself in half the chapters? How does this reinvention help him deal with his desperate shortcomings in the other half of the novel? TO what extent is the second Paul Berlin a defense for the first?

Essay Topic 2

One recurring theme throughout the full Tim O'Brien cannon is the war story. Write an essay about the idea of the war story and its function in the world of the combat serviceman. How is the war story a form of first-aid to the traumatized soldier? When do the characters in the novel bust out their well-developed war stories? How are war stories that are, perhaps, the least factual also the most truthful? Do they add meaning to the meaningless violence of war?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the character of Sarkin Aung Wan. How does she first appear to the reader in the narrative, and what are her origins as a fictitious creation? Why does Paul Berlin feel the need to add her to his war story? What purpose does she serve in his life? Analyze their final debate determine her function in Paul Berlin's delusion.

(see the answer keys)

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