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. With what does Joe compare his situation right now?

2. What does Glen Hogan give Joe for his birthday one year?

3. Joe would think he was dead except why?

4. What does Joe want to do most as he is lying in bed injured?

5. What does Joe realize when he tries to kick the blankets off?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the scene at the rail station when Joe is leaving for the army.

2. What does Joe think about doctors and war?

3. How far does Joe walk to get to the bakery and how much money does he make?

4. What doesn't Joe understand about being alive?

5. What does Joe think about guys fighting for liberty?

6. Where does Joe see Jose while he's lying in bed, what does he ask him and what does Joe figure out?

7. How does Joe realize he has no left arm and how does he feel about it?

8. Why does Howie wake Joe up after working all day on the railroad?

9. What does Joe think when he thinks of his family and what does he see as the reality?

10. Why doesn't Joe worry about loss of appetite?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When Joe is boarding the train to go to boot camp after being drafted, he describes a scene of bands playing, flags waving and women and children calling out to their beloved husbands, sons, and brothers who are leaving for war. Discuss the following:

1. Why do you think men (and now women also) are often sent off to war in an almost-festive-like atmosphere?

2. Does this send off make it harder or easier for Joe Bonham to march off to war? Explain.

3. If sending men and women off to war were treated like a funeral, do you think it would impact those leaving in a positive or negative way? Explain.

4. How would the political powers be impacted if war were viewed differently by a funeral-like send off?

Essay Topic 2

In one of the first chapters, Joe Bonham is thinking about an airplane that comes to town when he is young and the wonderful thing that it is. Discuss the following:

1. Contrast the theme of flying and the freedom it suggests to Joe's situation.

2. What kind of freedom is possible for someone in Joe's post-injury life?

3. WWI is, in a sense, fought over the concept of freedom. Discuss the irony of Joe fighting in a war for "freedom."

Essay Topic 3

Joe muses on his being a prisoner and as he does so, he empathizes with prisoners throughout the ages. Discuss one of the following:

1. Discuss fully how involuntary confinement affects the human spirit. Use examples from the text and personal experience.

2. Compare and contrast the experience of a prisoner who is one due to his choice to commit a crime versus a prisoner who has done no wrong but is one due to oppression by those stronger than s/he.

3. Are there more humane and rehabilitative methods to confine dangerous or criminal people than the United State's current methods?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 960 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample