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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 does Joe decide when he figures out he's deaf?

2. Why is Bill Bonham a failure?

3. When does the first snowfall usually happen where Joe grew up?

4. What does Joe say he is as far as a lottery for life?

5. Why does Howie wake Joe up when they have gone to bed for the night?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Joe come to know he has no face?

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

3. When did Joe become aware of the war and what events in the war occurred at that time?

4. Why does Joe think he is dying and why does he know he is alive?

5. When is Joe's birthday; how did they celebrate; and what present did Glen give him one year? What came a few months after that present?

6. What does Joe think guys should do when called up for the military?

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

8. Why does Joe think being the way he is is worse than being in the womb?

9. What does Joe see on the way home from the train station?

10. Why does he worry about a ring? What kind of ring is it and who gave it to him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The first section of the book begins a theme that finds its culmination in the final chapters--the idea of dying for one's country and "freedom." Discuss one of the following:

1. During the last conflict in which there was a draft (Vietnam), many men choose to leave the United States rather than fight in a war in which they do not believe. Discuss how Joe views his being drafted and the reasons he accepts his legal obligation. How does he think about this same subject near the end of the book?

2. Is it ever moral to refuse to serve one's country? Take a stance and give detailed examples to support it.

3. Compare and contrast a war/conflict in which the United States was involved which seemed justifiable with one that does not seem as such.

Essay Topic 2

Communication is usually taken for granted by most people. In his very injured state, Joe is unable to communicate for many months. Discuss one of the following:

1. Compare and contrast Joe's ways of communication before and after his war injury. In what ways does his personality come through even after he is injured?

2. Discuss how Joe compensates for not being able to communicate. What do you think Joe would have done had he never figured out a way to communicate?

3. When Joe's "captors" realize his views about war, what do they do to keep Joe from communicating? How do you think this would ultimately affect Joe long term?

Essay Topic 3

Joe Bonham wonders why people are so inconsiderate, and feels more like he is coming out of ether rather than hung over, and is tired of hearing that his father is dead and going home. Father can die only once, so the phone must be part of a dream.

1. Joe is lying in a VA hospital with horrific injuries. He feels like he is coming out of ether. He is. The world at the moment seems unreal to him. Explain the flashbacks and images that Joe has in his head at the beginning of the book.

2. Almost all of this book is written as flashbacks to Joe's life before he was injured. How did this narrative technique enhance the book? Given Joe's injuries, discuss any other options the author may have had to tell the story.

3. How did the fact that this book is almost entirely flashbacks affect the pace? What about the plot? How did it enhance or obscure the themes?

(see the answer keys)

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