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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 do when Harper tells him Diane went out with Hogan?

2. What does his girlfriend's father do in the morning on his departure day?

3. What does Superintendent of School Hargraves say about the airplane?

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

5. What does Joe see when he walks by Diane's house?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. What does Joe think about doctors and war?

5. Who is the pilot who comes to Joe's hometown, what does he do and what does the superintendent of schools say about airplanes?

6. Who does Joe call out to in his nightmare and why?

7. As Joe's pain fades some what does he think about and how does he feel about being deaf?

8. Describe the scene at Joe's parents house when he arrives home after his father died.

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

10. What does Joe want to stop and why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Joe thinks about how the doctor's have saved his life, but he rather than feeling appreciative, he is resentful and feels more like a science experiment. Discuss one of the following:

1. Elaborate on and analyze Joe's attitudes towards the doctors both at the field hospital and in his long term care facility.

2. Discuss the pros and cons of saving life at any cost, whether on the battlefield or otherwise.

3. One might think that doctors work harder to save young people because they are young and have not had a full lifespan, yet, in our culture, doctors often go to heroic efforts to save quite elderly persons, spending much resources for little return. Are their efforts "heroic"? Discuss fully.

(see the answer keys)

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