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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 month and year was Joe injured?

2. What does Joe believe he must do now?

3. What direction does Joe face in his third year in the hospital?

4. How does Joe feel when the nurse leaves the room?

5. What is one thing Joe says can be invented as a result of others seeing him?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the process of the new nurse attempting to communicate with Joe.

2. Why does Bonham consider himself a slave and what does he ask God?

3. How does the prostitute that Joe thinks he loves handle the situation?

4. What solution finally comes to Joe about keeping track of time?

5. Why does Bonham lose track of everything and what does he do?

6. What is the response to Joe's offer and Joe's reaction?

7. What obstacle does Joe see in their granting his request and what is his solution?

8. What does Joe say every Allied nation expects?

9. What is Joe's first response to what the nurse communicates to him?

10. How does Joe think of Kareen and what does he wonder about her?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

For a few brief moments at the end of the book before Joe is sedated, he is able to communicate his desire to have a purpose. Discuss the following:

1. What does Joe offer to do? Is this a wise thing to suggest?

2. What is the response to Joe's offer? Why?

3. Why is having a sense of purpose so important to Joe?

4. Do you think Joe will re-think what he offers given the response and try to communicate again? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

This story is written in a series of flashbacks in a stream-of-consciousness style. Discuss one of the following:

1. Define flashback and stream of consciousness. What are some reasons an author would choose to use each of these literary devices? Give examples of each from the text.

2. Analyze the way the author uses flashbacks to make Joe a more complex, well-rounded character. Does the fact that the flashbacks are not chronological make the story more realistic? What are the advantages and disadvantages of flashbacks?

3. A narration using stream of consciousness can be difficult at times to follow and understand because most people's brains when reading are more linear and organized, though the thought process tends to be associative. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the stream-of-consciousness style in this book.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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