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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. Which of the following is a component of Demands of Authority as delineated in Chapter 1?

2. What does Grossman cite at length in Chapter 5 as a perfect amalgamation of the effects of hate on psychological state?

3. How does the military normally deal with the problem of exhaustion in combat?

4. What fear did Saddam Hussein seize upon to hold on to power, as discussed in Chapter 2?

5. What city did King Sennacherib destroy?

Short Essay Questions

1. What societal and moral tenets cause guilt in an individual who has killed in a war?

2. In Chapter 7, what comparison does Grossman draw between firing a gun and masturbation?

3. How was the Roman centurion model more effective than the Greek phalanx, according to Grossman?

4. Describe the Lost Battalion's experience behind lines.

5. Describe the metaphor Grossman uses for fortitude in Chapter 6?

6. How is the dissuasive potential of familiarity discussed in Chapter 4?

7. How does Grossman use his distance-guilt corollary to explain the oppression of the poor in Chapter 1?

8. Describe the Vietnam story of Chapter 4.

9. What surprising fact regarding soldier's fears in combat is revealed in Chapter 2?

10. What inefficiency of edged-weapon combat does Grossman reveal in Chapter 5?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The likelihood of a soldier to kill in combat is markedly improved if he feels he is not the only culpable party to the killing. Write an essay about this diluting of guilt. What is group absolution, and what components of a group dynamic make it possible? Why is a soldier comforted by the sense that others around him are also killing? What is a crew-served weapon, and how is it effective in dispersing guilt for killing?

Essay Topic 2

At one point in ON KILLING, Grossman describes the roots of fear and group bonding that can lead to an atrocity like the My Lai massacre. Write a three-part essay on the factors that lead to an atrocity in war, using My Lai as a framing device:

Part 1) How does fear of an unseen enemy make atrocities more likely in war? Discuss the way in which this creates emotional distance between noncombatants and soldiers. How does a catalyzing event, like an attack on the unit, further increase the likelihood of this sort of atrocity?

Part 2) What form of empowerment is felt in an atrocity? Discuss how the active and powerful decision to kill those whom one suspects of complicity in suffering can empower a soldier. What sort of possible catharsis can occur as a result?

Part 3) Discuss the group cohesion that can occur as a result of an atrocity? How does killing unarmed noncombatants bond a group of soldiers together? Conversely, discuss how the decision not to take part in an atrocity becomes dangerous as a result of this cohesion.

Essay Topic 3

In the first section of ON KILLING, the author argues that the soldier has more options on a battlefield than simply fight or flight. In an essay, discuss these options and particularly the most common one taken: posture. Firstly, why is fight-or-flight not a legitimate choice in a fight between two humans? What other two options are open to humans in this case? What makes posturing such an attractive option, and how has the development of firearms only improved a soldier's ability to posture?

(see the answer keys)

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