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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. According to Grossman in Chapter 1, what is the primary duty of the leader of a Greek phalanx?

2. What famous study is cited at the beginning of Chapter 1?

3. In Chapter 6, Grossman points out that hand-to-hand combat creates awareness of what?

4. What percentage of casualties did cannon fire comprise in many Civil War battles?

5. According to the DSM, when is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder most severe?

Short Essay Questions

1. What options are open to soldiers in combat?

2. What does hard-to-soft mean?

3. What role does enemy morale play in the choice to kill?

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

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

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

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

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

9. How did mechanical distance change the perception of war in the 1990's?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At one point in ON KILLING, Grossman discusses the three external concerns that affect a combatant's choice to kill. Write an essay analyzing these three concerns. W hat is the essence of each factor? What gives it its power over the potential killer? How effective is it in catalyzing the killing and in mitigating the guilt that follows? Cite an example of this type of factor that is used in the book.

Part 1) Voice of Authority

Part 2) Group Absolution

Part 3) Attractiveness of the Target

Essay Topic 2

In the first half of the book, Grossman discusses the gap in psychiatric casualties between combatants and noncombatants. Write an essay about this gap. What did the military predict regarding psychiatric casualties among the civilian population affected by bombing in World War II? Why does Grossman expect that these estimates proved to be wrong? Why did psychiatric casualties prove higher among civilians in concentration camps? What does all of this say about proximity and killing as factors in psychiatric casualties?

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?

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