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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. In Chapter 3, an Israeli study says a hostage is much more likely to die if what?

2. According to Grossman in Chapter 7, how long can guilt over killing last?

3. Early in Chapter 2, Grossman quotes a researcher who say that most soldier's relationship with their comrades are stronger than with whom?

4. How many tours in Vietnam did the vet quoted in Chapter 7 serve before realizing that the killing urge was consuming him?

5. In Chapter 4, the story of the soldier who kills a young enemy and immediately breaks down crying takes place in what country?

Short Essay Questions

1. At the beginning of the book, what personal prejudices does Grossman admit to?

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

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

4. How did military predictions regarding civilian bombings and psychiatric casualties prove completely wrong in World War II?

5. What is punishment justification?

6. As described in Chapter 2, why are snipers given the cold shoulder in the military?

7. Describe the Vietnam story of Chapter 4.

8. Why does the Vietnam Vet quoted in Chapter 7 choose to leave the army after six tours?

9. What is surprising about the study cited in Chapter 1 regarding what compels soldiers to shoot?

10. What is a crew-served weapon?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay about the urge not to kill over the course of history. What evidence does Grossman provide that soldiers going back to the American Civil War have chosen not to kill even in the face of death by enemy fire? What tactics did these soldiers use to avoid killing? At what point in the history of the American military did the non-firing problem become readily apparent? How did the military react to this?

Essay Topic 2

Much of the beginning of ON KILLING deals with the issue of non-firers, a concern the military did not realize it had until after World War II and has been struggling to deal with effectively since. Write an essay in three parts dealing with non-firers and the military's response to them:

Part 1) Approximately what percentage of soldiers in World War II never fired their weapons? Discuss why, from a noncombatant's point-of-view, this seems absurd. What were these soldiers risking by not firing, and what sort of essential drive compelled them to risk this?

Part 2) Discuss the examples given from Rhodesia, the American Civil War, and the two World Wars that countless of soldier chose not kill. What kind of attitude was taken by fellow soldiers to non-killers? Why was the American military surprised by the firing rate of World War II?

Part 3) Upon learning of the low firing rate in World War II, the military made increasing this rate a top priority. What tactics did they use to do this, and how successful were they? How did this success manifest itself in Vietnam, and how was the process refined after Vietnam?

Essay Topic 3

One of the tools that Grossman uses incredibly effectively in ON KILLING is the anecdote. Frequently throughout the book, he will illustrate a trend denoted by statistics and data by incorporating an appropriate war story. In an essay, choose three such war stories and analyze them. What trend in warfare do they illustrate? How do they subvert the tradition of war stories? Do they add an emotional underpinning to the policy speak of the remainder of the text?

(see the answer keys)

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