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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 theorists presents evidence concerning proximity of authority and peer groups?

2. In Chapter 2, what advice do German World War I vets give World War II recruits?

3. Which of the following is not a psychological process for enabling killing as set out in Chapter 1?

4. According to Grossman in Chapter 1, which type of combatants are more prone than most to a powerful exhilaration stage?

5. Which stage of the killing process did Eric - who shot a VC soldier while he was urinating - skip,as described in Chapter 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. In Chapter 5, how does Grossman illustrate the danger of refusing to take part in an atrocity?

2. How did John Foster rationalize killing a VC in Chapter 1?

3. In Chapter 2, what does Grossman say an atrocity does to a combat unit's group dynamic?

4. What factors traditionally assist in rationalization and acceptance after combat?

5. What are the defining characteristics of a natural warrior?

6. What is the Weinberger Doctrine?

7. How does Grossman explain murder-suicide in terms of the killing process in Chapter 2?

8. What warning about video games does Grossman make at the end of Chapter 3?

9. Describe the strange story of the CIA guard at the end of Chapter 1?

10. What hypothetical situation does Grossman relate in Chapter 3?

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

Near the end of the book, Grossman illustrates the hardship faced by Vietnam veterans with a hypothetical return home from the war. Write an essay analyzing this hypothetical. Which types of soldiers are represented in the scenario, and what other war veterans are they compared to? How are these two wars different from one another? Why is the Vietnam experience so much more conducive to PTSD?

Essay Topic 3

Much of the last part of ON KILLING deals with comparing the way the military conditions soldiers and media conditions young people in America. Write an essay charting and analyzing this comparison. What are the means of traditional and conditioning in either arena? How do the authorities of the military training compare to those that young people in America listen to? What finer points does military training place on conditioning that the media in civilian life does not?

(see the answer keys)

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