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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 not a point of the Weinberger Doctrine?

2. In his anecdote of Chapter 2, what event elicited surprisingly violent action from Richard Heckler?

3. According to Grossman in Chapter 6, why is a suicide bomber more effective than a traditional shooter?

4. According to Grossman in Chapter 2, what do POW executions do to an enemy?

5. Birth of a Nation is widely credited with increasing what?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What changes have occurred in recent years to mitigate the psychiatric casualties of Vietnam?

3. As described in Chapter 2, how do children progress through increasingly violent entertainment?

4. What factors contribute to a soldier's decision to commit an atrocity?

5. What factors does Grossman say are contributing to youth violence in Chapter 1?

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

7. What examples from Chapter 6 illustrate a problematic relationship with women in the military?

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

9. What is the Weinberger Doctrine?

10. What surprising insight into Vietnam does RB Anderson make in Chapter 1?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the beginning of ON KILLING, Dave Grossman pointedly lists his conservative opinions and prejudices, saying he wants to be clear with the reader as to his natural inclinations from the start. How does this affect ones reading of the policy discussion that follows? Do these prejudices seem to affect his domestic recommendations more than his military recommendations? How so? What ideology is he espousing in the latter sections of the book?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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