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

2. What cold consolation for Vietnam vets does Grossman acknowledge in Chapter 2?

3. In Vietnam, about how many rounds did it take to kill one enemy soldier?

4. In Chapter 3, what does Grossman delineate as a voice of authority in modern youth killing?

5. What public figure's death is referenced in the end of Chapter 2 to illustrate the relationship of nudity and violence?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What evidence does Grossman provide that violence among youth has increased dramatically since the 1950s?

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

4. Describe the strange dichotomy between nudity and killing in Western culture?

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

6. Why was combat in Vietnam particularly dirty, as described in Chapter 2?

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

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

9. What are the three categories of atrocity as delineated in Chapter 1?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

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 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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