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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Ardell first ask Pavlo?
(a) If he has killed.
(b) If he knows what happened.
(c) Where he thinks he's going.
(d) His age.

2. Who does Hendrix say confronted two Vietnamese?
(a) His lieutenant.
(b) His brother.
(c) His commanding officer.
(d) Himself.

3. What kind of a game do Pierce, Hinkle, and Kress set up?
(a) Black Jack.
(b) Poker.
(c) Kings.
(d) Crazy eights.

4. What does Ardell instruct Pavlo on in the event of a gas attack?
(a) How to call for back-up.
(b) How to hold one's breath.
(c) How to stay low to the ground.
(d) How to put on his gas mask .

5. Where do the Corporal and Pavlo meet for the first time?
(a) During drill.
(b) The recreation hall.
(c) At a bar.
(d) The swimming pool.

Short Answer Questions

1. Along with one other soldier, who must repeat their basic training?

2. What is Pavlo's response to Ardell's comment about a radiation attack?

3. What is Pierce doing when Pavlo first meets him?

4. What are the soldiers in the barracks gambling with?

5. How in the barracks during the conversation about Pavlo joining infantry did Pavlo claim his mother would react?

Short Essay Questions

1. What key moments in Act 1, Part 4 drive the momentum and energy of the plot forward, and what feeling does that have the potential to create in the audience?

2. Explore the reasons why Pavlo might be desperate for a new identity.

3. Tower mentions the North Star more than a few times throughout the play, and finally in Act 2, Part 4. Up until this point, what are the possible meanings of these references to the North Star?

4. What character traits can be seen from Pavlo as he struggles throughout this play thus far, in his attempt to become a good soldier. Provide evidence/examples.

5. After some prompting from Ardell in the final Act, Pavlo shouts repeatedly that it's all shit. His shouts eventually become a scream of rage and frustration. What can we say Ardell represents throughout this play for Pavlo, as well as for the audience?

6. What might "Jody" in the final military song of Act 2, Part 5 represent or metaphorically speak to?

7. How is this scene, as well as Ardell's character, a seminaly metaphoric catalyst, displaying Pavlo's transformations and inner desires?

8. How is the incident of Pavlo taking the aspirin and not waking up during the other trainees' games symbolic? How is this foreshadowing?

9. How are the opening scenes of this play different than others? Plot-wise, hypothesize over the purpose of this style of opening.

10. Pavlo believes that good soldiers are never helpless in any situation. How does this belief play out and dramatize itself in his experience with the Corporal and following scenes?

(see the answer keys)

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