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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. Who addresses the trainees when called to formation in Act 1, Part 2?

2. Who is the first person to enter the barracks that is not a trainee in Act 1, Part 4?

3. What is the subject of the first army song sung?

4. As Hinkle goes out of the barracks, what does Kress ask him to do?

5. What does Pavlo remind Tower of when told he had to follow through on his punishment?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

2. How does Pavlo's egocentrism and immaturity play a part in misleading him from the identity he so strongly desires?

3. Identify two juxtaposed aspects to Pavlo's character, and explain how they affect his identity.

4. How are the depths of Pavlo's innocence defined in this scene?

5. How does the playwright use both the inconsistent plot-line and paradoxical aspects of Pavlo's character traits to create an introduction that makes the audience want to watch more?

6. Pavlo seems to respond to events in many different ways. Explain how his response to Pierce, when Pierce urges him to fight back, can be viewed as a highly perceptive and telling one for the audience about Pavlo's life views.

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

8. Theorize on the effect that the two stabbings have on Pavlo in Act 2, Part 3.

9. In what ways can Pavlo be considered a classic "tragic figure" by the time the audience reaches Act 2, Part 4? Relate him to other well-known tragic figures in literature.

10. 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?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In terms of Pavlo's innocence about people, again we see in this scene that his he does have compassion for his fellow soldiers. However, his methods of going about connecting with his fellow soldiers don't have anything to do with who they are. It's all about what he, Pavlo, feels and believes. His attitude is centered in the common enough desire to be liked and respected and above all seen as an individual with value. This is connected to his desire for an identity. If he's seen, for example, as someone with a colorful family or a colorful history, that defines him and gives him an identity. Explain by citing examples from the play how Pavlo's ego-centrism gets in the way of all of his goals and desires to become the man he wants to become.

Essay Topic 2

Brisbey's passing reference to Christ, who is never mentioned by name, but whose identity and sacrifice are evoked by Brisbey's reference to God being "nailed" is the possibility that the idea of sacrifice arising from this reference can be applied to Pavlo's situation. Pavlo's situation can be seen as the sacrifice of individual identity in the name of a larger "God-given" purpose. How else might Brisbey's use of the word "nailed" be a possible implication by Rabe that the good man always gets the bad end of things? Would you say that this could be a foreshadowing device about the fate of our protagonist? Why or why not? Support your argument with examples from the text.

Essay Topic 3

Pavlo's wish to become "bone" is repeated twice in this short play. Theorize on the metaphorical implications of these two moments, comparing the similarities and differences between them and finally giving explanation as to the importance of these two situations occurring for Pavlo's character.

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