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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. What does Pyle notice the first time Fowler meets him?

2. What restriction is imposed by the French after the battle of Phat Diem?

3. Why is Phuong unhappy with Pyle and not want to see him?

4. Who surprises Fowler by showing up during the march out of Phat Diem?

5. Why is the American Attache upset?

Short Essay Questions

1. When Fowler moves out with a patrol getting out of the area of Phat Diem, who comes in the middle of the night? Why had he come?

2. Tell of Alden Pyle's fascination with York Harding.

3. Why does it take Fowler three weeks to get back to Saigon?

4. What news does Bill Granger offer about the war in the North when the Economic Attache asks?

5. The morning after Pyle's murder, what is Phuong's concern?

6. What is the conflict between Fowler and Miss Hei?

7. What is the superstition in Vietnam about lovers who smoke opium?

8. What is it about Pyle that Fowler cannot put into his cable to his newspaper?

9. What signifies a difference in dress between the South and the North of Vietnam?

10. What language does Pyle use that Fowler sees as boyish and naive?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The beginning of what we call the Vietnam war was an effort on the part of Vietnamese Communists to overthrow French colonialism. Write a paper on your opinion about the Americans becoming involved after the French pulled out. The implication of Pyle's trying to set up a Third Force hints at a premeditated plan on the part of America to be ready to step in when the French pull out. Do you think that is what happened?

Essay Topic 2

Write a paper expressing what you believe Vigot actually knew about Pyle's death and Fowler's involvement in it. Analyze the questions Vigot keeps on asking Fowler and how Fowler has to give his answers carefully so as not to implicate himself. Vigot's persistence indicates that he knows what Fowler did, does not even wish to prosecute Fowler, but simply wants to satisfy his curiosity. Does it seem, though, that Vigot expects Fowler to protect himself?

Essay Topic 3

Write a paper on your opinion of sacrificing the few for the good of the many. This is one of the hard questions about war in general especially as it has evolved over the years. It is no longer something that takes place on a specified battle field where the only casualties are the combatants. A bomb dropped on an enemy hideout will also destroy many innocent lives. On a personal level, the question is often raised about whether one would save one life if it meant that five others would die; or would one sacrifice that one life to save the other five? It seems that such a moral judgment is not applicable to the impersonal war machine. What is your opinion?

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