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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 is Pyle's urgency to see Fowler?

2. What information does Fowler offer Pyle?

3. What does Fowler think is Pyle's obsession?

4. What does Phuong want to see?

5. What does the Attache put in the wire to Pyle's parents?

Short Essay Questions

1. What information does Phuong give Fowler?

2. What is so annoying about the letter from Pyle that is waiting for Fowler when he finally gets home?

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

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

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

6. Incredibly, what does Pyle ask Fowler to do?

7. What new complication is Fowler struggling with besides the possibility of losing to Pyle?

8. What does Fowler see when he goes to Phat Diem?

9. What is the strange scene when Phuong comes in while Pyle is still there?

10. What does Fowler take away from Pyle's apartment?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Granger typifies the concept of the ugly American. Write a paper explaining what that means and how Granger is a perfect example. To write this paper you must put yourself in the shoes of people from another culture. Americans abroad often adopt the attitude that because they enjoy so many freedoms at home, they should be treated deferentially abroad. Compare Granger's attitude toward not getting straight answers to Fowler's not even bothering to write a story he knows will not get past the censors.

Essay Topic 2

In Asian culture, younger siblings are expected to follow the wishes of their elders. Write a paper about Miss Hei's involvement in having Phuong move in with Pyle. Discuss how the question of Fowler's age was never a consideration. Miss Hei is acting as a matchmaker on behalf of her sister and her primary consideration is financial security. With what you know about Fowler and Pyle, all things being equal, is one better able to provide for Phuong than the other? Explain your answer in depth.

Essay Topic 3

Young idealistic men often think of war as something glamorous. Using the descriptions in the book, write a paper about the horrors of war. To do this, use the description of the massacre at Phat Diem, the bomb explosion in Saigon, the ignoble assassination of Pyle, and Trouin's description of the use of napalm. Pyle comes to Vietnam, ignores the advice and observations of men who have been there for years, and idolizes York Harding. Show how this makes him idealistic and sure that he is invulnerable.

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