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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. Which New York-based journalist is quoted at the end of Chapter 6?
2. What is Dick Fontaine doing at the march in Chapter 1?
3. Which of the following is not a reason Mailer gives for a person's opposition to the War in Chapter 7?
4. In Chapter 3, what city does the Steering Committee meet in?
5. In Chapter 6, Mailer acknowledges that what was present on both sides of the line at the Pentagon?
Short Essay Questions
1. Why is the Vietnam War fought, according to Mailer in Chapter 7?
2. How does Mailer fair in court in Chapter 9?
3. Describe the mood of the crown in the beginning of Chapter 4.
4. What metaphor does Mailer draw to the Pentagon in Chapter 4?
5. Describe the more extreme voices in the march planning as discussed in Chapter 5.
6. What conclusion does Mailer draw from two articles at the end of Chapter 6?
7. What do the Fugs do at the Pentagon in Chapter 5?
8. What train of people following the the march in Chapter 4?
9. What do the MP's and the marchers have in common, according to Mailer in Chapter 6?
10. Describe the several movements the arrested marchers have to make in this section?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Norman Mailer, the author of Armies of the Night, takes on several roles throughout the novel. He is protagonist, author, and historian at the same time. Write an essay about the interchange amongst these three Mailers, divided into three parts:
Part 1) Norman Mailer is the protagonist of the novel, but the narrator's relationship to him is not as intimate as one might expect. Explore how the point of view of the novel makes the character of Mailer as much object as subject. What aspects of the character does the narrator go to great pains to dissect? How does the he function as protagonist to the first book?
Part 2) Discuss the role of Mailer as narrator in the first book of the novel. What does his narration reflect about the author's personality and his relative level of sobriety? Would you say that Mailer the author is a reliable narrator? How does he react both to the events of the march and the actions of Mailer the character?
Part 3) Focus on Mailer's narration in the second book on the novel. He characterizes himself as a historian in this section. How is Mailer the narrator different from both Mailer the author and Mailer the character? Is his narration more or less reliable than it was in Book I? In what way do the two narrators meet at the beginning of Book II?
Essay Topic 2
Write an essay about the use of stream-of-consciousness and free association in the narration of Armies of the Night. When are these modernist tools used most prevalently? To what extent do they appear when Mailer the character is swept up in some phenomenal experience? What does this style of narration say about Norman Mailer's state of mind? In the second half of the essay, discuss what Mailer most frequently associates toward. What does this say about his goals as an author in writing this novel?
Essay Topic 3
Write an essay about the consistent comparison of the marchers in the novel to a conventional army. Begin your discussion of this likening of two armies by focusing on Mailer's connection of the march to his tour of duty in World War II. What are the similarities he mentions? Where is the comparable glory and agony experienced by both groups? How do the marchers have to prove their courage and willingness to sacrifice for comrades? How does this affect the wording used in describing them?
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This section contains 1,105 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) |
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