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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 Mailer begin working on in Occaquan in Chapter 7?

2. What word does Mailer use to describe supporters of the ear in Chapter 7?

3. What reason does the judge give for giving Mailer a stiffer sentence in Chapter 9?

4. Which of the following is not an area that the attorney of Chapter 4 gets permission for protest activity?

5. Which of the following titles is not one that Mailer the narrator gives himself, Lowell, and Macdonald in Chapter 4?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the mood of the crown in the beginning of Chapter 4.

2. How is the crowd becoming unruly in Chapter 4?

3. How does Dick Fontaine figure into the events of this section?

4. What reasons does Mailer list in Chapter 7 for people to be against the war?

5. What conclusion does Mailer draw from two articles at the end of Chapter 6?

6. How does Mailer determine it is time to get arrested at the end of Chapter 5?

7. What do the MP's and the marchers have in common, according to Mailer in Chapter 6?

8. How does Dellinger go about planning the march in Chapters 2 and 3?

9. What bad news greets Mailer when he returns to New York in Chapter 11?

10. What comic episode happens when Mailer is getting changed for his arraignment in Chapter 8?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Norman Mailer, throughout the novel, refers to himself and the other writers and organizers of the march as notables, indicating that they will get preferential treatment from authorities. Mailer makes clear in Armies of the Night that the notables have less at stake than the younger, less famous participants. Write an essay about the difference in consequences faced by the notables and the younger marchers, focusing on two groups. What pain does each group face? Why are the notables excepted from this risk? How do the younger groups face this danger with stoic resolve over the course of the novel?

Part 1) The young men who have turned over their draft cards.

Part 2) The marchers who remain camped in the Pentagon lot on Saturday evening.

Essay Topic 2

A good portion of the opening passages of Armies of the Night are as much about the niceties and snipes of the literary class in 1960's America as the protest culture of the same. Write an essay about Mailer's place and opinions in the world of prolific writers in the novel, focusing on three instances:

Part 1) Why does Mailer agree to come to the Pentagon march in Washington, DC? Discuss how this decision is more connected to his literary position in New York than his opinions on the Vietnam War? What does Mailer want to achieve through his involvement in the protest?

Part 2) Discuss the party held the first evening Mailer is in Washington, DC. What decisions does he make about the way that he treats the hostess? What is the reason for the awkward encounter Mailer has with Dwight Macdonald?

Part 3) Mailer enters the Ambassador presentation like a wrecking ball, attempting to destroy everyone around him. Discuss his reasons for doing this. What does he resent about those on the stage? How does Mailer want to be perceived by the audience? How does the popular reaction to his antics temper his behavior for the remainder of the weekend?

Essay Topic 3

Mailer the narrator and historian makes a point of arguing that both the MP's and the marchers are saddened by the violence evoked by the protest. Write an essay analyzing the way Mailer dramatizes the events, giving even-handed account of both sides of the police line. What examples does he give of sensitive and professional MP's? How does he explain the logic behind their brutality and their shame at having committed it? Conversely, how is the violence legally unjustified? How does it result in terror and wild paranoia among the marchers? Is that its intent?

(see the answer keys)

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