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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 music group is playing at the Pentagon in Chapter 5?

2. To what ancient monument does Mailer compare the Pentagon in Chapter 4?

3. At the beginning of Chapter 4, how long has the crown been waiting to march?

4. How is Mailer certain the MP in Chapter 6 is not going to hit him?

5. What is Donald Kalish's profession?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What permits does the Mobilization Committee get in Chapter 4?

3. Why is the Vietnam War fought, according to Mailer in Chapter 7?

4. Describe the scene in Occaquan at the beginning of Chapter 6.

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

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

7. Describe Norman Mailer's arrest in Chapter 6?

8. In the detain room in Chapter 3, what strikes Mailer about the people around him?

9. Describe the more extreme voices in the march planning as discussed in Chapter 5.

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Near the end of the second book, Mailer enumerates the reasons why some people oppose the war in Vietnam. Write an essay about this logic, focusing on three of the groups he mentions. Do you think their reasoning in sound? What organizations and individuals represent this group in the narrative? Are there modern parallels to this group in today's society?

Part 1) Those who want Asia and, eventually, America to turn Communist.

Part 2) Those who are pacifists.

Part 3) Those who think the war is unjust.

Essay Topic 2

What is the role of notables like Lowell, Mailer, and Macdonald? Write an essay about the role of celebrity in the protest. Why does Mitch Goodman go about convincing Mailer to join the protest, knowing his personal feelings and tendency toward wild behavior? In the latter half of the essay, discuss how the notables actually fare in the March. What do they do to show support for those who face beatings and litigation?

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the protest culture that exists in the world of the novel. How does this culture affect the way famous people live their lives: in particular, how does the omnipresence of protest in America affect Mailer's decision to go to Washington, DC? How does the specter of the Martin Luther King, Jr. march on Washington hang over the events of the 1967 March in the novel? To what extent is the protest movement becoming somewhat rote in Armies of the Night?

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