View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is usually associated with the excitement of fighting in the infantry and on the battlefield?

2. Fussell shows that some words, such as trench coat, stemmed from _____.

3. What does the speaker at an elegy become aware of?

4. In most war literature, men who were portrayed as homosexual had what type of hair?

5. Fussell mentions that some people thought that a certain language was not adequate enough to deal with war. Which language is it?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe Robert Graves military life in his book, Goodbye to All That.

2. What are the two reasons Fussell believes the British soldiers have a flair for theatrics?

3. How can homosexuality be seen as a problem as a soldier?

4. In relation to love, explain the soldier's world in the battlefield?

5. In Anthony Burgess' book The Wanting Seed, the main character is Tristram Fox, who is in the military and decides the war is a farce and a fake. What happens when Tristram serves on the front line?

6. How was there a debate on whether the English language was not adequate to deal with war?

7. Give some examples of how writers associate the military with theater?

8. What is Edmund Blunden's "Undertones of War" about?

9. How have gardens always been an important factor in English literature and the word pastoral applies to war literature?

10. How are elegies based on the pastoral?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Part 1) Trenches played a big part of the war. Where were they located? Why were they located here? How many miles of trenches were there?

Part 2) Describe life in the trenches. Were they comfortable to live in? How many soldiers actually stayed in the trenches? What did soldiers do in the trenches when they were not in battle? Were the trenches beneficial in battle or did they hurt armies in battle? Give reasons to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

"There were many rumors and myths surrounding the number three." Why were there many rumors and myths surrounding the number three? How does the number three occur in the methodology of the war? How did the military use of the number three feed many myths within literature? Give examples from Fussell's work.

Essay Topic 3

Fussell writes about the dichotomy between soldiers and officers in the military. Does this dichotomy cause tension between the officers and soldiers? List any works and authors who speak of this dichotomy and what they say about the dichotomy.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 877 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample