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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. Why is Darrow arguing with a Lieutenant in Chapter 4?

2. What worries Darrow about Helen the most?

3. What does Linh try to teach Darrow?

4. What does Linh tell Helen he will do when she leaves that morning?

5. What does Darrow give Helen the next morning?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Helen feel about her relationship with Darrow and how does Darrow feel about it?

2. How did Linh end up working for Sam Darrow?

3. How does Linh feel when he sees a picture of Helen and Darrow and why does he feel that way? What does he think about the picture?

4. What have Helen and Linh been doing for three years and why?

5. What was Linh's life like before he was drafted into the army?

6. Why did Helen's brother go to Vietnam?

7. What happens when Helen and Linh board a medical helicopter?

8. What is Helen's first assignment from Gary?

9. How does Linh end up working for the North?

10. Who does Helen meet in the Special Forces and what does she learn from him and what happens to him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Lotus Eaters belongs to the historical fiction genre. Discuss the following:

1. Define the literary term "genre" and give several examples of three other genres in addition to the historical fiction genre.

2. Discuss two reasons why it might be useful to label a text by genre and two reasons it might be disadvantageous to label a text by genre.

3. What do you think is the difference between a historical fiction and a mystery?

Essay Topic 2

Helen gets her first real taste of being out in the field. Darrow seems to have no choice but to take Helen under his wing. The reader gets the impression that the main reason Helen wanted to go to Vietnam was to follow in her brother Michael's footsteps. Helen is told, none too gently, that she does not belong in Vietnam or in war time under any circumstances, and certainly not as a combat photographer. Helen is on the verge of fleeing the country many times but there is always something that makes her want to stay. For a while, that thing is Darrow. Helen and Darrow fall into an easy affair. Darrow, much older, is someone that Helen looks up to, someone that can train her. Darrow makes it clear that he is a married man and has no future with Helen. At first Helen is devastated but then realizes that perhaps it is best. Helen does not permit herself to miss Darrow while he is away.

1. Discuss the reasons you think Darrow has become Helen's mentor and whether you think he is a good mentor to her. Use examples from your own life and the book to support your reasoning.

2. Discuss what you think might have been Helen's relationship with her father and brother if she feels compelled to go to Vietnam because of what they did with their lives. Use examples from your own life and the book to support your reasoning.

3. Discuss what you think of Darrow's character in light of taking a much younger woman to mentor and then having an affair with her even though he is a married man. Use examples from your own life and the book to support your reasoning.

Essay Topic 3

Oftentimes, a book has more of a character-driven plot rather than action driven, and oftentimes the other way. Some books seem to balance the two. Discuss the following:

1. What do you think it means to say that a plot is character driven? Action driven?

2. How do you think a plot differs if it is character driven versus action driven?

3. Which type of plot do you find more interesting? Why?

4. Do you think it is possible to have a plot where action and character development share equal time? Why or why not.

5. What type of plot do you think The Lotus Eaters is? Explain your response.

(see the answer keys)

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