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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. Where does Kien find Phuong after the attack on the train?

2. What do Kien and his platoon realize when they visit the South Vietnamese farm?

3. Where did Kien meet Phuong?

4. How are Kien and Phuong separated the very next day?

5. What does Phuong finally say to Kien?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is the letter that Kien receives important?

2. At what bar does Kien meet the young prostitute and other ex-soldiers from the war?

3. What musical instrument did Phuong play as a child, which indicates to Kien that she is a troubled soul?

4. Why is Kien ridiculed by his fellows in the post war period?

5. How many times does Phuong's memories come back to Kien during the war?

6. Why is the image of the storm symbolic for Kien?

7. Why was it lucky that Phuong and Kien missed the train just as war started?

8. Why does Kien almost kill himself?

9. What is the significance of the tram driver who takes Kien home from the cafe?

10. Why is Kien taunted by the other soldiers in the abandoned school?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine the author's use of flashbacks in the story.

Essay Topic 2

One theme of the novel is survivor guilt. Discuss how this theme is presented in the story.

Essay Topic 3

What is the importance of the Narrator as a character at the end of 'The Sorrow of War'?

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