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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. Who was in the cathedral when Bartle arrived in Chapter 3?

2. In Chapter 4, what did a runner bring from battalion headquarters?

3. After Bartle gets off the first plane in the United States in Chapter 5, where does he go first?

4. In Chapter 5, where did Bartle think that soldiers would go when they felt lonely amongst the celebrations for their return?

5. In Chapter 5, what did Bartle's mother drive to take him home from the airport?

Short Essay Questions

1. What conversations did the priest have with Bartle in Chapter 3?

2. What does Bartle say about memories in Chapter 3?

3. In Chapter 5, how did Bartle describe what he saw as he stared out the window after the plane came to the Atlantic Ocean?

4. What did Bartle notice in Chapter 5 when the plane from Germany flew over land?

5. At the end of Chapter 2, what did Sterling do to Bartle and why?

6. What did Bartle think about when he looked at the battalion scattered throughout the plane from Germany?

7. What happened when Sterling returned to base in Chapter 3?

8. In Chapter 5, what did the men on the plane from Germany do when they see the ocean?

9. How did Bartle remember Mrs. Murphy's appearance in Chapter 2?

10. In Chapter 1, who was Malik and what happened to him?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

On page 13, Bartle sees death as an affirmation of his life and the lives of the other soldiers. Why does he see death as an affirmation of his life and the lives of the other soldiers at that time? How does his view of death change throughout the course of the novel? What is his view of death at the novel’s conclusion?

Essay Topic 2

The novel takes place in various locations around the world. Where are some places where the novel takes place? How is the narrative affected by the settings? How is this particularly true by the setting at the end of the novel?

Essay Topic 3

Bartle does not feel at home when he returns to his mother’s house in Virginia. What does Bartle’s homecoming reveal about home as a place or a state of mind? What is home at that point in the novel for Bartle?

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