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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. What is Jimmy Cross's last request to Tim at the end chapter 2?

2. Where do the men camp in the chapter titled "Church?"

3. What happened in October to change things for Dave Jensen and Lee Strunk?

4. What object is Mitchell Sanders described with each time he is talking?

5. What does Dave Jensen borrow?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who was Elroy Berdahl and what is his significance to the narrator?

2. Why do you think Martha never married?

3. What would you guess happened during the war that Jimmy asked Tim to leave out of his book?

4. How would you describe Martha's "separate-but-together quality" her and Lieutenant Cross share? What does she send to represent this quality?

5. How were Lieutenant Cross's tears misinterpreted after the death of Ted Lavender?

6. How did Tim see Curt Lemon's personality?

7. What happens to make the platoon believe in the good luck provided by the pantyhose?

8. Give examples of how the men dealt with death.

9. What is Henry's reaction to his girlfriend dumping him?

10. How does Lieutenant Cross resolve his responsibility in Ted Lavender's death?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

If you were Tim writing a letter to his daughter Kathleen, either at her age now or the age she is in the book, what would be the most important aspects of your experiences in the war that you would want to share with her and teach her about the world?

Essay Topic 2

The concept of truth is challenged repeatedly in "The Things They Carried." Men tell embellished stories, exaggerate their own lives, and even the narrator casts doubt as to the honesty of the stories contained within the novel. What are your thoughts about the truth of "The Things They Carried" and why? Are there places you feel the accounting is accurate, and other places where the story has been stretched and skewed? What textual evidence leads you to these conclusions?

Essay Topic 3

Explain Lieutenant Cross's responsibility or perceived responsibility in the various deaths of his men. How does he react to each one? Do his actions live up to his words and thoughts of improvement as a leader?

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