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. How does the sister respond to Rat Kiley's letter?

2. What changed in late August between Lee Strunk and Dave Jensen?

3. What is Dave Jensen's decision with regard to the pact he made with Lee Strunk?

4. After his first episode with the dentist, what did Curt Lemon do?

5. In what year was the college reunion where Jimmy Cross reunited with Martha?

Short Essay Questions

1. Give a description of boredom as used in the novel.

2. What caused Henry Dobbins to rule out a career as a minister?

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

4. What puts the death pact to the test? Be specific.

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

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

7. Why does Rat Kiley write a letter to Curt Lemon's sister, and what does the letter contain?

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

9. Who did you think was the victim as you read the chapter, and who did you think was the victim once you finished it? Why?

10. What are Henry Dobbins' tentative plans for after the war?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Although the book is labeled "a work of fiction," it reads very similar to a memoir- a recollection of events and people from the author's past. Explain any indications that Tim O'Brien may not be a trustworthy narrator. Where in the text are there signs he is leaving something out, or passages where the reader should second-guess his account? Are there particular passages where a reader may be more likely to believe O'Brien's narrative? Use no less than three specific areas of text to evaluate Tim O'Brien as a reliable or unreliable narrator.

Essay Topic 2

The full stories of the men of Alpha Company in "The Things They Carried" are divided amongst the chapters. As the reader progresses, more details of events are given, and multiple points of view of identical events are written. Choose one main character from the company, and give a full accounting of the character's war experience. How can a reader identify with this character's experience, and what part of the man's story is the hardest for the reader to bear? What was the intent of the author when he divided up the character's story? Was there foreshadowing, irony, or any other literary element employed in the character's war experience?

Essay Topic 3

The chapter titled "How to Tell a True War Story," gives very specific advice on what constitutes a war story and how lessons or morals should be pulled from a war story by the listener. Using the principles in this chapter given by the author, analyze any of the war stories told in another chapter of the book "The Things They Carried." Be sure to identify the main components of the war story, and how the war story complies or deviates from the principles in the chapter "How to Tell a True War Story."

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,240 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample