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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. According to the author, before the outbreak of war, what did Americans expect their military performance to be like?

2. What nation does the author believe to have military training particularly suited to the comparison that he draws?

3. What drink were Royal Navy servicemen issued with?

4. What drink did American troops generally prefer?

5. The airman discussed in one example of military blunders, and who was killed by English soldiers, belonged to what allied nation?

Short Essay Questions

1. What problems did American arms and armaments suffer from in the early parts of WWII?

2. What are the causes of the facelessness with with soldiers were treated in the second World War?

3. What does the term "chickenshit" mean?

4. Why did many soldiers require an anodyne?

5. What types of hazing were most common?

6. What sort of information is regularly denied to the common soldier?

7. What did Americans expect their participation in WWII to be like?

8. What was the doctrine of precision bombing?

9. How was military jargon and vocabulary used to demean enlisted men?

10. Once they were in the war, how did Americans believe they could win it?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the second World War, soldiers faced constant hazing from their officers. Although largely successful in helping to establish and maintain discipline, these measures were always demeaning, and sometimes dangerous.

1) Explain the unofficial policy of hazing in the US military during World War II.

2) Discuss why this policy was used, and what the army expected to gain through it.

3) Describe some of the unintended side-effects of hazing on the enlisted men.

Essay Topic 2

Military training was intended to create capable and obedient soldiers. The extreme demands of World War II required military training to be short and intense.

1) Explain the purpose of military training.

2) Describe, according to military thinking of the time, the ideal soldier after he has just completed training.

3) Explain how some of the difficulties of WWII affected military training.

4) Discuss the similarities between military training and public school systems of the 1940s and explain why this similarity existed.

Essay Topic 3

During the war, advertisers took advantage of the prevailing patriotic spirit to help sell their products.

1) Discuss how and why advertisers were able to take advantage of the war.

2) Explain why consumers were particularly susceptible to encouragements to support the war effort. What did the "one voice" movement have to do with this phenomenon?

3) Assess how acceptable the practices that advertisers used during this time were. Did these campaigns constitute war profiteering, or were they valid business models? Use information from the book to support your opinion.

(see the answer keys)

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