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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. Which of the following qualities of warfare does the author NOT suggest to be a contributing factor in military blunders?

2. What are the "Unread Books" to which Chapter 5's title alludes?

3. The author suggests that most people prefer to feel that their lives have what?

4. What factor does the author cite as being the most important in causing one force to misidentify another?

5. What is one reason given for why rumors were started?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did soldiers think about women most of the time?

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

3. What drinks were preferred by men from different nations in the war?

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

5. What types of rumors are sometimes believed by both sides?

6. What writer is a notable exception to the normal treatment of enlisted men, and how did he differ?

7. Why is purpose difficult to see or non-existent in war?

8. Why did many soldiers require an anodyne?

9. How and why did military and public authorities react to stereotyping of enemy forces?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the war, the media made a concerted effort to accentuating the positive aspects of stories about the war and to downplay, misrepresent, or ignore negative aspects. This gave Americans a sanitized vision of the war that was easier to continue to support than the real war.

1) Explain the policy of "accentuating the positive" in the media, and explain why it was adopted.

2) Discuss the types of stories that were likely to be reported by the mainstream state and public media and the impression of the war that these reports gave to the common citizen.

3) Describe some of the grizzly, unsettling, and unpleasant aspects of the war that were unlikely to be reported on. Discuss how these types of stories and details were handled.

4) Discuss the impact that the policy of "accentuating the positive" had on American soldiers.

Essay Topic 2

Many soldiers believed in Talismans.

1) Describe what a talisman is and why they concept was embraced by soldiers.

2) Discuss the types of objects that were used as talismans and why their origins caused them to be considered important.

3) Speculate as to how seriously most soldiers believed in the protective powers of the talismans.

4) Discuss the importance of the talismans as devices to comfort and reassure soldiers placed in brutal and violent conditions.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

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