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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 drink did American troops generally prefer?

2. According to the author, rumors are best described as fulfilling what role?

3. According to one rumor, what substance was added to food served to servicemen?

4. Which of the following does the author not list as a cause of the increasing lack of individuality with which solders were treated?

5. The presentation of the war by state and public media is best described as which of the following?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. According to the author, why does the human mind crave narrative order?

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

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

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

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

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

8. What problems did the doctrine of precision bombing face?

9. What qualities epitomized the American forces prior to their entry into WWII?

10. Describe one stereotype that American troops believed about soldiers from an allied nation.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Americans placed great stock in their new lines of heavy bombers, which were predicted to be able to win the war quickly and easily, but the reality proved very different.

1) Explain why Americans put so much faith and hope in the doctrine of precision bombing.

2) Explain the doctrine of precision bombing and how it was expected to end the war.

3) Discuss the difficulties in implementing a campaign of precision bombing, and how American strategy changed as a result.

Essay Topic 2

The reading experience of citizens and soldiers alike during the war was bland and uniform. In the media and even in other mediums such as fiction, poetry, and films, there was a tendency towards homogenization that became mind-numbing to many.

1) Discuss the general reading experience of soldiers and citizens during World War II. Explain some of the problems in the publishing industry from an entertainment perspective.

2) Describe the common American soldiers interest in reading and how, why, and when this distraction became common in the ranks.

3) Explain some of the changes in the publishing market that were brought about by the war.

Essay Topic 3

Soldiers during the second World War had their self images systematically degraded and held in constant contempt.

1) Explain the concept of self-image and how it applies to the typical young American of the 1940s.

2) Discuss why it was necessary to destroy a soldier's self-image in order to cause that person to integrate well with the large machinery of the army of World War II.

3) Describe some of the effects that the aggressive campaign to destroy and degrade self-image had on common soldiers.

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