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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 words does Paul Berlin state to himself without emotion as he watches Chapter 11's air-strike?

2. What does Third Squad discover in the mountains as they clear bodies in Chapter 27?

3. Where does Paul Berlin decide he will take a flat when he moves to Paris after the war?

4. In Chapter 8, who is supposed to relieve Paul Berlin of his post?

5. What does Paul Berlin's host in Chapter 27 tell him he does not have?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Paul Berlin succeed in keeping Sarkin Aung Wan with Third Squad?

2. What difficulty arises when Lieutenant Corson tries to leave Li Van Hgoc's tunnel in Chapter 15?

3. Why does Third Squad need to leave Delhi in Chapter 26?

4. Describe some ways that the men of the Paul Berlin's platoon organize themselves.

5. What is the result of Chapter 3's vote?

6. What does Paul Berlin hope regarding Cacciato?

7. Why does Paul Berlin feel guilty for Frenchie Tucker and Bernie Lynn's deaths?

8. How do two men from Third Squad die in Chapter 9?

9. What news does Doc Peret deliver to Lieutenant Corson at the beginning of the novel?

10. What finally prods Third Squad to consider killing Sidney Martin?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Paul Berlin is clearly a surrogate for Tim O'Brien in Going After Cacciato, developing the narrative as it is happening. Write an essay analyzing the storyteller role of Paul Berlin in the novel. How is Berlin's greatest weakness his tendency to self-mythologize? Is the central narrative of the novel, in fact, a massive self-delusion? In the end, is the creation of this delusion something beautiful, alarming, or both?

Essay Topic 2

Write an essay about the character of Sarkin Aung Wan. How does she first appear to the reader in the narrative, and what are her origins as a fictitious creation? Why does Paul Berlin feel the need to add her to his war story? What purpose does she serve in his life? Analyze their final debate determine her function in Paul Berlin's delusion.

Essay Topic 3

In the character of Li Van Hgoc, O'Brien has created a complex portrait of the enemy for Third Squad to encounter, both a victim and perpetrator of Viet Cong cruelty.

Write an essay analyzing Li Van Hgoc and what O'Brien is saying about the nature of oppressive governance. How is Li Van Hgoc a threat to the safety of Third Squad, and why is he so kind and forthcoming? How does his faith illustrate the collective fate of the Vietnamese people in this cruel war?

(see the answer keys)

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