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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. To what movie player of villains does Stink Harris compare the executed man?

2. What is the boy from Chapter 31's favorite type of gum?

3. How does Cacciato characterize the death of Sidney Martin in Chapter 36?

4. What did Billy Boy and the others do to pass the time on the afternoon he died?

5. What does Paul Berlin begin doing involuntarily as he lays awake in Chapter 31?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Buff's body look like when Cacciato finds it in Chapter 41?

2. How does Lieutenant Martin precipitate his own murder in Chapter 34?

3. How does Paul Berlin plan plan to cope with his fears in Chapter 31?

4. Describe the hypothetical conversation Paul Berlin imagines with the young girl in hoop earrings.

5. Describe Captain Rhallon.

6. Describe Sarkin Aung Wan and Paul Berlin's debate in Chapter 44.

7. What shift in power does Lieutenant Corson acknowledge as he speaks to Paul Berlin in Chapter 43?

8. How does Third Squad gain control of the VW van?

9. How does Third Squad escape execution in Chapter 36?

10. How does Third Squad determine happens to Buff's big gun?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Three times over the course of the Cacciato pursuit, Third Squad escapes certain death with little or no explanation as to how their salvation came about. Write an essay about these instances and what they say about the nature of the Cacciato war story:

Part 1) What does the Squad discover in the VC tunnels on the Vietnam-Laos border? How does this experience inform Paul Berlin's understanding of the enemy, and how - in the end - does Third Squad escape the tunnels? Where do they emerge?

Part 2) How does Third Squad nearly die in Tehran? What eventually saves them, and to what extent do these rescuing agents seem to appear out of Paul Berlin's mind?

Part 3) Which member of Third Squad disappears when the ocean-liner to Greece is suddenly searched? How do the remaining men manage to escape what seems like an inescapable situation?

Essay Topic 2

Midway through Going After Cacciato, Paul Berlin states that a fellow soldier's death can only be classified as a fact. Write an essay on the topic of death in the novel. Is there such a thing as a good death or a bad death in O'Brien's universe or is all death equally meaningless? Is there any difference in the way the author presents Bernie Lynn's death and the execution in Tehran? Is there any intimation from Berlin that there may be something after death?

Essay Topic 3

In the longer narrative of Going After Cacciato, Paul Berlin invents a number of figures that do not exist.

Write an essay about three of these figures. What function do they serve in the story? Do they stem from any real experience that Paul Berlin has? What do they say about the political or spiritual realities of the Vietnam War?

Part 1) Jolly Chand

Part 2) Captain Rhallon

Part 3) Sarkin Aung Wan

(see the answer keys)

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