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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 Grosman in Chapter 5, why do combatants choose the slash rather than thrust with edged weapons?

2. According to Grossman in Chapter 1, what is the primary duty of the leader of a Greek phalanx?

3. In terms of effective leadership, what disadvantage do mercenaries and gang leaders have?

4. In Chapter 7, what reason does Grossman give for the cultural separation between officers and enlisted men in the military?

5. At the end of Chapter 6, Grossman says that what can provide a sudden injection of fortitude into a unit of men?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did military predictions regarding civilian bombings and psychiatric casualties prove completely wrong in World War II?

2. According to Grossman in Chapter 4, how do soldiers deal with guilt and horror in combat?

3. As discussed in Chapter 3, what is the emotional advantage of hand grenades?

4. How is the dissuasive potential of familiarity discussed in Chapter 4?

5. How was the Roman centurion model more effective than the Greek phalanx, according to Grossman?

6. How does Grossman use his distance-guilt corollary to explain the oppression of the poor in Chapter 1?

7. Describe the Lost Battalion's experience behind lines.

8. What does Grossman reveal to be the most shocking element of crimes in the beginning of Chapter 5?

9. How did mechanical distance change the perception of war in the 1990's?

10. What is the silent conspiracy does Grossman discuss in Chapter 4?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Much of the last part of ON KILLING deals with comparing the way the military conditions soldiers and media conditions young people in America. Write an essay charting and analyzing this comparison. What are the means of traditional and conditioning in either arena? How do the authorities of the military training compare to those that young people in America listen to? What finer points does military training place on conditioning that the media in civilian life does not?

Essay Topic 2

At the beginning of ON KILLING, Dave Grossman pointedly lists his conservative opinions and prejudices, saying he wants to be clear with the reader as to his natural inclinations from the start. How does this affect ones reading of the policy discussion that follows? Do these prejudices seem to affect his domestic recommendations more than his military recommendations? How so? What ideology is he espousing in the latter sections of the book?

Essay Topic 3

Throughout the book, Grossman has argues that conditioning has been the key to increasing shooting rates in combat zones. It bypasses the conscious mind's inclination to avoid killing. Write a three-part essay analyzing the types of conditioning used in a military context:

Part 1) What is standard conditioning, and how is it connected to Pavlov's work with dogs? How does this type of conditioning manifest itself in military training? What specific defenses is it trying to overcome? What is its goal?

Part 2) What is operant conditioning, and how is it connected to Skinner's work with rats? To what extent is military operant training more subtly employed than traditional conditioning? How does this conditioning alter soldier behavior in chaotic combat?

Part 3) In military emulation of a role model, who is the standard soldier's role model? What does this role model represent to the soldier, and how does he wish to emulate him? What aspects of aggression and manhood does this affect?

(see the answer keys)

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