View a FREE sample

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 is not an area that the attorney of Chapter 4 gets permission for protest activity?

2. What sources are reviewed through much of Chapter 5?

3. Which of the following is not a reason Mailer gives for a person's opposition to the War in Chapter 7?

4. In Chapter 3, what city does the Steering Committee meet in?

5. Who arrives in in Chapter 4 as the protesters are forming ranks?

Short Essay Questions

1. What fracas does Mailer get into in Chapter 2?

2. What do the Fugs do at the Pentagon in Chapter 5?

3. What reasons does Mailer list in Chapter 7 for people to be against the war?

4. What comic episode happens when Mailer is getting changed for his arraignment in Chapter 8?

5. How does Mailer fair in court in Chapter 9?

6. Describe Norman Mailer's arrest in Chapter 6?

7. Describe the more extreme voices in the march planning as discussed in Chapter 5.

8. How does Dick Fontaine figure into the events of this section?

9. Describe the scene in Occaquan at the beginning of Chapter 6.

10. What permits does the Mobilization Committee get in Chapter 4?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In the novel, New York and Washington, DC, are distinctly juxtaposed where one is a place of planning and thought and the other place of action of danger. Write an essay about the juxtaposition of these two cities. Which character best typifies the aesthetic of New York, in your opinion? Which character best typifies DC? What is the significance of the fact that many of the notables spend Saturday attempting to get back to New York for a society party? What does it mean that Mailer soon forgets about this goal?

Essay Topic 2

Norman Mailer, throughout the novel, refers to himself and the other writers and organizers of the march as notables, indicating that they will get preferential treatment from authorities. Mailer makes clear in Armies of the Night that the notables have less at stake than the younger, less famous participants. Write an essay about the difference in consequences faced by the notables and the younger marchers, focusing on two groups. What pain does each group face? Why are the notables excepted from this risk? How do the younger groups face this danger with stoic resolve over the course of the novel?

Part 1) The young men who have turned over their draft cards.

Part 2) The marchers who remain camped in the Pentagon lot on Saturday evening.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay about the use of stream-of-consciousness and free association in the narration of Armies of the Night. When are these modernist tools used most prevalently? To what extent do they appear when Mailer the character is swept up in some phenomenal experience? What does this style of narration say about Norman Mailer's state of mind? In the second half of the essay, discuss what Mailer most frequently associates toward. What does this say about his goals as an author in writing this novel?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,098 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample