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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 were these trenches called?

2. The writer George Sherston uses the sky to describe _____.

3. What is the title of the second part of the trilogy?

4. What month and year did America enter World War I?

5. Imaginations of the mind are displayed by Fussell through what type of literature?

Short Essay Questions

1. What was the difference between British commanders General Sir George Plumer and Sir Douglas Haig?

2. How is the literature presented to illustrate the dichotomy between the officers and the soldiers?

3. Describe the traditional ritual meaning of dawn and its association with the Great War.

4. Fussell shows an example of a soldier from a book by Stuart Cloete. In Cloete's book, How Young They Died, how does the soldier view time?

5. Rumors of most wars concern deserters. What do these rumors say?

6. What was the paradox for many soldiers fighting in World War II?

7. What was wrong with the British commander Sir Douglas Haig's war planning?

8. What three things happened in November 1918 when the Allies broke through the German lines with their counterattack?

9. Fussell uses a variety of works by Sigfried Sassoon that he discusses in the book. What is the title of the first volume of Sassoon's trilogy, and what is the first volume about?

10. Describe Haig's command at the Battle of Somme in March 1918?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The British came into the Great War not having been in a war in about one hundred years. As a result, the British came into battle with assumptions. What assumptions did the British bring into the war? Were they valid assumptions? Why or why not? Did these assumptions help or hinder the British in the war? Give examples to support your answer. If the British enter another war, would it be smart to bring assumptions about previous war experiences into battle with them? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

Explain how Fussell describes homosexuals as portrayed in literature. Include references to the specific authors and works Fussell mentions, and explain how this all connects to wartime.

Essay Topic 3

Analyze what is meant by people feeling they have a duty toward the war. Why should people have this feeling? Is this a patriotic duty to always have or should we only have this feeling at wartime? In your writing, talk about Wilfred Owen's and Thomas Pynchon's writings, specifically, Gravity's Rainbow.

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