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. What was unique about the mission the men were given when Rat Kiley was injured?

2. How does the narrator find relief from his feelings about the war?

3. Other than Kathleen and Tim, who else watched him get into the river?

4. What landmark was Tim able to recognize in the field where Kiowa died, years later?

5. Which is NOT a way Norman Bowker attempts to return to normal life?

Short Essay Questions

1. Explain who feels blame for Kiowa's death.

2. What power do stories have for people dealing with death?

3. Who does Tim go on a trip with and where do they go?

4. Contrast the two times Tim was shot.

5. How does Tim react to Bobby Jorgenson's failings as a medic?

6. What does Tim invent about the man he killed?

7. How does Norman Bowker ultimately cope with returning home?

8. What happens to Tim after he kills the man in the path with a grenade?

9. How does Rat Kiley cope with the difficult mission of up all night, and sleeping during the day?

10. What is Norman's assessment of his valor and bravery?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Can you identify with Kathleen's struggle to understand the war? She asks in the chapter titled "Field Trip" why her father had to fight in the Vietnam War, and what made everyone mad at each other? Do you think wars are generally started over clear issues of disagreement? In either case, do you think that affects the ability of the war to have a resolution?

Essay Topic 2

Explain the moral you see in the story of Tim getting even with Bobby Jorgenson. How does the story handle the themes of revenge, forgiveness, and personal responsibility against the back drop of a war?

Essay Topic 3

"The Things They Carried: A Work of Fiction" is described as 22 short stories tied into a novel. Select a chapter from the novel and explain how the title relates to the story, and evaluate if the chapter could stand alone as a short story. Identify its weaknesses and strengths and how it fulfills or fails to satisfy the requirements of a story: beginning, middle and end.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,216 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample