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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. In the iconic pre-war image discussed in Chapter 1, the soldiers are best described as being which of the following?

2. One rumor suggested that German sympathizers used what animal to convey intelligence to the enemy?

3. Throughout Chapter 6, the author describes enlisted men as being which of the following?

4. The author suggests that in warfare, blunders are how common?

5. According to the rumor about servicemen's food, why was a certain substance added to their food?

Short Essay Questions

1. What types of hazing were most common?

2. According to the author, why does the human mind crave narrative order?

3. What problems did American arms and armaments suffer from in the early parts of WWII?

4. According to the author, what is the result on the battlefield of the relatively young age of soldiers and the violence of warfare?

5. What are recognition errors, and how are they caused?

6. What does the term "chickenshit" mean?

7. What beliefs do younger soldiers typically have that older soldiers do not?

8. What was the doctrine of precision bombing?

9. How did contemporaneous war histories depict military blunders?

10. What were talismans?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The reading experience of citizens and soldiers alike during the war was bland and uniform. In the media and even in other mediums such as fiction, poetry, and films, there was a tendency towards homogenization that became mind-numbing to many.

1) Discuss the general reading experience of soldiers and citizens during World War II. Explain some of the problems in the publishing industry from an entertainment perspective.

2) Describe the common American soldiers interest in reading and how, why, and when this distraction became common in the ranks.

3) Explain some of the changes in the publishing market that were brought about by the war.

Essay Topic 2

The organization and doctrine behind America's army was woefully out of date when it entered World War II, and dramatic changes were necessary to prepare it to fight the axis war machine.

1) Describe America's army before its entrance into the war.

2) Explain the duties that the American army was prepared for and how it expected to fight and win battles.

3) Discuss the realities of the demands placed on the army during the second World War.

4) Explain how the US army adapted and rose to the challenge.

Essay Topic 3

During the war, advertisers took advantage of the prevailing patriotic spirit to help sell their products.

1) Discuss how and why advertisers were able to take advantage of the war.

2) Explain why consumers were particularly susceptible to encouragements to support the war effort. What did the "one voice" movement have to do with this phenomenon?

3) Assess how acceptable the practices that advertisers used during this time were. Did these campaigns constitute war profiteering, or were they valid business models? Use information from the book to support your opinion.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 750 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample