Answers Hopkins FA American Literature 2026-2027Vietnam Literary Journalism

Vietnam Literary Journalism Answers

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Which excerpt from Dispatches contains sensory language to describe the geography of Vietnam?

There would be the muted rush of illumination rounds, fired from 60-mm. mortars inside the wire, dropping magnesium-brilliant above the NVA trenches for a few seconds, outlining the gaunt, flat spread of the mahogany trees, giving the landscape a ghastly clarity and dying out.

It was awesome, worse than anything the Lord had ever put down on Egypt, and at night, you’d hear the Marines talking, watching it, yelling, “Get some!” until they grew quiet and someone would say, “Spooky understands.” The nights were very beautiful.

Once in a while—I guess I saw it happen three or four times in all—there would be a secondary explosion, a direct hit on a supply of NVA ammunition. And at night it was beautiful. Even the incoming was beautiful at night, beautiful and deeply dreadful.

Nights were when the air and artillery strikes were heaviest because that was when we knew that the NVA was above ground and moving. At night you could lie out on some sandbags and watch the C-47’s mounted with Vulcans doing their work.

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Read the excerpt from Dispatches. The far side of the hills around the bowl of the base was glimmering, but you could never see the source of the light, and it had the look of a city at night approached from a great distance. Flares were dropping everywhere around the fringes of the perimeter, laying a dead white light on the high ground rising from the piedmont. There would be dozens of them at once sometimes, trailing an intense smoke, dropping white-hot sparks, and it seemed as though anything caught in their range would be made still, like figures in a game of living statues. There would be the muted rush of illumination rounds, fired from 60-mm. mortars inside the wire, dropping magnesium-brilliant above the NVA trenches.The sensory details in the excerpt evoke a sense of

awe and wonder.

confusion and disgust.

hope and strength.

surprise and excitement.

to demonstrate how bored the narrator felt while serving in Vietnam

to illustrate the hardships faced by soldiers who have fought in wars

to emphasize the difficulties faced by soldiers in untraditional warfare

to highlight the complexities of more traditional warfare and weaponry

Read the excerpt from A Rumor of War. Weeks of bottled-up tensions would be released in a few minutes of orgiastic violence, men screaming and shouting obscenities above the explosions of grenades and the rapid, rippling bursts of automatic rifles.In this excerpt, the author uses imagery to describe

the soldiers’ feelings of fear.

the soldiers’ feelings of relief.

the chaos and frenzy of war.

the pain and anguish of war.

Read the excerpt from A Rumor of War.Repeatedly, I have found myself wishing that I had been the veteran of a conventional war, with dramatic campaigns and historic battles for subject matter instead of a monotonous succession of ambushes and firefights. But there were no Normandies and Gettysburgs for us, no epic clashes that decided the fates of armies or nations. The war was mostly a matter of enduring weeks of expectant waiting and, at random intervals, of conducting vicious manhunts through jungles and swamps where snipers harassed us constantly and booby traps cut us down one by one.Based on the excerpt, why might the author have titled the book A Rumor of War?

because the author wrote about the Vietnam War, but he did not actually fight in it

because many people have forgotten the events that happened during the Vietnam War

because the Vietnam War was fought in an especially brutal and untraditional way

because many of the Vietnam War stories are believed to be untrue and exaggerated

Read the excerpt from A Rumor of War.By autumn, what had begun as an adventurous expedition had turned into an exhausting, indecisive war of attrition in which we fought for no cause other than our own survival.Based on the excerpt, the narrator

understands that he has a specific responsibility but is frightened to be a part of the war effort.

understands how important wars can be to a culture after he experiences one firsthand.

believes there are instances when violence is a necessary evil, despite its unpleasantness.

believes the reasons for fighting become muted over time and eventually all that matters is staying alive.

Which excerpt from Dispatches contains imagery that evokes a sense of helplessness and inevitability?

Sometimes you’d step from the bunker, all sense of time passing having left you, and find it dark out. The far side of the hills around the bowl of the base was glimmering, but you could never see the source of the light, and it had the look of a city at night approached from a great distance.

One hit anywhere in the chopper would bring you back, bitten lips, white knuckles and all, and then you knew where you were.

Nights were when the air and artillery strikes were heaviest because that was when we knew that the NVA was above ground and moving.

No wonder everyone became a luck freak, no wonder you could wake at four in the morning some mornings and know that tomorrow it would finally happen, you could stop worrying about it now and just lie there, sweating in the dampest chill you ever felt.

understands that he has a specific responsibility but is frightened to be a part of the war effort.

understands how important wars can be to a culture after he experiences one firsthand.

believes there are instances when violence is a necessary evil, despite its unpleasantness.

believes the reasons for fighting become muted over time and eventually all that matters is staying alive.

Read the excerpt from A Rumor of War. We left Vietnam peculiar creatures, with young shoulders that bore rather old heads.What is the author attempting to convey to the reader using sensory language?

Only old men were allowed to fight in the war.

Injuries caused veterans to age more quickly.

While their bodies were young, their minds were old.

Physical damage caused psychological damage.

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Vietnam Literary Journalism Answers

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