AnswersLanguage Arts 11 2014 - ELA3011 B-ICIndividualism, Modern Capitalism, and Dystopian Visions

Vietnam Literary Journalism Answers

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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?

A
because the author wrote about the Vietnam War, but he did not actually fight in it
B
because many people have forgotten the events that happened during the Vietnam War
C
because the Vietnam War was fought in an especially brutal and untraditional way
D
because many of the Vietnam War stories are believed to be untrue and exaggerated
2
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Which excerpt from A Rumor of War contains the best example of sensory language?

A
Having been among the first Americans to fight in Vietnam, I was also among the last to be evacuated, only a few hours before the North Vietnamese Army entered the capital.
B
America seemed omnipotent then: the country could still claim it had never lost a war, and we believed we were ordained to play cop to the Communists’ robber and spread our own political faith around the world.
C
The discovery that the men we had scorned as peasant guerrillas were, in fact, a lethal, determined enemy and the casualty lists that lengthened each week with nothing to show for the blood being spilled broke our early confidence.
D
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.
3

Which excerpt from Dispatches is an example of paradox?

A
And at night it was beautiful. Even the incoming was beautiful at night, beautiful and deeply dreadful.
B
One hit anywhere in the chopper would bring you back, bitten lips, white knuckles and all, and then you knew where you were.
C
At night you could lie out on some sandbags and watch the C-47’s mounted with Vulcans doing their work.
D
At night in Khe Sanh, waiting there, thinking about all of them (40,000, some said), thinking that they might really try it, could keep you up.
4

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

A
understands that he has a specific responsibility but is frightened to be a part of the war effort.
B
understands how important wars can be to a culture after he experiences one firsthand.
C
believes there are instances when violence is a necessary evil, despite its unpleasantness.
D
believes the reasons for fighting become muted over time and eventually all that matters is staying alive.
5

Which excerpt from A Rumor of War best illustrates Vietnam’s uncomfortable climate?

A
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.
B
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.
C
The tedium was occasionally relieved by a large-scale search-and-destroy operation, but the exhilaration of riding the lead helicopter into a landing zone was usually followed by more of the same hot walking, with the mud sucking at our boots and the sun thudding against our helmets while an invisible enemy shot at us from distant tree lines.
D
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.
6

Read the excerpt from A Rumor of War. The tedium was occasionally relieved by a large-scale search-and-destroy operation, but the exhilaration of riding the lead helicopter into a landing zone was usually followed by more of the same hot walking, with the mud sucking at our boots and the sun thudding against our helmets while an invisible enemy shot at us from distant tree lines. The paradox in the excerpt illustrates the idea that

A
danger could alleviate the monotony of war.
B
walking was often necessary after flying.
C
the soldiers could not see their enemies.
D
the heat was more difficult to overcome than the enemy.
7

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

A
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.
B
One hit anywhere in the chopper would bring you back, bitten lips, white knuckles and all, and then you knew where you were.
C
Nights were when the air and artillery strikes were heaviest because that was when we knew that the NVA was above ground and moving.
D
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.
8

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

A
awe and wonder.
B
confusion and disgust.
C
hope and strength.
D
surprise and excitement.
9

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

A
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.
B
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.
C
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.
D
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.
10

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

A
the soldiers’ feelings of fear.
B
the soldiers’ feelings of relief.
C
the chaos and frenzy of war.
D
the pain and anguish of war.

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