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The Things They Carried

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The Things They Carried

Tim O’Brien

Quiz

1. What kind of gun does Henry Dobbins carry?

(A) M-60B

(B) M-14

(D) M-79

2. What is Jimmy Cross's rank?

(A) Private

(B) Colonel

(D) Medic

3. What sport did Martha play at Mount Sebastian College?

(A) Tennis

(B) Soccer

(D) Volleyball

4. Why does Ted Lavender take tranquilizers?

(A) His leg was blown off by a mine

(B) Dave Jensen broke his nose

(D) Someone sent them to him as a gift

5. How does Ted Lavender die?

(A) A grenade he's playing catch with explodes

(B) He is shot in the head

(D) He catches a disease swimming in a river

6. How do Jimmy Cross and Martha reunite?

(A) At a college reunion

(B) They never speak to one another again

(D) They serve as missionaries in several third- world countries

7. What is the average age of the Alpha Company members?

(A) 30–35

(B) 28–30

(D) 22–25

8. What is O'Brien's summer job before the war?

(A) He works on a political campaign

(B) He works at the Tip Top Lodge

(D) He works on a draft board

9. What is the outcome of the fight between Dave Jensen and Lee Strunk over Jensen's missing jackknife?

(A) Jensen breaks Strunk's nose

(B) Strunk blows Jensen's leg off

(D) Jimmy Cross breaks up the fight

10. What is the pact between Jensen and Strunk?

(A) They will play a trick on Azar when he is on night watch

(B) They will each try to kill a Vietnamese soldier

(D) Neither of them will say who really stole the jackknife

11. How is Curt Lemon killed?

(A) He is shot in the head

(B) He steps on a mine

(D) He plays catch with a grenade that goes off

12. What happens when Curt Lemon is called in to see the dentist?

(A) Lemon faints

(B) The dentist finds a cavity

(D) Lemon knocks out one of the dentist's teeth

13. Who flies his girlfriend to Vietnam?

(A) Tim O'Brien

(B) Mark Fossie

(D) Henry Dobbins

14. At the end of “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong,” what is Mary Anne Bell wearing?

(A) A flak jacket

(B) An army helmet

(D) A necklace of tongues

15. Who tells the story of “Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong”?

(A) Rat Kiley

(B) Tim O'Brien

(D) Mark Fossie

16. What item does Henry Dobbins wear around his neck?

(A) Dog tags

(B) Ammunition

(D) His girlfriend's pantyhose

17. How does O'Brien kill a Vietnamese soldier outside My Khe?

(A) He wrestles him to the ground and stabs him

(B) He shoots him point-blank

(D) He drowns him in a well

18. When the platoon burns a village and then finds a young girl dancing, who mocks her?

(A) Rat Kiley

(B) Norman Bowker

(D) Azar

19. What medal does Norman Bowker almost win?

(A) The Air Medal

(B) The Silver Star

(D) The Purple Heart

20. Where does Kiowa die?

(A) In a helicopter on its way to Japan

(B) In a pagoda that gets hit by a bomb

(D) On the way to My Khe

21. Who runs the Tip Top Lodge?

(A) Jimmy Cross

(B) Elroy Berdahl

(D) Tim O'Brien

22. What does a young soldier share with Kiowa the night before Kiowa's death?

(A) A picture of his girlfriend

(B) A joint

(D) His copy of the New Testament

23. When O'Brien returns to Vietnam more than twenty years after the war, whom does he bring with him?

(A) His wife

(B) Mary Anne Bell

(D) Norman Bowker

24. A few days after O'Brien arrives in Vietnam, who tells him to “introduce himself” to a corpse?

(A) Azar

(B) Dave Jensen

(D) Kiowa

25. Why did O'Brien's relationship with Linda end?

(A) She left him for another man

(B) He had to leave for Vietnam

(D) She died of a brain tumor

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The Things They Carried

The Vietnam War (1955-1975)

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