Exam. Fallen Angels

English 11
Exam: Fallen Angels
Answer all questions thoroughly on your own piece of paper.

Part 1) In 2 or 3 sentences, identify and explain the significance of the following items, or, if a quote, identify the speaker, the context and the significance:
• Judy Duncan
• “first time in my life I got what everybody else got”
• Jenkins
• Sgt. Simpson
• VC
• ARVN
• “you pay to see unnatural things look almost natural”
• Capt. Stewart and the body count.
• “You know in the movies when the bad guy rides into town? . . . That’s us”
• Peewee’s hair growth salve
• Kenny
• Lobel’s dad
• New Sgt. Dongan puts Peewee up front and Johnson in rear?
• The spider hole
• “three of us wrapped around each other”

Part 2) Write a short paragraph in answer to the following questions; make sure you support your assertions with evidence from the text; use proper parenthetical citations.

Citation example: Judy Duncan’s answer to the question: “Where are you from?” demonstrates how a speaker (or storyteller) might make an effort to adjust her delivery of information to best meet the understanding of the listener. She is from Irving, but she tells most people that she’s from Dallas (4).

A) Describe Lobel. He seems to have quite a bit to say to Perry in the novel. With what does Lobel seem to be obsessed? How does he see the war? Is he sincere? Why did he sign up? Why do you think the writer created this character? What larger thematic purpose is developed by means of this character?
B) Choose two or more different passages in which Perry writes (or tries to write) a letter and compare the passages. To whom is he writing? What does he want to communicate? If he hesitates or struggles to write, why is this so? What larger purpose might these passages serve? (extra: How could these scenes be interpreted as metanarrative?)
C) Choose two or more passages in which Perry questions his role in Vietnam or his identity or what he would decide in terms of his ‘reason for being’ in Vietnam. Compare these passages. Why does Perry struggle with this? Is he a good guy or a bad guy? Why does he even think in these terms? What does he decide upon late in the novel? Does it make any real difference what he decides? Explain.