The Sorrow of War: A Novel of North Vietnam

Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

PAGES 1-76

Reading Check

1. As the novel opens, where is Kien? What is the name of the team that he is working with?

2. What does the battalion yell before dying by suicide?

3. Why is Kien’s entire platoon “wiped out”?

4. What is the activity Kien and the rest of the platoon did to pass the time?

5. What does the pantomime that Kien sees many years later remind him of from the war?

6. According to Kien, how many years have been “lost because of the war”? (Pages 1-44)

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What circumstances do the 27th battalion face at the opening of the novel? How does this event shape the memories of this specific location?

2. What is Kien’s name after recruitment? How does this name reflect the general environment?

3. Why does Can approach Kien? How does Kien respond to the conversation? Summarize the result of their meeting.

4. In what secret rendezvous do the soldiers in the platoon engage? How does Kien react to the situation and what happens in the end?

5.