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LLT 180 - Heroes at War
Study Guide
Homer
LLT
180 – Study Guide – Homer
Know the
following characters (who and what they do)
Human –
Agamemnon (Atreides), Achilles, Calchas, Menelaus, Nestor, Odysseus, Diomedes,
Ajax (the Greater, son of Telemon), Chryseis, Briseis, Thersites, Patroclus,
Hector, Andromache, Priam, Hecuba, Paris, Helen, Aeneas, Helenus
Divine – Athena, Zeus, Hera, Apollo,
Poseidon, Hephaestus, Ares, Aphrodite, Artemis, River Scamander
Topics to Mull
Over (be ready to write on)
- Qualities and leadership of Agamemnon (actions by
which they are shown)
- Qualities and leadership of Achilles (actions…)
- Qualities and leadership of Hector (actions…)
- What skills in a soldier are most admired by Greeks
and Trojans?
- What skills in a king/chief are most useful to
Greeks or Trojans?
- What actions are considered shameful by Greeks or
Trojans?
- Why does Homer call Achilles the ‘best of the
Achaeans”?
- Why is Achilles so important to the Achaean troops?
- How is this war different from modern infantry
fighting? How, the same?
- Which, if any, of the ‘heroes’ of the Iliad
would you want to be like? Why?
- What purposes does the ‘display of forces’ in Book
2 serve?
- What handicap(s) do the Trojans have in this war?
What advantages?
- How is Hector’s situation/position/duty different
from Achilles? How the same?
- Are there international ‘rules’ to this war? (i.e.
any conventions that both sides recognize and can be counted to agree upon)
- Are there common values between the Greeks and
Trojans?
- Perceptions: How does the war sound? What does it
look like?
- How do the gods behave?
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LLT 180 – Study
Guide – Crane
Know the following characters (who they are; what they do):
Henry Fleming, Jim Conklin, Wilson, Jimmie Rogers, the lieutenant, the captain,
the colonel, the general.
Know Army ranks, enlisted and officer, in order and know
unit terminology (brigade, regiment, company).
Be prepared to ask questions of Professor Piston and
Sergeant Batson and any other class guests on Crane—and ready to comment and to
write upon the information that each guest shares.
Topics to ponder (and be ready to write on):
- What is Henry Fleming’s notion of a hero in war at the
start of his military experience?
- What does he view as
shameful behavior in war? What is his greatest fear going into combat?
- How similar or different are your views of war heroism
to Henry’s?
- What does combat in the Civil War look and sound
like? Do film recreations match Crane’s descriptions?
- What sort of leadership do the officers of Henry’s
unit provide?
- To whom does Henry, as a new private, look for
leadership?
- What is his first combat experience like in Chapter
5? What are his emotions at this point?
- What are Henry’s emotions in his second combat event
in Chapter 6?
- By Chapter 11, what is Henry’s picture of ‘the hero’?
- How does Henry get his wound in Chapter 12? How does
it change his outlook afterwards?
- What are the emotions of his experience in combat in
Chapter 17?
- What is your view of Henry as a soldier? Is he
heroic?
- What are the dominant emotions of combat as described
by Crane?
- How is combat in the Civil War different from combat
for the ancient Greeks? What values are different in 19th
century America? What values are the same?
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LLT 180.1 Study Guide – WWII
Know the basics of WWII action in the Pacific Theater and
on the Eastern Front in Europe,
particularly how
the battles of Guadalcanal and of Stalingrad fit into the overall scheme.
Be able to locate the Soloman Islands and Guadalcanal in
the Pacific and Stalingrad (Volgograd)
in southern Russia
on maps.
Be prepared to ask questions of Professor Trobisch on the
German army, especially
German’s Eastern
Front—and ready to write upon the information he shares.
Observe Japanese culture as evidenced in Lt. Inui's diary
vs. US view of Japanese in WWII
Observe combat conditions and military values of the
German army in the German
film of WWII
“Stalingrad”.
Topics to ponder:
- What are the values of the Japanese
army as reflected in Genjirou Inui’s diary? What behavior is given greatest
praise? What behavior is considered shameful?
- Mr. Inui’s introduction says that his
diary is full of ‘disadvantage, disgrace, and shortcomings.” What aspects
of his performance as an artillery officer is he referring to? Do you agree
with his assessment?
- What
did war on Guadalcanal look and sound like?
- What were the worst hardships for the
Japanese on Guadalcanal?
- How good was leadership in the Japanese
army? What sort of leadership did Lt. Inui’s superiors provide for him?
- What issues were uppermost in Lt.
Inui’s mind during his service, judging from his diary?
- What effect did the climate and terrain
of Guadalcanal have on the Japanese?
- What effect did the climate of Russia
have on German troops in WWII?
- What did German soldiers value? What
behavior is given praise? What behavior is considered shameful? Are there
common values between the enlisted men and their officers?
- Are the German and Japanese conceptions
of excellence, ‘heroics’, different from those portrayed by Homer or Crane?
- Do you share any values with Japanese
or German soldiers (as described by Inui and portrayed by the film
‘Stalingrad’)? Do you have quite different values?
- Do you find anyone, either in the
German film or in Mr. Inui’s diary, to be heroic in your own terms?
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Study
Guide – Korean War
Know the political context of the Korean War.
Be able to locate Korea on a map of Asia, and to locate the
cities of Pusan and Pyongyang on a map of the Korean peninsula.
Observe battle and civilian conditions in Korea as depicted in the Korean film
‘Tae Guk Gi’.
Be ready to ask Prof. Shin questions about his experience
in the Korean War – and ready to write upon the information he shares during our
videoconference, April10th.
Topics to Ponder (based on the book, film, and interview):
- What are the values of the Korean people and of the
ROK (Republic of Korea) Army during the Korean War?
- What values did Shin bring to the military, developed
by his culture and family?
- What issues were uppermost in Shin’s mind during his
service as he recollects it?
- What effect did the landscape and climate of Korea
have on troops?
- What are the special difficulties for a soldier
fighting in his own homeland as displayed by Shin?
- Does Shin recount any actions that you would call
heroic?
- Do you share any of Shin’s values, in or out of the
military?
- Are Korean conceptions of excellence, ‘heroics’,
different from those displayed by Homer, Crane, or Inui?
- What are the particular hardships of the Korean War
for Koreans?
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Study Guide –
Vietnam
Know the following people from McDonough’s book (who they
are; what they do): Phil Nail, Jim Barnes, John Killigan, James King, John
Hernandez, Nhan, Chong, Miss Ky, Larry O’Brien, Pete Spangler, Robert Palloman
Be able to find Vietnam on a map of Asia.
Be
ready to ask questions of Jack Hunter (and any other guest) and to write about
what you learn from him.
Be ready to answer questions on the video of McDonough.
Be ready to compare the French experience in Vietnam, as
shown by the film, “317th Platoon”, and to write on the values of
French soldiers in Vietnam.
Topics to Ponder (based on book, film, guests, video of
McDonough):
- Values that McDonough, as a junior officer in the
infantry and the Platoon Leader, emphasizes with himself and his men
- Values that McDonough has in common with other
Lieutenants that you have observed (Henry’s officer in ‘Red Badge’, Inui in
‘My Guadalcanal’, von Witzland in ‘Stalingrad’, the French Lt. in ‘317
Platoon’).
- Actions covered by the book, the film, or class guests
that you would consider ‘heroic’.
- Particular hardships of combat in Vietnam, especially
terrain and weather
- Relationships between western soldiers, American and
French, and Vietnamese
- American leadership qualities in Vietnam (McDonough’s
& Hunter’s)
- How well what you learn about Vietnam from class
sources matches your previous impressions of that war.
- How closely the values of McDonough and other Vietnam
veterans looked at match your own
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