English Exam Questions- 2nd quarter
On page 7, Hillenbrand writes, "When history carried him into war, this resilient optimism would define him." How is Louie resilient and optimistic? What does it mean to "define him"? Use the strongest evidence from the book to support your answer.
He never stops for something he wants he always continues to try no matter what limits he is pushing, and while pushing these limits he never doubts that he can't do it. Making him both resilient and optimistic. By defining it means these two traits of his would help show who he was as a person for his whole life. An example of these traits is when the Bird gives Louie a six foot long wooden beam he most hold it above his head and if he began to drop it the guard could shoot him, the Bird sat and watched sure he would fail, however Louie would not let it fall he couldn't let the Bird win, " He will not break me.".
Chapter 16- What was the leviathan that Louie spots in this chapter? What does it do? What happens to Mac in this chapter?
He spotted a great white shark. It circled around the raft, drenching it with water each time. In this chapter Mac finally seems to fade for good, nothing is reviving him and he doesn't seem to want to live. Mac asks Louie if he is going to die, Louie couldn't lie so he said yes, that night he died.
Use details from the text to describe Louie's character in pages 3-6. What aspects of his character that you have read about so far may help him survive his situation described in the preface?
He was a trouble maker as a child and some of those traits carried on into adulthood but in war, his ability to steal helped him survive as well as his talent of defying authority which happened to work in his benefit during the war as it made him able to complete gutsy tasks to help him and his fellow POW survive and learn information that helped encourage them to remain optimistic and hopeful.
Definition of a literary allusion
A brief and indirect reference to a person, place, thing or idea of historical,cultural,literary or political significance. It doesn't describe in detail the person or thing to which it prefers.
Chapter 18- Reread the last paragraph on page 188 through to the page break on page 189. According to Hillenbrand, dignity was the one thing that kept Louie and Phil going and it was also the one thing the guards sought to destroy. What is dignity? According to the text, what makes dignity so powerful?
Dignity is self-respect and a sense of self-worth, the innermost armament of the soul, that lies at the heart of humanness. It is powerful because without dignity identity is erased, and in the war if you go without it you aren't defined by yourself you are defined by your captors and the circumstances in which you have to live.
Of the terms resiliency, optimism, generosity, and resourceful what is the quality most frequently displayed by Louie? How did this quality influence the outcome of the story? How might the story have been different if Louie did not have this quality? How did the other qualities impact the story? Use specific examples of quotes to support your ideas.
I believe he is seen as optimistic the most throughout the whole story in very different accounts, in the beginning he is optimistic that he will win races, then make it to the olympics, then its that he would survive the plane crash and make it back, then its that he will survive the camps, he wouldn't lose against the birds game, and finally when he returns home, even though it take awhile he believes he can have faith in God again and go back to his pre-war self as much as possible. An example is when Louie didn't let go of the wooden plank the Bird told him to hold unless he wanted to be shot, he held it for 30 minutes. Without this character strength he may not have made it through the war, because half of the battle is having hope and believing in yourself. Resiliency helped him get back up and keep trying in all his hard situations but I feel optimism was part of the root of this, also generosity was seen in war with his friends and it helped him develop bonds and after war when he attempted to make peace with the Bird which showed his improvement as a person from after the war to then.
Chapter 37- In this chapter, the author begins one paragraph, "No one could reach Louie, because he had never really come home." Explain this statement.
What this means is that his old self from before the war didn't come back home with him. Physically he was fine but mentally he wasn't. He physically came home but emotionally he didn't return.
Chapters 12-17- During Louie's ordeal of being lost at sea, Hillenbrand writes of several occasions in which he experiences the presence of God. What are these experiences like and how does he experience God in each of them?"
In both chapter he seems to be saved by someone unnamed or someone who isn't physically there- leaving us to believe its God, first he finds himself out of the wrecked plane underwater and he doesn't know how and second he wakes up on the bay of an island after a huge storm.
Chapter 19- On page 202, Hillenbrand uses an example from Frederick Douglass's autobiography. How does this allusion to an American slave help the reader understand Louie's experiences? Cite the strongest evidence from the text to support your thinking.
It helps show the point that many of the guards for the POW were uncomfortable with harming them, however other guards or military officials would order them to harm them and soon they would become more malicious, just as the woman did when he slave owner husband taught her to be cruel to them.
Epilogue- Louie had planned to come face-to-face with Wantanabe, "The Bird." Did that meeting ever take place? How do we know that Louie forgave The Bird?
Louie had wanted to reach out to the Bird and meet up with him, however the Bird didn't let that happen. We know that Louie forgives The Bird based off a letter he writes to him that he tells someone to deliver to him we don't know whether or not the Bird read it or agreed with the letter but we d know Louie's perspective.
In what ways are Louie and Phil treated differently by each group of Japanese they meet in the early days of their imprisonment? Why might that be? Cite the strongest evidence from the text to support your thinking.
Louie is treated as someone of more importance, they ask him more questions, and seem to need to keep him alive. This may be because he was an olympic runner so they think he has more power or they have an interest in being better than him due to his life before the war. For example, "the guards were fascinated to learn that the sick, emaciated man in the first barracks had once been an Olympic runner" The guards then proceed to bring in a Japanese runner to race him to watch louie fail, obviously he won't win due to his poor health.
Chapter 6-Hillenbrand titled this chapter, "The Flying Coffin." What were some characteristics of the plane that help to explain this nickname? Be specific.
The planes wheels had no steering, pilots had to man the yoke with their left hand and with their right they had to manage other controls, leaving them sore after, it was hard to fly in tight formations, and if one of the four engines quit it was hard to stay in air.
Look back at your notes on theme and conflict. What have scholars identified as some major themes and conflicts in Unbroken? Be able to link themes and conflicts with specific examples. How do the title and subtitle give us clues to the themes?
Some of the main themes of Unbroken are perseverance, suffering, friendship, and war. These are all themes because they are the main things that conflict circles around. foe example, suffering though the plane crash and knowing your friends have died is both suffering and perseverance. Louie and Phil, (not so much Mac) remain optimistic that they will survive despite the worries and depressing thoughts of their friends deaths and the want for their family, food, and normality. The title hits at the themes because it gives the allusion that the character will not be broken they will persevere- hence the name as well as their resilience to keep trying when things get hard, and in result they receive redemption- they are saved.
Chapter 9- Describe Pillsbury's experience in this chapter? What did his actions show about him?
The Japanese shooters in the zeros had shot at their plane and part of the planes wall busted open and metal shot into Pillsbury's leg. Soon the two planes were head-on. Pillsbury saw the captain of the other plane and knew he had to kill him. He fired, and he killed him the plane fell down and went into the water. His actions show how smart he is, capable under pressure, and brave.
Chapter 31- what is the meaning of the title of this chapter, "The Naked Stampede"? At the end of this chapter, who is nowhere to be found?
The POW were invited to bathe in the Hokura River, which was something the guards, and commander rarely ever let them do. So, the POW stripped of their clothes and went into the water. The Bird has vanished at the end of this chapter because he knows the U.S. has won the war and he fears for what they will do to him.
Chapter 14- How did the men survive in this chapter? Give specific examples.
They survived by catching birds, they couldn't get themselves to eat it so they used it as bait and they caught a fish. They killed an albatross as well. They asked each other questions and told stories to keep their minds in tact,
Chapter 15- Towards the end of this chapter, the author reveals two good things that came from the Japanese strafing. What were those two things?
The good things that came were they theorized it must have come from the Marshall or Gilbert Islands, and if they were correct that they were drifting west then the islands were relatively close to them.
Chapter 21- How do the families at home react to news of their missing loved ones? Be specific. Who is Cecy Perry?
They refuse to believe that their loved one is dead. Most of the families have a sense that they're still alive," all they could do was ponder what little they knew.." Cecy Perry was Phil's fiancee.
