Question

The discovery that the men we had scorned as peasant guerrillas were, in fact, a lethal, determined enemy and the casualty lists that lengthened each week with nothing to show for the blood being spilled broke our early confidence. According to the excerpt, the soldiers ____________.a) felt that their efforts were not successful.b) failed because of their lack of self-belief.c) showed no apprehension about facing the enemy.d) were proud of their own strength and determination.

Answer 1

The soldiers felt that their efforts were not leading to success, as they faced a formidable enemy and growing casualties that undermined their early confidence in the conflict.

Step-by-step explanation:

According to the excerpt, the soldiers felt that their efforts were not successful. The passage vividly illustrates their eroding morale as they encounter a formidable enemy in what, to them, appears an endless and unwinnable conflict. The perception that the sacrifices they make on the battlefield result in minimal strategic gains contributes to their deepening sense of futility. This sentiment of failure and the cruel reality of war, reflected in the long casualty lists and an adversary initially underestimated, undermines the initial confidence of the soldiers.

Answer 2

The soldiers A) felt that their efforts were not successful.

Step-by-step explanation:

From the excerpt we are studying here, we can tell that soldiers were mistaken in their first judgment of their enemy. They thought they would easily win over a bunch of "peasant guerrillas" only to find themselves being killed each week. When the narrator says, "the blood being spilled broke our early confidence" he means soldiers now understood their efforts were not being successful.

This excerpt was taken from "A Rumor of War", a memoir by Philip Caputo. Caputo - who joined the war at first for the excitement the danger caused in him and for the ideal of serving his country - soon realized his mistake. Instead of coming back home filled with heroic stories about epic battles, the author says his own story is boring. Battles would last forever, American soldiers would keep on dying while the enemy hid in jungles full of traps and snipers.