Name: Date:

Study Guide: “The Moral Logic of Survivor

Guilt”
By Nancy Sherman

FIRST READ: Comprehension

Identify the choice that best answers the question.
1.
According to “The Moral Logic of Survivor Guilt,” which of the following is
the best definition of survivor guilt?
a. feeling responsible for a crime one committed when one had no choice
b. feeling that others blame one for a crime committed by a friend if one
could have stopped him or her
c. feeling bad about living through a disaster or war when others did not
d. feeling general regret for a comrade’s death, knowing one has done
nothing wrong
2.
In “The Moral Logic of Survivor Guilt,” which two kinds of guilt does the
author contrast?
a. rational and objective guilt
b. subjective and irrational guilt
c. subjective and objective guilt
d. rational and survivor guilt

3.
According to the author of “The Moral Logic of Survivor Guilt,” which idea
best helps explain survivor guilt?
a. Acting morally means doing good, not just avoiding wrong.
b. Moral character is expressed in feelings, not just actions.
c. It is possible to make up for a crime, healing the past.
d. It is wrong to feel regret for the bad outcome of an accident.

4.
In “The Moral Logic of Survivor Guilt,” which of the following may be an
important cause of survivor guilt?
a. soldiers’ strong feelings of attachment to each other
b. soldiers’ strong feelings of regret for accidents
c. soldiers’ efforts to contact the family of a comrade
d. soldiers’ duties to self, including self-forgiveness

© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. 1

 GRADE 9 • UNIT 2 • SELECTION TEST

"THE MORAL LOGIC OF SURVIVOR GUILT" BY NANCY SHERMAN

Name: Date:

FIRST READ: Concept Vocabulary

Identify the choice that best answers the question.
5.
Which of the following most clearly illustrates the meaning of burden?
a. Tim carried a great weight of sorrow.
b. Kimbra comforted the soldier’s mother.
c. Alexa knew a good deal about ethics.
d. Malik knew how to play a sad song.

6.
Which of the following is the best definition of culpability?
a. innocence; freedom from guilt
b. obligation; something that is carried with difficulty
c. blameworthiness; guilt or blame that is deserved
d. understanding; ability to identify with the feelings or thoughts of others

7.
If a captain’s conscience bothers her after a sailor’s death, what is she most
clearly feeling? Base your choice on the meaning of conscience.
a. fear
b. grief
c. guilt
d. anger

© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. 2

 GRADE 9 • UNIT 2 • SELECTION TEST

"THE MORAL LOGIC OF SURVIVOR GUILT" BY NANCY SHERMAN

Name: Date:

CLOSE READ: Analyze the Text

Identify the choice that best answers the question.
8.
The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

Part A Read the following passage from “The Moral Logic of Survivor Guilt.”
Though Aristotle doesn’t himself talk about guilt, it is the emotion that best
expresses that conflict—the desire or obligation to help frustrated by the inability,
through no fault of one’s own, to do so. To not feel the guilt is to be numb to those
pulls.

Which idea about survivor guilt does Sherman most clearly express in this
passage?
a. Survivor guilt expresses a deep frustration about ethics.
b. Survivor guilt occurs when we cannot fulfill the desire to do good.
c. Survivor guilt must be experienced by all truly ethical people.
d. Survivor guilt pulls us away from conflicts between obligations.

Part B Which detail in the passage best supports the answer to Part A?
a. Aristotle doesn’t himself talk about guilt
b. it is the emotion that best expresses that conflict
c. the inability, through no fault of one’s own, to do so
d. To not feel the guilt is to be numb to those pulls.

© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. 3

 GRADE 9 • UNIT 2 • SELECTION TEST

"THE MORAL LOGIC OF SURVIVOR GUILT" BY NANCY SHERMAN

Name: Date:

9.
The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

Part A Read the following passage from “The Moral Logic of Survivor Guilt.”
What Prior feels are feelings of guilt, and not simply regret that things didn’t work
out differently. He feels the awful weight of self-indictment, the empathy with the
victim and survivors, and the need to make moral repair. If he didn’t feel that, we
would probably think less of him as a commander.

What point about survivor guilt does this passage support?

a. It is more reasonable to feel regret, rather than guilt, about events one does
not control.
b. Guilt demonstrates the ethical quality of leadership in a way that regret
cannot.
c. Feelings of guilt can be awful and make being a commander difficult.
d. The need to make moral repair is the same as a feeling of regret.

Part B Which quotation from the passage best supports the answer to Part A?
a. What Prior feels are feelings of guilt, and not simply regret
b. He feels the awful weight of self-indictment, the empathy with the victims
and survivors
c. He feels … the need to make moral repair.
d. If he didn’t feel that, we would probably think less of him as a
commander.

© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. 4

 GRADE 9 • UNIT 2 • SELECTION TEST

"THE MORAL LOGIC OF SURVIVOR GUILT" BY NANCY SHERMAN

Name: Date:

10.
The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

Part A According to “The Moral Logic of Survivor Guilt,” which of the

following is a positive aspect of guilt?
a. Subjective guilt lets people see even chaotic events in moral terms.
b. Subjective guilt is better than agent-regret, or sorrow about an accident.
c. Subjective guilt is the best way of coping with “imperfect duties.”
d. Subjective guilt can heal if one talks with others who also feel it.

Part B Which quotation from the passage best supports the answer to Part A?
a. But to my ear, agent-regret is simply tone-deaf to how subjective guilt
feels. . . . [It] sounds as passive and flat as “regretting that the weather is
bad.”
b. “So I dealt with and still deal with the guilt of having cost him his life
essentially. . . . There’s probably not a day that doesn’t go by that I don’t
think about it.”
c. [We] might say guilt, subjective guilt, has a redemptive side. It is a way
that soldiers impose moral order on the chaos and awful randomness of
war’s violence.
d. [Good soldiers] have duties to care and bring each other safely home.
Philosophers have called these “imperfect duties”: even in the best
circumstances, we can’t perfectly fulfill them.

© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. 5

 GRADE 9 • UNIT 2 • SELECTION TEST

"THE MORAL LOGIC OF SURVIVOR GUILT" BY NANCY SHERMAN

Name: Date:

CLOSE READ: Analyze Craft and Structure

Identify the choice that best answers the question.
11.
The following question has two parts. Answer Part A first, and then Part B.

Part A Which statement best summarizes the central idea of “The Moral Logic
of Survivor Guilt”?
a. Survivor guilt is an appropriate reflection of our ethical nature.
b. Survivor guilt is an irrational reaction to events beyond our control.
c. Survivors often feel guilty about what they have done wrong.
d. Survivors often feel guilty about those who did not survive.

Part B Which excerpt from “The Moral Logic of Survivor Guilt” best supports
the answer to Part A?
a. In war, standing here rather than there can save your life but cost a
buddy his.
b. Objective or rational guilt . . . accurately tracks real wrongdoing or
culpability: guilt is appropriate because one acted to deliberately harm
someone, or could have prevented harm and did not.
c. But as Bonenberger’s remarks make clear, we often take responsibility in
a way that goes beyond what we can reasonably be held responsible for.
And we feel the guilt that comes with that sense of responsibility.
d. Part of the reasonableness of survivor guilt . . . is that it tracks a moral
significance that is broader than moral action. Who I am, in terms of my
character and relationships, and not just what I do, matters morally.

12.
In “The Moral Logic of Survivor Guilt,” Sherman reports that Captain
Bonenberger felt responsible after Specialist Pulaski died back home when
Bonenberger was not there to help. Which general idea does this specific detail
support?
a. Soldiers feel guilty over the mistakes that they make during war.
b. Survivors feel they must make moral repair by contacting a comrade’s
family.
c. Survivors take responsibility even when they cannot be held responsible.
d. Soldiers are bound together by ties of love, loyalty, and common
experiences.

© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. 6

 GRADE 9 • UNIT 2 • SELECTION TEST

"THE MORAL LOGIC OF SURVIVOR GUILT" BY NANCY SHERMAN

Name: Date:

13.
In “The Moral Logic of Survivor Guilt,” which types of evidence does the
author use to support her reasoning? Choose three options.
a. the author’s own ideas
b. scientific studies of survivors
c. the ideas of famous philosophers
d. real life examples of survivor guilt
e. quotes from military psychologists
f. journals written by returning veterans
g. articles written about returning veterans
14.
In “The Moral Logic of Survivor Guilt,” which of the following does Sherman
offer as evidence for the idea that soldiers experience intense bonds of loyalty?
a. In war, standing here rather than there can save your life but cost a
buddy his.
b. … we often take responsibility in a way that goes beyond what we can
reasonably be held responsible for.
c. Service members, especially those higher in rank, routinely talk about
unit members as “my soldiers,” “my Marines,” “my sailors.”
d. Prior had become the son who was no longer. “It was [Mayek’s
mother’s] way of dealing with the grief,” said Prior.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: Word Study

Identify the choice that best answers the question.
15.
What is the meaning of the Greek root -path-?
a. guilt
b. knowledge
c. feeling
d. loss

16.
The word empathy contains the Greek root -path-. Choose the situation that
most clearly illustrates the meaning of empathy. Base your answer on your
knowledge of the word root -path-.
a. Erin invested her money wisely.
b. Beth felt for her friend’s loss.
c. Chang looked for his wallet.
d. Ron knew what he had done was wrong.

© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. 7

 GRADE 9 • UNIT 2 • SELECTION TEST

"THE MORAL LOGIC OF SURVIVOR GUILT" BY NANCY SHERMAN

Name: Date:

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT: Conventions

Identify the choice that best answers the question.
17.
In which sentence is the colon used correctly?
a. The soldier used this phrase to describe his feeling: “the bite of
conscience.”
b. Soldiers: at least the ones I have interviewed: feel a bond with their
comrades.
c. Officers feel a duty to save their unit members: feeling guilty if they
do not.
d. Veterans feel guilty about comrades who died: even if they could not
save them.
18.
In which sentence is the dash used correctly?
a. The soldier felt—guilty because she recovered while others did not.
b. The doctor worked hard—despite the raging battle—to save the
wounded.
c. The soldier felt relieved and proud—when he saved three of his
comrades.
d. The army investigated—and the findings—were that the crash was an
accident.
19.
In which sentence is the semicolon used correctly?
a. The captain looked out for his soldiers; in turn, they looked out for him.
b. The soldiers bonded for two reasons; similar musical tastes and shared
experiences.
c. The pilot; a friend of the captain’s; quickly brought the wounded back to
the military base.
d. The army decided; eight months after the fact to give the soldier a medal.

20.
In which sentence is the colon used correctly?
a. The philosopher studied: ethics, and her main focus was survivor guilt.
b. Survivors may know they have done nothing wrong: but they feel guilty
anyway.
c. She analyzed ethics in terms of three factors: character, action, and
emotion.
d. She clarified the logic of survivor guilt: even though it was hard to
unravel.

© by Savvas Learning Company LLC. All Rights Reserved. 8