View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why does Bampfylde order Sharpe's rifle companies to get some rest?

2. Why is Harper among Sharpe's company?

3. What does Killick say to Sharpe about hanging sailors?

4. Who is in charge of the Teste de Buch?

5. On what peninsula has the British forces been fighting?

Short Essay Questions

1. What surprises Sharpe when they land and why is he surprised and what does Bampfylde do?

2. What does Lassan do when he flees the fortress?

3. What does Killick and Sharpe realize when they speak?

4. How does Sharpe counter Bampfylde's assertion of command and what does Bampfylde decide to do?

5. What is Sharpe's mission and what does Elphinstone think about it?

6. How does Killick respond to Sharpe's distaste for hanging?

7. In what state are Napoleon's forces at the beginning of this book?

8. What does Bampfylde do with the American prisoners and why?

9. How does Sharpe prepare first for his mission? How does that turn out?

10. What does Sharpe do with the American prisoners and how does Bampfylde respond?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Cornwell is masterful in his description of battles and life in general in for a soldier during the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1820s. Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze Cornwells's descriptive passages about life as a soldier. How does he use descriptions of the five senses to make the reader feel s/he is there? Do you find his descriptions compelling? Seemingly accurate? How would the novel be different if Cornwell did not include such descriptive passages?

2. Analyze Cornwells's descriptive passages about the social structure of the times and discuss what you think it would be like to be a person of wealth and/or privilege such as Captain William Bampfyldem, Comte de Maquerre, General Calvet, and Commandant Henri Lassan. Contrast that to the lives of those who are in a lower social strata such as Sharpe and Harper or one in service to someone of wealth and/or privilege.

3. Describe and analyze Cornwell's descriptive passages about the topographical setting and the physical descriptions of the people. Does Cornwell do an adequate job of actually making the reader "see" the land/sea where the action is taking place? How about getting a visual image of the characters? How does the descriptions of the setting add to the novel? Do you like having an idea of how a character looks? How would the novel be different without such descriptions?

Essay Topic 2

In any book centered around the military, leadership of the troops is often crucial with the better leaders able to command the respect and loyalty of their men. The men's willingness to follow a particularly leader can have a decisive impact upon the success of a mission. Discuss the following:

1. Whose command style seems most effective? Analyze the elements of those effective leaders thoroughly and discuss the traits of the good leaders. What makes an excellent leader or commander? Give examples.

2. Whose command style seems most ineffective? Analyze the elements of those ineffective leaders thoroughly and discuss the traits of the poor leaders. What makes a poor leader or commander? Give examples.

3. Is disobeying a poor leader ever justifiable? Explain using details from the text, other books you have read and your personal experience. In times of war, disobeying an order can be punishable by death. Is this harsh sentence justifiable for such an act? Why or why not.

Essay Topic 3

In Chapter 6, Sharpe has captured the formidable redoubt with only one man killed, and that man killed by friendly fire from the frigate. Discuss the following:

1. What is meant by "friendly fire?"

2. Are many soldiers in war are killed by friendly fire? Why or why not? What causes a soldier to be killed by friendly fire?

3. How do you think friendly-fire deaths can be avoided? Or can they? Is this just an acceptable consequence of battle? How difficult do you think it is to tell who one is shooting at when engaged in a pitched battle? What factors might affect the occurrences of friendly-fire deaths in Sharpe's time? In modern warfare? What types of battle situations are more likely to engender friend-fire deaths?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,184 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample