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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. "His enemy had been hit" (98) is an example of what technique?
(a) Parallelism.
(b) Charged language.
(c) Honorific diction.
(d) Passive voice.

2. After he is wounded, the sniper feels a "paroxysm" of pain. What kind of pain is he feeling?
(a) Mild but bothersome.
(b) Sudden and violent.
(c) Gradually easing.
(d) Creeping and throbbing.

3. Once he is wounded, what is the sniper's first priority?
(a) He needs to report to his field commander.
(b) He needs medical attention.
(c) He needs to find and kill the old woman.
(d) He needs to get off the roof before dawn.

4. When he finally gets a clear shot at his enemy, what is the protagonist feeling?
(a) Eagerness.
(b) Sorrow.
(c) Anger.
(d) Fear.

5. What do the Free Staters want?
(a) A united Ireland under British rule.
(b) A divided Ireland, one part ruled by Ireland, one part ruled by Britain.
(c) A united Ireland under Irish rule.
(d) A united Ireland under joint rule between the British and the Irish.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the sniper do when he realizes that his enemy is dead?

2. Where does the sniper get shot?

3. Where does the sniper think that he might know his enemy from?

4. What is the risk that the sniper takes in order to check out his dead enemy's identity?

5. When the enemy sniper is "silhouetted" (98), what is true?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the symbolic significance of the O'Connell Bridge and the River Liffey?

2. How does the sniper react to being shot?

3. In the sentence "Almost immediately, a bullet flattened itself against the parapet of the roof," (96), what is being personified and what purpose does the personification of the bullet serve?

4. What happens as a result of the Republican sniper's ruse?

5. Who does the sniper kill while he is still waiting to kill the enemy sniper, and why does he kill them?

6. Who are the Republicans at war with, and what does this opposition believe?

7. What striking contrast is there in the description that opens the story with the description that closes the first paragraph?

8. What problem is created by the sniper's wound?

9. When the reader first encounters the sniper, what is he doing, and why?

10. What are the two contrasting descriptions of the sniper given when he is first introduced?

(see the answer keys)

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