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

Short Answer Questions

1. What do the men at the campfire want to do when they hear Jonathan's story?

2. What does the Corporal have Jonathan do for the men as they approach the house?

3. What information surprises Jonathan at the campfire?

4. What does Jonathan suspect about the death of the boy's parents?

5. Where is the Corporal's clothing torn when he awakens Jonathan?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does the Corporal's reaction to Jonathan and the boy's appearance at the campfire reveal about his character?

2. What is the significance of Jonathan's telling the Corporal that he wants to go home, and the Corporal telling him that he's needed?

3. How do the reactions of the men differ from those of the Corporal when Jonathan appears at the campfire?

4. Why does the young Hessian insist on digging the grave on his own?

5. In what way does untying himself from the sleeping Hessian represent a change in Jonathan?

6. Why does Jonathan risk his life and the boy's by bringing the boy to the Hessians?

7. What is the significance of Jonathan smashing the borrowed gun to pieces in a fit of rage?

8. Why does Jonathan think he sees himself from the day before when he returns home?

9. Why is it important to Jonathan to know whether the Hessians killed the boy's parents?

10. Why does Jonathan have confusing reactions to the men's assessment at the campfire of the result of the battle?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does the author accomplish by having the Hessians use a language that Jonathan cannot understand, but the reader can? How would the scene in which Jonathan is first taken prisoner be altered if Jonathan understood what his captors were saying? What impact would this have on the reader's experience?

Essay Topic 2

What are Jonathan's primary motives for wanting to go to war, and how do these define his character? Compare his motives to those of others such as the Corporal. What does Jonathan hope to accomplish?

Essay Topic 3

What event represents the climax of the novel? What is the significance of the choices Jonathan makes in this scene, in terms of his character development?

(see the answer keys)

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