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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 does Sharpe doubt will ever happen?

2. What does Sharpe tell Malan to break?

3. What is Sharpe learning to love?

4. What happens when Lucille screams?

5. Of what does Gudin assure Sharpe?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Sharpe send Gudin off?

2. What does Lucille hope about Sharpe, and how does she feel about leaving her home?

3. What does Lucille do when Challon pushes on the bed, and what is Challon's response?

4. What does the man in the kitchen tell Sharpe about Ducos?

5. What does Lorcet agree to with Challon, and what does he find distasteful about Challon's suggestion?

6. What does Sharpe do when he hears of Nicholls' death?

7. What does Sharpe tell the people in the church?

8. What does Sharpe say to Lucille about the cogwheels, and what is her response?

9. What does Sharpe say about the villagers, especially Malan? What is Lucille's response?

10. What does Picard hear as he thinks about his loss to Sharpe and what do he and Santon think it is?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss one of the following:

1. Thoroughly analyze how the setting informs the plot in Sharpe's Christmas.

2. Trace and analyze one major theme of Sharpe's Christmas. How is the theme represented by symbolism? By the characters' behaviors? By the action?

3. Trace and analyze two secondary themes of Sharpe's Christmas. How are the themes represented by symbolism? By the characters' behaviors? By the action?

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/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/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

There are a number of literary elements that occur in many works of fiction. Irony is a means of increasing both the humor and the complexity of a story. Cornwell often includes irony in his Richard Sharpe series. Point of view is the way the story is narrated; all works of fiction have a point of view. Conflict is almost always present in a work of fiction. Discuss the following:

1. Define the literary terms irony, point of view and conflict.

2. Identify two instances of irony in Sharpe's Christmas, offering examples from the text.

3. Identify the point of view of the novel and discuss why you think Cornwell chooses to use that particular point of view. Does the point of view seem to be the best one for Sharpe's Christmas? Why or why not.

4. Identfiy two major conflicts in Sharpe's Christmas. Are the conflicts completely resolved by the end of Sharpe's Christmas? Why or why not?

(see the answer keys)

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