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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. Why does Wellington launch two suicidal attacks?

2. What does Harper find for Sharpe?

3. Why does Windham dispatch Sharpe to the dam?

4. What does Windham realize as he watches the maneuvers at the dam?

5. What fills the ditch?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do the British troops do after the weather clears in Chapter 17 and what do they decide about the plain?

2. At first, what does Sharpe do while the British are dealing with the Rivillas Stream?

3. Describe the fortifications of Badajoz.

4. What has the French built across the Rivillas Stream and what do the British do about it?

5. What does Sharpe find when he returns to the baggage train, why is Windham angry and what is the conclusion about the incident?

6. How are the French able to kill so many of the British, what does that cause and how does Sharpe feel as he watches?

7. What is Robert Knowles doing at the beginning of the attack and who does he think about when planning his actions?

8. What does Sharpe say when Hogan informs him of the plan for the dam and what is the plan?

9. What does Rymer do when the French mount a sortie while Sharpe is watching the digging? What are the French trying to do and what is the British response? What does Sharpe do?

10. Where does Teresa's family live in Badajoz?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Richard Sharpe is in some ways a larger-than-life hero. Despite incredible odds, he usually comes out on top, in RICHARD SHARPE AND THE SIEGE OF BADAJOZ and in the others in the series. Discuss the following:

1. Does having a larger-than-life hero make that person less of a hero? In other words, which is more admirable--a hero who ultimately always "lands on his feet," or one who strives against impossible odds and doesn't always succeed?

2. Does a character have to be successful in order to be a hero? Explain your answer.

3. Choose one other character besides Sharpe who you might call a hero/heroine and explain why you choose that person. Illustrate your statements with examples from the text.

4. Does every work of fiction have to have a hero? Explain your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Most protagonists are a mixture of admirable traits and character flaws, and Richard Sharpe is no exception. Sharpe's legendary powers of military strategy is juxtaposed with his reputation as a womanizer. Discuss the following:

1. Trace and analyze situations when Sharpe demonstrates his prodigious powers of military strategy. Give specific examples to illustrate your analysis.

2. Trace and analyze Sharpe's character flaws offering specific examples of these flaws in your discussion.

3. Discuss how you think Sharpe's admirable traits helped him obtain a high rank in the military despite his background as a child. Have his flaws impacted his career at all? Do any of those under his command seem to notice these flaws? Who? How does the reader know this?

Essay Topic 3

Cornwell has tried as much as possible to use historical events and facts around which to weave his work of fiction. Discuss the following:

1. Do you think RICHARD SHARPE AND THE SIEGE OF BADAJOZ qualifies as an historical fiction? Why or why not?

2. If much of the events in the book are historical, what surprises you about the way the events play out?

3. Do you think the culture of that era is more or less advanced than you imagined? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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