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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 notice as he is in the convent?

2. What are the two leaders of the Andrados force doing when they talk to Sharpe?

3. What does Sharpe do with the prisoners from the convent?

4. What does the rocket battalion have that Sharpe needs?

5. What does Sharpe and his group do before locating Lady Farthingdale?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is happening in Andrados at the beginning of the novel and who is doing it?

2. What does Sharpe do with the prisoners and what bothers him the most about the prisoners as far as who he wanted to capture?

3. What do Pot-au-Feu and Hakeswill suggest to Sharpe and the others and what are they doing while they talk?

4. What happens to the British forces as they scramble over the castle walls?

5. What does Lady Farthingdale do when she sees Sharpe?

6. Who does Sharpe meet who is head of the rifle company going to Andrados, what is that man like and how does Sharpe feel about him?

7. How does Sharpe feel as Farthingdale is getting ready and what do the defenders of the castle do?

8. How important is Andrados, where it is situated and what types of protections are in place around it?

9. Who are the men Sharpe and Harper see first at Andrados and why are they there?

10. What does Sharpe first do when he takes over his new command and to what conclusions does he come?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Though this novel is probably more action driven rather than character driven, obviously there are several characters who make the novel what it is. Discuss one of the following:

1. Compare/contrast the characters of Sharpe and Ducos. Include their goals, sense of honor, abilities and social skills.

2. Compare/contrast the characters of Harper and Hakeswill.

3. Thoroughly analyze the character of Richard Sharpe discussing both his strong and weak points and how both affect the outcome of the plot.

Essay Topic 2

Sharpe, despite his background, is an officer and a gentleman and is therefore accorded more respect and trust even in enemy territory than the common soldier. Discuss the following:

1. Does it seem likely that officers are usually more respectable than enlisted men back then? What about today? Why or why not.

2. Sharpe blackmails Farthingdale about Josefina in order to obtain command of the forces. Do you think this is how an officer and gentleman comports himself? Why or why not?

3. In the present military in the United States, both officers and enlisted can be held for court martial for adultery or having sexual relations with someone of inferior rank. Why do you think this is so? Do you agree with the policy?

Essay Topic 3

Most protagonists are a mixture of admirable traits and character flaws, and Richard Sharpe is no exception. Sharpes legendary powers of military strategy is juxtaposed with his reputation as a womanzier. 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?

(see the answer keys)

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