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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. With what is Ramon impressed?

2. Who wins a sword fighting duel with Sharpe?

3. What is Knowles' rank?

4. Who is dead in the village?

5. What worries Sharpe?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Sharpe and Teresa begin a romance?

2. What does Sharpe decide to do based upon what Harper tells him?

3. What does Sharpe learn as he takes stock of his company after the fighting and how does Kearsey react to his rescue?

4. What does Sharpe find when he follows the woman he later learns is Teresa?

5. What does Sharpe think of Major Kearsey and why does Sharpe have to deal with the man?

6. Describe the encounter between Sharpe and Ayres.

7. What happens when Sharpe begins to dig in the grave?

8. Who is holding the gold and what does Kearsey know about the man and the situation?

9. What does Kearsey reiterate about the gold?

10. Describe the English attack on the French in the village.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss one of the following:

1. Define irony in literary terms. Discuss the irony of the situation when Sharpe's men think he is torturing Teresa when he is involved with her romantically.

2. Define symbolism in literary terms. Discuss the use and meaning of five symbols you choose to analyze from Sharpe's Gold. What do they symbolize? Is the symbolism obvious? Effective? Does the symbolism contribute to the enjoyment of reading?

3. Discuss five literary devices that occur in Sharpe's Gold and how they are used. Are they effective? Do they add or detract from the reading of the book? Why or why not. Some possible techniques: Allusion, connotation, denouement, dialogue, flashback, figurative language, motif, metaphor, narrator, point of view, simile, mood, and puns.

Essay Topic 2

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 this book 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.

Essay Topic 3

There are a number of literary techniques evident in Sharpe's Gold. Discuss the following:

1. Look up and define the literary technique called "narrative contrivance." Where do you think narrative contrivance occurs? Why? Give two examples and analyze them to see if the author has to come up with something to "save the day."

2. Does the use of narrative contrivance diminish the impact of the plot? The believability of the storyline?

3. Is there any other way Cornwell could have a mixture of suspense and action while at the same time making certain the main characters are not killed?

(see the answer keys)

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