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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 the Mother Superior ask Sharpe to do when he meets her?

2. What is Sharpe given before he leaves the prison?

3. What puts Sharpe in a bad mood in Chapter 3?

4. What do Sharpe and Helene stop to retrieve as they leave the convent?

5. For what did Ducos use Helene in the past?

Short Essay Questions

1. What evidence does Major Vaughn use against Sharpe and what does he say is Sharpe's motivation? How does Sharpe respond to the Major's suppositions?

2. What is Sharpe doing against the French in Chapter One?

3. Why is Angel helping Sharpe and what kind of weapon does he carry?

4. What event happens concerning the Marque after his discussion with Father Hacha?

5. What is the Marques and Father Hacha discussing in Chapter Five? What does the Marques say about his wife?

6. What is d'Alembord doing to help Sharpe with his duel, what has he done in secret and how did Sharpe's last duel end?

7. What does Hogan order Sharpe to do and why?

8. How do Sharpe and Angel get past the ambush with La Marquesa?

9. Why is Angel worried about Sharpe's plan in Chapter Eleven and what does Sharpe tell him?

10. Who is assigned to defend Sharpe and what does he tell Sharpe?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

There are three "villains" in Sharpe's Honor. Father Hacha is intelligent and clever with his cruelty, and El Matarife is completely savage; El Matarife is torturing a captive when the reader first meets him. Pierre Ducos is a greedy and self-serving character and brutally highlights hostilities between France and Spain.

1. Explain, with examples from the text, what you see are the main motivations behind Pierre Ducos's behavior. If he lived in America today with what crimes do you think he would be charged?

2. Father Hacha is a "villain" who does not seem to be motivated by self-interest. Discuss why or why not you believe this statement to be true. Use examples from Sharpe's Honor to support and illustrate your opinion.

3. Do you think crimes or immoral behavior motivated by good intentions is more pardonable than that motivated by self-interests? Why or why not? Use examples from Sharpe's Honor to support and illustrate your opinion.

Essay Topic 2

Most people and regular soldiers detest spies and the idea of spying. Spies are not considered in the same vein as soldiers in uniform and are not protected by the customs and regulations that govern the treatment of soldiers who are in uniform when captured. Wellington sends Sharpe out, under a false name, to not only clear his name but also to spy on the French. Discuss one of the following:

1. Why do you think spies are not accorded any rights under many countries' laws and/or customs?

2. Even though all countries abhor spies, often even their own, they still spy, and men and women are still willing to be spies. Discuss why you think this is so.

3. Research and analyze the history of spying in either England, France or Spain.

4. Does Sharpe seem the image of a typical spy as you visualize one? Why or why not.

Essay Topic 3

Cornwell is masterful in his description of battles and life in general in for a soldier during the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800s. Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze Cornwells's descriptive passages about life as a soldier. How does he use descriptions of the five senses to make the reader feel s/he is there? Do you find his descriptions compelling? Seemingly accurate? How would Sharpe's Honor be different if Cornwell did not include such descriptive passages?

2. Analyze Cornwells's descriptive passages about the social structure of the times and discuss what you think it would be like to be a person of wealth and/or privilege such as Wellington, or the Marques. Contrast that to the lives of those who are in a lower social strata such as Sharpe and Harper or one in service to someone of wealth and/or privilege.

3. Describe and analyze Cornwell's descriptive passages about the topographical setting and the physical descriptions of the people. Does Cornwell do an adequate job of actually making the reader "see" the land or sea where the action is taking place? How about getting a visual image of the characters? How does the descriptions of the setting add to the novel? Do you like having an idea of how a character looks? How would the novel be different without such descriptions?

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