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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 is wrong with Captain Saumier?

2. Who do the men think Sharpe is when he arrives?

3. Why is Ducos happy as he flees?

4. What appalls General Verigny?

5. Why does La Marquesa want Sharpe to escape?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does General Verigny ask from Sharpe and what is his response?

2. Of what does Sharpe remind Helene and what does she tell him to say to the French?

3. Why do Sharpe and Patrick return to La Marquesa's wagons, what does Sharpe see and what does he do?

4. How does Sharpe escape from Verigny?

5. Where does La Marquesa want Sharpe to take her?

6. What do the French do at the end of the battle of Vitoria and what does King Joseph do?

7. What does La Marquesa tell Sharpe in Chapter Sixteen about his situation and what does she and Montbrun want Sharpe to do?

8. How, according to Helene could Sharpe break parole and maintain his honor? What does he think is the reason she is pushing him? What does he do after she leaves him?

9. What do Sharpe and Harper discover about Helene and what do they do?

10. What does Sharpe do when el Matarife shows up at the inn? How does that end?

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

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?

Essay Topic 3

Most of the entire series of novels concerning Richard Sharpe takes place during the Napoleonic Wars; therefore understanding the political and social situation during that time helps to a greater understanding and appreciation of this book and others in the series. Discuss one of the following:

1. Research and write an expository essay about how the Napoleonic Wars begin and end.

2. Research and write an expository essay about the battles that take place on land between Britain and France during the Napoleonic Wars.

3. Compare/Contrast the importance of the British infantry during the Napoleonic Wars to the importance of the British infantry during either WWI or WWII.

4. Write an expository essay on how the Napoleonic War affects the social culture of one of the following countries: Britian, France, or Germany.

(see the answer keys)

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