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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. Where do Sharpe and Harper return?

2. What does Fenner agree to do for Anne?

3. What does Lawford want for Sharpe?

4. How does Sharpe feel about what Anne tells him?

5. What does Sharpe do when Girdwood flees?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Sharpe reorganize the command structure at Foulness?

2. What does Sharpe decide to do after speaking with Anne?

3. What does Sharpe requests happen to Girdwood and what does Fenner get out of the deal?

4. What does Sharpe do when he reaches London in order to get something done about Simmerson and Fenner?

5. What does Sharpe do with the men of the second battalion?

6. What does Anne tell Sharpe and how does Sharpe feel about her information?

7. What does Havercamp tell Sharpe when questioned about his involvement in the recruiting scheme and what does he promise?

8. What does Sharpe do about Sergeant Lynch?

9. What does Anne tell Sharpe about him wanting to take Fenner and Simmerson down?

10. What does Anne do about Sharpe being arrested?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The military way of life is in and of itself similar to a distinct culture. Understanding how the military is organized, how it operates, and its basic rules of conduct will make any novel that centers on the military more understandable and enjoyable. Discuss one of the following:

1. Describe and analyze the military structure during the time of Sharpe's Regiment. What is rank? What is the difference between officers and enlisted men? How serious is it to disobey an order? What happens if one decides he does not like being in the military and walks away? How are men conscripted? Does the infantry have a similar means of augmenting their ranks as the maritime action called "impressments"?

2. Compare the infantry of Sharpe's Regiment to that in modern times for the United States, England or France. What are the similarities? The differences? Are the changes from those times improvements? Why or why not? (This question will require some research).

3. Discuss why you think the military has the following: Uniforms, a rank structure of Officers and Enlisted, Strict Discipline, Training for New Recruits, Court Martial, and Different types of companies (i.e., rifle, Cavalry, artillery, etc). Discuss why you think men (and nowadays women) choose to become professional soldiers.

Essay Topic 2

Crimping, while common, is illegal and obviously quite lucrative. Fenner and Simmerson have profited greatly from their scheme, as has Girdwood, but to a lesser degree. The three men are influential, powerful, and unlikely to give up this lucrative source of income easily.

1. Discuss the possible motives and benefits to being involved in a lucrative but illegal activity. Include in your discussion whether the benefits are worth the possible consequences and if the damage to one's character is worth the benefits. Use examples from the text and your own experience to support your answer.

2. The three men involved in the recruiting scheme are influential and powerful. Do you believe it is easier for that type of person to get away with criminal activity than the average person? Why or why not? Use examples from the text and your own experience to support your answer.

3. After research, compare Fenner to a modern day American politician who has been cited for a scandal while in office. Use examples from the text and your own experience to support your answer.

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 1820s. 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 the novel 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, Lawford, and Windham. 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/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?

(see the answer keys)

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