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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. How does Jane respond to Sharpe's question?

2. What do Sharpe and Harper teach the men as they are marching?

3. In Chapter 18, what does Simmerson do with the two account books?

4. What does Sharpe think Girdwood will do under the new circumstances?

5. What does Sharpe tell Lawford?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Jane estimate is the kind of money the schemers are making off the recruits?

2. What happens with Anne and Fenner after Lawford leaves?

3. What does Sharpe do when Girdwood runs?

4. What does Sharpe do with the command structure at Foulness and what does he do with Girdwood?

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

6. What do Sharpe and Harper hear about when they return to London?

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

8. What does Jane volunteer to do and what does Sharpe give her and ask her?

9. How does Jane's mission to obtain the accounting books turn out and how does she feel?

10. What does Lawford with his information?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Lawford's actions are blatantly self-serving. He tells Sharpe to lay low for a few days and then goes immediately to Fenner. Lawford believes Sharpe will be mollified by a promotion, but the main thrust of Lawford's proposal to Fenner is that Fenner becomes Lawford's political champion and promoter. Lawford apparently believes he is acting in Sharpe's best interest, but even so, his behavior is reprehensible.

1. Compare and contrast the difference between Lawford's behavior and Fenner's behavior. Is one less wrong than the other? Could one conceivably be considered less amoral than Fenner? Use examples from the text and your own experience to support your answer.

2. There is a cliche which says: Good intentions pave the way to hell. Relate this saying to Lawford's rationalization that he is acting in Sharpe's best interest. Use examples from the text and your own experience to support your answer.

3. Lawford obviously believes he needs a political champion and promoter to obtain what he wants in his career. This seems to indicate that hard work and talent is not enough to move ahead in one's career. Discuss whether you believe this to be true and whether it applies to all careers and to people in modern America. Use examples from the text and your own experience to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

The conclusion of Chapter 19 finds Sharpe at his lowest ebb--he has "solved" the mystery of his missing men but has also fallen into the hands of his enemies, is under official arrest, and is powerless to effect change. At this point, he appears entirely subject to the whims of Fenner, who plans to send him away under official condemnation.

1. There is a saying in writing circles that for good conflict one needs to: "put a character out on a limb then keep making the limb weaker and weaker." Discuss this idea in relationship to the chronological events that puts Sharpe under arrest and powerless.

2. Discuss what you believe are the emotional, psychological and physical reactions to being powerless and how a person might mitigate some of those reactions. Include in your discussion the harm or benefit one might derive from being powerless.

3. Sharpe is powerless. Most people find themselves in situations in life in which they are powerless. Discuss some lessons one could learn from being powerless. Use examples from the text and your own experience to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

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