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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 do the French do when they see Sharpe and his men?

2. Where was Vivar when his wife died?

3. Who is the young British woman at the village?

4. How does Vivar refer to his brother?

5. What does Sharpe advise George to do?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Sharpe tell the Parkers when they see French cavalry coming and what does he do with his riflemen? Who does he see within the French forces?

2. What does Vivar ask Sharpe to recount and what does Vivar explain to Sharpe? Where does he ask Sharpe to go?

3. Who, of the French forces chasing Vivar, does Vivar watch the most and why?

4. What does Vivar tell Davila to do?

5. What does Dunnet order the riflemen to do when the French are charging them and what is Sharpe's response?

6. With whom does Sharpe dine the first night in the fortress and why do Vivar and Alzaga argue?

7. What does Vivar tell Sharpe about Vivar's troops?

8. What happens as Sharpe is about to order his riflemen to flee the house and who joins him in the woods?

9. What does Sharpe ask from the Parkers when they stop in a small town for the night and what does Sharpe end up doing for his men?

10. What does Vivar asks Sharpe and what does Sharpe decide to do after speaking with Vivar?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sharpe's Rifles, like many, and perhaps a majority, of novels ends on a happy note. Discuss the following:

1. Why do you think many (most?) people want what they perceive as a happy or good ending to a novel? Explain your opinion. Do you? Why or why? not?

2. What are three reasons to read fiction? Discuss each one in light of Sharpe's Rifles and whether or not it fulfills all three, two or one of the reasons you mention. Give examples as to why Sharpe's Rifles is or is not successful in fulfilling the reasons you discuss.

3. Do you think reading solely for entertainment is as good a reason to read as any other? Why or why not? Can any work of fiction or non-fiction, no matter how poorly written, enlighten, teach, stimulate thought? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

A work of fiction is often organized around a structure called a plot. Discuss the following:

1. Define plot and its major parts (rising action, climax, falling action, resolution or denouement). Write a sentence or two synopsis of the major plot of Sharpe's Rifles.

2. Identify where the parts of the plot seem to fall in Sharpe's Rifles. Explain using examples.

3. Define the literary term "subplot." Write a sentence or two synopsis of a subplot in Sharpe's Rifles.

4. Identify the major parts of the subplot you identified in task number 3.

5. Why do you think identifying the plot and elements of the plot is useful?

Essay Topic 3

Major Warren Dunnett is wealthy, educated, and titled, yet he is also militarily ignorant and is so haughty that he fails to recognize his own limitations. Sharpe is not wealthy, not educated, and not titled, though he knows the ins and outs of combat and knows how to lead soldiers. Major Warren Dunnett makes several mistakes, some catastrophic, while Sharpe works behind the scenes to keep the attack together.

1. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of having a system of nobility in a country, especially how it applies to the military. Use examples from the text to support your answer.

2. The class separations in the era of Sharpe's Rifles are very distinct and the upper class is basically impenetrable to the lower class. Discuss the implications of Sharpe, the son of a prostitute being able to obtain the rank of lieutenant and the possible ramifications he might have to deal with when interacting with officers who come from a much higher class.

3. Often in this series of novels the upper class officers are presented as incompetent, at best, and dangerous and uncaring at worse. What might that portrayal suggest about how the author might feel about wealthy people and the positions they hold in society, whether qualified or not? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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