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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 Vivar say when Sharpe asks for explanations of what they are doing?

2. What does Williams suggest to Sharpe?

3. What does Williams tell Sharpe is the background of many of the riflemen?

4. What does the French negotiator tell Sharpe about the French army?

5. From whom is Major Blas Vivar hiding a strongbox?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Sharpe have his riflemen do when the French ambush them?

2. 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?

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

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

5. What does de l'Eclin accuse Sharpe of and what is Sharpe's response? What does Vivar's brother say?

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

7. What do the British and Spanish find when they enter a village, what do they do and how do the troops feel?

8. What does Sharpe order the Parkers to do and what does Sharpe do when Mrs. Parker refuses?

9. Why do Sharpe's men begin to call out enthusiastically when the Parkers come in front of the assembly and what does Mrs. Parker explain to Sharpe?

10. What does Sharpe ask about the strong box and what is Vivar's response? How does Sharpe respond to this?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Cornwell is masterful in his description of battles and life in general 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 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 Don Blas Vivar, Major Warren Dunnett, Colonel Pierre de l'Eclin, and the Count of Mouromorto. 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 do 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 2

Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze one major theme of Sharpe's Rifles. Consider the following: How does one character's actions portray the theme you are analyzing? How does the setting contribute to that theme? Is the theme one that you would call a "universal theme"? If so, what other book or novel that you have read also includes this theme. If not, why don't you think it is a "universal" theme?

2. Trace and analyze two secondary themes of Sharpe's Rifles. How does one character's actions portray the themes you are analyzing? How does the setting contribute to those themes? Is each theme one that you would call a "universal theme"? If so, what other book or novel that you have read also includes this theme. If not, why don't you think it is a "universal" theme?

3. What benefit is there in discussing and analyzing the themes of a work of fiction? Do you think most authors consciously develop themes in their works? Why or why not? Can there be accidental themes? What do you think is one possible "accidental" theme in Sharpe's Rifles? Which theme in Sharpe's Rifles speaks to you the most in your life? Why?

Essay Topic 3

There are a number of literary elements that occur in many works of fiction. Irony is a means of increasing both the humor and the complexity of a story. Cornwell often includes irony in his Richard Sharpe series. Point of view is the way the story is narrated; all works of fiction have a point of view. Conflict is almost always present in a work of fiction. Discuss the following:

1. Define the literary terms irony, point of view and conflict.

2. Identify two instances of irony in Sharpe's Rifles, offering examples from the text.

3. Identify the point of view of the novel and discuss why you think Cornwell chooses to use that particular point of view. Does the point of view seem to be the best one for Sharpe's Rifles? Why or why not.

4. Identify two major conflicts in Sharpe's Rifles. Are the conflicts completely resolved by the end of Sharpe's Rifles? Why or why not?

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