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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. For what does Harper think the volunteers might be good?

2. What does Harper say to Sharpe immediately when he answers Sharpe's summons?

3. What does Louisa think might be affected by her current activities?

4. What does Vivar tell Sharpe he can be?

5. What do Sharpe and Louisa say to each other when he sees her after the battle?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Sharpe and Louisa talk about and what is Louisa's idea? How does Sharpe feel about her idea?

2. What is the legend about the gonfalon?

3. What does the French colonel suggest to Sharpe?

4. What does Vivar want the riflemen to do and what does Sharpe do?

5. Where do the riflemen flee from the French pouring out of the palace and what do they see there?

6. What do Sharpe and Harper decide about the French coming to the town?

7. What does Vivar tell Sharpe to do in the chapel and what does Sharpe find?

8. What happens when Sharpe enters the palace?

9. Why does Vivar come to Sharpe in the tavern, how does Sharpe act?

10. What do Harper and Sharpe discuss and what does Harper tell Sharpe?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Mrs. Parker is treated poorly by Sharpe and Louisa seems to have to be with her uncle whether she wants to or not. Though the author Cornwell may or may not have such personal views on women, the way women are characterized in his series is often less than complimentary. Discuss one of the following:

1. Present and analyze the treatment of women in Sharpe's Rifles.

2. Cornwell is trying to be historically accurate, so is his treatment of women in his book(s) justified?

3. Is there any way Cornwell could have presented women in a more positive light and still stayed historically accurate? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

Most protagonists are a mixture of admirable traits and character flaws, and Richard Sharpe is no exception. Sharpe's legendary powers of military strategy are juxtaposed with his reputation as a womanzier. 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. Do his flaws impact his career at all? Do any of those under his command seem to notice these flaws? Who? How does the reader know this?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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