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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 the French colonel say the French will allow?

2. What impresses Sharpe about Harper?

3. What does Vivar say he will do if Sharpe does not agree to his plan?

4. What does Sharpe notice around the outside of the city?

5. What is the banner called that Vivar carries?

Short Essay Questions

1. How long do the troops march and what do the riflemen do to keep their movement a secret?

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

3. What is the legend about the gonfalon?

4. What does Sharpe do with the sentry?

5. What happens when the troops arrive at a stream?

6. What does Sharpe do with the caltrops and how do they work?

7. What does Sharpe hear as the riflemen are fighting and who appears? Why are the Cazadores fighting so hard?

8. Why does Sharpe burst into the chapel?

9. How do the townspeople react to the British and Spanish attacking?

10. Why is Sharpe going into the palace?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Sharpe, despite his background, is an officer and a gentleman and is therefore accorded more respect and trust even in enemy territory than the common soldier. Discuss the following:

1. Does it seem likely that officers were usually more respectable than enlisted men back then? What about today? Why or why not.

2. Sharpe treats Mrs. Parker harshly and even drags her from the carriage and lets her drop in the mud. Do you think this is how an officer and gentleman comports himself? Why or why not?

3. In the present military in the United States, both officers and enlisted can be held for court martial for adultery or having sexual relations with someone of inferior rank. Why do you think this is so? Do you agree with the policy?

Essay Topic 2

Choose two of the following and compare and contrast the two people. Include in the discussion their type of leadership, their personality, their morals and whether you would like to serve under them.

1. Sharpe and Vivar.

2. Harper and Willams.

3. Vivar and de l'Eclin.

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)

This section contains 1,056 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample