View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Sharpe tell Harper to have the riflemen do after Vivar enters the town?

2. Who wants to give the banner to the French?

3. What does the French colonel say the French will allow?

4. What is the weather like when the troops of Sharpe and Vivar set off?

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

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Sharpe tell Vivar about capturing Santiago de Compostela and what does Vivar say about Sharpe's opinion?

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

3. What happens when Sharpe enters the palace?

4. What does Sharpe ask Vivar about the riflemen and what is Vivar's response? How does Sharpe answer him?

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 Louisa talk about and what is Louisa's idea? How does Sharpe feel about her idea?

7. Why is Sharpe going into the palace?

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

9. What news do local bandits bring and what is Vivar's response to their news?

10. What does Vivar tell Sharpe and what does he do?

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

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.

Essay Topic 3

Richard Sharpe is in some ways a larger-than-life hero. Despite incredible odds, he usually comes out on top, in Sharpe's Rifles and in the others in the series. Discuss the following:

1. Does having a larger-than-life hero make that person less of a hero? In other words, which is more admirable--a hero who ultimately always "lands on his feet," or one who strives against impossible odds and doesn't always succeed?

2. Does a character have to be successful in order to be a hero? Explain your answer.

3. Choose one other character besides Sharpe who you might call a hero/heroine and explain why you choose that person. Illustrate your statements with examples from the text.

4. Does every work of fiction have to have a hero? Explain your answer.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,241 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample