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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. Towards what river do the British troops advance?

2. What does Killick decide to do against the British land force?

3. Of what unit does Sharpe assume command?

4. What do the French want Bampfylde to do?

5. With what is Jane ill when Sharpe leaves on his mission?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who does Bampfylde write the morning after he arrives at the fortress and what does he say?

2. What kind of shape are Bampfylde and his Marines and how does this affect what they do?

3. Where does Killick move his cannon, how does he feel about his intervention and why is he doing it?

4. What plan does Sharpe use to get into the fortress?

5. What does Killick and Sharpe realize when they speak?

6. What does Sharpe doe when he arrives near the area of the fortress?

7. What does Harper ask Sharpe, how does Sharpe respond and what does Harper say to that response?

8. Why is Commodore Lassan at Teste de Buch uneasy?

9. What does Killick think the British will do, how much experience does he have with fighting on land and what worries him the most?

10. How does Sharpe prepare first for his mission? How does that turn out?

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 in for a soldier during the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1820s. 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 Captain William Bampfyldem, Comte de Maquerre, General Calvet, and Commandant Henri Lassan. 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 does 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

Honor is an important concept in Sharpe's Siege and in the life of those in the upper class during that era. It is assumed that those who are officer's and gentlemen would keep their word after offering it.

1. Trace and analyze the theme of honor in Sharpe's Siege. What do you think Richard Sharpe would tell you is the definition of honor if you ask him? How about Fredrickson? Bampfylde? Do you think honor can be restored if it is lost? When Frederickson extends his word of honor that the Americans will be treated fairly, why does Sharpe take Fredrickson's word seriously? Why does Sharpe believe Killick's word that he will no longer engage the British if set free?

2. Respond to the following statement using specific examples from the book and your own experience: Honor is one of the most important character traits for anyone in any social strata. First fully define the concept of honor, then discuss whether you believe the preceding statement is true with specific examples from Sharpe's Siege and other books/films, etc... that you have read or experienced.

3. During the era in which Richard Sharpe lives, men could give their word on the basis of being a gentleman and it is assumed to be true. There was no such concept for a lady or anyone of lower social/economic groups. Fully discuss the implications in a society where only gentlemen are considered trustworthy enough to give their word unquestioned.

Essay Topic 3

Although Hogan's fever and eventual death is not focused on in a dominant way, the credibility of the basic plot relies heavily on this intelligence officer's information being withheld due to illness. In other words, Sharpe will go to war believing he is to act a certain way while in point of fact his mission was intended to be something else entirely. Choose one of the following to answer in detail:

1. Explain why the convenience of Hogan's illness is likely a narrative contrivance. Use examples from the text to support your answer.

2. Explain how you believe the plot could have worked without Hogan's illness. Use examples from the text to support your answer.

3. Based on Sharpe's behavior in his decision not to go to Bordeaux because of a "feeling" about de Marquerre, why would the author go to the trouble of inventing Hogan? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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