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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. Where is the wagon that had originally blockaded the bridge?

2. Why does Coignet raise an alarm?

3. How do Pailleterie's men feel about him?

4. What does Pailleterie hope about San Miguel?

5. What does the French commander decide to try to do to Sharpe's men?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the battle for the bridge and explain why Sharpe retreats.

2. What does Sharpe do after sabotaging the fort?

3. What is Pailleterie's reaction when seeing San Miguel?

4. Who raises the alarm about the fire and what do they do?

5. Why is Sharpe upset as he sees the French approaching?

6. How is Sharpe feeling as dawn approaches, and how do the men respond?

7. Describe how the tide changes for Sharpe and his men after the wine bottles have been broken on the bridge.

8. What does Herault observe when he arrives at San Miguel?

9. What does Pailleterie order when it becomes clear that the fire is out of control?

10. Why is Sharpe uncertain about how to keep the bridge?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In any book centered around the military, leadership of the troops is often crucial with the better leaders able to command the respect and loyalty of their men. The men's willingness to follow a particularly leader can have a decisive impact upon the success of a mission. Discuss the following:

1. Whose command style seems most effective among the leaders--Sharpe, Harper, Price, Paillertie, Herault? Analyze the elements of those effective leaders thoroughly and discuss the traits of the good leaders. What makes an excellent leader/commander? Give examples.

2. Whose command style seems most ineffective among the leaders--Sharpe, Harper, Price, Paillertie, Herault? Analyze the elements of those ineffective leaders thoroughly and discuss the traits of the poor leaders. What makes a poor leader/commander? Give examples.

3. Is disobeying a poor leader ever justifiable? Explain using details from the text, other books you have read and your personal experience. In times of war, disobeying an order can be punishable by death. Is this harsh sentence justifiable for such an act? Why or why not.

Essay Topic 2

Cornwell is masterful in his description of battles and life in general in for a soldier during the Napoleonic Wars in the early 1800s. Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze Cornwell'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 Cornwell'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 Major Tubbs or Ducos. 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 3

Discuss one of the following:

1. Define irony in literary terms. Discuss the irony of the situation of when Major Tubbs is disparaging of Sharpe because he rose through the ranks and is not a "gentleman" born, but it is Major Tubbs who plans to defraud his country by selling off rifles that are perfectly good and pocketing the money. What other situations contain irony in "Sharpe's Skirmish"?

2. Define symbolism in literary terms. Discuss the use and meaning of five symbols you choose to analyze from Sharpe's Skirmish. What do they symbolize? Is the symbolism obvious? Effective? Does the symbolism contribute to the enjoyment of reading?

3. Discuss five literary devices that occur in "Sharpe's Skirmish" and how they are used. Are they effective? Do they add or detract from the reading of the book? Why or why not. Some possible techniques: Allusion, connotation, denouement, dialogue, flashback, figurative language, motif, metaphor, narrator, point of view, simile, mood, and puns.

(see the answer keys)

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