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 is the horseman attempting to do?

2. Who does the Duke of Wellington hope will join his forces?

3. Who arrives at Quatre Bras with the British Light Cavalry?

4. What must Sharpe do by the Prince of Orange's orders?

5. Who arrives to drive off the French skirmishers?

Short Essay Questions

1. What did the actions in Chapter 7 show about the Prince of Orange and some of the other British officers?

2. What is used on the field of battle besides weapons and men and why?

3. Who is Sharpe's mother and in what wars has he fought? To whom is he attached now?

4. To whom does Sharpe send a note when he encounters men from the German Legion and what is the response? Why does he respond that way?

5. What town on the river Sambre is easily taken by the French, who tries to stop them, and what does this mean in tactical terms?

6. Why are the French able to cross into Belgium and what type of resistance is there?

7. What does the Duke of Wellington read at the ball that interrupts his participation? What does he do after he reads the dispatch?

8. How do the French feel about the outcome of the war and why haven't the Prussians come to help the British?

9. What is Bonaparte thinking about as he sits in his coach near where the French come into Belgium?

10. Who does Sharpe encounter while escaping the crossroad area and what happens?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

D'Alembord's premonition that he will be killed and his developing fear of tomorrow's events exemplifies the true nature of courage, which includes coming to terms with fear and overcoming it.

1. Discuss in detail whether courage is the absence of fear or doing a task in spite of it. Use examples to support your answer.

2. If a person runs from a battle due to fear, do you think that means he will always run from a battle? Why or why not? Use examples to support your answer.

3. If a person goes into combat with no fear and kills a significant number of the enemy and perhaps rescues other soldiers, is that person courageous? In other words, if a person acts like a hero/ine, yet truly has no fear, does that person still qualify as having courage? Why or why not?

Essay Topic 2

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 particular leader can have a decisive impact upon the success of a mission. Discuss the following:

1. Whose command style seems most effective? 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? 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 3

Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze one major theme of Sharpe's Waterloo. Consider the following: How do 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 Waterloo. 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 Waterloo? Which theme in Sharpe's Waterloo speaks to you the most in your life? Why?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,382 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample