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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 is the distance of the longest kill John Byam achieves during his time in New York?
2. What does Sarah hope to do with John Byam's "sweet" rifle?
3. What is the name of the part of a flintlock rifle that holds the priming charge?
4. Where does Tim Harrow live?
5. What kills most of the soldiers during the American Revolutionary War?
Short Essay Questions
1. Do you think that John Waynewright would have valued Cornish McManus's "sweet" rifle?
2. In order to fire properly, the following things must be true: "the powder is dry and in good shape" (p. 16); "the flint is clean and with a new sharp edge" (p. 16); "the frizzen is wiped dry" (p. 16); "the spring on the hammer is strong" (p. 16); "the flint [slams] hard against the frizzen" (p. 16); "the powder is positioned correctly in the pan" (p. 17). Explain how all of these things happen to occur on Christmas Eve, 1993.
3. Cornish McManus is astounded when his "sweet" rifle puts three balls into one ragged hole at thirty paces (about 75 feet) while shooting from a solid rest. By today's accuracy standards is McManus' rifle's performance astounding?
4. In reading the novel, do you think of the "sweet" Rifle as a character or as an object?
5. When John Byam uses the rifle to kill British officers, who is doing the killing--Byam or the rifle?
6. What was the leading cause of death among American Revolutionary War soldiers?
7. In reviewing John Byam's actions in the novel, would you consider him a hero?
8. Is the "sweet" rifle evil?
9. Cornish McManus is a superb gunsmith with great vision and skill. Describe his shooting ability.
10. Why do the British hang Cornish McManus?
Essay Topics
Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:
Essay Topic 1
Why does the novel spend so much time characterizing Richard Allen Mesinger? After all, his interaction with the rifle lasts less than one second and the narrative makes it clear that Mesinger never even knew he was being killed. Within the narrative, what difference does it make that Mesinger was who he was?
Essay Topic 2
Of the major characters in the novel (Cornish McManus, John Byam, Tim Harrow, Harv Kline, and Richard Allen Mesinger), are any of them villains? If not, why not. If so, who is a villain and why do you consider them to be a villain?
Essay Topic 3
Describe the processes that Cornish McManus used to manufacture the rifle.
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This section contains 646 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) |
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