View a FREE sample

This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. At the end of the story, the reader learns that the story has been taking place on the corner of what street?
(a) Lifford.
(b) Christchurch.
(c) Donnybrook.
(d) O'Connell.

2. What causes the sniper to calm himself and get back to his job?
(a) He remembers the cause he is fighting for.
(b) He realizes that he needs medical attention.
(c) He is nearly hit by his own bullet.
(d) He sees that the sun is nearly up.

3. The conflicting descriptions of the sniper that make him sound both young and mature are an example of what technique?
(a) Allusion.
(b) Paradox.
(c) Personification.
(d) Oxymoron.

4. What word (or a variation of it) is repeated several times after the sniper is shot?
(a) Bridge.
(b) Ireland.
(c) Dead.
(d) Broken.

5. The narrator says that the sniper can hear the "dull panting" (96) of the enemy armored car. This is an example of which technique?
(a) Oxymoron.
(b) Simile.
(c) Onomatopoeia.
(d) Personification.

6. What complicates the sniper's final shot?
(a) The distance and his pain.
(b) His hunger and fatigue.
(c) His confusion and fear.
(d) The glare and noise.

7. How are the sniper's eyes described?
(a) Confused and frightened.
(b) Angry and eager.
(c) Intelligent and kind.
(d) Cold and fanatical.

8. When the enemy sniper is "silhouetted" (98), what is true?
(a) He is surrounded by a halo of light.
(b) He is flattened up against a solid object.
(c) He is too tired to stand.
(d) He is a dark shape against the sky.

9. What do the Republicans want?
(a) A united Ireland under joint rule between the British and the Irish.
(b) A united Ireland under Irish rule.
(c) A united Ireland under British rule.
(d) A divided Ireland, one part ruled by Ireland, one part ruled by Britain.

10. As a result of taking a risk in order to see his dead enemy's body, what happens to the sniper?
(a) He has to kill another civilian.
(b) Nothing: he gets away with it.
(c) He sets off a bomb.
(d) He is shot at.

11. Where does the sniper think that he might know his enemy from?
(a) He is beginning to suspect that the dead sniper is his brother.
(b) He thinks that they may have gone to school together.
(c) He thinks it is possible that they served together in the same unit of the army.
(d) He has suddenly realized that the man might be on the Republican side.

12. Once he is wounded, what is the sniper's first priority?
(a) He needs to find and kill the old woman.
(b) He needs medical attention.
(c) He needs to get off the roof before dawn.
(d) He needs to report to his field commander.

13. What is the sniper eating?
(a) Cookies.
(b) An apple.
(c) Cold stew.
(d) A sandwich.

14. Who wrote "The Sniper"?
(a) Liam O'Connell.
(b) Patrick O'Flaherty.
(c) Patrick O'Connell.
(d) Liam O'Flaherty.

15. When the sniper turns over the body of his enemy, whom does he discover it to be?
(a) His priest.
(b) His own brother.
(c) His commander.
(d) A total stranger.

Short Answer Questions

1. After he is wounded, the sniper feels a "paroxysm" of pain. What kind of pain is he feeling?

2. How does the sniper get off of the rooftop?

3. Why does the sniper not immediately fire on the enemy car?

4. How does the reader know the sniper's age?

5. Why does the enemy sniper stand up and expose his position?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 648 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample