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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

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

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

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

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

5. At what time of day does the story begin?
(a) Dusk.
(b) Midnight.
(c) Dawn.
(d) Mid-afternoon.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the only description given of the old woman?

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

3. As a result of taking a risk in order to see his dead enemy's body, what happens to the sniper?

4. What can readers infer about the sniper's revolver?

5. Why does the protagonist expose his hand by draping it over the parapet?

Short Essay Questions

1. What are the two contrasting descriptions of the sniper given when he is first introduced?

2. What is the symbolic significance of the O'Connell Bridge and the River Liffey?

3. How does the sniper react to being shot?

4. What risk does the sniper take at the beginning of the story, and what are the consequences?

5. When the reader first encounters the sniper, what is he doing, and why?

6. What happens as a result of the Republican sniper's ruse?

7. In the sentence "Almost immediately, a bullet flattened itself against the parapet of the roof," (96), what is being personified and what purpose does the personification of the bullet serve?

8. What motivates the sniper to discover the identity of the dead man, and what is that identity?

9. What is the setting of "The Sniper"?

10. Who are the Republicans at war with, and what does this opposition believe?

(see the answer keys)

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