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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. In the opening of the story, machine guns fire "spasmodically." How are they firing?
(a) With a deep reverberating sound.
(b) Loudly.
(c) In brief bursts with no regular pattern.
(d) Continuously.

2. What does the sniper drop to the ground?
(a) His field glasses.
(b) His jacket.
(c) His revolver.
(d) His rifle.

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

4. What nearby area of the city is under heavy fire?
(a) Donnybrook
(b) Christchurch.
(c) The Four Courts.
(d) Drumcondra

5. On the rooftop where the sniper is lying, there is a parapet. What is a parapet?
(a) A low wall at the edge of the roof.
(b) A stairwell.
(c) A chimney.
(d) An enclosed opening to the floor below.

Short Answer Questions

1. How does the enemy sniper respond to the protagonist's ruse?

2. At what time of day does the story begin?

3. What do the Free Staters want?

4. What temporarily interferes with his vision and stops the sniper from seeing the results of his shot?

5. The description of the car "panting" (96) suggests what about the situation?

Short Essay Questions

1. 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?

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

3. What motivates the sniper to get himself back under control?

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

5. What striking contrast is there in the description that opens the story with the description that closes the first paragraph?

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

7. What is the sniper drinking, and what evidence does the reader have that it is affecting his judgement?

8. What problem is created by the sniper's wound?

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

10. Describe the wound that the sniper suffers.

(see the answer keys)

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