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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. Why does the sniper decide that it is safe to move from the rooftop?
(a) He is very drunk.
(b) The streets immediately around him are quiet.
(c) The enemy sniper was the only serious danger to him.
(d) The battle seems to be over.

2. After he is wounded, the sniper feels a "paroxysm" of pain. What kind of pain is he feeling?
(a) Sudden and violent.
(b) Mild but bothersome.
(c) Gradually easing.
(d) Creeping and throbbing.

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

4. 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 it is possible that they served together in the same unit of the army.
(c) He has suddenly realized that the man might be on the Republican side.
(d) He thinks that they may have gone to school together.

5. Why is the sniper eating?
(a) He has been too busy until now.
(b) Another soldier has just brought him food.
(c) He just remembered that he should.
(d) He was too excited to eat earlier.

Short Answer Questions

1. Toward the end of the story, the sniper feels "remorse" (98). What is he feeling?

2. The sniper takes a "draught" (96) of his drink. What is a "draught" in this context?

3. Who wrote "The Sniper"?

4. The name of the street gives the reader what important piece of information?

5. What does the sniper do when he realizes that the old woman is an informant?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. How does the sniper react to being shot?

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

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

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

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

7. Who is the protagonist of "The Sniper" and what is he fighting for?

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

9. How does the sniper fool his enemy?

10. Who does the sniper kill while he is still waiting to kill the enemy sniper, and why does he kill them?

(see the answer keys)

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