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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 sniper eating?

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

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

4. What does the sniper take a risk to do after he finishes eating?

5. What word (or a variation of it) is repeated several times after the sniper is shot?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How does the sniper fool his enemy?

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

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

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

7. What causes the sniper to suddenly lose his enthusiasm for the battle?

8. 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?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the use of the River Liffey as a symbol in "The Sniper." Describe how it appears in the story, background information on the river, and how these two elements combine to create meaning.

Essay Topic 2

What causes the sniper's abrupt change of emotion once he has killed the other sniper? Why does this occur only after he has killed the enemy sniper, and not when he kills the first person, the machine gunner?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the paradox in the story's description of the sniper's appearance.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 780 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample