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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. The conflicting descriptions of the sniper that make him sound both young and mature are an example of what technique?

2. What do the Free Staters want?

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

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

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

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. How does the sniper react to being shot?

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

5. How does the enemy sniper manage to shoot the protagonist?

6. Describe the wound that the sniper suffers.

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The words "dead" and "deadened" occur repeatedly in the paragraphs about the sniper getting hit with a bullet. Explain the thematic purpose of this repetition.

Essay Topic 2

Whiskey is sometimes disparagingly referred to as "Irish Courage." Justify the presence of the detail of the whiskey in "The Sniper," where space is at such a premium.

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 716 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample