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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. When the sniper turns over the body of his enemy, whom does he discover it to be?

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

3. What nearby area of the city is under heavy fire?

4. What finally changes the way that the sniper is feeling?

5. What is the first physical sensation the sniper feels in the place where he has been shot?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

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

4. How does the sniper react to being shot?

5. How does the sniper fool his enemy?

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

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

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

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Analyze the last line of the story "The Sniper." Be sure to include a discussion of the layers of meaning in the word "brother" and to explain how this line impacts the overall meaning of the story.

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

Explain the symbolic significance of the sniper's bullet injury and his treatment of it. Be sure to use textual evidence to support your claim.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 736 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample