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

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

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

4. What does the sniper do when he realizes that his enemy is dead?

5. What is the only description given of the old woman?

Short Essay Questions

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

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

3. What motivates the sniper to discover the identity of the dead man, and what is that identity?

4. How does the sniper react to being shot?

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

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

7. Describe the wound that the sniper suffers.

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is the most reasonable explanation of the sniper's choice to light the cigarette that gives away his position? Provide textual evidence for your claim.

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the symbolic value of the description of setting in the story's opening paragraph.

Essay Topic 3

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.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 708 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample