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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. Why does Sharpe think the men desert?

2. Why does Sharpe suggest the rumors are false?

3. What does El Castrador tell Sharpe when he arrives after the battle?

4. How does de Elia feel towards Loup?

5. Who talks to Sharpe about a morale problem?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Sharpe ask Runciman to do and why has he asked him instead of the British command?

2. What does Kiely tell Sharpe about the French and about his men?

3. What do Sharpe and his men find in the village when they get there?

4. What does Sharpe do with the two French prisoners and how does he handle Loup's anger?

5. What does Hogan tell Sharpe about Runciman and Loup's attack and what is Sharpe's response? What does Hogan tell him about it being Sharpe's fault?

6. How does Juanita arrive at San Isidoro and what is the response of some of the men?

7. Who is with the Portuguese and why is Sharpe happy about that?

8. What does Sharpe asks El Castrador about the village where Loup is and who goes there with Sharpe?

9. What happens to the Real Compañía Irlandesa officers in Loup's attack?

10. What does Sharpe see from the hill he is on, and what does he decide to do about it? What changes his decision?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Most protagonists are a mixture of admirable traits and character flaws, and Richard Sharpe is no exception. Sharpe's legendary powers of military strategy is juxtaposed with his reputation as a womanzier. Discuss the following:

1. Trace and analyze situations when Sharpe demonstrates his prodigious powers of military strategy. Give specific examples to illustrate your analysis.

2. Trace and analyze Sharpe's character flaws offering specific examples of these flaws in your discussion.

3. Discuss how you think Sharpe's admirable traits helped him obtain a high rank in the military despite his background as a child. Have his flaws impacted his career at all? Do any of those under his command seem to notice these flaws? Who? How does the reader know this?

Essay Topic 2

The military way of life is in and of itself similar to a distinct culture. Understanding how the military is organized, how it operates, and its basic rules of conduct will make any novel that centers on the military more understandable and enjoyable. Discuss one of the following:

1. Describe and analyze the military structure during the time of Sharpe's Battle. What is rank? What is the difference between officers and enlisted men? How serious is it to disobey an order? What happens if one decides he does not like being in the military and walks away? How are men conscripted? Does the infantry have a similar means of augmenting their ranks as the maritime action called "impressments"?

2. Compare the infantry of Sharpe's Battle to that in modern times in for the United States, England or France. What are the similarities? The differences? Are the changes from those times improvements? Why or why not? (This question will require some research).

3. Discuss why you think the military has the following: Uniforms, a rank structure of Officers and Enlisted, Strict Discipline, Training for New Recruits, Court Martial, and Different types of companies (i.e., rifle, Cavalry, artillery, etc). Discuss why you think men (and nowadays women) choose to become professional soldiers.

Essay Topic 3

Most of the French are gone when Sharpe and his men arrive at a small settlement, except for two men who are raping a young Spanish girl in one of the cottages. Sharpe and Harper enter the rest of the cottages and find a number of Spanish civilians have been slaughtered, some tortured and raped and many of them children. Sharpe gathers his men and prepares to execute the two Frenchmen who are left. Sharpe has the two prisoners put up against a wall and shot.

1. Discuss the differences between how a soldier who rapes and murders during war might behave in his own home. For example, do you think if a man who became a rapist and a murderer in war would have been a murderer and rapist had he never gone to war? Why or why not? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

2. Do you think what Sharpe did with the two French prisoners was right or wrong? Why or why not? Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

3. It is obvious from Sharpe's encounter with Loup that Loup encouraged or at least allowed his men to rape, torture and murder. Why do you think Sharpe did not kill Loup when he killed the two prisoners? Loup was under a flag of truce, but Sharpe had already broken the rules of war by executing the prisoners. Discuss the difference Sharpe may have seen between executing two prisoners and honoring a flag of truce. Use examples from the text and your own life to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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