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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 Sharpe think about El Catolico?

2. Who are Robert Knowles and Patrick Harper?

3. Why does Sharpe have his men make as much noise as possible?

4. Who is dead in the village?

5. What does Kearsey think he is doing?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who does not agree with most of the others, but why is that not obvious?

2. Who are discussing Sharpe's state of mind?

3. What does Sharpe observe during the fighting between the Spanish and French and for whom does he look?

4. Why are Sharpe's men angry and sad as they enter the village?

5. Who is Cox and what does Sharpe learn from him?

6. Describe Sharpe and Moreno's conversation.

7. Why is the mood somber in Chapter one among the forces allied against Napoleon?

8. Describe the encounter between Sharpe and Ayres.

9. Why is Harper proud and how much of his discovery is there?

10. What happens to Kearsey as he is returning to Sharpe's company?

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 womanizer. 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

In any book centered around the military, leadership of the troops is often crucial with the better leaders able to command the respect and loyalty of their men. The men's willingness to follow a particularly leader can have a decisive impact upon the success of a mission. Discuss the following:

1. Whose command style seems most effective? Analyze the elements of those effective leaders thoroughly and discuss the traits of the good leaders. What makes an excellent leader/commander? Give examples.

2. Whose command style seems least effective? Analyze the elements of those ineffective leaders thoroughly and discuss the traits of the poor leaders. What makes a poor leader/commander? Give examples.

3. Is disobeying a poor leader ever justifiable? Explain using details from the text, other books you have read and your personal experience. In times of war, disobeying an order can be punishable by death. Is this harsh sentence justifiable for such an act? Why or why not.

Essay Topic 3

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 Gold. 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 Gold 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 may 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.

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