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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 is the recruiter like who they encounter?

2. Who is Lord Simon Fenner?

3. Who, along with Harper, enjoys the crowds?

4. Upon whom is Sharpe invited to call?

5. Why do Girdwood and Simmerson make such an effort to find escaped recruits?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Sergeant Carew at the second battalion depot tell Sharpe?

2. What happens that makes Sharpe believe he can straighten out the problem with the second battalion?

3. What does Jane tell him about the system for the recruits there and what does she say she will do?

4. What happens when Marriott attempts to escape?

5. What are a couple of irregularities Sharpe notices about the recruiting Havercamp is doing?

6. What does Sharpe decide is the best course of action following his encounter in the city? How do he and Harper live?

7. What are Girdwood's orders concerning Harper and what does Harper do?

8. What do the recruits do for the next few days after Sharpe and Harper enlist and where are they taken?

9. What does Sharpe give Maggie and why?

10. Where do Harper and Sharpe go and why do they receive attention? How do Sharpe and Harper feel about the attention?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Crimping, while common, is illegal and obviously quite lucrative. Fenner and Simmerson have profited greatly from their scheme, as has Girdwood, but to a lesser degree. The three men are influential, powerful, and unlikely to give up this lucrative source of income easily.

1. Discuss the possible motives and benefits to being involved in a lucrative but illegal activity. Include in your discussion whether the benefits are worth the possible consequences and if the damage to one's character is worth the benefits. Use examples from the text and your own experience to support your answer.

2. The three men involved in the recruiting scheme are influential and powerful. Do you believe it is easier for that type of person to get away with criminal activity than the average person? Why or why not? Use examples from the text and your own experience to support your answer.

3. After research, compare Fenner to a modern day American politician who has been cited for a scandal while in office. Use examples from the text and your own experience to support your answer.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss one of the following:

1. Trace and analyze one major theme of Sharpe's Regiment. Consider the following: How does one character's actions portray the theme you are analyzing? How does the setting contribute to that theme? Is the theme one that you would call a "universal theme"? If so, what other book or novel that you have read also includes this theme. If not, why don't you think it is a "universal" theme?

2. Trace and analyze two secondary themes of Sharpe's Regiment. How does one character's actions portray the themes you are analyzing? How does the setting contribute to those themes? Is each theme one that you would call a "universal theme"? If so, what other book or novel that you have read also includes this theme? If not, why don't you think it is a "universal" theme?

3. What benefit is there in discussing and analyzing the themes of a work of fiction? Do you think most authors consciously develop themes in their works? Why or why not? Can there be accidental themes? What do you think is one possible "accidental" theme in Sharpe's Regiment? Which theme in Sharpe's Regiment speaks to you the most in your life? Why?

Essay Topic 3

The conclusion of Chapter 19 finds Sharpe at his lowest ebb--he has "solved" the mystery of his missing men but has also fallen into the hands of his enemies, is under official arrest, and is powerless to effect change. At this point, he appears entirely subject to the whims of Fenner, who plans to send him away under official condemnation.

1. There is a saying in writing circles that for good conflict one needs to: "put a character out on a limb then keep making the limb weaker and weaker." Discuss this idea in relationship to the chronological events that puts Sharpe under arrest and powerless.

2. Discuss what you believe are the emotional, psychological and physical reactions to being powerless and how a person might mitigate some of those reactions. Include in your discussion the harm or benefit one might derive from being powerless.

3. Sharpe is powerless. Most people find themselves in situations in life in which they are powerless. Discuss some lessons one could learn from being powerless. Use examples from the text and your own experience to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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