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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 Killick tell Sharpe about his tale concerning sailors and hanging?

2. What does Harper manage to repair in the fort?

3. What is bothering Sharpe as he marches?

4. What does Sharpe do after they cross the Leyre River?

5. With whom does Ducos meet?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do the French do on their first assault on the fortress?

2. What type of crime was committed in the town and what happens to the perpetrator?

3. What type of tactic has Sharpe used to get his men out of the fort? Describe how it worked.

4. What do Sharpe and Frederickson think about their situation and what troubles Sharpe?

5. What occurs during the exchange between Calvet and Killick?

6. What happens when Sharpe sees de Maquerre?

7. What do both Calvet and Sharpe realize about the assaults on the fortress and how it will end.

8. What finally sets up a French assault for the next day?

9. What does colonel Favier ask Sharpe and what is his reply?

10. What happens with Ducos' plan and how does Sharpe feel about de Maquerre's information?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

At the conclusion of a novel, most readers either consciously or unconsciously engage in processing the book and usually come to a conclusion as to whether they like the book or not. Discuss one of the following:

1. Would you consider Sharpe's Siege a "good" book? Why or why not? Use examples to illustrate your stance.

2. What do you think are the elements of an outstanding novel? Analyze one of your favorite novels to see if those elements are present.

3. What are some reasons you might consider a novel a failure? Analyze a novel you think is a failure and see if those elements are in that novel.

Essay Topic 2

Although Hogan's fever and eventual death is not focused on in a dominant way, the credibility of the basic plot relies heavily on this intelligence officer's information being withheld due to illness. In other words, Sharpe will go to war believing he is to act a certain way while in point of fact his mission was intended to be something else entirely. Choose one of the following to answer in detail:

1. Explain why the convenience of Hogan's illness is likely a narrative contrivance. Use examples from the text to support your answer.

2. Explain how you believe the plot could have worked without Hogan's illness. Use examples from the text to support your answer.

3. Based on Sharpe's behavior in his decision not to go to Bordeaux because of a "feeling" about de Marquerre, why would the author go to the trouble of inventing Hogan? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

The technical discussion of the fortress' construction is interesting and precise, though the large amount of jargon makes an appreciation of the fortress' strength difficult to assess without reference to a military dictionary. However, a full understanding of the layout is not necessary to the novel. Instead, the general feeling that the fortress is well-designed and difficult to penetrate is sufficient. Choose one of the following to answer in detail:

1. Did you find the technical data to be easy to understand in the way in which the author presented it? Why or why not? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

2. In what ways did the amount of description and technical data on the fortress add to and subtract from the experience of reading the book? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

3. If the last sentence above is true and a full layout was not necessary, why do you think the author wrote so much detail into the book? Use examples from the text to support your answer.

(see the answer keys)

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