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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Cornish McManus make out of rough-sawn "blanks"?
(a) Pistol grips
(b) Gun barrels
(c) Roofing shingles
(d) Gun-stocks

2. What type of grease does Cornish McManus use to lubricate his patches?
(a) Axle grease
(b) Bear grease
(c) Hoppe's #9
(d) Rancid butter

3. What do the colonials call Americans who do not want to gain independence from British rule?
(a) Scabs
(b) Georgites
(c) Boers
(d) Loyalists

4. What is the final operation in the construction of Cornish McManus' "sweet" rifle?
(a) Selecting the stock blank
(b) Welding on the front sight
(c) Drilling the hole from the pan through the barrel
(d) Fitting the barrel to the stock

5. What is the longitudinal exterior shape of the barrel of Cornish McManus' "sweet" rifle?
(a) Square
(b) Octagonal
(c) Hexagonal
(d) Round

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the twist rate of the rifling of the barrel of Cornish McManus' "sweet" rifle?

2. What is John Byam paid for joining a volunteer unit in fighting against the British?

3. Tim Harrow is honorably discharged from which branch of the armed forces?

4. What does Harv Kline do with the "sweet" rifle?

5. What is the irregular mark called that is left on a bullet after it is cast?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe how the British are presented in the novel.

2. Why does John Byam kill the first British officer that he kills?

3. When John Byam uses the rifle to kill British officers, who is doing the killing--Byam or the rifle?

4. The "sweet" rifle shoots a .40 caliber ball; most rifles of the period shot a much, much larger ball. Does the small caliber of the "sweet" rifle reduce its killing capability?

5. Do you think that John Waynewright would have valued Cornish McManus's "sweet" rifle?

6. In reviewing John Byam's actions in the novel, would you consider him a hero?

7. In order to fire properly, the following things must be true: "the powder is dry and in good shape" (p. 16); "the flint is clean and with a new sharp edge" (p. 16); "the frizzen is wiped dry" (p. 16); "the spring on the hammer is strong" (p. 16); "the flint [slams] hard against the frizzen" (p. 16); "the powder is positioned correctly in the pan" (p. 17). Explain how all of these things happen to occur on Christmas Eve, 1993.

8. Why does it take Cornish McManus so long to build the "sweet" rifle?

9. What types of uses is Cornish McManus' "sweet" rifle put to during the novel?

10. What aspect of Cornish McManus's personality, that John Waynewright dislikes, allows him to build a "sweet" rifle?

(see the answer keys)

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