Published: The New
Yorker; newyorker.com; November 24, 1997
Level of Difficulty
****
“Almost Two hundred
years later, Napoleon still finds himself in the heat of battle” Adam Gopnik
1.
In
what ways is Napoleon different from other famous leaders like Churchill and
Mussolini?
2.
What
does “the number” in the phrase “One puts the number at forty-five thousand” in
paragraph one refer to?
3.
Which
sentence in paragraph two best summarizes Schom’s attitude to Napoleon?
4.
Schom
asks the reader to see the events of 1812 through the lens of 1944. What
enables him to do this?
5.
At
the beginning of paragraph four, the writer poses a question. He says we need
to glance at why anyone, especially generations of intelligent Frenchmen from
Stendhal to Victor Hugo thought he was a hero. What is the answer?
6.
Napoleon’s
drill instructor issued the following order: “Civilize this dangerous
islander!”. Why exactly did he feel the need to say this?
7.
What
does “it” in the phrase “at a time when it was attached to the universalist…”
in paragraph seven refer to?
8.
What
characteristic of Napoleon is the story of the balloon an example of?
9.
It
is stated that Napoleon wrote essays about Robert Walpole’s politics, analyzed
Plato’s Republic, studied the ancient Persians and so on. What conclusion does
the writer draw about Napoleon from these examples?
10.
What
does “it” in the phrase “and in time, it became pure clannishness.” In
paragraph eight refer to?
11.
What
does “its” in the phrase “had taken as its motto St Just’s terrible statement…”
in paragraph nine refer to?
12.
Why
was Napoleon sent to fight the British under Admiral Hood?
13.
The
constitutionalists offered Napoleon the command in a quixotic plan: to take
Italy from France’s Austrian enemy states the text. What was the reason for
this move and what was the result of this campaign?
14.
In
the second half of paragraph eleven, find a single word meaning “to waste”.
15.
What
does “Its” in the phrase “Its adversaries, Elting writes…” in paragraph
thirteen refer to?
16.
In
what ways were Napoleon’ officers different from officers in other European
armies and in what ways were they similar to contemporary gang members?
17.
On
reading paragraph fifteen, we draw the conclusion that Napoleon was ver good at
motivating his men. State an example to support this opinion.
18.
Read
through paragraphs sixteen, seventeen and eighteen and try and complete the
following sentence: Napoleon, Louis XIV, current day politicians and P.R men
share the opinion that the best way to motivate men is ………………………………………………………………
19.
To
what do we owe the decoding of the Rosetta stone?
20.
Soon
after Napoleon became consul, there was a change in the way he went about
making war. What was that change?
21.
What
does “none of it” in the sentence “But none of it worked” in paragraph twenty
two refer to?
22.
What
is the establishment of modern day Germany attributed to?
23.
Why
exactly were so many famous liberals (Goya, Goethe, and Beethoven)
disillusioned with Napoleon and the French army?
24.
What
does “it” in the phrase “from which it emerged” in paragraph twenty five refer
to?
25.
How
did Napoleon probably die?
26.
Read
through paragraphs twenty seven and twenty eight and find two important
consequences of the Napoleonic era.
27.
Now
read through paragraph thirty and state clearly what Napoleon’s most important
legacy seems to be.
THE GOOD SOLDIER / KEY (newyorker.com)
This wonderful and informative text is most beneficial if the students
have come to class having read up on Napoleon. However, it isn’t a must. It
will take 60 minutes with a good upper intermediate or advanced class reading
and underlining answers if you do it in one go and then discuss it and check
answers. I prefer to break it up and go over it in chunks. It works better.
History is, as a subject, an all time favorite but in order for the text to go
well, you need to do some homework on Napoleon too. Enjoy; I have been for
years. Due to copyright issues, you will have to access the text yourselves.
1.
In
the case of no other historical figure does opinion diverge so widely, accept
so extensive a set of judgments, or differ so radically from country to
country.
2.
The
number of books
3.
Nothing
Napoleon does is any good at all.
4.
The
nationalism of the man not born of the nation; the failed invasion of Russia;
the eventual defeat; the millions dead.
5.
The
Napoleonic period also includes the rise of professions open to talent and the
growth of the mass democratic army – in fact of the modern state and all the
manipulations necessary to make it run.
6.
Napoleon
was violently anti French and he saw his mission in life as the liberation of
Corsica from the French
7.
The
virus of romantic nationalism.
8.
He
had an outsider’s freedom to be a little dangerous.
9.
The
Enlightenment side of Napoleon is the most attractive side of his character.
10.
Corsica
as an abstract ideal
11.
This
proto-Khmer rouge group.
12.
He
asked to be sent somewhere on the frontier where he would not have to fight
Frenchmen.
13.
Napoleon
who was one of the few trained artillery officers around…
14.
Squander
15.
The
French Revolutionary army
16.
They
were the sons of merchants and millers and innkeepers and tanners and barrel
coopers./ They had to make their authority manifest through bold unmistakable
symbols.
17.
He
gave each fighting group a personalized slogan to attach to its colors. There
are many others.
18.
Baubles.
Have the students explain too.
19.
To
the fact that Napoleon had brought with him from Paris to Egypt a clutch of
intellectuals…
20.
His
war making took on a compulsive touch
21.
None
of what he did to force himself into absolutist Europe.
22.
Napoleon’s
attack on the little German states.
23.
Because
Napoleon’s armies committed massacres left and right.
24.
The
democratic army
25.
Arsenic
poisoning
26.
It
helped create, by imperial aggression, the conditions for romantic nationalism;
Napoleon solved the crucial problem of national size.
27.
Napoleon’s
legacy has become one more demonstration of the power of words and abstract
symbols to create a reality of their own
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