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THE MANAGED MUTINY

History's realities are seldom dull.

Review Questions

Vocabulary:
garrisoned, mutiny, curt, insurrection, incipient, unwittingly, dispatch, divest, malcontents, conspirators, mutineers, melancholy, rigour, vexatious, censured, indiscreet, injudicious, martinet, court-martialled, melancholy, rigour, lapses, enmity, decisive, fatigue, dispelled, sullen, morale

1. (a) What caused the discontent and planned insurrection? (b) What do you think the threatening words might have been?

2. (a) Brock acted with dispatch by doing what? (b) What alternative did he have?

3. Why do you think Brock immediately suspected the sergeant? (What might have given him away?)

5. Explain: (a) the sheer force of his commanding presence; (b) vexatious authority; (c) instinctive fairness; (d) extreme rigor; (e) insipient revolt; (f) unwittingly alerted; (g) plea and justification; (h) censured for being indiscreet and injudicious; (i) small lapses.

6. (a) What did Brock mean when he said that Sheaffe had "little knowledge of mankind"? (b) How did Sheaffe reveal this by his actions? (c) What should Brock have done about this?

7. What word in the narrative suggests that some of the troops really hated Sheaffe?

8. Not all of the insurgents were executed. Why?

9. Why do you think Brock's relatively minor changes made such a difference in the behaviour and attitude of the men?

10.What was the most important result of Brock's intervention at Fort George?

11.Briefly summarize the main idea and important details of this narrative.

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