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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. Who does Linnet Doyle claim has been following her while on her honeymoon?

2. Who does Poirot say in chapter 7 governs the affairs of life and death?

3. What do Poirot and Mrs. Allerton think of Mr. Fanthrop in chapter 7?

4. Who do Race and Poirot interview first about the two shootings in chapter 13?

5. Where did Colonel Race learn that his agitator would be on the cruise ship?

Short Essay Questions

1. In chapter 6, what advice does Poirot give to Simon Doyle about evading Jackie in the future?

2. In chapter 4, why does Linnet Doyle approach Poirot? What does she ask of him?

3. In chapter 9, what is odd about Mrs. Otterbourne's behavior?

4. In chapter 10, what happens to make Simon think that Jackie is trying to make an attempt on Linnet's life?

5. In chapter 13, who is Poirot's first suspect when he learns that Linnet Doyle has been killed?

6. In chapter 6, who does Simon Doyle tell Poirot Mr. Pennington is? What is significant about Pennington's running into Linnet and Simon on their honeymoon?

7. How does Poirot react in chapter 8 when he sees Jackie on board the cruise ship?

8. In chapter 10, who does Poirot speak to about Linnet? What does he learn?

9. In chapter 14, Poirot and Race interview Simon Doyle about the death of his wife. Who does Simon immediately defend as the murderer? Who does Simon suggest might have committed the murder?

10. In chapter 16, Race and Poirot interview Miss van Schuyler. Who does Miss van Schuyler claim she saw throwing something overboard the night of the murder? What does this imply about the person in question?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Why does Jackie admit to killing Linnet, the maid, and Mrs. Otterbourne? For what reason does she say she did this? Why did Simon marry Linnet in the first place? How does this prove that Linnet was not the bad person Jackie portrayed her to be? How did Simon really feel about Linnet? Why did he kill her? What did he hope would be the ultimate reward of killing Linnet? How does Jackie respond to Poirot's accusations? To the news that Simon has admitted the truth? What happens to Jackie and Simon in the end?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss one of the following in an essay, using quotes from the novel to support any conclusions:

1) Metaphor

2) Irony

3) Symbolism.

Essay Topic 3

What one thing do several of the passengers report hearing about the time of the murder? What is significant about this? What do the sailors find in the river upon searching at Poirot's request? What is this item wrapped in? What is significant about this? What bothers Poirot about this? Who saw Rosalie at the railings about the time of the murder the night before? What was Rosalie doing? Why does Rosalie initially deny being on the deck? Who did Rosalie see that night? Why does she refuse to tell anyone about this sighting? What comes of this information?

(see the answer keys)

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