View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. In chapter 20, who does Mrs. Allerton suggest would accuse a friend of the family, Mrs. Portarlington, to have replaced the diamonds in an expensive necklace with fakes?

2. In chapter 30, why does Jackie say it is good that she has been caught?

3. In chapter 22, what do Race and Poirot find in Mr. Fanthrop's cabin?

4. In chapter 28, who assures Cornelia that everything outside of the actual evidence against the killer is being concealed?

5. In chapter 20, what does Poirot say he is experiencing trouble with?

Short Essay Questions

1. In chapter 27, why does Poirot decide to allow Tim Allerton to go free even though he has essentially confessed to a crime?

2. In chapter 23, Poirot confronts Miss Otterbourne once again. What is the nature of this confrontation?

3. In chapter 25, how does Pennington respond when Poirot and Race confront him about the use of his gun in the murder of Mrs. Otterbourne?

4. In chapter 19, who does Simon Doyle ask to see? For what reason?

5. In chapter 29, who does Poirot finally accuse of being Linnet, the maid, and Mrs. Otterbourne's killers?

6. In chapter 28, what does Cornelia learn about her aunt that upsets her? Why?

7. In chapter 27, with what does Poirot confront Tim Allerton?

8. In chapter 21, where does Miss Bowers claim she got the pearls? Why did she not come forward sooner?

9. In chapter 18, Poirot and Race interview Mr. Pennington. Who does Mr. Pennington suggest is the killer? What reason does Mr. Pennington give for quickly leaving the interview?

10. In chapter 17, Miss Otterbourne refutes everything that Miss van Schuyler said about her in a previous chapter. Could Miss van Schuyler be lying? For what purpose?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Who is Rosalie Otterbourne? What is her relationship to Poirot? How do most people see Rosalie upon first meeting her? What is Rosalie's mother like? What does Mrs. Otterbourne do for a living? How does this occupation embarrass Rosalie? For what reason? Who is Tim Allerton? How are the characters of Tim and Rosalie similar? How are they different? Why does Tim dislike Rosalie upon their first meeting? Is this opinion likely to change as the novel progresses? Explain.

Essay Topic 2

Who is Jackie? What happened to Jackie's family money? Why is this significant? Who is Simon? How does Jackie feel about Simon? What does Poirot overhear Jackie and Simon talking about? What does Poirot take from this conversation? How does Jackie know Linnet? Why does Jackie go to Linnet for help? What kind of help does Jackie ask for? What is Linnet's response? What does this say about the relationship between Jackie and Linnet?

Essay Topic 3

Who is Pennington? How does he explain running into Simon and Linnet on their honeymoon? What does Pennington tell Poirot about his relationship to Linnet and her family? What does Pennington attempt to have Linnet do while on the cruise ship? Who interferes with this process? For what reason? What kind of business woman is Linnet? What impact might this have on her future? How is Linnet almost injured while visiting some temples? Who does Simon blame for this attack on his wife? Who is really responsible?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 1,265 words (approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample