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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. What does Spade do when Cairo is close enough?

2. Whose apartment does Spade arrive at at the beginning of this chapter?

3. How does Spade get to the murder site?

4. Who has called Spade at his office?

5. How many hours had Brigid been waiting in Spade's office?

Short Essay Questions

1. In what way does Spade choose loyalty over Brigid in the final chapter?

2. How does Spade rid Cairo of his weapon?

3. How are Spade suspicions about Cairo's sexual orientation confirmed by Brigid?

4. What does Spade tell Brigid that Cairo wants?

5. Describe the man's entrance into Spade's office at the end of the fifteenth chapter?

6. What does horse feathers mean in terms of the eighth chapter?

7. In what way does the sixteenth chapter express the problems of its time?

8. What do Spade and Tom Polhaus discuss in the second chapter?

9. What does the final chapter say about Spade's character?

10. Why is Brigid so distressed in the fourth chapter?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The main themes in the novel are greed, loyalty and crime. Take one of these themes and discuss how Hammett expresses them in the book? Why do you think these themes were important concerns in 1920s America?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the values of 1920s.

1) Why was greed and loyalty such an issue during this time?

2) In what ways are the characters negative characteristics are product of their time? Do you think America was going through a transitional phase in the the 1920s? What significant changes do you think occurred during this period?

3)Does modern society share any values with 1920s America?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss Hammett's life. In what way do you think his life and personality is reflected in the book?

(see the answer keys)

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