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

Short Answer Questions

1. Who enters as Spade is about to leave his office?

2. Who does Sam send Iva to see?

3. Where does leave for at the end of this chapter?

4. What country is the ship coming from?

5. What hotel does Spade drive to in this chapter?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The Maltese Falcon is written in the first person. Why do you think Hammett chose to write the story in the first person? How do you think the meaning of the story would of changed if it was written in the third person?

Essay Topic 2

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 3

The Maltese Falcon is part of the crime genre.

1) What are the conventions of the The Maltese Falcon genre in terms of character, language and plot?

2) In what way did The Maltese Falcon help to set the template for similar crime novels? Do modern crime novels still use the ideas used in The Maltese Falcon?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 219 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample