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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 is the name of the doctor's housekeeper?

2. What is the name of the woman's maid?

3. What is the rank of the officer that was traveling with the Prime Minister?

4. What was the name of the town where the incident was reported by the chauffeur and Prime Minister?

5. Where does Poirot go after he and Hastings leave the Grand Metropolitan?

Short Essay Questions

1. Who approaches Poirot and Hastings while they are talking about peace negotiations? Who is the main character in the discussion?

2. What is unusual about Poirot's initial thoughts on the case?

3. What seems to be the most difficult part of the trip for Poirot?

4. Who was supposedly visiting the count? What was overheard by Foscatini's valet?

5. What information does Poirot learn about Daniels? Which family members are included in the information?

6. What actions did Davenheim/Kellet take to keep the police and others from searching for him after the robbery?

7. Who is the first alleged guest to be interviewed by Poirot? What happened?

8. What actually happened to the Prime Minister? Who was responsible?

9. The two men ask Poirot to help find the Prime Minister who has been kidnapped. Where was the Prime Minister going when the kidnapping occurred? What was the original travel plan?

10. What is Poirot's theory on how the crime occurred? Who was responsible?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Miss Mary Marvell approaches Poirot with an unusual problem, claiming that there is a curse of sorts on her prized diamond. What is the name of the diamond and its companion piece? Discuss the so-called curse on the diamond. What is unusual about the diamond to begin with? To whom did the diamonds originally belong? What is supposed to be done with the diamonds in order to remove the curse? What is Poirot supposed to accomplish by investigating the case? How does Poirot solve the case?

Essay Topic 2

Inspector Japp is always attempting to keep up with Poirot or even exceed the Belgian detective's crime solving skills. Unfortunately, Japp is always at least one step behind Poirot. Compare and contrast Inspector Japp and Hercule Poirot, their skill set, and successes in solving crimes.

Essay Topic 3

Symbolism is an important part of a mystery, often giving clues to the reader and the story's detective. What are the ways in which Christie uses symbolism in her stories? Give examples of blatant symbolism, such as the key in "The Case of the Missing Will" and more subtle symbolism. Compare and contrast the symbolism used in the Hercule Poirot mysteries and the mysteries in which Miss Marple is the sleuth.

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This section contains 756 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample