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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 Iris tell Qwilleran about the ghost, Mathilda?

2. What is one supernatural theory about Glanz death?

3. What is the gossip about the finial?

4. Why does Miss Duckworth decline Qwilleran's invitation to dinner?

5. What is settled before Qwilleran takes the apartment?

Short Essay Questions

1. How is the cab driver's conversation with Qwilleran on the way to Junktown a foreshadowing of the novel?

2. What have the policemen concluded about Andy's death?

3. What is the apartment like that Iris shows Qwilleran?

4. How does Patch refute the suggestion that he was fired by Andy Glanz for drinking.

5. Describe the character of C. C. Cobb.

6. How does Qwilleran happen to get an invitation to Mary Duckworth 's place his first night in his apartment?

7. How does the author use conversation at the auction to introduce the main complications of the plot?

8. What information bombshell does Sylvia Katzenhide inadvertently drop when Qwilleran calls on her?

9. Why does Iris come to Qwilleran's apartment early one morning?

10. What questions are raised in the mind of the reader when the Mackintosh Coat of Arms is introduced?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

In two or more type written double spaced pages, write an essay on "Lilian Jackson Braun as a Mystery Writer". Select three or more elements of style (e.g., vocabulary, literary tools such as similes and metaphors, and/or building suspense at the end of a chapter to keep the pages turning. Discuss your selections in detail, and give your opinion as to Braun's effectiveness with these elements.

Essay Topic 2

In two or more type written double spaced pages, write an essay on "Murder Mysteries Set Before the 21st Century". You may want to use example of writers beside Braun (e.g., Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Ellery Queen, etc.) to discuss how clues and reasoning provide the solutions to the mysteries as opposed to DNA samples and other modern day crime solving techniques.

Essay Topic 3

In two or more type written double spaced pages, write an essay on "Why Innocent Characters Must Be Suspects in a Mystery Novel". From Braun's novel, use Hollis Krantz, Iris Cobb, and Mary Duckworth as potential murderers within the novel.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 830 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample