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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 Lavery tell Marlowe about Crystal Kingsley?

2. What car does Lavery drive?

3. When does Lavery say he was up at Little Fawn Lake?

4. What does Marlowe ask Kingsley for?

5. Who is waiting for Marlowe in Chess's cabin?

Short Essay Questions

1. Where is Lavery going, when he leaves the house?

2. How does Kingsley react to news of Muriel's death?

3. What does Marlowe say to do about the handkerchief.

4. What does Bill Chess do to himself, after shouting at the sheriff to arrest him?

5. What gives Marlowe a scare while he is searching the Chesses' cabin?

6. What do Bill Chess's wife and Kingsley's wife have in common?

7. At the end of chapter fourteen, what does Marlowe tell Kingsley is his next step?

8. What things does Marlowe list that might have happened to Kingsley's wife?

9. Why does Marlowe initially sit in his car after visiting Lavery?

10. How does Marlowe treat the bellhop captain?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

The novel is full of clues and implications inherent in events that Marlowe must interpret in order to find the truth. Discuss clues and implications in the novel.

1) How are clues that Marlowe finds deceptive? How do they give hints to the truth? How does Marlowe discern one from the other?

2) What does Marlowe infer from others' behavior? How is he able to make these inferences?

3) What does Marlowe infer from activity that he observes around him? How is observation and inference related? What skills does Marlowe use to make these inferences?

Essay Topic 2

Through Marlowe's association with crime, he naturally is associated with police and law enforcers. Discuss the police and law enforcers in the novel.

1) What different sides are there to police and law enforcement in the novel, both positive and negative?

2) How does Marlowe relate to the police in the novel? What is his relationship with law enforcement like?

3) Discuss specific officers of the law in the novel, including Patton, Degarmo, Webber, and uniformed police Marlowe deals with. How do they perceive their jobs? How do they deal with the multifaceted nature of law enforcement?

Essay Topic 3

Marlowe's job puts him into dangerous situations. Discuss danger in the novel.

1) What causes danger in the novel? How is danger inherent in Marlowe's work?

2) How does Marlowe react to dangerous situations? What are his emotional responses? What are his intellectual responses, and what action does he take?

3) How do the antagonists in the novel react when they are in danger?

(see the answer keys)

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