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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 drink does Candy offer Marlowe?

2. What does Eileen make for Roger?

3. What does Marlowe find on the wastepaper basket?

4. What does Roger accuse Marlowe of doing?

5. Who does Marlowe give Eileen's confession to?

Short Essay Questions

1. What happens to Roger a week after the cocktail party?

2. How do the police respond to Marlowe's statement?

3. How does Marlowe prove Candy to be a liar in Section 7?

4. How does Marlowe react to Eileen's story?

5. What does Eileen say about her relationship with Roger in the fifth section?

6. What does Roger say about killing a man in Section 6?

7. What does Marlowe learn from the police in Section 7?

8. What new evidence does Roy Ashterfelt give Marlowe in Section 7?

9. How does Ohls think Roger was killed?

10. Summarize the story Eileen tells in Section 8.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What makes Marlowe a good private eye? Is Marlowe right when he says most Private Eyes finish broke or dead? How do the students think Marlowe manages to keep afloat?

Essay Topic 2

Why is it important for the wealthy newspaper owners to keep a lid on what happens in the book? In what way does the situation change for them to eventually release the information about the murder case? How do both the police and Marlowe use the press and how do the press use Marlowe and the police?

Essay Topic 3

Look at the structure of the novel.

1) How does Chandler use character and dialogue to drive the narrative?

2) Discuss elements of the narrative structure: exposition, conflict, complication, climax, resolution and conclusion. Do all the elements make for a logical and linear story? How does the story's structure express the novel's themes?

3) Aside from the main character, examine the way Chandler uses the other characters in the story. When does he introduce and take them away from the story? What effect does it have on the story?

(see the answer keys)

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