View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does the coroner rule Eileen's death as?

2. Who does Eileen call to the house?

3. Who does Eileen dream about?

4. What alcoholic beverage does Roger drink?

5. What does Marlowe tell Spencer when Eileen leaves the room?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Ohls think Roger was killed?

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

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

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

5. What does Roger tell Marlowe about Terry in Section 7?

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

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

8. Why does Candy try and blackmail Marlowe in Section 6?

9. What does Roger say to Marlowe at the party in section 5?

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

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

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?

Essay Topic 3

Examine the effects of the Second World War in 1940s and 1950s America.

1) In what way does WWII cast a shadow over the novel and its characters?

2) Choose one of the characters in the novel and write what effect the students think WWII had on his/her mindset.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 729 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample