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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 Lord Peter do during World War I?

2. What does Hilary Thorpe find in the church belfry while helping Mrs. Venables ready the church for the Easter service?

3. Who is Mrs. Gates?

4. What object does Lord Peter find in the church belfry that he believes may yield fingerprints?

5. Why doesn't Lord Peter think Will Thoday is the man who buried Legros in Lady Thorpe's grave?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do the police believe Jeff Deacon is dead?

2. What is the Fens, the novel's setting, like?

3. Why is Lady Thorpe's grave reopened and what do Harry Gotobed and his son find inside the grave when they reopen it?

4. Who does Potty Peake's claim to have seen in the church with Legros, and what does his claim imply and how reliable is it considered?

5. What does the sluice-keeper complain about in the chapter entitled "Tailor Paul is Called Before With a Single," and what does his complaint foreshadow?

6. How does a letter for Paul Taylor eliminate Cranton as the corpse from Lady Thorpe's grave?

7. What does Lord Peter fish out of the churchyard well and how do these items relate to the murder of the unidentified corpse?

8. What is known about the manner of the death of the unknown male corpse in Lady Thorpe's grave?

9. Why does Sir Henry Thorpe end up broke due to the theft of Lady Wilbraham's emerald necklace?

10. What reason does Jean Legros give his wife for his return to England?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the concept of religion and ritual in The Nine Tailors. What do you think the author is trying to say about religion in English society through this novel? Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the subplots in the novel. Explain how each subplot relates to the main plot and how it contributes to characterization in the novel. Cite examples from the text to support your arguments.

Essay Topic 3

Dorothy L. Sayers uses foreshadowing throughout The Nine Tailors. Give at least three examples of foreshadowing from the novel and discuss how foreshadowing is used in each example to indicate events to come later in the story.

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This section contains 1,090 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample