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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. Who does Marlowe find at Geiger's house?

2. What is the name of the woman behind the curtain?

3. Who does Marlowe talk to in chapter three?

4. Why does Marlowe insist that the Kid has a key?

5. Which character could land in prison?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Ohl's say in his phone conversation to Marlowe?

2. Describe what Marlowe does when he gets back to his apartment in chapter 30.

3. How does Marlowe get Brody to lower his gun?

4. How do Art and Canino beat up Marlowe?

5. How does Carmen react to Marlowe's rejection?

6. Why can Marlowe not catch the killer?

7. What has Marlowe figured out about the case in the final chapter?

8. What does chapter 31 say about Carmen's character?

9. Why does Marlowe kiss Mrs. Mars?

10. What does Marlowe discover from the dead body?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine violence in the novel:

1) How do the characters in the novel view violence? Are there are character that would think twice before shooting or hitting someone?

2) Do the characters need to be violent to cope in the world that Chandler portrays?

3) How do the students think the public reacted to the novel's violence when it was first published? How would the public react to such a book today?

Essay Topic 2

Identify the main themes of the story. Why do you think these themes are so important to the story? How does Chandler use character and setting to express these themes?

Essay Topic 3

What is Chandler's view on homosexuality? How does he communicate these views through Marlowe? Why do the students think that Chandler links his homosexual characters to pornography and murder?How would the majority of readers in the thirties have reacted to a homosexual character?

(see the answer keys)

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