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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 owns Gieger's house?

2. where does Marlowe take the killer?

3. When does the woman say Geiger will be back?

4. How is the Kid linked to Geiger?

5. What is the man doing in the back room?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why can Marlowe not catch the killer?

2. Why does Marlowe return to Geiger's house?

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

4. Why does Mrs. Mars refuse to go with Marlowe?

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

6. Describe the two Sternwood girls.

7. What does Marlowe hear when he eavesdrops on the conversation in chapter 26?

8. What suggestion are there that Geiger's store maybe a smut shop?

9. What does Marlowe report to the Sternwood's butler?

10. How does Harry claim Mars killed Regan?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What does Eddie Mars presence add to the book? How and why does Marlowe deal with Mars to get the information he wants? In what way is Mars a typical character from thirties popular culture?

Essay Topic 2

The Big Sleep is known as hardboiled crime fiction.

1) What are the conventions of the genre in terms of character, language and plot?

2) In what way did Big Sleep help to set the template for similar novels? Do modern novels still use the ideas used in Big Sleep?

Essay Topic 3

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?

(see the answer keys)

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