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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. Where does Charles kick Susan in "Endgame"?

2. What year is it in Leigh's novel Chapter 21, The Final Act?

3. In "The Letter," where did a waiter take a writing course that included Conway as an instructor?

4. In "A Secret Never to be Told," who does Pund say killed Robert's brother, Tom?

5. In "Detective Work," how many people does Susan say are more likely to have killed Conway than John White?

Short Essay Questions

1. In "After the Funeral," how does Susan describe the reception after Conway's funeral?

2. In "Crouch End," why do Susan and Andreas argue?

3. In "He Used to Hide Things," why does John White say that he and Conway had a falling out?

4. In "After Funeral," what does Claire give Susan and why?

5. In "A Secret Never to be Told," what does Pund tell Fraser in a letter?

6. In a letter that Alan Conway writes to Charles Clover, why does he say that he is committing suicide?

7. What does Susan say about Alan's novel The Slide?

8. What does Susan do after she recovers?

9. Why does Susan not want to read the last chapter of Magpie Murders when she is in the hospital?

10. In "The Road to Framlingham," what does Charles ask Susan?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

James tells Susan that Conway borrowed character names and used unusual naming conventions. What does James tell Susan about the way that Conway named his characters? What does Susan discover about Conway’s naming conventions? What does she think about what she discovers? What is revealed about the importance of names in literature?

Essay Topic 2

Mary Blakiston is dead when Magpie Murders begins. How does the author reveal who Mary was and what people thought of her? How would you describe Mary and the type of person that she was?

Essay Topic 3

There is a murder mystery in Susan’s narrative and also in Magpie Murders. What is similar about the murders of Magnus and the murders of Conway? What do the men know that the murderer wants kept a secret? Why does the secret that each man has lead to his murder?

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