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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. Why does Marlowe wipe the gun down with a handkerchief?

2. Where does Miss Fromsett say she'll look for the name of Mrs. Almore's parents?

3. When does Lavery say he was up at Little Fawn Lake?

4. Who does the police lieutenant who comes to see Marlowe say will want to talk to Marlowe before the inquest?

5. Where did the sheriff find Muriel's anklet?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Marlowe treat the bellhop captain?

2. How would you characterize the way that Miss Fromsett treats Marlowe?

3. What do Bill Chess's wife and Kingsley's wife have in common?

4. How does the woman in Lavery's house leave?

5. Why does Marlowe initially sit in his car after visiting Lavery?

6. What things does Marlowe list that might have happened to Kingsley's wife?

7. How does Kingsley act, when Marlowe first meets him?

8. What does Lavery look like?

9. What does Marlowe notice about Lavery's phone?

10. Where is Lavery going, when he leaves the house?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the novel, Phillip Marlowe encounters corruption, both moral and ethical. Discuss corruption in the novel.

1) How are the police in the novel corrupt, and how does Marlowe perceive that corruption?

2) What kinds of moral corruption does Marlowe face among the people he comes into contact with? How is that moral corruption related to the corruption of the police?

3) How does Marlowe deal with temptations to corruption, such as Kingsley offering him money to cover up a murder?

Essay Topic 2

Degarmo both brings Marlowe into the central mystery of the story and drives the ending of the novel. Discuss Degarmo's character.

1) Why does Degarmo try to protect his wife? Why does he ultimately kill her?

2) In what ways is Degarmo corrupt? What is the motivation behind his corruption?

3) How intelligent is Degarmo? What mistakes does he make? How does Marlowe see through him?

Essay Topic 3

The novel is full of clues and implications inherent in events that Marlowe must interpret in order to find the truth. Discuss clues and implications in the novel.

1) How are clues that Marlowe finds deceptive? How do they give hints to the truth? How does Marlowe discern one from the other?

2) What does Marlowe infer from others' behavior? How is he able to make these inferences?

3) What does Marlowe infer from activity that he observes around him? How is observation and inference related? What skills does Marlowe use to make these inferences?

(see the answer keys)

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