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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 kind of weapon does Candy prove that he is skilled with?

2. What does Candy threaten Eileen with?

3. What does Roger accuse Marlowe of doing?

4. How does Marlowe describe Big Willie Magoon?

5. What does the coroner rule Eileen's death as?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why is Marlowe concerned about Eileen's reaction to her husband's injury?

2. What does Roger say to Marlowe at the party in section 5?

3. How does Marlowe prove Candy to be a liar in Section 7?

4. Why does Marlowe think Eileen and Roger are wresting over a gun in the sixth section?

5. How does Marlowe react to Eileen's story?

6. What does Eileen say about her relationship with Roger in the fifth section?

7. What does Marlowe learn from the police in Section 7?

8. Why does Candy try and blackmail Marlowe in Section 6?

9. How does Marlowe react to Roger's death?

10. What does Roger say about killing a man in Section 6?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Examine Marlowe's friendship with Terry.

1) Why does Marlowe feel so close to Terry? Does Chandler develop their friendship enough for Marlowe's feeling to seem authentic?

2) In what does Marlowe's friendship with Terry show a different side to Marlowe?

Essay Topic 2

Examine the political side of the novel.

1) What does the book say about politics in America after World War II?

2) What were Chandler's political views and how does he express his views in the novel?

3) How did the 1973 film use Chandler's ideas to make a statement about 1970s society and politics?

Essay Topic 3

Why is it important for the wealthy newspaper owners to keep a lid on what happens in the book? In what way does the situation change for them to eventually release the information about the murder case? How do both the police and Marlowe use the press and how do the press use Marlowe and the police?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 738 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample