Discussion Board Two Answer questions on the following stories. Your answers should be clear, to th ...
Discussion Board Two Answer questions on the following stories. Your answers should be clear, to the point, based on evidence/examples, and demonstrate your understanding of the story. P.D. James: Post your answers to the questions on the two P.D. James stories, EITHER all the questions on the two stories in "THE MISTLETOE MURDERS" OR all the questions from the two stories in "SLEEP NO MORE." (25% for each story.) Ring Lardner: Answer questions on the Ring Lardner story, "Haircut." . Pick one question to answer, 1 OR 2, and then answer questions A-E for that question. (25%) Dashiell Hammett: Answer questions on the Dashiell Hammett story, "The Gutting of Couffignal." Pick one question to answer, 1 OR 2, and then answer questions A-E for that question. (25%) You will also post a Reply comment on two other students' posts. (You will get full credit OR up to -10 points off for missing or incorrect Reply posts) 1) P.D. JAMES "THE MISTLETOE MURDERS" OR. "SLEEP NO MORE" IF YOU PICK "THE MISTLETOE MURDERS" DO BOTH P.D. James “The Boxdale Inheritance” 25% AND "The Twelve Clues of Christmas" 25% (see below) A) Answer the following questions on "The Boxdale Inheritence" Your answers should be clear, to the point, based on evidence/examples, and demonstrate your understanding of the story. 1- Detectives look for motive, means and opportunity in a murder. Discuss these here. A- Who has the most obvious motive? Why? Who lacks an apparent motive? Why? B- What was the means of murder here? There are actually two means/reasons for the death. What are they? C- Which suspects lack an opportunity to carry out the murder? How do we know? D- Who finally figures out who had the means, motive, and opportunity? How? Who was morally responsible, who did it, and why? E- How was the criminal punished? What did Dalgliesh tell the Canon? Do you agree with his decision? Explain. B) Answer the following questions on “The Twelve Clues of Christmas” 25% Answer the following questions on "The Twelve Clues of Christmas" Your answers should be clear, to the point, based on evidence/examples, and demonstrate your understanding of the story. Detectives look for means, motive, and opportunity in a murder. Discuss these here. A- Who are the suspects? Who has an obvious motive here? Who lacks an apparent motive (at first?) Why? B- What was the means of murder here? Who does or doesn’t have an opportunity to carry out the murder? C- What narrative voice is used? Who is the narrator? D- If this is a genre story, what stage is it in? (Primitive, classic, revisionist, parody?) Explain why. E- Explain five clues that Dalgliesh comes up with. Why are there so many clues? IF YOU PICK "SLEEP NO MORE" DO BOTH P.D. JAMES "The Yo-Yo" 25% AND "The Murder of Santa Claus" (25%) Answer the following questions on "The Yo-Yo." Your answers should be clear, to the point, based on evidence/examples, and demonstrate your understanding of the story. A- What narrative voice is used in this story? Who is the narrator at the time he tells the story, and why does he tell this story? B- What are the means, motive and opportunity for the murder? C- Who witnesses the murder, and what happens as a result? D- What happens to the murderer in the end? E- What crime is the narrator guilty of? What does he think of the murder and his role when he looks back at it? Answer the following questions on "The Murder of Santa Claus. " Your answers should be clear, to the point, based on evidence/examples, and demonstrate your understanding of the story. A- What narrative voice is used in this story? Describe the narrator at the time he tells the story, and describe him at the time the story took place. B- What are the means, motive and opportunity for the murder? C- Who witnesses the murder, and what happens as a result? What happened to the murderer? D- Who are the "red herrings" in the story, and what happens to them? E- Who is the narrator at the very end of the story? Why do you think the narrative voice switched? C) Ring Lardner “Haircut” 25% Answer ONE of the following questions (1 OR 2). Answer A-E for your queestion. 1) Characterization: A- There are four main characters: Jim Kendell, Doc Stair, Julie Gregg and Paul Dickson. Who are they, and what are they like? B- What does the narrator think of them? C- What do you think of them? Why? D- How does this influence our understanding of the killing? E- Was the killing intentional, or not, in your view? Explain. OR 2) The details of the killing: A- The narrator explains the killing as an accident. Who is killed, and who does the killing? B- What are the means, motive and opportunity if this was murder instead of an accident? C- To what extent is the murder justified, or understandable? Why was the killer considered not guilty of murder? Who decided, and why? D- What clues suggest that the killing was not an accident? E- Would you consider the killer guilty of murder? Who else might be responsible, and why? Explain. D) Dashiell Hammett “The Gutting of Couffignal” 25% Answer ONE of the following questions (1 OR 2). Answer A-E for your question. 1- The setting: A- Where is Couffignal? What sort of community is it? What social commentary is included in this description? B- What has the detective been hired to do here? What does that say about the community? C- How does he re-define his role, and why? What does that redefinition of his role say about him? D- Who is guilty, of what crimes? What are the means, motive, opportunity? E- What other, later detectives behave in the same way: examples from fiction or films? OR 2- Solving the mystery A- What crimes are committed, and how? B- Who committed the crimes? C- How are the criminals characterized: what are they like, and how do we know? D- What is the motive for committing the crimes? E- What does the detective think of these criminals, and how does he show it? What does this say about the criminals’ view of society, and his?
