112 pages • 3 hours read
Agatha ChristieA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.
Short Answer
Drawing on books you’ve read, as well as movies or TV shows you’ve watched, what are the hallmarks of the detective or mystery genre in fiction? Why do you think it remains so popular?
Teaching Suggestion: It may be helpful to discuss the origins of the modern mystery genre, which is often traced to Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories. You could then highlight a few more recent examples for comparison. If students struggle to focus their thoughts, you could ask them to list three things that a fictional work must include to count as a mystery, as well as one or two things that it should not do. You could then gather and list their ideas on the board, debating any controversial suggestions as they arise. To explore the genre’s popularity, consider referencing the bestseller list linked below and identifying any mysteries based on the single-sentence summaries.
By Agatha Christie
A Murder Is Announced
Agatha Christie
And Then There Were None
Agatha Christie
A Pocket Full of Rye
Agatha Christie
Crooked House
Agatha Christie
Death On The Nile
Agatha Christie
Murder at the Vicarage
Agatha Christie
Murder on the Orient Express
Agatha Christie
Poirot Investigates
Agatha Christie
The Mousetrap
Agatha Christie
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Agatha Christie
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
Agatha Christie
The Pale Horse
Agatha Christie
Witness for the Prosecution
Agatha Christie