Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Authorial Methods

Question 1

circular narrative

Answer 1

a story whose end places readers back at the beginning

Question 2

red herrings

Answer 2

false clues to make the reader take the wrong path

Question 3

problem to resolution

Answer 3

the satisfying structural arrangement of a detective novel

Question 4

stock characters

Answer 4

characters that reappear in lots of crime novels, such as the retired army major or Poirot himself

Question 5

unreliable narrator

Answer 5

the person telling the story, who we assume we can rely on but withholds information or lies

Question 6

metafiction

Answer 6

fiction about fiction (e.g. a detective story that mentions detective stories)

Question 7

symbol

Answer 7

an object that represents a bigger idea

Question 8

idyllic

Answer 8

extremely happy and peaceful (setting)

Question 9

quaint

Answer 9

old-fashioned and attractive (setting)

Question 10

rational

Answer 10

based on logic and reason

Question 11

psychological

Answer 11

understanding people’s mental and emotional states

Question 12

inept

Answer 12

showing no skill; clumsy

Question 13

unsubtle

Answer 13

obvious and clumsy

Question 14

well orchestrated

Answer 14

planned all the elements carefully to produce a particular effect

Question 15

trustworthy

Answer 15

someone you can rely on

Question 16

duplicitous

Answer 16

lying, saying more than one thing

Question 17

arrogant

Answer 17

having an exaggerated sense of one’s own abilities or importance

Question 18

resigned

Answer 18

accepting something unpleasant that you can’t do anything about

Question 19

what type of poem is RotAM

Answer 19

quasi-epic poem