Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Context

Question 1

what are Van Dime’s rules of fiction

Answer 1

(made in 1928) are 20 ‘commandments’ which had to be obtained in a novel to be a successful murder-mystery

Question 2

what did Van Dime compare/relate the detective story to

Answer 2

like playing a game - Van Dime also proposed that the writer has to ‘play fair’ with the reader

Question 3

four rules within Van Dime’s commandments

Answer 3

1. the detective theirself or an official investigator must not be the culprit
2. the culprit must turn out to be a person who has played a prominent part in the story
3. the solution must be at all times apparent to the reader if they look close enough
4. no matter how many crimes, there must always only be one culprit

Question 4

what are Knox’s rules

Answer 4

(made in 1928) a list of 10 rules that Knox said crime stories must contain

Question 5

when was MoRA published

Answer 5

1926

Question 6

who was Knox (in relation to Christie)

Answer 6

he was a writer who belonged to the Detection Club - where writers, involving Christie, came together to help each other with their work
together, the Detection Club agreed to adhere to Knox’s commandments

Question 7

what are four examples of Knox’s rules

Answer 7

1. the detective must not highlight any clues that are not instantly produced to the reader
2. the action must take place before (or soon after) the story begins - the criminal must be mentioned early
3. the stupid friend (the ‘Watson’) must not conceal amy thoughts of thier own
4. honourable victories can only be achieved if the clues were ‘fair’

Question 8

when was the golden age of crime fiction and what was it

Answer 8

approx 1920-1939 (finished when ww2 came about)

it was an era of classic murder-mystery novels of similar patterns and styles

Question 9

which sets of rules are commonly associated with the golden age of crime writing

Answer 9

Van DIne’s rules and Knox’s commandments

Question 10

when did Christie write her first novel

Answer 10

during ww1, when she was an acting nurse
her first ever novel introduced Poirot (25 novels total), but it wasn’t until MoRA when Christie got her major recognition

Question 11

who was Christie

Answer 11

an English best-selling novelist (selling over 100million copies)
lived 1890-1976