TMORA AOs info

Question 1

what is the general order of events for a crime text?

Answer 1

Peaceful state before the murder (false innocence)
↓
Murder (revelation of presence of guilt)
↓
False clues, secondary murders, etc (false location of guilt)
↓
Solution (location of real guilt)
↓
Arrest of murderer (catharsis)
↓
Peaceful state after arrest (true innocence)

Question 2

what does Auden say about crime fiction?

Answer 2

W.H Auden expressed the crime fiction explores the ‘dialectic of innocence and guilt’

Question 3

themes in TMORA

Answer 3

• Triumph of good
• Restoration of order
• Murder of manners – civilised upper/middle class society
• Nature vs nurture
• Plays on the characters assumption to high light the effect of societal orders in the murder
• Danger of secrets
• Power of logic
• Danger of assumptions
• Class
• Gender

Question 4

AO2

Answer 4

Organisational decisions – the beginnings and endings, use of climaxes
(plot structure) Anew revelation is exposed in each chapter, (significance) creating momentum and suspense
The use of a set piece – Poirot’s theatrical exposure of all the characters crimes
Sheppard’s 1st person narrator
Characterisation – Caroline: channel for the village gossip, Poirot as the rational foreigner
Stock characters: professional investigators, interested and talented amateurs, the criminals, the investigators sidekicks, the victims
Resolution - restoration of justice/order
Setting

Question 5

AO3/AO4

Answer 5

Poirot brings English stereotypes into relief (stand out, stark) 
Being a foreigner Poirot, is free from prejudices so able to see through the façade of middle-class elegance 
Christie draws attention to social order/class consciousness us feature of all social groups 
Christie’s characters constantly revealing their anxieties of class relations 
Christie gives the readers an insight into the foibles of not merely Englishness but of human nature (characterisation, plot structure) – society and human nature 
Novel not bogged down with description. Driven by plot devices – used to create suspense and confound readers as to the criminal 
Christie makes use of established social stereotypes 
Time period upper class girls started to go to work for the first time after WW1 
Criticises Preoccupation with class and gender, moved with Husband to Idyllic setting, in which she felt isolated, money and prejudices 
Misjudge Poirot’s capabilities

Question 6

Characterisation and setting

Answer 6

Stock middle class village characters (RA – rich businessman)
outsiders under suspicion. (Ursula Borne, Charles Kent) Trapped in bucolic setting of prejudice and misdirected blame. Characters typically fret about the outsider (class or geographical outsider) and miss the bloodied fingers of their nearest and dearest 

• Faux/veneer of respectability – masking deeper immoral behaviour (Mrs Ackroyd, stole money from Ackroyd, Miss Russel and Charles Kent)
• Notions of innocence (throughout entire novel) to mask that…. (significance) Everyone has something to hide

Question 7

AO4

Answer 7

Novel follows several conventions of Sherlock Holmes
Poirot is a private investigator, an outsider and a highly skilled logical thinker trumps the police who are unable to manage the investigation
A further parallel is that both have a doctor as an apparently supportive sidekick to tell their stories – it is a parallel between Watson and Sheppard, both narrators and Doctors, which arguably effects the reception of the novel, as it further guides us towards the acceptance of the narrative which Sheppard presents
The comparison is made specific in the blurb on the cover of the first edition of the novel which states: Geniuses like Sherlock Holmes often find use for faithful mediocrities like Dr Watson, and by a coincidence it is the local doctor who follows Poirot round and himself tells the story.
The clever phrasing of this blurb equating Sheppard with Watson would certainly have contributed to the deception of the contemporary readers

Question 8

AO5/AO4

Answer 8

Poirot shares role with minor investigators (Caroline), who gathers and shares information from the network of informants she has in the village. Although Poirot like Holmes, derives most of his success from keeping his thoughts to himself – a wise strategy given the nature of the doctor, he nonetheless relies on info garnered through Caroline’s orthodox approach to investigation.
The contrast between the traditional, logical, methodical, isolated male expert role, as exemplified through Poirot and Holmes, and the role of the seemingly – nosy female investigator whose relationships allow her to ascertain info rapidly (Caroline) Could reflect societal shifts at the time of writing.
Caroline acts as a blueprint for Christie’s later character Miss Marple. These women obtrusively gain access to info that male detectives would struggle to obtain without arousing suspicion