112 pages 3 hours read

Agatha Christie

The ABC Murders

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1936

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Reading Questions & Paired Texts

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Foreword-Chapter 3

Reading Check

1. Poirot takes particular pride in which aspect of his grooming?

2. In which city is Mrs. Ascher murdered?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How do Hastings and Poirot differ in their responses to the letter?

2. What is Poirot’s idea of the ideal crime for him to solve?

Chapters 4-8

Reading Check

1. What book is found at the scene of the crime?

2. Who was the last person to enter Mrs. Ascher’s shop the night she was murdered?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does Mary Drower characterize her relationship with her aunt, Mrs. Ascher?

2. Why does Poirot delay his visit to the scene of the crime?

Paired Resource

Much Madness Is Divinest Sense

  • This poem by Emily Dickinson contemplates the way that judgments regarding so-called “madness” are socially constructed.
  • The poem connects with the theme of Genius, Madness, and Reason.
  • How does the detectives’ labeling of the perpetrator of the ABC murders as “mad” impact the investigation? In which ways does Poirot embody Dickinson’s definition of “madness”?

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