The ABC Murders

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. Christie presents Poirot, who is Belgian, as a foreigner and outsider in English society.

• How does Poirot’s outsider status both help and hinder his work as detective? (topic sentence)
• Identify and analyze three scenes that support your idea in which Poirot’s outsider status impacts his work, for better or for worse.
• In conclusion, what does the novel suggest about life as an immigrant in England during this period?

2. The dichotomy between age and youth frames several key elements within the novel.

• In what ways does Christie highlight the advantages that come with age while highlighting the weaknesses of youth? (topic sentence)
• Identify three scenes involving age and youth and analyze their thematic implications in support of your topic sentence.