Study Guide for Sherlock Holmes Stories

“A Scandal in Bohemia”

1.      What does Sherlock Holmes think of Iren Adler?

2.      Describe Holmes’ and Watson’s situation in the beginning of the story.

3.      How does Holmes prove his intelligence?

4.      Who is the client? How does Holmes know who he is and how does he treat the client?

5.      What was Watson’s job for when they get Irene Adler’s house?

6.      How did Irene Adler outsmart Holmes?

“The Red-Headed League”

1.      Holmes lists the “obvious facts” that he deduces from Mr. Wilson’s appearance. What are they and how did Homes know?

2.      What is the only requirement needed to apply for a vacancy in the Red-Headed League? What are the benefits?

3.      Describe the work Mr. Wilson must do for the League. What exactly is it? When must he do it? What is supposedly the purpose? What happens if he leaves the office during working hours?

4.      Holmes begins to question Mr. Wilson about his assistant. List here some of the things that he learns.

5.      What detail suggests that Holmes already knows who this man is? Why does Holmes pretend to be lost and ask the way of Mr. Wilson’s assistant? What other odd thing does he do in front of Mr. Wilson’s place of business?

6.      Who are Mr. Jones and Mr. Merryweather? Who is John Clay?

“The Adventure of the Speckled Band”

1.    Why has Helen Stoner decided to visit to Sherlock Holmes at that particular time?

2.    Why is Helen Stoner afraid when she comes to see Holmes in “The Adventure of the Speckled Band”?

3.    Why does Holmes quickly suspect that Dr. Roylott is the criminal?

4.    What, if any, significance does Dr. Roylott’s interest in Indian animals have as evidence

5.    Explain which relevant clues you were able to identify in “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” and which false clues may have led you astray.

6.    Which of the five senses are used by Sherlock Holmes to solve the mystery of the speckled band?

“The Five Orange Pips”

1.      What reasons does Watson give for not writing about Holmes’ cases between 1882 and 1890?

2.      What deductions does Holmes make about John Openshaw?

3.      Why does Elias Openshaw come back to England?

4.      Why does John Openshaw seek out Sherlock Holmes?  What does he want Holmes to do?

5.      How do the three Openshaw men die?

6.      How does Sherlock Holmes finally track down the killer?

Characteristics of a Detective Story

C. Hugh Holman’s A Handbook to Literature defines a detective story as “a novel or

short story in which a crime, usually a murder – the identity of the perpetrator unknown –

is solved by a detective through a logical assembling and interpretation of palpable

evidence, known as clues.”

            The first detective stories were written by Edgar Allan Poe, and Conan Doyle acknowledged their influence on his writing.  A good detective story generally follows six “unwritten rules.”  

First, the crime must be significant, worthy of the attention it receives.  Most stories involve murder, though Conan Doyle tied the majority of his crimes to greed and theft. 

Second, the detective must be in some way a memorable character.  He or she must be very intelligent, of course, unusually clever and observant, but also quirky, possessing perhaps some odd idiosyncrasies that distinguish him or her.  Kojak’s lollipop, Columbo’s crumpled raincoat, James Bond’s unruffled cool and high-tech gadgets, all of these things make the hero somehow distinct.  

Third, along with an exceptional detective, there must be an outstanding opponent, a criminal clever enough to be a match for the hero.  Solving the crime can’t be too easy. 

Fourth, because a large part of the attraction of a detective story is the opportunity for the reader to try to figure out the solution along with the detective, all suspects of the crime must be introduced early in the story, and

Fifth, all clues the detective discovers must be made available to the reader also. 

Finally, at the end of the story, the solution must seem obvious, logical, possible.  The crime must not have resulted from accident or supernatural intervention, and the detective must be able to explain all aspects of the case in a reasonable way.  A fine detective story should meet each one of these standards.

Classroom Policies Writing 2 – Spring Semester Update

 Below are brief reminders from the first semester and some new homework and attendance guidelines:

Classroom Conduct

·         Be polite and respectful of each other’s time and comments. If the teacher or a classmate is talking, listen respectfully and avoid any unnecessary conversations or interactions that would disrupt the class.  (NOTE:  This is a large class, and side conversations have a big impact on the flow of the class.)

·         Come to class prepared and with the appropriate materials (books, notebook, pens, etc.).  Turn off ALL electronic devices.  (They may be confiscated until the end of the CHAT school day.)

·         According to CHAT policies, food is not allowed in the classroom unless it’s part of a class activity; that includes lunch.  If students have not finished eating by the time class starts, they should finish it in the café/commons area before coming to class.   Beverages (e.g. coffee, water, juice, etc.) are permitted in the classroom.

Communication

·         Weekly updates will be sent that include comments about class discussions and homework.  If you are not getting these, check your Spam/Junk file and/or contact me.

·         The websites below are also helpful classroom resources:

–  Writing 2 – www.chatwriting2.blogspot.com.  The blog entries will contain the same information from the e-mail updates

–  Google Drive –Most of the handouts will be available on a shared folder in Google Drive either as Word documents or PDF files.

–  MyGradeBook – www.mygradebook.com. This is an online grade book on which I will enter the grades and scores for completed assignments.  Note:  Scores may not be immediately added to the website; feel free to contact me for any questions.

Late Homework Guidelines

·         Homework is most useful when it is completed by the due date.  Grammar worksheets and literature-related homework is not as beneficial for the student if it is done after the class has covered that topic.

·         Parents, please check that your students have a workable plan for keeping track of assignments and homework.

·         Any homework handed in more than 2 weeks late will not be scored.  For example, if a worksheet is assigned in Week 2 and due Week 3, it will not be accepted after Week 5.

·         If a student is absent due to an illness or family situation, parents should contact me.  Extensions will be given in these circumstances.

Attendance & Tardiness Guidelines

·         If a student will be absent, it helps to let me know, but this is not required.  If a student is missing from class and I haven’t heard from parents, I will contact parents and/or students to see if it is a situation for which homework extensions would be required.

·         If a student is late and arrives to class after we have started the Quick Write, he/she will lose the 5 points from that Quick Write.  If the tardiness is due to an unavoidable family situation, parents should contact me, and those points will not be subtracted. 

Spring Writing 2 Technology

Greetings!

Welcome to the second semester of Writing 2 at CHAT.  ("Spring Semester" is a little hard to say when we have 2 inches of fresh snow on the ground!)

I had a great first semester with these wonderful students and am looking forward to getting back in the classroom.  I have a fresh pile of books and handouts to fuel our learning.  Students should bring to class a folder to keep track of their work and paper/pens/pencils for in class work.  Students will not need a laptop or other device for this class; if one is needed for any reason, parents should contact me before the class.  Otherwise, all devices should be put away during class.

If you are continuing from the first semester, you already know that I will send out regular emails to help us all stay connected with the classroom contact, assignments, class handouts, and any other information I feel is helpful to the class.  For those who are new to Writing  2, let me introduce you to my online resources:

Class Updates: Following our classes, I will send out an email that explains what we covered and class and what the assignments are.  Occasionally I will include links to interesting or pertinent sites that connect to our class discussions.  Any handouts from the class will be attached to these emails. Double check to make sure these emails are making it to your Inbox and not the Junk/Spam folder.

Writing 2 Blog:  The Weekly Class Updates and any other email messages will be posted on this site.  If you need to see a number of the updates at once, this is an efficient way to do it.  Copies of handouts, including links to pdfs on Google Drive, will also be posted.  Photos, images, videos, and links to other related websites will appear on this site.  If you're curious, you can peruse the blog for past posts in order to get a feeling for what to expect this year.  (Follow this link for this message!)

Google Drive:  This is an online storage site, and I have folders with all of the documents that I use in a larger folder labeled 2020 CHAT Writing 1 Spring Student.  If a student loses something handed out in class, this is another place to find it.  Most of the documents are as pdfs, but there are a few Word documents and Google docs mixed in. (Note:  This is a new folder and not the same one that I used for Writing 1 Fall.)

My GradeBook:  This is the online grade book that I will be using this year.  I've used it for a couple of years now, and it is pretty straightforward.  I also use an old-fashioned paper grade book that is up to date with every assignment, but it may take a week or so to get the grades onto this site.  That said, it should be a pretty accurate picture of what homework is missing and of ongoing scores for work handed in.  (Note:  You will be getting another email with specific instructions about signing in to the class.)

These resources have helped solve some of these problems:

If a student isn't sure of an assignment, he/sh can check

-- the syllabus that was handed out

-- the Class Update

-- the Writing 2 blog

-- the list of assignments on My GradeBook

If a student is missing something that I handed out, he/she can find it

-- as an attachment to a Class Update

-- on the Writing 2 blog

-- in the appropriate folder on Google Drive

-- follow the link in My GradeBook to the Google folder with the assignment

If you have questions about grades or missing homework, you can

-- check My GradeBook

-- send me a personal e-mail.

Thank you for entrusting your children to my teaching.  I'll do my best to communicate with you, and feel free to contact me if you have questions.

Tammy Prichard

Writing 2 -- Grades, Percentages, and Scores!

Greetings!

In addition to my earlier comments about grades in general, I want to clarify how I have scored and graded my students this semester.  Firstly, I've divided the work done in the class into categories:  Assignments, Writing, Grammar, and Literature.  Each category is somewhat self-explanatory, except for perhaps the "Assignments" section.  This is where I put our Quick Writes, vocabulary work, and any other class participation scores.

For the past two years I've been using My GradeBook, an online grade book.  With this program, I can assign a category to each assignment, for example, Writing, Literature, Grammar, Assignments (in-class work.)  My GradeBook figures percentages for total scores and for scores within each of these categories. 

However, the four categories used for Writing 1 did not have the same number of assignments, so a straight averaging of the scores does not give an accurate total percentage/grade.  For example, the Assignments category had 16 scores, and 15 of them were small, 5-point Quick Writes.  Writing section had fewer assignments, but the scores were higher per assignment.

Though the categories are not exactly even, I feel that dividing the scores like this is helpful because it helps parent, students, and teacher have a better picture of the work done in the semester.  For example, if a student scores 100% on this Assignments section, I know that he showed up and participated well in class.  A low score in the Literature section is most likely a sign of a significant number of missing assignments.  Likewise, a low score in grammar could be because assignments were not handed in, or it could be a lack of knowledge in this area. As it is with all homework assignments for any subject area, the scores reflect a mix of quantity and quality. 

When you get the grades, you should see a small table like this:

Assignments		Grammar		Literature		Writing		Combined
Grade	%	Grade	%	Grade	%	Grade	%	Grade	%

I hope I haven't further confused the grading for this class.  Working with students to help them develop into first-rate thinkers and writers is my  primary goal.  Points, scores, percentages, and grades are only small parts in the learning process.

Blessings to all of you,
Tammy Prichard

Writing 2 -- Grades are Coming, Fall 2019!

Dear CHAT Writing 2 Students & Parents,

I've just finished calculating the grades for the Spring semester, and you will be finding them in your inbox by the end of the week.  As tutors, these are suggested grades for you as homeschooling families to consider.

For those who are new to my classes, let me share my thoughts on grades.  As I homeschooled, I didn't give my children grades.  I felt that grades were far too subjective.  I taught my own children for mastery.  We didn't proceed with a topic until they were ready no matter how long that took.  In a class setting, knowing where each student is with regards to his/her understanding of a topic is not possible, so any grade given is not a complete representation of what the student learned or accomplished this year.

Letter grades are a funny thing.  For some students, it becomes the only motivation for doing well.  For some, it becomes a measure of their worth as a person or as an academic learner.  I personally don't like these "side effects" of the grading system.  On the other hand, grades can be a valid reflection and reward for working hard, being diligent, and understanding the materials.

When teaching students to be good writers, I give a lot of consideration for growth and improvement. Each student has a starting place; over time I look for him or her to learn the mechanics of grammar, good writing techniques, and analytical thinking skills.

For this class, I gave points for attendance, participation, short assignments, literature assignments, grammar exercises, and longer essays. (I tend to be an "easy grader" and like to see my students encouraged to do their best.)  For these essay assignments, the final drafts were graded using a rubric that divided the papers into the following categories:  focus, content, organization, and mechanics.  The grades will be divided into the following categories:  Assignments (Quick Writes and in class activities), Literature, and Writing.  A student may have been strong in one area and not in another, and this will be reflected in these categories.  The categories are not evenly weighted; in other words, 100% in Assignments, which were almost all Quick Writes, does not have the same value as 100% in Grammar, which included lots of worksheets and new material to learn.

Each student (and parents) will receive an e-mail with percentages and suggested grades for this semester.  I’ve seen each student improve with each paper.  Good Work!

Blessings,

Tammy Prichard

Links:
Writing 2 -- Grades are coming!
Grades, Percentages, and Scores Clarification

Greetings!

We began our final class with a short Quick Write to reflect on the class and on the past semester.  Research shows that reflecting on what and how you have learned enhanced meaning and encourages insight and complex understanding.  (Here's a good article on learning through reflection.)  For that reason, I have students take time to think back on the semester.  I asked them to briefly write about what worked well, what didn't work, and what one "thing" they learned (from any class) that they found amazing.  I especially value their comments about the structure of the class because these comments help me make adjustments and improvements.

We celebrated our final class with a Christmas party that included an "Ugly Christmas Sweater Design" contest and a Jeopardy game.  They were pretty intent on their designing and coloring.  The Jeopardy game included the following topics: My Antonia, Grammar, Writing, Christmas Trivia, and Christmas Movies.  By the way, research also indicates that using game-based learning strategies increases recall, retention, and cognitive growth.  So while we were having fun, we were still intellectually engaged in our topics.  In order to form teams, students were given names of songs that they had to hum in order for them to find their teammates.  Watching them walk around the classroom while humming was delightful!

Students handed in their final drafts of their Comparison-Contrast Essays.  I will go over the essays and any other homework that was handed in yesterday; my goal is to have final grades out by the end of next week.  If students are missing any work, I will take it until next Thursday.  In class we cleared up some questions about missing work and My GradeBook.  If parents or students have any more questions, feel free to contact me.

Links for this week:

Class Notes (with pictures & videos)

Learning and Reflection article

Jeopardy Game for Writing 2

Game-Based Learning

My GradeBook

My GradeBook instructions

I've enjoyed this group of students.  Each one is uniquely gifted for the plans that God has for him/her.  Feel free to keep in touch.

Blessings, 

Mrs. Prichard