English 12 CP 2016 Summer Reading
Students will be reading two short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle entitled “
The Sign of Four” and “A Study in Scarlet”, in addition to reading Moriarty, a novel by
Anthony Horowitz. Students can find summaries of each piece, as well as study questions
for each selection that will be collected on the first day of class.
Sherlock Holmes: The Sign of Four and A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
The Sign of Four was published in 1890 as a sequel to A Study in Scarlet (published first in
Beeton’s Christmas Annual and then as a novel in 1888). Sherlock Holmes proved to be a
popular success instantly, although critics for the most part ignored the novels and subsequent
stories. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle continued to create Holmes stories- published in the Strand
magazine and then periodically collected and published in book form- and two more novels
throughout most of his career in spite of his frequent professed intentions to have done with the
character. In 1891 he contracted with the new Strand magazine to write the first six Holmes
stories, beginning with A Scandal in Bohemia, and then wanted to stop. The Strand agreed to
pay him a great deal more for another series of six and so he continued the series. He then
decided he would kill Holmes off after the twelfth story, but apparently his mother “forbade”
him from doing so. He eventually went so far as to kill Holmes off in 1893 in The Final
Problem. After Holmes’ death, Doyle wrote a play about him- a huge success (and adopted by
an American actor, William Gillette who made a fortune off of it and built Gillette’s Castle in
Connecticut)- and the third Holmes novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles set in 1886, five years
before Holmes’ “death”. Eventually, in 1903 Doyle bowed to pressure- and a huge sum of
money from an American publisher ($5000 per story, plus a British publisher offering more than
half for the British rights) – to bring Holmes back to life. The result was The Adventures of the
Empty House, set in 1894, three years after Holmes’ disappearance at the Reichenbach Falls.
The novels and stories constitute a series, based on the same protagonist, as well as the most
influential texts in the development of the modern detective genre. The Holmes stories open up
aspects of late Victorian society- the urban landscape, the world of crime, the effects of Empire
(including the opium dens of East London)- that readers found fascinating. The sensationalized
aspects of the stories- and of Holmes himself- combined with hyper-rationalism of Holmes’
method and Doyle’s use of Watson as narrator proved to be a powerful formula.
Study Questions: To be collected on Day One of Class.
1. Holmes is introduced in A Study of Scarlet. What is he like? How are his powers and
his peculiarities suited to his work as “the world’s first and only consulting detective”?
2. Based on your reading of The Sign of Four and A Study in Scarlet, what is the nature of
the dangers that Holmes protects society from? Who or what does he protect- and from
3.
4.
5.
6.
what? What are the internal- inside England- threatening forces and what is the externaloutside England- threatening forces?
Holmes is essentially an urban creature with a profound knowledge of the city, even
though the crimes he tackles sometimes reach into the countryside, threatening
quintessentially traditional English institutions such as the country estate. There are
many powerful passages describing the city, especially at night. What images are used
and what is their significance?
What function does Watson serve both within the stories (as a character) and as a
narrator? Would you agree that he is a fundamental part of the success of the series? If
so, why?
The detective plot can be understood not only as a narrative structure, but also as an
ideological structure- for example in the way it privileges reason, rationality, and
solutions. What sorts of cultural narratives do the Holmes stories encode (about race,
gender, class, etc.) and what “cultural work” do the stories perform?
Read ‘The Whole Art of Detection’ below- how accurately does Sherlock Holmes fit the
art? Provide examples from the stories to support your response.
THE WHOLE ART OF DETECTION
CHAPTER 1: OBSERVATION
1.1 Observation is not simply seeing
1.2 Observation requires training
1.3 Observation requires a respect for details
1.4 Observation of a person can reveal much personal history
1.5 Observation can perhaps best be considered as elementary literacy
CHAPTER 2: DEDUCTION
2.1 Deduction involves listing the alternative explanations and eliminating all but one
2.2 Metaphors may help understand the process of deduction
2.3 Deduction is deduction, regardless of the domain in which it is applied
CHAPTER 3: INTUITION
3.1 Intuition is the subtle balance between observation and deduction
3.2 Theory should not advance beyond the facts
3.3 Distinguish between information which is central and information which is peripheral
3.4 The pattern of facts can be changed by taking a different point of view
3.5 Destroy mystique by revealing technique
CHAPTER 4: DOCUMENTATION
4.1 It is important to keep accurate records of your cases
4.2 It is important to distinguish between complexity and clutter
CHAPTER 5: PREPARATION
5.1 A thorough knowledge of the history of your discipline is important
5.2 Preparation also involves competence in areas related to your discipline
5.3 The best preparation may be relaxation
CHAPTER 6: COLLABORATION
6.1 The capacity to collaborate with colleagues is an important aspect of detection
6.2 Collaboration is based on the principle of division of labour
6.3 Collaboration includes collaboration with self and with adversaries
6.4 It is important to balance collaboration with solitude
CHAPTER 7: DEDICATION
7.1 Dedication to detection, in whatever domain, is essential
7.2 Dedication requires that you turn yourself into an instrument for detection
7.3 Dedication requires a lack of concern about what other people think of you
CHAPTER 8: EXPLANATION
8.1 Explanation may perhaps best be considered as telling a story
8.2 Explanation may be aided by illustration
Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz
Summary
Internationally bestselling author Anthony Horowitz's nail-biting new novel plunges us back into
the dark and complex world of Detective Sherlock Holmes and Professor James Moriarty—
dubbed "the Napoleon of crime"—in the aftermath of their fateful struggle at the Reichenbach
Falls.
Days after Holmes and Moriarty disappear into the waterfall's churning depths, Frederick Chase,
a senior investigator at New York's infamous Pinkerton Detective Agency, arrives in
Switzerland. Chase brings with him a dire warning: Moriarty's death has left a convenient
vacancy in London's criminal underworld. There is no shortage of candidates to take his place—
including one particularly fiendish criminal mastermind.
Chase is assisted by Inspector Athelney Jones, a Scotland Yard detective and devoted student of
Holmes's methods of deduction, whom Conan Doyle introduced in The Sign of Four. The two
men join forces and fight their way through the sinuous streets of Victorian London—from the
elegant squares of Mayfair to the shadowy wharfs and alleyways of the Docks—in pursuit of this
sinister figure, a man much feared but seldom seen, who is determined to stake his claim as
Moriarty's successor.
Riveting and deeply atmospheric, Moriarty is the first Sherlock Holmes novel sanctioned by the
author's estate since Horowitz's House of Silk. This tale of murder and menace breathes life into
Holmes's fascinating world, again proving that once you have eliminated the impossible,
whatever remains, however im- probable, must be the truth. (From the publisher.)
STUDY QUESTIONS FOR MORIARTY
1. Talk about the characters, both good and bad. Describe their personalities and motivations. Are
they fully developed and emotionally complex? Or are they more one-dimensional heroes and
villains?
2. What do you know...and when do you know it? At what point in the book do you, the reader,
begin
to
piece
together
what
happened?
3. Good crime writers are skillful at hiding clues in plain sight. How well does the author hide the
clues
in
this
work?
4. Does the author use red-herrings—false clues—to purposely lead readers astray?
5. Talk about plot's twists & turns—those surprising developments that throw everything you
think you've figured out into disarray. Do they enhance the story, add complexity, and build
suspense? Are they plausible? Or do the twists & turns feel forced and preposterous—inserted
only
to
extend
the
story.
6. Does the author ratchet up the story's suspense? Did you find yourself anxious—quickly
turning pages to learn what happened? How does the author build suspense?
7. What about the ending—is it satisfying? Is it probable or believable? Does it grow out of clues
previously laid out by the author (see Question 2). Or does the ending come out of the blue? Does
it feel forced...tacked-on...or a cop-out? Or perhaps it's too predictable. Can you envision a better,
or
different,
ending?
8. Are there certain passages in the book—ideas, descriptions, or dialogue—that you found
interesting or revealing...or that somehow struck you? What lines, if any, made you stop and
think?
9. Overall, does the book satisfy? Does it live up to the standards of a good crime story or
suspense
thriller?
Why
or
why
not?
(Generic Mystery Questions by LitLovers.)