Sherlock Holmes: The Great Hiatus and Beyond
I. Introduction
A. Hook sentence
1. "Sherlock Holmes needs no introduction.
2. He is familiar to everyone in a way that is not typical of other literary characters and
yet that has been constant since his name was first mentioned."
B. Analysis of hook sentence
1. In what way is Sherlock Holmes familiar to the public
2. How did his name remain constant through two centuries
C. Thesis statement
1. The mere fact that Holmes stayed alive for the past two centuries is proof of Arthur
Conan Doyle's genius of storytelling.
2. It is clearly seen through the analysis of Sherlock Holmes how much effort the author
put into writing the stories.
II. Arthur Conan Doyle
A. Introduction
1. The proof of "Holmes's enduring legacy" is the "achievement of A. Conan Doyle,
without whom Holmes would have rotted in obscurity of his Baker Street lodgings."
a. The "Forgotten Doyle"
b. The mistake of books forgetting Doyle as the creator
2. Brief, early history
a. Birth
b. Education
B. Conan Doyle's shift to writing
1. Sea Voyage
2. Friend's advice
C. Back to medicine
1. Meeting Dr. Joseph Bell
2. How did Dr. Bell inspire the Holmes stories?
D. Writing the Holmes stories
1. Dates of publication
2. Short history of A Study in Scarlet published
a. In which magazine
b. Crown getting attention
i. England
ii. America
iii. The end of 1892
E. Ending the Holmes stories
1. Reasons
a. A forcing crowd
b. Forgetting the real author
c. Doyle's reasons
2. Crowd's disappointment
a. Letters
b. Constant urge to write another story
F. Different Holmes's
1. Doyle's imitators
a. Stories parodying Holmes
b. Stories writing about the "ghost of Holmes"
2. Rumor of return
a. Narratives written explaining Holmes surviving the fall
b. Narratives written as letters from Watson to Holmes
G. The Return of Holmes
1. Doyle's Reason
a. Urging crowd
b. Needed money (parallel spiritualism)
H. Doyle's research
1. Thorough research on topics
2. Influence by various authors
I. The Great Hiatus
1. Doyle's use of living persons portrayed in his characters
2. Friedrich Nietzsche & Professor Moriarty
a. Doyle's description of Nietzsche in context with Moriarty
i. The fight at Reichenbach falls
ii. Nietzsche's description translated by Havelook Ellis (used by Doyle)
b. Proof
i. Education
ii. Medical weakness
iii. "Criminality"
3. Possible correlation with Colonel Moran
a. Physical description
b. Mental description
III. Sherlock Holmes
A. Introduction
1. The legacy of Holmes
a. No books out of print since 1891
b. Scholarly books focusing on the stories
2.. Holmes as a personality
B. Stage and cinema
C. Records of cases
1. Watson writing the cases
2. Two cases written by Holmes
D. Birth
1. January 6th, 1854
2. Evidence in stories (general)
3. Holmes's use of Twelfth Night
E. Holmes's life in the era of "Victorianism"
1.Impact by Industrial Revolution
2. Growth of cities
a. Growth of building
b. Disease and poverty
F. Before Holmes
1. Stories
a. Poe's Dupin
b. Implied stupidity of police
G. The Holmes stories
1. Role of Police
a. Idea impacted by past tails
b. Remain stupid
2. Holmes and the Police
a. Police and the evidence
b. Holmes and the evidence
c. Holmes and the solution
H. Intelligence and Methods
1. Knowledge
a. Chemistry
b. Biology
c. Holmes moves based on Knowledge
2. Mental Functioning
a. Attempted explanation
b. Revealed in the stories by Watson
c. Reflection of current knowledge of expert's thinking
3. Expertise
a. Learning
b. Reading
c. Experimentation
4. Schematic Nature
a. Rapid encoding of the problem
b. Likely outcomes
5. Episodic Knowledge
a. Past experience
b. Schematic themes
c. Storing of relevant elements in a crime
6. Expert vs. Novice
a. Difference in knowledge
b. Attachment to clues
c. Long-term memory
i. Pointing to logical information
ii. Pointing to likely continuations and outcomes
7. Education
a. Oxford vs. Cambridge
i. Cambridge documents
ii. Oxford's History department
b. Disregarding Watson's narrative
8. Holmes and Forensic Science
a. Fingerprints
i. Hershel, Fauld, and Galton
ii. Holmes acquring their knowledge
b. Holmes's use of fingerprinting
IV. The Great Hiatus
A. Holmes's death
1. Date
2. Crowd's answer
3. Memorial tablet
B. Holmes's system of fighting
1. Short History of Baritsu
2. Impact by Jujitsu
C. After the "fall"
1. Scholar’s deduction using key phrases
2. Theories on how Holmes survived
a. Parachute
b. Impostor
c. Irene Adler
d. Coded messages (Patricia Dodd)
e. Suggested myth of the Great Hiatus
f. London (Richard Lancelyn Green)
3. Travels after the "fall"
a. Tibet
b. Persia
c. Mecca
d. Egypt
e. France
4. Impact of Holmes's return
a. The Adventure of the Empty House (crowd)
b. No exact date of reunion
c. Holmes's real death is unknown
5. Sherlockian scholarship
a. Definition
b. 1934
c. America
i. First meeting
ii. First annual dinner
D. Sherlock Holmes Exhibition
1. Date
2. Place
V. Conclusion
A. Short summary of above facts
B. Impact on future authors
1. Agatha Christie
2. The modern detective author
C. The "eternal formula"
1. Why Holmes lasts (Doyle + Holmes)
2. Worldview of the modern audience
D. Catchy phrase (End Sentence)