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Jen Barlics 6/23/09 Online Response Essay #3
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There are two major and very different types of Detective Fiction, Classic and Hard- Boiled. Hard-boiled fiction contains descriptive characterizations of characters and an ample amount of violence and crimes. Classic Detective fiction contains detailed information on the plot and violence and crimes aren't as frequent. The level of violence/action and writing style distinguish them and account for the strengths and weaknesses in each.

Classic Detective Fiction contains a mystery involving a crime or an important article that is missing or stolen. The detective solves the mystery usually accompanied by a colleague or a friend who closely observes the detective's work and often narrates the story. The reader acts as a witness looking over the detectives shoulder. A great example of this type of fiction is "Murders in the Rue Morgue," by Edgar Allan Poe. The detective, Auguste Dupin, puts together pieces of a case and solves the murders of two women while his friend, the narrator of the story, closely follows his clever search for the murderer. Most classic detective stories emphasize the plot over the characters. The place or setting of the murder is described in detail more than the person murdered or the detective solving the case. In "Murders in the Rue Morgue," the area in which the murders take place is described in detail. The narrator explains, "...the door of the chamber...was locked from the inside...The windows, both of the back and front room, were down and firmly fastened from within...A small room in the front of the house, on the fourth story...was open the door being ajar...There was not an inch of any portion of the house which was not carefully searched "( 8-9). Knowing the details surrounding the areas of the bodies found, on the fourth floor in rooms with doors locked from the inside, helps piece together how the murders were carried out and how they happened. Classic Detective stories usually involve a crime that consist of a clean murder. These stories aren't very gory and contain little blood and a very brief description of the murder, if any. Poe describes the brutally murdered women in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," but this is only spoken of in brief detail once throughout the story. In this particular tale, there is no real motive to the murders of the two females. There are strengths and weaknesses of Classic Detective Fiction. It is important that the plot of the story is described in detail. It sets the tone and gives the feeling of being at the crime scene witnessing the murdered victims. Classic Detective fiction often lacks action, violence, and brief details of the murder. This can take excitement and edge away from it creating an uninteresting story. Some readers have turned away from this type of fiction and have moved on to the interesting style of hard-boiled fiction. Hard-boiled Detective Fiction is very different from Classic Detective Fiction. Hard- boiled Fiction is a type of fiction, which emphasizes crime, violence, and sex. An example of a good Hard-boiled story is __Devil In A Blue Dress__ by Walter Mosley. Ezekiel Rawlins (Easy for short), a black detective, is hired by a white man named DeWitt Albright. Albright is looking for someone to help him find a beautiful white women named Daphne Monet, hiding in the black community in Los Angles, California. Easy accepts his offers but finds himself between murderers and corrupt cops. Rawlins efforts to find the missing women are done solely on his own unlike that of most classic fiction stories where the detective and a friend solve a case. In Hard-boiled stories, the characters are focused on more than the plot. In __Devil In A Blue Dress__, the reader receives insight into the lives of many of the characters. We learn from Easy's character, about his life in the past, especially his association with his troubled friend, Mouse. We also learn about Daphne's past with her abusive father and that she is in fact half black and half white. These descriptive characterizations into the lives of these characters are sometimes important information to a story, the detail the author goes into takes away from the action and the descriptive nature of the murders. The male characters tend to act and think tough. For example, Easy is asked to find Daphne, the missing woman. When Rawlins asks what will become of the woman, Albright responds, “ Do I look that much like God to you? Can I tell you what will happen tomorrow?… But, you know, she might forget to buckle her shoes next week and fall down and break her neck, and if she does you can’t hold me up for it. But whatever” (103-104). Albright might not mean to cause harm to the woman but his response to Easy shows that he thinks and acts tough. Hard-boiled stories are also a lot more violent and gory and seen more frequently than classic detective stories. The day after Easy spends an evening with a woman named Coretta, is found dead. Cops suggest Easy as the murderer. They take Easy in for questioning and one cop violently threatens Easy by saying, “You got bigger problems than busting your friend’s bar, Ezekiel. You got bigger troubles than that…Means we can take your black ass out behind the station and put a bullet in your head” (117). The cops act violently towards Easy and do what they please without any hesitation. Most hard- boiled stories are laid out in this fashion. The use of violence, crime, and sex almost always makes a story interesting and keeps readers at the edge of their seats but Hard-boiled fiction does have its weaknesses. Revolving around a characters past life isn't necessarily needed in solving a murder or finding a missing woman. This can often take away from the actual plot of the story itself. Classic and Hard-Boiled stories are two very different types of Detective Fiction. The writing styles of the two have weighed a considerable amount of strengths and weaknesses. Because of the abundance of violence and murders in a Hard-Boiled story, I prefer reading them to Classic ones. They are proven more interesting and keep me at the edge of my seat.

Jen Barlics Online Response Essay #4 6/23/09

Movies, based on Detective Fiction, are increasingly appearing on the big screen but, in my opinion, movie versions of a novel aren’t as successful. For example, __Devil In a Blue Dress__, by Walter Mosley, was published and successfully acknowledged by readers, in 1990. The film version of __Devil In A Blue Dress__ was produced five years later with a less outstanding outcome. After reviewing both versions, I have concluded that there are a few things that make a novel more successful than a film. A novel is more descriptive, leaves the reader more room for imagination, and most importantly film versions don’t always follow the book. Reading the novel, __Devil In A Blue Dress__ and watching the movie version were two very different experiences. Reading the novel, I found was extremely descriptive, where as the movie was not. In the novel, Easy’s past life and relationship with his good friend Mouse were discussed in great detail before we even meet him. From the beginning of the novel Easy explains, "While he talked it dawned on me that Albright was a lot like a friend I had back in Texas- Raymond Alexander was his name but we called him Mouse" (49). Easy continues to flashback to his friend and past experiences he had with him. In the movie however, there is never a discussion about Mouse or Easy’s past. Movie viewers briefly see clips of Easy’s flashbacks but viewers aren’t sure why they are significant. In the movie, Mouse suddenly appears at Frank Green’s house to lend a helping hand to Easy. It isn’t until then that we have to assume it is a friend of Easy’s. Another important observation detailed more in the novel than the movie is the relationship between Easy and Daphne, the beautiful white woman he is in search of. Throughout the novel Daphne makes passes, teases, and develops a loving and sexual relationship with Easy. Smitten with Daphne, Easy explains, “I never felt drawn to a woman the way I was to Daphne Monet...She'd whisper a sweet word and I was brought back to the first time I felt love and loss." (228) But in the movie we find that there isn’t even a relationship at all between the two and that Daphne stays true to her love for Carter. The novel was more descriptive than the movie because there is more room to develop plots, characters, etc. There is a lot you can add to a book with an unlimited amount of time and space. The movie is like a shortened version of the novel. Because the book is so detailed, many of the scenes in the movie were shortened due to the amount of limited time offered. When reading a novel, the reader imagines the setting and each character. A novel allows the reader to control what they see leaving an endless amount to imagine. Watching the movie version ruined the way I saw some of the characters and the setting making it less enjoyable to watch. For example, I imagined Daphne blonde, pretty, and very sexy. The film version didn't display any of these images. I imagined Joppy's bar as a run down hole-in the-wall type of place. I didn't receive that kind of vibe during the movie. Instead, everything seemed almost glamorous and clean. It is disappointing to imagine a character and a scene one way and turns out totally different in another way. The most important reason novels are usually more successful than a film is because most film versions do not follow the book. Movies cut out many of the scenes or add new elements because it is too descriptive or there isn't enough excitement. The movie turns out not to be what you expect and can even change the story line completely. An example is at the end of the novel when the author focused on Daphne and the point of her being half black and half white. This wasn't the case in the film version as Carter was a central focus as the pornographic pictures where produced toward the end of the movie.  I enjoyed reading the novel over watching the film version of __Devil In A Blue Dress__. The novel was very descriptive and allowed me to imagine the characters and the setting the way in which I wanted to depict them. The film didn't fully follow the novel which was very disappointing.

Jen Barlics 6-22-09 Online Response Essay #2


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Using facts and logic, Mrs. Marple effortlessly solves the murder case involving Mrs. Pritchard in "The Blue Geranium" by Agatha Christie. Quietly sitting at the dinner table Mrs. Marple assesses all the facts as Sir Henry proudly fills all the dinner quests in on the murder mystery. In fact, she only interrupts Sir Henry's story telling twice just before she solves the case to everyone's amazement. A patient, observant detective such as Mrs. Marple thinks about all possibilities and outcomes in order to reach her final conclusion unlike her male counterpart, John Jones in "He Knew" by Chester Himes. Jones acts on impulse and uses force to solve the robbery/murder mysteries haunting his town. The vast difference between John Jones and Mrs. Marple can be seen in the two stories, "The Blue Geranium" and "He Knew" with the detectives very different approaches to solving murder mysteries. The female, Mrs. Marple, being rational while the male, Mr. Jones, is quick to act without really thinking. The process each goeas through and the way in which they think, lead them to two very different endings, one satisfying and one not.

Breaking down Mrs. Marple's technique reveals her calm and quiet approach to solving murder. Actually most people don't even notice when she's in the room listening to the story. Her tactic seems to be one of absorbing all information and then putting the pieces of the puzzle together in her head before revealing the outcome. Sir Henry mentions this in the story when he states, " We hardly realized that Mrs. Marple was playing; but we were very polite about it" (231). He goes on to say that, to his amazement, "the old lady outdid us every time" (232). Mrs. Marple proves herself yet again when she solved the nurse's murder mystery accurately using all clues given in Sir Henry's story. She uses clues such as the litmus paper and the smelling salts to help solve the mystery and she figures out how the Fortuneteller changed the color of the geranium due to past knowledge of nursing herself. Mrs. Marple has insight based on Mrs. Marples keen observations of St. Mary Mead, which has "given her unlimited opportunities of observing human nature- under the microscope." (230) She cleverly solves the murder; her method of doing so shocks everyone.

In contrast, Mr. Jones lacks such skill and stupidly cannot put the pieces of the puzzle together. He is investigating robberies and patrolling warehouses when he hears shots not too far away. Jones and his partner sprint toward the open fire and foolishly shoots into the darkness. It is almost as if Jones' own intuition is trying to make him realize he should stop firing, reminding him that his sons were mixed up into trouble and could very well be out there. He has flashbacks of his son Johnny Jr. "the other day when Johnny dropped a roll of bills from his pocket..." (16). He wonders where his son had received the money and if he may be in trouble because of it. In the back of his mind Jones thought back to the money and about his son running around with young hoodlums. But he didn't stop firing his gun. He fought back without thinking of the consequences to keep himself alive and fired relentlessly into the darkness over and over again. Finally, when the light went on he realized what he had done, he had killed his two boys. He knew what it was like to have dead son's like them, killed by their own father.

 Both Mrs. Marple and Mr. Jones have two very different approaches to solving murders due to their process of thinking. Jones acts fast without thinking things over while Mrs. Marple thoroughly and slowly processes information and successfully solves the mystery. Because Mrs. Marple was smart and people underestimated her as a detective makes "The Blue Geranium" an interesting story to read.

Jen Barlics 6/22/09 Online Response Essay #1

Detective fiction usually involves an unsolved crime which a detective investigates and almost always solves. " The Murder's in the Rue Morgue," by Edgar Allan Poe, is a story about two women who are mysteriously murdered. The killings occur in a room, on the fourth floor, locked from the inside. The main character, Auguste Dupin, a detective, listens to the witnesses' theories about the murders language, examines all the evidence, and cleverly pieces together the clues of a case, which leads to an unexpected twist of who actually murdered the women, making "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" a great detective story. Poe's story is a perfect example of a detective/ mystery story. The story is a locked-room mystery in which the murderer appears to have killed the victims in a room locked from the inside. The detective has to find out how this could happen and who has actually done it. Dupin's close observations and cleverness in finding clues help him eventually solve the mystery of the double murder. From the beginning, Dupin has the testimony of witnesses who all claim they heard the murderer speak a different language from their own. Dupin explains, " But in regard to the shrill voice, the peculiarity is not that they disagreed-- but that, while an Italian, an Englishman, a Spaniard, a Hollander, and a Frenchman attempted to describe it, each one spoke of it as that of a foreigner. Each is sure that it was not the voice of one of his countrymen" (12). Dupin cleverly concludes the voice heard was not that of a human because each language spoken by the witnesses were not their own, leaving no other possible language.
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Dupin's thorough search of the house, the victims, and the murder scene lead him to the clues that lead to the solution of the mystery. The first is a piece of ribbon: " Here, however, is a small piece of ribbon, which its form, and from its greasy appearance, has evidently been used in tying the hair in one of those long queues of which sailors are so fond." The detective now determines, with the knowledge he obtains about sailors, that the accomplice must have been a sailor. Another piece of evidence that helps solve the mystery is a piece of hair Dupin finds. The narrator explains, " Dupin!" I said, completely unnerved, "this hair is most unusual-- this is no human hair" (17). Because the hair is thick and unlike hair from a human, Dupin knows the killer is an animal.

Putting together the various pieces of evidence, Dupin figures out the murderer is an oraung- outang. But to be sure his conclusions are correct and to find out how it happened, he puts an ad in the paper concerning a lost oraung- outang which he hopes a sailor will respond to. Dupin's clever method helps him solve the case.  The story is a great example of detective fiction. The reader is presented with clues and an unsolved crime. A detective puts together the missing pieces and eventually solves the case.

Jen Barlics Detective Fiction Online Response Essay #3
 * REVISED**

There are two major and very different types of Detective Fiction, Classic and Hard- Boiled. Hard-boiled fiction contains descriptive characterizations of characters and an ample amount of violence and crimes. Classic Detective fiction contains detailed information on the plot and violence and crimes aren't as frequent. The level of violence/action and writing style distinguish them and account for the strengths and weaknesses in each.

Classic Detective Fiction contains a mystery involving a crime or an important article that is missing or stolen. The detective solves the mystery usually accompanied by a colleague or a friend who closely observes the detective's work and often narrates the story. The reader acts as a witness looking over the detectives shoulder. A great example of this type of fiction is "Murders in the Rue Morgue," by Edgar Allan Poe. The detective, Auguste Dupin, puts together pieces of a case and solves the murders of two women while his friend, the narrator of the story, closely follows his clever search for the murderer. Most classic detective stories emphasize the plot over the characters. The place or setting of the murder is described in detail more than the person murdered or the detective solving the case. In "Murders in the Rue Morgue," the area in which the murders take place is described in detail. The narrator explains, "...the door of the chamber...was locked from the inside...The windows, both of the back and front room, were down and firmly fastened from within...A small room in the front of the house, on the fourth story...was open the door being ajar...There was not an inch of any portion of the house which was not carefully searched "( 8-9). Knowing the details surrounding the areas of the bodies found, on the fourth floor in rooms with doors locked from the inside, helps piece together how the murders were carried out and how they happened. Classic Detective stories usually involve a crime that consist of a clean murder. These stories aren't very gory and contain little blood and a very brief description of the murder, if any. Poe describes the brutally murdered women in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," but this is only spoken of in brief detail once throughout the story. In this particular tale, there is no real motive to the murders of the two females. There are strengths and weaknesses of Classic Detective Fiction. It is important that the plot of the story is described in detail. It sets the tone and gives the feeling of being at the crime scene witnessing the murdered victims. Classic Detective fiction often lacks action, violence, and brief details of the murder. This can take excitement and edge away from it creating an uninteresting story. Some readers have turned away from this type of fiction and have moved on to the interesting style of hard-boiled fiction. Hard-boiled Detective Fiction is very different from Classic Detective Fiction. Hard- boiled Fiction is a type of fiction, which emphasizes crime, violence, and sex. An example of a good Hard-boiled story is __Devil In A Blue Dress__ by Walter Mosley. Ezekiel Rawlins (Easy for short), a black detective, is hired by a white man named DeWitt Albright. Albright is looking for someone to help him find a beautiful white women named Daphne Monet, hiding in the black community in Los Angles, California. Easy accepts his offers but finds himself between murderers and corrupt cops. Rawlins efforts to find the missing women are done solely on his own unlike that of most classic fiction stories where the detective and a friend solve a case. In Hard-boiled stories, the characters are focused on more than the plot. In __Devil In A Blue Dress__, the reader receives insight into the lives of many of the characters. We learn from Easy's character, about his life in the past, especially his association with his troubled friend, Mouse. We also learn about Daphne's past with her abusive father and that she is in fact half black and half white. These descriptive characterizations into the lives of these characters are sometimes important information to a story, the detail the author goes into takes away from the action and the descriptive nature of the murders. The male characters tend to act and think tough. For example, Easy is asked to find Daphne, the missing woman. When Rawlins asks what will become of the woman, Albright responds, “ Do I look that much like God to you? Can I tell you what will happen tomorrow?… But, you know, she might forget to buckle her shoes next week and fall down and break her neck, and if she does you can’t hold me up for it. But whatever” (103-104). Albright might not mean to cause harm to the woman but his response to Easy shows that he thinks and acts tough. Hard-boiled stories are also a lot more violent and gory and seen more frequently than classic detective stories. The day after Easy spends an evening with a woman named Coretta, is found dead. Cops suggest Easy as the murderer. They take Easy in for questioning and one cop violently threatens Easy by saying, “You got bigger problems than busting your friend’s bar, Ezekiel. You got bigger troubles than that…Means we can take your black ass out behind the station and put a bullet in your head” (117). The cops act violently towards Easy and do what they please without any hesitation. Most hard- boiled stories are laid out in this fashion. The use of violence, crime, and sex almost always makes a story interesting and keeps readers at the edge of their seats but Hard-boiled fiction does have its weaknesses. Revolving around a characters past life isn't necessarily needed in solving a murder or finding a missing woman. This can often take away from the actual plot of the story itself. Classic and Hard-Boiled stories are two very different types of Detective Fiction. The writing styles of the two have weighed a considerable amount of strengths and weaknesses. Because of the abundance of violence and murders in a Hard-Boiled story, I prefer reading them to Classic ones. They are proven more interesting and keep me at the edge of my seat.

Jen Barlics 6/1/09 Online Response Essay #1

Detective fiction usually involves an unsolved crime in which a detective investigates and almost always solves a crime, usually murder. " The Murder's in the Rue Morgue," by Edgar Allan Poe, is a story about two women who are mysteriously murdered. The killings occur in a room, on the fourth floor, locked from the inside. The main character, Auguste Dupin, a detective, interviews witnesses, examines the evidence, and cleverly pieces together the clues of a case which leads to an unexpected twist of who actually murdered the women, making "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" a great detective story. Poe's story is a perfect example of a detective/ mystery story. The story is considered a locked-room mystery in which the murderer kills the victims in a room locked from the inside. The detective has to find out how this could happen and who has actually done it. Dupin's close observations and cleverness in finding clues help him eventually solve the mystery of the double murder. From the beginning, Dupin is left with witnesses of the murder who all claim they heard the murderer speak a different language from their own. Dupin explains, " But in regard to the shrill voice, the peculiarity is not that they disagreed-- but that, while an Italian, an Englishman, a Spaniard, a Hollander, and a Frenchman attempted to describe it, each one spoke of it as that of a foreigner. Each is sure that it was not the voice of one of his countrymen" (12). Dupin cleverly concludes the voices heard was not that of a human because each language spoken by the witnesses were not their own, leaving no other possible language.
 * REVISED **

Dupin's thorough search of the house, the victims, and the murder scene lead him to a few clues that ties into the mystery. The first is a pieces of ribbon in which Dupin concludes," Here, however, is a small piece of ribbon, which its form, and from its greasy appearance, has evidently been used in tying the hair in one of those long queues of which sailors are so fond." The detective now determines, with the knowledge from his own experiences as a sailor, that the accomplice must have something to do with a sailor. Another piece of evidence that helps solve the mystery is a piece of hair the detectives partner finds. He explains, " Dupin!" I said, completely unnerved, "this hair is most unusual-- this is no human hair." (17) Because the hair is thick and unlike hair from a human, Dupin agrees that the hair is not from a human but from an animal.

Putting together the various pieces of evidence, Dupin finds out the murderer is an oraung- outang. But to be sure his conclusions are correct and to find out how it happened, he puts an ad in the paper concerning a lost oraung- outang which he hopes a sailor will respond to. Dupin's clever method helps him solve the case. The story is a great example of detective fiction. The reader is presented with clues and an unsolved crime. A detective puts together the missing pieces and eventually solves the case.

Jen Barlics Detective Fiction Online Response Essay #3

There are two major types of Detective Fiction, Classic and Hard- Boiled. Both types are very different from each other. The amount of violence, the style, and mannerism in both make them separate, which creates strengths and weaknesses in each.

Classic Detective Fiction is a story that contains a mystery involving a crime or an important article is missing or stolen. The detective solves the mystery usually accompanied by a colleague or a friend who closely observes the detectives work and occasionally narrates the story. The reader acts as a witness looking over the detectives shoulder. A great example of this type of fiction is "Murders in the Rue Morgue," by Edgar Allan Poe. A detective, Auguste Dupin, puts together pieces of a case and solves the murders of two women while his friend, the narrator of the story, closely follows his clever search for the murderer. Most classic detective stories detail the plot over the characters. The place or setting of the murder is described in detail more than the person murdered or the detective solving the case. In "Murders in the Rue Morgue", the area in which the murders took place is described in detail. The narrator explains, "...the door of the chamber...was locked from the inside...The windows, both of the back and front room, were down and firmly fastened from within...A small room in the front of the house, on the fourth story...was open the door being ajar...There was not an inch of any portion of the house which was not carefully searched." (Poe 8-9) Knowing the details surrounding the areas of the bodies found, on the fourth floor in rooms with doors locked from the inside, helps piece together how the murders were carried out and how it happened. Classic Detective stories that usually involve a crime consist of a clean murder. These stories aren't very gory and contain little blood and a very brief description of the murder, if any. Poe describes the brutally murdered women in "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", but is only spoken of in brief detail once throughout the story. In this particular tale, there is no real motive to the murders of the two females. There are strengths and weaknesses to in reading Classic Detective Fiction. It is important that the plot of the story is described in detail. It sets the tone and gives the feeling of being at the crime scene witnessing the murdered victims. Classic Detective fiction often lacks action, violence, and sometimes murder or details of the murder aren’t present in the story. This can take excitement and edge away from it creating an uninteresting story. Readers have turned away from this type of fiction and have moved on to the interesting style of hard-boiled fiction. Hard-boiled Detective Fiction is very different from Classic Detective Fiction. Hard- boiled Fiction is a type of fiction, which illuminates crime, violence, and sex. This type of fiction mixes murder and organized crimes of higher power authority. An example of a good Hard-boiled story is __Devil In A Blue Dress__ by Walter Mosley. Ezekiel Rawlins (Easy for short), a black detective, is hired by a white man of higher power named DeWitt Albright. Albright is looking for someone to help him find beautiful white women named Daphne Monet, hiding in a black community in Los Angles, California. Easy accepts his offers but finds himself between murders and corrupt cops. Rawlins tasks in finding the missing women are done solely on his own unlike that of most classic fiction stories where the detective and a friend solve a case. In Hard-boiled stories, the characters are focused on more than the plot. In __The Devil In A Blue Dress__, we see the whereabouts of characters over the murders. The actual murders in the story are mentioned but the author doesn’t go into great detail. The male characters tend to act and think tough. In __The Devil In A Blue Dress,__ Easy is asked to find the missing women. When Rawlins asks what will become of the women Albright responds, “ Do I look that much like God to you? Can I tell you what will happen tomorrow?… But, you know, she might forget to buckle her shoes next week and fall down and break her neck, and if she does you can’t hold me up for it. But whatever.” (Mosley 103-104) Albright might not mean to cause harm to the woman but his response shows that he thinks and acts tough. Hard-boiled stories are also a lot more violent and gory where murder is seen more frequently than classic detective stories. After Easy spends an evening with a woman named Coretta, she is found dead the next day. Cops point at Easy as the suspected murderer. They take Easy in for questioning where one cop violently threatens Easy by saying, “You got bigger problems than busting your friend’s bar, Ezekeil. You got bigger troubles than that…Means we can take your black ass out behind the station and put a bullet in your head.” (117) The cops act violent towards Easy and do what they please without any hesitation. Most hard- boiled stories are laid out in this fashion. The use of violence, crime, and sex almost always makes a story interesting and keeps you at the edge of your seat but Hard-boiled fiction does have its weaknesses. Revolving around a detective’s whereabouts can sometimes take away from the story. Sometimes this type of information is not needed in telling a detective story or solving a crime. This information can take away from the details of a murder or how a murder has occurred. Classic and Hard-Boiled stories are two very different types of Detective Fiction. The style, language, and manner of the two have weighed a considerable amount of strengths and weaknesses. Because of the abundance of violence and murders in a Hard-Boiled story, I prefer reading them to Classic ones. They have proven more interesting and keep you at the edge of your seat.

Jen Barlics 6-10-09 Online Response Essay #2

Using facts and logic, Mrs. Marple effortlessly solved the murder case involving Mrs. Pritchard in __The Blue Geranium__ by Agatha Christie. Quietly sitting at the dinner table Mrs. Marple assessed all the facts as Sir Henry proudly filled all the dinner quests in on the murder mystery. In fact, she only interrupted Sir Henry's story telling twice just before she solved the case to everyone's amazement. A patient, observant detective such as Mrs. Marple thinks about all possibilities and outcomes in order to reach her final conclusion unlike her male counterpart, John Jones in __He Knew__ by Chester Himes. Jones acted on impulse and used force to solve the robbery/murder mysteries haunting his town. The vast difference between John Jones and Mrs. Marple can be seen in the two stories, __The Blue Geranium__ and __He Knew__ with the detectives very different approaches to solving murder mysteries.

Breaking down Mrs. Marple's technique reveals her calm and quiet approach to solving murder. Actually most people don't even notice when she's in the room listening to the story. Her tactic seems to be one of absorbing all information and then putting the pieces of the puzzle together in her head before revealing the outcome. Sir Henry mentions this in the story when he states, " We hardly realized that Mrs. Marple was playing; but we were very polite about it." (Christie 231) He goes on to say that, to his amazement, "the old lady outdid us every time." (232) Mrs. Marple proved herself yet again when she solved the nurse's murder mystery accurately using all clues given in Sir Henry's story. She used clues such as the litmus paper and the smelling salts to help solve the mystery and she figured out how the Fortuneteller changed the color of the geranium due to past knowledge of nursing herself. Mrs. Marple has a wise insight which has "given her unlimited opportunities of observing human nature- under the microscope." (230) She cleverly solves the murder; her method of doing so shocked everyone.

On the contrary, Mr. Jones lacks such skill and stupidly couldn't put the pieces of the puzzle together. He was investigating robberies and patrolling warehouses when he heard shots not too far away. Jones and his partner sprinted toward the open fire and foolishly shot into the darkness. It was almost as if Jones' own intuition was trying to make him realize he should stop firing, reminding him that his sons were mixed up into trouble and could very well be out there. He had flashbacks of his son Johnny Jr. "the other day when Johnny dropped a roll of bills from his pocket..." (Himes 16) In the back of his mind Jones thought about his son running around with young hoodlums. But he didn't stop. He fought back to keep himself alive and fired relentlessly into the darkness over and over again. Finally, when the light went on he realized what he had done, he had killed his two boys. He knew what it was like to have dead son's like them, killed by their own father.

 Mrs. Marple and Mr. Jones have two very different approaches to solving murders. The female being rational while the male is quick to act with really thinking. The process each go through and the way in which they think, lead them to two very different endings, one satisfying and one not. Because Mrs. Marple was smart and people underestimated her as a detective makes __The Blue Geranium__ an interesting story to read.

Jen Barlics 6/1/09 Online Response Essay #1

Detective fiction usually reveals an unsolved crime in which a detective investigates and almost always solves a crime, usually murder. " The Murder's in the Rue Morgue", by Edgar Allan Poe is a story about two women who are both mysteriously murdered. The killings occur in a room, on the forth floor, locked from the inside. The main character, Auguste Dupin, a detective, is determined to put together pieces of the case based on various clues making "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" a true detective story. Poe's story is a perfect example of a detective/ mystery story. The story is considered a closed door mystery in which the murderer kills the victims in a room locked from the inside. The detective has a motive to find out how this could happen and who has actually done it. Dupin's close observations and cleverness in finding clues help eventually solve the mystery of the double murder. Dupin is left with witnesses who all claim they heard the murderer speak a different language of their own. Dupin explains, " But in regard to the shrill voice, the peculiarity is not that they disagreed-- but that, while an Italian, an Englishman, a Spaniard, a Hollander, and a Frenchman attempted to describe it, each one spoke of it as that of a foreigner. Each is sure that it was not the voice of one of his countrymen." (Poe 12) Dupin's thorough search of the house also lead him to a piece of ribbon that ties into the mystery unraveling. " I am not sure of it. Here, however, is a small piece of ribbon, which its form, and from its greasy appearance, has evidently been used in tying the hair in one of those long queues of which sailors are so fond." Dupin cleverly concludes the voices heard were not that of a human. " There was not an inch of any portion of the house which was not carefully searched." (9) His thorough search of the whole house, the victims, and the murder scene, lead to his discovery of many things including hair from something other than a human. " Dupin!" I said, completely unnerved, "this hair is most unusual-- this is no human hair." (17) Putting together pieces of other evidence, Dupin finds out the murderers. But to find out how it happens, he puts an ad in the paper concerning a lost oraung- outang which he hopes a sailor will respond to. Dupin's clever method helps him conclude the case of the murderer. The story is a great example of detective fiction. The reader is presented with clues and an unsolved crime. A detective puts together the missing pieces and eventually solves the case.