Transcript Murder on the Orient Express

Murder on the Orient Express
Agatha Christie
Learning Target
 Identify the genre of mystery
 Analyze Plot and Theme
Genre – category of literature
 Agatha Christie wrote fictional mysteries
 Mysteries are usually based on a crime
committed that needs to be solved.
 Mysteries contain suspense.
 There are usually no obvious answers in a good
mystery.
 One of her series of mysteries used the
protagonist Detective Hercule Poirot
About the author
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Agatha Christie
 Agatha Christie was born in Torquay, England on September
fifteen, 1890.
 She was the youngest of three children in an upper-middle class
home.
 Agatha was schooled at home by a governess and tutors—a
lifestyle later reflected in her novels.
 She was married in 1914 to Archie Christie, a W.W.I fighter pilot.
While he was at war, Christie worked as a nurse. She first worked
with patients, but was eventually transferred to the dispensary
where she gained an extensive knowledge of poisons.
 Before Agatha married Archie, Agatha had discussed writing a
murder mystery with her sister Madge, but Madge thought it would
be too difficult her. Agatha devoted her downtime at the
dispensary to proving her sister wrong.
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Plot Overview
 Hercule Poirot, private detective and retired Belgian
police officer, boards the Taurus Express train to Stamboul
(Istanbul).
 During the course of the train ride, a murder takes place
and Poirot will have to find out who is the murderer.
 Narrated by a 3rd person narrator – omniscient
Possible themes
 Justice and Judgment: Is it important to follow law or have
revenge?
 Justice is a concept of moral rightness based on ethics,
rationality, law, religion, or equity.
 Judgment is the evaluation of evidence and making a decision
 Logic and reasoning to discover the truth - The main
character, Hercule Poirot uses insight into human nature,
powers of observation, and the deductive method to
discover the truth.
 Strength is not always seen with muscle.
 Things are not always as they seem
The Orient Express
 http://ajourneylikenoother.com/the-destinations/venicesimplon-orient-express/
Route of the Orient Express
Chapter 1 - Vocabulary
 Hercules Poirot is a French detective and uses many
French expressions in his dialogue.
French expressions
 Mais oui – of course
 Comme Ça – like that
 Eh bien – well then
 En voiture, monsieur – your car, sir
 Enfin – finally
 Voila – “a-ha!”
 Merci – thanks
 Jolie femme – pretty woman
Partner Read and Activity
 Read chapter 1, pages 3 – 15 with a partner.
 Write the vocabulary words in your journal.
 Find the definition for the word and write it in your journal.
 Find the word on the page in chapter one and then rewrite
the sentence in your own words (do not use the vocabulary
word in your sentence.
 Example:
 Poise – p. 9, Definition: a dignified self-confident manner
 Sentence: She had a dignified and self-confident manner.
Vocabulary –With a partner, find the
words in chapter one. Look up the
definition. Rewrite the sentence using
your own words.
Partner 1
Partner 2
 Aceding p.4
 Burnished p.9
 Delegated p.5
 Peremptory p.10
 Surrreptitious p.5
 Susceptible p.11
 Valise p.8
 Repressive p.11
 Sallied forth p.9
 Tyrannical p.12
 Eminently p.9
 Governess p.12
 Efficiency p.9
 Teeming p.12