Death On The Nile

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

“Think Like a Detective”

In this activity, students will use creative problem-solving skills and critical thinking to learn more about being a detective.

Let’s practice our detective skills!

First, you’ll need a partner. Even the most famous literary detectives such as Christie’s Poirot or Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes needed to use teamwork to solve crimes. When you get the information about the crime scene, analyze the information available to you together, focusing on the following questions:

• What crime or crimes have been committed?
• What is unusual about the scene?
• What clues are there that you could use to find the identity of the perpetrator(s)?
• Are there any clues that would suggest what the motive of the crime might have been?

When you have finished your analysis, present your findings to the class so that everybody can compare notes in a class discussion.

Teaching Suggestion:

Teachers may want to find an image of a “crime scene” from one of several various websites or applications such as Criminal Case. Alternatively, you may wish to use the “What Happened in the Gazebo?” activity from Let’s Talk Science which offers ample opportunities for students to analyze and discuss possible as though they were Poirot himself.

Differentiation Suggestion: Students with attentional and executive function differences may find it helpful to use a graphic organizer such as a chart or even a kind of “evidence board.” Consider providing the following sentence starters to promote discussion: “I see…”, “I think…”, “I wonder….” You may also want to use a KWL chart or a think/pair/share activity to access prior knowledge or introduce some basic detective techniques and jargon to the class (e.g., investigative and law enforcement concepts such as motive, perpetration, aiding/abetting, modus operandi, etc.). 

Use these essay questions as writing and critical thinking exercises for all levels of writers, and to build their literary analysis skills by requiring textual references throughout the essay.

Differentiation Suggestion: For English learners or struggling writers, strategies that work well include graphic organizers, sentence frames or starters, group work, or oral responses.

Scaffolded Essay Questions

Student Prompt: Write a short (1-3 paragraph) response using one of the bulleted outlines below. Cite details from the text over the course of your response that serve as examples and support.

1. The novel reflects on issues of class and social standing in the early 20th century, depicting characters from different backgrounds and even introducing some characters who comment on issues of class and social standing.

• How is social class represented in the novel? (topic sentence)
• Choose two or three characters who come from different social classes and analyze how their status affects their views of others. 
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, reflect on whether the novel puts forward a coherent message about social class.

2. The novel, which is set almost entirely in Egypt, was published in 1937, the year after Egypt gained its independence from the United Kingdom.

• What is the role of the novel’s historical and political context? (topic sentence)
• Comment on the political subtexts and/or messages of the novel, focusing especially on Ferguson and Richetti.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, evaluate Christie’s engagement with the complex historical and political context of her novel.

3. The novel is full of women characters with diverse ideas and backgrounds, including Linnet, Jackie, Mrs. Allerton, and Cornelia.

• What are the traits of the women characters of the novel? (topic sentence)
• Pick three women characters from the novel and analyze their characters, exploring their talents, values, and social backgrounds.
• In your concluding sentence or sentences, evaluate whether Christie’s novel embraces or subverts stereotypical feminine “tropes.”

Full Essay Assignments

Student Prompt: Write a structured and well-developed essay. Include a thesis statement, at least three main points supported by text details, and a conclusion.

1. Poirot is particularly sympathetic toward Jackie throughout the novel (in contrast to some of the other criminals he encounters in the novel, including Richetti, Simon, and Pennington). Why do you think Poirot has so much sympathy for Jackie? How do you interpret Jackie’s depiction as suffering in the days leading up to and following Linnet’s murder? Do you believe that Jackie is merely acting, or might her feelings be at least partly genuine?

2. Death on the Nile belongs to the “travel holiday mystery” genre. What are the defining characteristics of this genre? Why is this kind of mystery regarded as enjoyable and satisfying? Christie herself wrote that Death on the Nile was her best mystery novel set in a foreign land. Do you agree with Christie that this novel is a successful example of the travel holiday mystery genre? Why or why not?

3. In Chapter 1, when Poirot sees Jackie for the first time, he observes that “[s]he cares too much, that little one…[i]t is not safe. No, it is not safe” (Chapter 1, Page 26). In what way does Jackie care too much? Why does this become her problem? How does Jackie’s tendency to care or love “too much” lead her to open her heart to evil?

Multiple Choice and Long Answer Questions create ideal opportunities for whole-text review, exams, or summative assessments.

Multiple Choice

1. About whom is Hon. Joanna Southwood speaking when she says “Here you are at twenty, your own mistress, with any amount of money, looks, superb health. You’ve even got brains!” (Chapter 1, Page 13)?

A) Jacquelline de Bellefort

B) Linnet Ridgeway

C) Miss Van Schuyler

D) Joanna Southwood

2. What makes Linnet's remark “Why, I haven’t got an enemy in the world” (Chapter 1, Page 17) ironic?

A) She is later murdered.

B) She is well-liked.

C) She is not very well-known.

D) She is later arrested for murder.

3. What strikes Poirot’s attention when he spots Jackie and Simon at a restaurant?

A) Their emotional imbalance

B) Her natural beauty

C) His affected immaturity

D) Their old-fashioned attire

4. What motivates Linnet to try to engage Poirot’s services?

A) Desire to murder  

B) Mistrust of Simon 

C) Fear of Jackie 

D) Repayment of a loan  

5. What literary device is Jackie using when she tells Poirot that “I was the moon…[w]hen the sun came out, Simon couldn’t see me any more…[h]e was dazzled” (Chapter 5, Page 88)?

A) Metaphor

B) Personification

C) Hyperbole

D) Allegory

6. Which statement best describes the reason Jackie could not have been the one who tried to kill Linnet at Abu Simbel?

A) She was talking with Poirot at the time.

B) She was sending a telegram with Linnet at the time.

C) She was questioned under oath by Scotland Yard.

D) She was spotted in Assuan (Aswan) by Colonel Race.

7. Whom does Simon go out of his way to defend during his interrogation?

A) Louise

B) Jackie

C) Cornelia

D) Himself

8. What theory does Poirot propose for why Pennington might have murdered Linnet?

A) He resented her success.

B) He wanted to hurt Simon. 

C) He had proposed to her.

D) He had embezzled her money.

9. Why does Poirot repeatedly refrain from revealing his suspicions to others?

A) He does not want to reveal his conclusions until he is certain.

B) He suspects everybody, including Race.

C) He has a motive to hide crimes of his own.

D) He is socially awkward and finds it hard to communicate with others.

10. According to Poirot, what question represents the starting point of the investigation?

A) Who had a motive for killing Linnet?

B) Why was the pistol thrown overboard?

C) Who is Jackie’s lover?

D) Which of the passengers is Race pursuing?

11. Why does Miss Van Schuyler steal the pearls from Linnet’s room?

A) She desperately needs money.

B) They were originally stolen from her.

C) She has kleptomania.

D) She is Joanna Southwood’s accomplice.

12. Why does Ferguson say he is happy that Linnet, Louise, and Mrs. Otterbourne are dead?

A) Because he believes that they are now in a better place

B) Because he disagrees with their religious views

C) Because he views all of them as useless parasites

D) Because he is the one who murdered them

13. Who is Dr. Bessner’s love interest?

A) Linnet

B) Cornelia

C) Mrs. Otterbourne

D) Poirot

14. What does Simon intend when he says “I’ll look after you” (Chapter 14, Page 216)?

A) He is consenting to extortion.

B) He is proposing a murder.

C) He is offering a loan.

D) He is proposing marriage.

15. Why does Poirot say he allowed Jackie to keep her second pistol?

A) Because he did not want to confiscate her personal property

B) Because he hoped she would kill Ferguson

C) Because he did not know she had it

D) Because he pitied her

Long Answer

Compose a response of 2-3 sentences, incorporating text details to support your response.

1. How does Tim Allerton feel about Poirot? Why?

2. Why do Simon and Jackie decide that the only way to get away with Linnet’s murder is to work together?