Hum/En 5 Problem 4

Problem 4
Due before class on February 9


   Two of the Sherlock Holmes stories we're reading this week, "The Man with the Twisted Lip" and "The Blue Carbuncle," plunge us into particularly sordid places and activities in Victorian London. Especially if we've read any novels by Charles Dickens, whose unwashed characters generally emit loud messages about personal morality and social justice, we naturally start to wonder about Arthur Conan Doyle's motives.

    Do you think Conan Doyle had a moral purpose in publishing these stories? Do you think the character Sherlock Holmes felt a moral purpose in pursuing these cases?

In a paragraph or two, answer those questions by explaining what you think of a few decisions Conan Doyle has made as a writer, and a few things Sherlock Holmes does or says. You can discuss both "The Man with the Twisted Lip" and "The Blue Carbuncle," or you can write about just one of the stories.

    On the level of writing, your specific aim here should be to floor the reader with the power and subtlety of your own argument. Accordingly, make sure that your first or second sentence is a topic sentence that gives an energetic, very specific preview of the rest. To accomplish that, insert the topic sentence last, when you can reread what you've written and think up a summary that does yourself justice.

My criteria for evaluating this piece of writing are:

    --You give your opinions about the moral purposes (or lack thereof) of Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes, and you explain your reasons.
--Your topic sentence is interesting, clear, and specific. Indeed, it's so well suited to what you say that it has to have been written last.

    This assignment is due an hour before class, at 6 p.m., on Thursday, February 9. You can email your text (haugen@hss.caltech.edu) or bring a hard copy to my office (301d Dabney: through the double doors near the elevator).

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