Witness for the Prosecution

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What do you know about author Agatha Christie? Brainstorm a list of 5-6 informational points if you can, including the genres for which she is best known, any titles of her works, any of her works made into film or TV productions, and/or details about her background.

Teaching Suggestion: A working knowledge of Agatha Christie’s work will help students to apply patterns of the mystery genre to their reading. Furthermore, because Christie’s name is iconic in film, television, and literature, imprinting her reputation will be beneficial to students in future literature learning.

• Agatha Christie Documentary – a biopic by Artsmagic about Christie’s life and literary works
• "What Agatha Christie's Novels—and Life—Have to Teach Today's Crime Writers" – a LitHub article analyzing Christie’s impact on the literary crime genre

2. What qualities or characteristics typically signify the literary genres of crime and mystery? Think about genre characteristics such as setting, mood, tone, pace, plot structure, and character archetypes.

Teaching Suggestion: The crime and mystery genres have elements that uniquely characterize their themes, structures, and influences.