M URDER ON THE O RIENT E XPRESS A NALYSIS Jackson Mathews Patrick Nimon Tom Idowu

V OCAB Hymeneal: adj. of or pertaining to marriage Ex. My brother gave a hymeneal request to his girlfriend on Saturday. Suffice: v. to be enough or adequate, as for needs or purposes Ex. No simpler flavor than chocolate will suffice to quench my icy hunger. Expenditure: n. the act of spending something Ex. My expenditure should be more controlled if I want to purchase a new car. Irremediably : adj. not admitting of remedy cure or repair Ex. I almost lost my mind when I irremediably cracked my iPhone. Culpability: adj. blameworthiness Ex. The culprit’s culpability was untested during the trial.

V OCAB CON. Verisimilitude: n. appearance or resemblance of truth Ex. The verisimilitude of the criminal’s testimony was undeniably reasonable. Delineation: n. a description Ex. The delineation of the protagonist was amusing. Cavorting: v. prancing about Ex. The flamboyant man was cavorting Hoodwink: v. to deceive or trick Ex. The man would always hoodwink his wife up until the messy divorce. Ineptitude: n. quality or condition of being awkward, clumsy, or foolish Ex. My brother’s ineptitude was so apparent that he could never get a girlfriend.

V OCAB CON. Ineptitude: n. quality or condition of being awkward, clumsy, or foolish Ex. My brother’s ineptitude was so apparent that he could never get a girlfriend. Shouldered: v. to assume as a responsibility Ex. William Wallace shouldered the duty of the leader of the Scotts. Commission: n. the act of committing or giving in charge Ex. The king put the knight into commission. Indignation: n. strong displeasure at something considered unjust, offensive, or insulting Ex. My indignation of the election was so strong that I had to speak my mind. Onus: n. a difficult or disagreeable obligation, task, burden, etc. Ex. Squidward was very displeased with the onus of taking out the trash.

V AN D INE ' S 20 R ULES 1: The reader should be given as many chances as the detective does to solve the mystery, and any type of clues should be clearly stated to be so. 2: The reader cannot be fooled in any way, except if the criminal is playing a trick on the detective. 3: The reader should not be distracted by pointless plots, such as a love story, where the reader is drawn into that plot and out of the main plot. 4: In NO circumstances can the detective himself be the guilty party. It is dishonest to the reader. 5: The criminal cannot be found by accident, it is cheap and a waste of the reader's time.

V AN D INE ' S 20 R ULES CONT. 6: A detective novel always has a detective. The detective gathers clues to reveal the criminal, and discovers who the criminal is by reaching a conclusion based on the clues he found.. 7: The crime must need to have a murder, which displays the height of all evils. 8: The crime must be solved by using brainpower and logic. 9: A detective novel can have one and only one detective solving the crime. 10: The criminal must be a somewhat significant character.

V AN D INE ' S 20 R ULES CONT. 11. A servant in the book cannot be found as the culprit or criminal, because it is found as a simple solution and easy answer to the mystery or case. The culprit must be one with the least suspicion, or someone who wouldn't normally be interpreted to be the victim. 12. There must always be one final victim in the story. There can be many murderers and(or) even crimes but there must always be one mastermind in charge of the whole murder mystery, and the reader must focus on an evil single act committed by the main culprit.

V AN D INE ' S 20 R ULES CONT. 13. Secret societies should have no place in a murder. The detective should not have a leaning post, but single-handedly portray himself to be capable to maturely accounting for the case he has approved of for himself. 14. All of the evidence collected must be rational, and realistic. The method that the detective comes up with the truth must be the same, as well as all aspects of the crime itself. The crime must not be unrealistic, or the author loses the reader to the realm of fantasy. 15: The truth of the problem must be apparent at all times throughout the mystery. The reader must be able to spot the explanation for the crime, and if possible, commit to solving the case before the final part of the story unfolds, but most often, the reader does not solve the mystery before the detective.

V AN D INE ' S 20 R ULES CONT. 16: There should be no unnecessary plot points, the plot should be about only the mystery, not the character's lives. 17: The guilty party cannot be a known criminal, such as a serial killer or famous burglar. The criminal must be someone unexpected, who is both a surprise and a plot twist to the reader. The criminal should never be bothered with crime, the police departments etc. are supposed to administer justice to the known victim. 18: The murder must be a murder, and not a suicide or accident. This would defeat the purpose of the mystery novel and in result, waste the reader's time.

V AN D INE ' S 20 R ULES CONT. 19: All the crimes in mystery novels should be personal, with no payed jobs. There can be no motivation from an type or war-related affairs. 20. Using cigarettes to determine a suspect identity, scaring a suspect into revealing himself, a forged fingerprint, dummy-figure alibis, dogs not barking revealing a familiar intruder, pinning the crime on a look-alike or relative, knockout medicine, committing a crime in a room the police have broken into, a word association test for guilt, and a coded letter, are all overused and unoriginal parts of a detective story.