did a quiz on the sign of four

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+1. What year was *The Sign of Four* published and who wrote it?
+
+*The Sign of Four* was published in 1890 by Arthur Conan Doyle.
+
+2. When Sherlock Holmes doesn’t have a case, how does he stimulate his
+mind?
+
+He does drugs, which are often---at the time---prescribed for
+nervousness or psychosis, namely morphine and cocaine (he does cocaine
+in this book).
+
+3. Where was Dr. Watson and what was he doing before coming to London to
+live with Holmes?
+
+He was an army surgeon, which is where he hurt his leg.
+
+4. What happened to Captain Morstan?
+
+He died during an argument with Major Sholto, when he got up in anger---
+almost immediately succumbing to some long-stading heart malady, causing
+him to faint and burst his head on a table.
+Sholto didn't think anyone would believe that he hadn't killed Morstan,
+so Sholto buried the body and took possession of the Indian treasure.
+
+5. How did Major John Sholto become wealthy?
+
+He brought back "Indian curiosities" and a household of servants to
+England after serving in the Indian Army.
+Included in these "Indian curiosities" is the treasure that he found
+with the aid of some convicts and Morstan, which is why multiple people
+believe to be the rightful owners of his wealth.
+
+6. Who is Jonathan Small and what is his defining physical feature?
+
+Jonathan Small is the thief of the treasure and the murderer of Sholto.
+He is identified by his wooden peg leg.
+
+7. What character in *The Sign of Four* most closely resembles Dr.
+Jekyll? Please explain. There are no wrong answers.
+
+In his image as a professional, Holmes most closely resembles Jekyll.
+They are both portrayed as astute, mostly likeable, well-respected men,
+and Holmes happens to have similar addictive traits as Jekyll which
+require his "constant mental stimulation."
+
+8. How does *The Sign of Four* use "health" to illustrate different
+character traits? Please give at least one direct quotation and explain.
+
+*The Sign of Four* uses Sholto's hypochondria as a proxy for his nervous
+traits.
+Dr. Watson says he is a "confirmed hypochondriac," spouting
+"interminable trains of symptoms."
+Sholto is also specifically worried about his heart: "The aortic I may
+rely upon, but I should value your opinion upon the mitral."
+
+It also uses Sherlock's cocaine addiction to demonstrate his
+intellectual hunger.
+The author applies medication usage and concern about health to proxy
+a character's constitution, general nervousness/aloofness, and
+obsessiveness versus a more detached predilection.
+
+9. Last week, we discussed racial pseudoscience, phrenology, social
+Darwinism, and eugenics. How does the author characterize non-white and
+non-English people? Why? Give at least one direct quotation and explain.
+
+The author characterises many non-white people as ugly and unattractive.
+The most prominent example is Thaddeus Sholto, described as having "a
+pendulous lip, and a too visible line of yellow and irregular teeth,"
+but this is represented in other descriptions of non-white people as
+improper.
+
+10. What common themes do The Sign of Four and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
+share?
+
+Both of these stories are set in wealthy, high-class London with
+medicine playing a role in the development of the characters.
+Both are also structured as detective novels, uncovering some nefarious
+act that has occurred.
+For Dr. Jekyll, this is his self-experimentation and theorizing about
+the "duality of man" and high moral principles.
+For Watson, this is the repeated thefts and corruptions that come from
+the chest of Indian treasure.
+The similar theme between these two moral crimes is a corrupting
+influence.
+In The Sign of Four, wealth plays that role---but Watson's cocaine habit
+shows that the corruption of character can come about in other ways.
+Watson and Hyde, deliberate misanthropes, draw many similarities that
+correspond with this theme: people are easily corrupted, especially in
+situations of power or advantage.
+This falls right back into Jekyll's duality of man theory and theme.
+People are usually at least part evil and part good, and like Jekyll's
+potion, the ill-gotten treasure helps bring out the worse even in
+kind-hearted Watson (he struggles to congratulate Morstan on her new
+wealth).