The Detective Story Genre Essay -- Year 10 GCSE Coursework

In this essay I will be analysing: The Speckled Band, The Red-Headed League, and The Blue Carbuncle by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I will be showing and comparing the plots of all three stories, the settings, the structure, and language used, characteristics of Holmes and Watson, and my own conclusion. All three stories were written in the 1890s.Crime writing was very popular in the 19th century, people found it to be very entertaining. It all started with a man called Edgar Allan Poe, he wrote the very first detective story â€Å"The Murders in the Rue Morgue†. Poe was a great inspiration to Doyle; he was the one who made Doyle what he is today. Doyle just loved Poe’s writing and he used Poe as a model when he set out to write detective stories himself. Detective stories then began in the middle nineteenth century when police forces organised in U.S., France and England. They were then published in magazines in instalments. The main plots of the three stories all have one thing in common and that is that they are all mysteries. The mystery for â€Å"The Speckled Band† is how and why Julia Stoner really died. The story starts with Holmes waking up Watson because a client (Helen Stoner) has arrived at 221B Baker Street early in the morning. Helen Stoner has a case for Holmes and she tells him that she is afraid because her sister Julia died in mysterious circumstances. Holmes and Watson travel to Stoke Moran, Surrey to solve how Julia had died and why there is a low whistle in middle of the night which had been the herald of Julia’s death. Holmes and Watson start to examine Julia’s bedroom and find that she was killed by a snake which Dr Roylott had been training for it to poison people to death. Dr Roylott is then ma... ...lmes methods, but as Holmes always points out he never observes. Overall I think that the 3 short stories: The Speckled Band, The Red-Headed League, and The Blue Carbuncle work as great detective stories because as you keep reading they seem to interest you more so you never out them down. The stories have become so great because most of the characters are based on real people who have a strong connection to the character. Between all three stories I liked The Speckled Band more because it seems more interesting and the case that needs to be solved is very mysterious due to the strange death. The title is even intriguing; it makes you want to read it. When you read up to the part where Holmes finds out who is killing everyone that just makes you ask yourself so many questions as to why that happened so its more exciting and you just have to keep reading.