TOPIC: Detective fiction and gender: Write an essay that undertakes a gender analysis of
detective fiction. For this option, it would be important to include a section early in the
paper that defines gender. It would be especially good to define patriarchal ideology. Is
the eccentric genius detective a patriarchal figure? Why? Do the detectives created by
Poe or Conan Doyle differ in this respect? It would be very interesting to include
“Trifles” by Susan Glaspell in this paper. How might her play be seen as a critique of the
tradition represented Dupin or Holmes?

INSTRUCTIONS: Use MLA style
Give your paper a title
7 pages
Use page numbers
You MUST use quotations from the stories (and from any other sources you might use in the paper).
Quotations should generally be short. Avoid block quotes. Comment on quotes to
show how they are relevant to a point you are making. Quotes should also be introduced in your own words.