Name:________________________________________Period:_______________Score:____/ 35
Sherlock Holmes
Deductive reasoning: moves from the general to the particular. It takes a general premise and deduces
particular conclusions.
The truth (or verity) of the conclusion of a deductive argument is dependent upon two things: the
correctness (or validity) of the form of the argument, and the truth (or verity) of the premise.
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character of the late 19th and early 20th centuries who first appeared in
publication in 1887. He was the creation of Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Holmes is famous for his intellectual prowess and is renowned for his enormous scope of observation, his
astute logical reasoning, and his forensic science skills to solve difficult cases.
Holmes's primary detection method is deductive reasoning. Holmes stories often begin with a display of
his talent for "deduction". In fact, one quote often heard from Holmes is, "When you have eliminated the
impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth".
For example, in "A Scandal in Bohemia" Holmes deduces that Watson had got very wet lately and that he
had "a most clumsy and careless servant girl." When Watson, in amazement, asks how Holmes knows
this, Holmes answers:
“
It is simplicity itself... My eyes tell me that on the inside of your left shoe, just where the
firelight strikes it, the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they have been
caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round the edges of the sole in order to
remove crusted mud from it. Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in
vile weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting specimen of the London
slavey.
”
In this case, Holmes employed several connected principles:




If leather on the side of a shoe is scored by several parallel cuts, it was caused by someone who
scraped around the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud.
If a London doctor's shoes are scraped to remove crusted mud, the person who so scraped them is
the doctor's servant girl.
If someone cuts a shoe while scraping it to remove encrusted mud, that person is clumsy and
careless.
If someone's shoes had encrusted mud on them, then they are likely to have been worn by him in
the rain, when it is likely he became very wet.
By applying such principles in an obvious way, Holmes is able to infer from his observation, "the sides of
Watson's shoes are scored by several parallel cuts", that:
"Watson's servant girl is clumsy and careless" and "Watson has been very wet lately and has been out in
vile weather."
Sherlock Holmes: This movie shows many aspects of the character Sherlock Holmes created by Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle in the 19th Century. Pay particular attention to Holmes’ mastery of:





Deductive reasoning
Martial arts
Weapons
Disguise
Forensic knowledge
1. What are Holmes and Watson doing during the opening scene?
2. What does it appear is happening?
3. Who was caught?
4. Why didn’t Holmes wait for the Inspector to arrive?
5. Where does Holmes live (address)?
6. When we next see Holmes, what does he tell Watson he was working on developing?
7. Why, according to Watson, does Holmes need “cheering up”?
8. What is wrong with the dog?
9. Where and why does Watson invite Holmes to dinner?
10. What details are the “most important”?
11. How does Holmes use deductive reasoning with Mary? List at least three examples.
12. Was his deductive reasoning totally accurate? If not, what was inaccurate?
13. What is one of Holmes’ hobbies?
14. What distracts him from his fight?
15. Who is causing problems at the prison?
16. What is the prisoner’s last request?
17. Why does Watson hit Holmes and throw his coat out of the window?
18. List at least four of the items Lord Blackwood tells Holmes.
19. With what crimes is Lord Blackwood charged?
20. What were Lord Blackwood’s last words?
21. Who is the woman in Holmes’ room?
22. What does she hire Holmes to do?
23. What does Holmes do when she leaves?
24. What does the police officer tell Holmes has happened to Lord Blackwood?
25. Who is in the coffin?
26. Is Lord Blackwood in the tomb?
27. What piece of jewelry do they find in the coffin?
28. What do Holmes and Watson find in Reordon’s rooms?
29. Where do Holmes and Watson end up after the shipyard scene?
30. What makes Watson most angry with Holmes?
31. Who is Holmes taken to see when he is released from jail?
32. What is the relationship between Lord Blackwood and Sir Thomas?
33. How does Holmes deduce this relationship?
34. What is the source of Lord Blackwood’s power?
35. Where does Holmes go after this meeting?
36. According to Holmes, for whom is Irene working?
37. What does Irene ask Holmes to do?
38. What does Irene do to Holmes?
39. Who does Lord Blackwood kill next?
40. What does Lord Blackwood take from the corpse?
41. List at least three things Holmes discovers in the secret chamber?
42. What happens at the next meeting of the Four Orders?
43. What does Lord Blackwood state is his goal?
44. Why does Holmes have a body brought into Watson’s lab?
45. What does Holmes leave behind in the lab when he leaves? Why?
46. Where do Holmes and Watson go?
47. What do they find at their destination?
48. Whose voice do they hear?
49. What is his warning?
50. Who must be saved?
51. What trap does Watson trigger?
52. Who does Holmes discover now wants him arrested?
53. What is the man who hired Irene after?
54. Does Mary fall for Holmes’ disguise as a doctor?
55. What does she then tell Holmes?
56. What does Holmes do to help him discover what Lord Blackwood has planned?
57. What four creatures make up a sphinx?
58. Whose death is represented by each one?
59. What does Holmes discover about the Inspector?
60. What do Holmes, Watson, and Irene find in the sewer?
61. What will it dispense?
62. What does Lord Blackwood tell Parliament he plans to do?
63. Who does Parliament turn on when nothing happens?
64. Who takes the cyanide container?
65. Was Lord Blackwood’s magic real? How did he get away with his plot?
66. What happens to Lord Blackwood?
67. For whom was Irene working?
68. What happens to Irene?
69. What does Holmes take from Irene and why?
70. What does Holmes give to Irene and why?