Teacher Resources

Activities    |    Additional Reading

Online Resources

Activities:

Hard-Boiled Slang Crossword Puzzle		Hard-Boiled Slang Word Search

Additional Reading:

If You Liked The Maltese Falcon, try these titles.....

Mysteries for
for High School Readers

Non-Fiction for
Middle School Readers

Online Resources:

The Big Read: Teacher's Guide, from the National Endowment for the Arts

The Big Read Teacher’s Guide contains ten lessons to lead you through Dashiell Hammett’s classic novel, The Maltese Falcon. Each lesson has four sections: a focus topic, discussion activities, writing exercises, and homework assignments. In addition, the guide includes capstone projects and suggested essay topics, as well as handouts with more background information about the novel, the historical period, and the author. Finally, the Big Read Reader’s Guide hopes to deepen students exploration with interviews, booklists, timelines, and historical information.

Twists, Slugs and Roscoes: A Glossary of Hardboiled Slang, from Miskatonic University Press

This glossary translates the common slang words used in the hard-boiled detective novels of Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, David Goodis, James M. Cain and Mickey Spillane.

There's Only One Maltese Falcon, by Richard Layman, from January Magazine

Text of speech commemorate the 75th anniversary of The Maltese Falcon's publication. Delivered by Richard Layman, an expert on Dashiell Hammett, this speech discusses the publishing history of The Maltese Falcon, the movies, the weekly radio serial, The Adventrues of Sam Spade, and the book itself.

See Richard Layman in person 7 p.m. on Oct. 20 at the National Scouting Museum, 1329 W. Walnut Hill Lane.

Samuel Dashiell Hammett, from Arlington National Cemetery Website

This site includes exerts of text from books about Dashiell Hammett, including Selected Letters of Samuel Dashiell Hammett: 1921-1960, edited by Richard Layman and Julie M. Rivett and Dashiell Hammett: A Daughter Remembers, by Joshephine Hammett.

The Dashiell Hammett Website, from Mike Humbert

An extensive site about the creator of Sam Spade, the Thin Man, the Maltese Falcon, and the Continental Op. Includes a biography, bibliography, book cover art, historical photographs and more.