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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Margery learn at the garden party was recently stolen from the Catholic School?

2. What does Enid tell Margery when they find their bungalow broken and filled with trash in Chapter 25?

3. What does Margery's father do after the phone call he receives while in the study with Margery?

4. What does Mundic begin to do after his first meeting with Margery?

5. Where do Enid and Margery sleep on their first night in Poum in Chapter 23?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Margery tell Enid that "the post is no longer available" (42) when she first meets her at Fenchurch Station in Chapter 7?

2. What event at Margery's aunt's house reignited her passion for beetles after her father died?

3. What does the bungalow look like when Margery and Enid first arrive there in Chapter 25?

4. What are the four problems Margery encounters when they first arrive at New Caledonia in Chapter 18?

5. Describe the note Margery's students are passing around during her domestic science class in Chapter 2.

6. What happens in their cabin on the boat that makes Margery decide she does not trust Enid and will find a new assistant?

7. How does Mundic's mother react to his bullying as a child and what does she tell him about the "flame inside of him" (96)?

8. Why was Enid's husband unable to go to war despite having gone to military training?

9. What does Margery think when she sees the golden beetle in her father's book Incredible Creatures, and what does she decide she will do after her father leaves the room?

10. What news does Margery's father receive after showing her the golden beetle and what does he do in response?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Write an essay describing the imagery used in Miss Benson's Beetle. Indicate examples of imagery in the text and identify possible meanings.

Essay Topic 2

Write a detailed analysis of trauma in Miss Benson's Beetle. What types of trauma do the character's experience? What are examples of how they cope with their life's trauma? Use evidence from the text to support your analysis.

Essay Topic 3

Write an essay discussing the significance of war on Miss Benson's Beetle. How is Margery's life impacted by the first world war? How are all the character's lives impacted by the second world war? In what ways do the wars develop the novel's themes?

(see the answer keys)

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