View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What piece of literature does Mephisto tell Smithback to read before they meet again?
(a) Flowers for Algernon.
(b) Beyond Ragoon.
(c) A Poet's Maze.
(d) The Dunciad.

2. What has Margo begun to carry in her purse?
(a) Mace.
(b) An emergency credit card.
(c) A pistol.
(d) Lipstick.

3. What is a Stumpiniceps troglodytes?
(a) A rodent, much like a mouse, from the Carboniferous period.
(b) A small, odoriferous reptile of the Cretaceous period.
(c) A tree-dwelling serpent from the Triassic period.
(d) An oceanic bottom-feeder of the Carboniferous period.

4. What title does the disembodied voice in the tunnel give Smithback?
(a) Writer.
(b) Collector of pain.
(c) Scriblerian.
(d) Newsman.

5. What is the name of the theory presented by Dr. Frock?
(a) Fractal evolution.
(b) Frockian evolution.
(c) Creationist evolution.
(d) Disparate evolution.

Short Answer Questions

1. What kind of biologist is Margo?

2. How many people are in Linnaeus Hall for the presentation of the evidence gleaned from the Bitterman autopsy?

3. What does the trio find in the cubby where the second headless body was found?

4. Who is Hayward's boss?

5. Who requests a meeting with D'Agosta in Chapter 7?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does Pendergast reveal about Hayward? How does Hayward feel about this revelation? How does D'Agosta feel about this revelation?

2. When Mephisto gives Smithback the nickname "scriblerian," what does he imply?

3. Waxie is a misogynist. What does his presence add to the story, and how does that contribute to the overall storyline?

4. In Chapter 8, an unknown person develops extra sensitive senses, apparently by ingesting some unknown drug. What do you think is the purpose of this character's in-depth description and failing to tell the reader who he is?

5. What are the repercussions of the $100,000 reward posted by Bill Smithback and the Post?

6. Why do you think the author mentions his previous book, "Relic"?

7. What is the irony in the author's naming the leader of the Route 666 group Mephisto?

8. What kind of influence do you think a woman like Mrs. Wisher would likely have on the political climate? Does she show that she is willing to use that influence to force matters in the direction she wants them to go? What gives you that indication?

9. Police work seems to involve a lot of political jostling and brown-nosing. How is that concept illustrated in Chapter 11?

10. To what does Dr. Frock attribute the Mbwun's existence and its unlikely appearance in New York?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 817 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample