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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 lined the walls of the hut where the Mbwun figure was found?

2. Why does the red-haired kid follow his brother, Billy, into a dark, cavernous room?

3. To whom does Whittlesey write a letter before sending his crates away?

4. Who do D'Agosta and Pendergast wait to see in the opening paragraphs of Chapter 16?

5. What happens to Ven at the end of Chapter 2?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is odd about the DNA sample the lab tech examines in Chapter 17?

2. What is the Callisto Effect?

3. What family crisis is taking place in the Green family, forcing Margo to make a decision that could end her dreams of completing her education?

4. Where does Whittlesey find Crocker? What does the marks on the body say to Whittlesey about Crocker's fate?

5. What does Margo Green find when she reports for work on Monday morning in Chapter 3?

6. What does Margo smell in the Superstition Exhibit hall that frightens her? Where has the reader heard of this scent previously in the novel?

7. What does Smithback ask Kawakita to help him with in Chapter 25? Why does Kawakita refuse?

8. What is Margo Green working on at the Museum of Natural History? Who is her adviser?

9. What is a scientific expedition?

10. What does the medical examiner tell D'Agosta about the missing part of the victim's brain and what it does inside the human body?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss scientific expeditions. What are they? What is the purpose of an expedition? Who goes on these expeditions? Are they restricted just to scientists? What happens to the artifacts taken during these expeditions? For what purpose are these artifacts taken? Should they be taken? Compare and contrast a real expedition with the Whittlesey expedition discussed in this novel. For example, compare the Whittlesey expedition with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Discuss the details of each, what the explorers hoped to find, and what the end result was. What did each of these expeditions do for civilization?

Essay Topic 2

Discuss the creature. Why does the creature kill? What is it seeking from the people it kills? How did the creature fulfill this desire before coming to New York? How did the creature meet its requirements before traveling out of the Amazon? What happened to this source of nourishment? Why did the ship carrying the creature to New York stop in New Orleans? Who investigated this mysterious situation in New Orleans? How does that relate to the events described in this novel? How did the creature keep its existence hidden for more than five years in the Museum of Natural History? What changed and forced the creature to make its presence known?

Essay Topic 3

In the end, how many people did the creature kill? Why did the creature not kill Cuthbert? What happened to Cuthbert instead? Was this a fate well deserved, or a sad turn of events? Explain your answer. What did the police find in the creature's lair? What does this suggest about the creature's lifestyle? Who was identified by the artifacts found in the creature's lair? Did the creature really kill all those people? Why did the FBI not allow Dr. Frock to autopsy the body of the creature? What might have been found if he had? Why would the FBI try to cover up such a creature's existence? Is it possible another creature could again invade New York or a similar place? Explain.

(see the answer keys)

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