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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. Who finds being locked in the break room of the museum in Chapter 4 outrageous?

2. Why does Margo not tell the security guard about the noise and the smell she experienced in the Superstition Exhibit hall?

3. What region of the brain is missing from the security guard autopsied in Chapter 23?

4. Why does the guard at the Superstition Exhibit hall door turn Margo away in Chapter 20?

5. Who has control over the content of William Smithback's writing at the Museum of Natural History?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the Callisto Effect?

2. What do the scientists at the independent lab tell Pendergast and D'Agosta in Chapter 23 about the DNA sample taken from the claw found in the chest of one of the victims?

3. What great find did Whittlesey make shortly after the departure of the other scientists? What does this appear to prove?

4. What does Pendergast show Dr. Frock in Chapter 18? What is Dr. Frock's reaction?

5. In what year does Whittlesey's expedition take place? How long is this before the events depicted in the rest of the novel?

6. Why is the local bar, The Blarney Stone Tavern, near the museum referred to as The Bones by museum employees?

7. What effect is the murder investigation having on the Museum of Natural History's visitors and staff?

8. 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?

9. What connection between the killer and the Mbwun figurine does Margo make in Chapter 25?

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Who is Whittlesey? What expedition did he go on? To where? What was the purpose of the expedition? Did Whittlesey find what he was looking for? What happened to the scientists involved in the expedition? Was this related to the relics crated and sent back to the museum? If so, explain. What is assumed was Dr. Whittllesey's fate? What did his journal say about the expedition? Was this helpful tot he murder investigation? What letter did Margo find in the crates related to the expedition? Was this letter helpful in learning about the nature of the creature? What item of Whittlesey's was found in the creature's lair? What conclusion did investigators come to when seeing this item? Is this conclusion correct?

Essay Topic 2

What is Kawakita's computer program? What does it do? Why did Kawakita create the program? How does the program relate to his field of study? To his dissertation? What does Margo use the computer program to do? Does it help her with her dissertation? What else does she learn from the program? What does Dr. Frock run through the program? What does it tell them about the creature that is terrorizing the museum? Does this information help them to catch it? Later, what does Kawakita find in the computer program? What does he use this information to do? What possible impact will this action have on the people of New York?

Essay Topic 3

Discuss the Museum of Natural History. How true to the real museum were the writers of this novel? Discuss what real visitors to the Museum of Natural History might hope to see. How do the real exhibits of the museum compare to the fictional exhibit discussed in this novel? Why did the writers chose to set their novel in such a setting? How does the setting of this novel affect the overall plot of the novel? How might the novel have been different if it were set somewhere else?

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