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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 weapon does Dr.Wright produce from an office drawer in Chapter 51?

2. Who does Dr. Frock turn to to ask for help in clearing out the party in Chapter 43?

3. What reason does Rickman give for changing the way in which Smithback is allowed to gather information for his manuscript?

4. What is Pendergast searching for in the basement level of the museum in Chapter 46?

5. Who is Spencer Coffey?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Pendergast's initial shots against the creature fail to kill it?

2. Where do Margo and Dr. Frock go in Chapter 45? For what reason?

3. Why does Dr. Frock attempt to make all the party guests leave the museum in Chapter 43? Is he successful?

4. Who directs D'Agosta's party out of the Hall of the Heavens? Which members of the group refuse to go?

5. What epiphany does Margo have in Chapter 37 that makes her decide to run the indigenous plants from the Whittlesey crates packing material through the extrapolator program?

6. What changes does FBI Agent Coffey make to the murder investigation and the security plan for the Superstition Exhibition's opening night party?

7. What has George Kawakita done with the information about the indigenous plant packed with Whittlesey's artifacts? What is Kawakita's theory about the creature who terrorized the museum?

8. For what reason does Dr. Frock and Margo believe the creature kills?

9. Why does Dr. Frock want to see the crates from the Whittlesey Expedition again?

10. Who remains stuck inside the Hall of the Heavens with D'Agosta?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

How does Smithback end up in the subbasement with D'Agosta and the mayor of New York? Why does Coffey attempt to remove D'Agosta from his role as leader of this rogue group? Why is he not successful? Where does D'Agosta intend to take his group? What keeps them from teaming up with Pendergast? What is following them? How do they know which way to go? What hampers their progress? For what reason? What room do they find themselves in after toward the end of their adventure? What is hanging in this room? What do they later learn is significant about this room? How are they rescued? What do they learn of that room after everything is over?

Essay Topic 2

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?

Essay Topic 3

Who is Pendergast? Where is he from? Why does he come to New York? Why does he become involved in the investigation into the murders at the museum? Does D'Agosta want Pendergast's help? Discuss the relationship between Pendergast and D'Agosta in detail. Why is Pendergast removed from the investigation? What does Pendergast do with this information? Why would Pendergast begin investigating on his own? What does Pendergast know about he creature that other investigator's refuse to believe? How did Pendergast become involved in this investigation in the first place? What does the fact that Whittlesey's cargo was stopped in New Orleans for a time have to do with Pendergast? How does Pendergast eventually kill the creature?

(see the answer keys)

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