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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 Smithback see in Rickman's desk drawer that prompts him to sign the provisions?

2. How long does Margo tell Pendergast she and Dr. Frock believe the creature has lived in the museum?

3. What does the commander of the SWAT team tell Coffey is his priority once inside the museum?

4. What damage does the gun fire in the computer room do that affects the entire museum?

5. What does Rickman tell Smithback about discussions with museum employees on museum grounds?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why does Coffey instruct Bailey to take command of D'Agosta's group in Chapter 49?

2. 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?

3. How do Margo and Pendergast lure the creature to them a second time? What is Margo's role in this?

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

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

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. Why do Margo and Pendergast go into the secure area and take some of the packing material from Whittlesey's shipping crate in Chapter 52?

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

9. What is Dr. Frock's theory on the killer in the museum as he explains it to Pendergast in Chapter 29?

10. What is found inside the Superstition Exhibition that begins the panic? Who finds it?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss two of the following. Include in your discussion how the two elements work together to build a strong plot:

1) Setting

2) Character

3) Point of view

4) Language

5) Structure

Essay Topic 2

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?

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?

(see the answer keys)

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