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Q1 of 5
How does King use the concept of 'found objects' as a structural principle throughout the novel?
- Found objects are incidental background detail with no symbolic function
- King assembles the novel from folk tale, realism and fantasy — just as Stig builds his home from discarded objects
- King only uses found objects as a motif in the novel's opening chapters
- The chalk pit's junk represents the poverty and neglect of the rural community
Q2 of 5
How does the novel's refusal to explain Stig's existence function as a narrative strategy?
- It mirrors a child's natural acceptance of the world — making adult demands for explanation seem like a limitation
- It frustrates readers who expect logical consistency from fiction
- King was unable to find a satisfying scientific or magical explanation
- It marks the novel as fantasy rather than realistic or serious fiction
Q3 of 5
How does Stig of the Dump engage with questions of cultural relativism?
- Cultural relativism is not a relevant concept for children's literature
- The novel straightforwardly celebrates Western modernity over prehistoric culture
- The novel argues prehistoric people were superior to modern people
- By presenting Stig as equally intelligent and creative to Barney despite his prehistoric context, the novel implicitly argues that no culture has a monopoly on intelligence or value
Q4 of 5
How does the novel's ending resist the conventions of realist fiction?
- The ending resolves all plot threads neatly in the manner of classic realism
- The ending follows the standard pattern of 1960s British children's fiction
- The midsummer ending deliberately blurs the boundary between dream and reality, refusing the closure that realism demands and leaving the reader in a liminal space
- The ending is conventionally realistic — Stig is revealed to have been imaginary
Q5 of 5
How does King use the figure of the grandmother to comment on adult epistemology?
- Grandmother represents the adult epistemological framework that categorises experience into 'possible' and 'impossible', preventing her from accessing what Barney experiences
- Grandmother is simply a background character with no thematic function
- Grandmother has more imaginative openness than Barney
- Grandmother is the novel's main antagonist