Stig of the Dump KS3 Quiz (With Answers)

Q1 of 8

How does King use the chalk pit as a threshold in the novel?

• The pit is purely a physical setting with no symbolic function
• The pit represents the division between childhood and adulthood
• As a literal gap in the earth, the pit serves as the threshold between the modern world and prehistoric time — Barney crosses it to enter a different relationship with history
• The pit represents the gap between rich and poor in 1960s England

Q2 of 8

How does the novel critique modern consumer culture?

• Through Stig's genius at making useful things from what modern people throw away — the pit full of junk is Stig's raw material
• By showing that modern children are unhappy with their toys
• The novel does not critique consumer culture
• Through explicit environmental speeches by adult characters

Q3 of 8

What does Barney's relationship with Stig suggest about the construction of 'civilisation'?

• Civilisation is clearly superior to primitive life in every way
• The contrast questions the assumption that 'later' means 'better' — Stig's intelligence and creativity challenge the hierarchy between 'primitive' and 'civilised'
• Stig's life proves prehistoric people were happier than modern people
• King presents a straightforward celebration of Stone Age life

Q4 of 8

How does free indirect discourse function in the novel?

• It creates dramatic irony by showing what characters don't know
• It allows King to maintain a child's perspective while using a more authoritative third-person voice
• It is only used in scenes where Stig appears
• It is used to make the prose deliberately difficult to follow

Q5 of 8

What is significant about the midsummer ceremony in the novel's ending?

• It is purely a dream and proves the whole novel was imaginary
• It establishes that Stig's world and Barney's world exist simultaneously across time, and that their connection is genuine rather than merely a childhood fantasy
• It signals Barney's transition to adulthood and the end of imagination
• It is a conventional fairy-tale ending with no deeper meaning

Q6 of 8

How does Stig of the Dump fit within the tradition of 1960s British children's literature?

• It shares with works like Tom's Midnight Garden (1958) a belief that children can access magical connections to other times that adults cannot
• It is entirely unique with no relationship to contemporary children's literature
• It belongs to the social realist tradition that dominated British children's fiction in the 1960s
• It is primarily influenced by American adventure fiction

Q7 of 8

How does the novel treat language as a theme?

• Language is not a significant theme in the novel
• King argues that without language, friendship is impossible
• The friendship between Barney and Stig, achieved without a common language, suggests that communication transcends words
• Language is presented as the essential foundation of all human connection

Q8 of 8

What does King suggest about the relationship between children and the past?

• The novel does not address children's relationship with history
• Children have an imaginative access to the past that adults have closed off — Barney can befriend Stig because he has not yet learned that this is impossible
• Children are frightened by the past and prefer the present
• Children are better historians than adults because they memorise facts more easily