Hi. You have not submitted the essay this question refers to, which makes it impossible for it to be answered. However, I will try and help as best I can.
It is only possible to know how the reference to King Midas is important for the essay if the reading of the essay is done. However, King Midas is known to be a very ambitious and wealth-obsessed King, even to the point of selling his own soul to become richer, which causes him to lose his most precious possession, his daughter. In this case, we can consider that the essay must present this king to draw a parallel between the subject of the essay and this tragic story of Midas, stimulated by the thirst for riches. We can therefore consider that the reference to Midas serves to intensify some of Chesterton's positions within the essay.
This is an example of an allusion, because an allusion is a figure of speech that allows a text to make references to other texts, people, characters, places and external situations.
A plural noun indicates that there is more than one of that noun (while a singular noun indicates that there is just one of the noun). ... Regular plurals follow this rule (and other similar rules), but irregular plurals are, well, not regular and don't follow a “standard” rule.
Rites of passage are important occasions of somebody's life. For example, puberty, marriage, having children and death.
Guideline:
“The Bass, the River, and Shelia Mant”
14 year-old boy asks Sheila out. They go to the cinema by boat. The boy covers the fishing rod and fails to catch a big bass. Then he is upset.
"Oranges"
12 year-old boy goes out on a date with a girl for the first time. They go to the drugstore on foot. He has an orange in his pocket. She picks a chocolate. They take each other's hands. He peels the orange and she opens the chocolate.
