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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 do Ailill and Medb want to ask Cuchulain for after the slaughter of the boy trooper?

2. What is the result of Finnabair's death?

3. As Cuchulain watches the Irish army march south to Ulster, why does Cuchulain grow angry with the Irish army?

4. How does Cuchulain kill Cyr?

5. Why does Fergus take the time to tell the Irishmen about Cuchulain's youthful exploits?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does the fairy Morrigan disguise herself while Loch is battling with Cuchulain? Is she successful in stopping Cuchulain?

2. What does the "red-shame of Menn" refer to?

3. Cuchulain lets Medb resettle her army, but meanwhile what is happening?

4. How do the Irish women react to Cuchulain in his regular clothing and hairstyle?

5. Cuchulain kills Cyr in a very unusual way. What was it?

6. How do we know that Ferdiad and Cuchulain were equally matched warriors?

7. What does Cuchulain do in "The Decision of the Battle" and how is he feeling?

8. How are the charioteers from Ulster killed by the Irish?

9. What man of Ulster is angry at Cuchulain and why? What does he do?

10. How did Cuchulain manage to kill the gigantic Mann?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Mythical tales almost always contain elements of magic. (a) In your own words, explain why this is; (b) give four examples of magic as they apply to the warriors that confront Cuchulain, and (c) describe Morrigan the Fairy's actions in the book.

Essay Topic 2

Point-of-view refers to the narrative voice of a literary work. What is the point-of-view in The Cattle Raid of Cooley?

(a) Give three examples that show biases the narrator has in telling the story. For example, does the narrator always support the protagonist?

(b) What is the "tone" of the narrative voice in The Cattle Raid of Cooley? Give three examples that show you support the narrative voice as being positive, negative, neutral, or all three at different times.

Essay Topic 3

Characterization of characters in literary works are often revealed to us by what they do.

(1) Choose four characters in The Cattle Raid at Cooley and give one detailed example of how their actions reveal their character, and

(2) Choose one of these characters and explain how this example have an influence on the outcome of the story.

(see the answer keys)

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