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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 is Patroclus afraid of, in the moment after he and Achilles kiss?

2. How does Achilles surprise Patroclus when they return to Phthia?

3. Where is Achilles taken when he disappears from Phthia?

4. How does Thetis change Achilles’ appearance when he returns to Phthia?

5. Why do kings send their daughters to Lycomedes?

Short Essay Questions

1. What gift does Chiron send Achilles to Troy with?

2. What is Patroclus’ first impression of Achilles?

3. Describe Deidameia’s relationship with Patroclus.

4. What conundrum is Patroclus caught in, now that the army will be going to Troy?

5. How do Achilles and Patroclus come to be close?

6. How is Achilles’ identity unmasked?

7. Why does Deidameia accuse Achilles of being ‘apathos,’ or heartless?

8. How does Achilles show Patroclus another way of looking at the death of Clysonymus?

9. What does Peleus tell his people about the news from Mycenae?

10. What prophecy does Odysseus tell Achilles about the conditions under which he will die?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Achilles is great in his own right as a warrior, but he is also the lead actor in a huge supporting cast, and he does not have to be all things to all people. What are the key supporting roles that go into making Achilles the Ariston Achaion?

Essay Topic 2

What is the role of the natural world in The Song of Achilles. What does nature mean to the different characters? Who is close to it? Who protects it? Who is strengthened by it? Does the book say, in any way, what kind of relationship a person should have with the natural world?

Essay Topic 3

Identify the most important plot points in The Song of Achilles. What is at stake in each of these moments? What possibilities do these moments present, and how are those possibilities channeled into specific actions or events? How does the plot chart its course among other alternative or possible plots?

(see the answer keys)

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