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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 color is the cloak Achilles receives for his birthday?

2. Who tells Patroclus where Achilles has been taken, when he disappears after their intimacies?

3. How would you characterize the dynamic between Achilles and Patroclus?

4. Where does Achilles’ mother live?

5. What privilege does Achilles extend to Patroclus in the dining hall after their return?

Short Essay Questions

1. How do Achilles and Patroclus get called back to civilization?

2. How does Patroclus end up fighting Achilles, and what is the outcome?

3. How does Patroclus’ life change when he arrives at Peleus’ court?

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

5. What is Patroclus’ first impression of Achilles at his home?

6. Describe Achilles’ homecoming to Phthia.

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

8. How do Achilles and Patroclus behave once Achilles says that Thetis cannot see them on Mt. Pelion?

9. Describe Achilles and Patroclus’ relationship with the girls in Peleus’ house.

10. How do Achilles and Patroclus bring their relationship to its first crisis?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Use this book to evaluate the five-star rating system typically used for books. Is a five-star system sufficient to a book like this? Would you need to have sub-topics for the rating system, for plot, characterization, language, etc? What other sub-topics would you need? What value or importance gets lost in a five-star scale? Design a scale that would be better for this book.

Essay Topic 2

Analyze the role of women in The Song of Achilles. How are they portrayed? What traits distinguish them from the men? What flexibility do the female characters have, to change how they are perceived, or to exceed the rules for women?

Essay Topic 3

When is The Song of Achilles most itself? What is its characteristic passage, or moment? What makes that moment or passage the most representative of the book as a whole? Are there any places where the book seems to depart from its typical self, as if to become a different book?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 907 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample