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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 it that Medb's army searches to find?

2. To whom does Fergus tell stories about Cuchulainn's great adventures and exploits?

3. Which warrior lifted grown soldiers over his head?

4. What is strange about Fedelm?

5. Who slays both Noisiu and Fiacha?

Short Essay Questions

1. How does Derdriu die?

2. What does Fergus say about Cuchulainn's childhood?

3. How does Cuchulainn slow down the great army? What is unusual about his technique? How does the army adjust?

4. What are the names of the two pig-keepers in the story and what unusual power do both have?

5. What is a warp spasm and how does it benefit Cuchulainn when he fights the neighborhood boys as a toddler?

6. How did Cuchulainn get his name?

7. Why do the two pig-keepers in the story begin to compete with each other?

8. Who makes up Medb and Ailill's great army?

9. What vow does Cuchulainn make to himself and how is it related to the names of the fords and plains of the story?

10. Name three creatures that become involved in the epic battle between the two pig-keepers.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Discuss the characteristics Joseph Campbell outlines for the mythical hero archetype. Which character best fits all of these characteristics and why?

Essay Topic 2

What is the significance of Fergus to the story? How might the novel have differed if he had not been introduced?

Essay Topic 3

Define rising action as an element of plot. Discuss in detail the rising action in The Tain. How does the author present it? How does the rising action flow? How does the rising action add to the suspense of the story?

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