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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 was the reason for what happened to Socrates after his trial?

2. How can a person avoid all disappointment, according to Socrates?

3. Who was Phaedo telling the story of Socrates' execution to?

4. What did Socrates expect when he passed into the Underworld, according to his dialogue with Crito?

5. Crito and Socrates agreed that what action is always unjust?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the philosophical subject of Book 4?

2. What was the Pythagorean school of thought?

3. What is the intended audience for Book 5?

4. What new habit do Socrates' friends discover in the "Phaedo"?

5. What is said, in Book 4, about Socrates' dream?

6. What does Socrates think will happen after his death?

7. What does Crito want Socrates to do?

8. What belief do Socrates' friends discuss in the "Phaedo" that was taught in formal philosophical education, but was not culturally popular?

9. How does Crito attempt to persuade Socrates?

10. What is the setting of the Phaedo?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Choose one of the characters in "The Last Days of Socrates." What was this person's relationship to Socrates? Did this person affect Socrates' decisions in any way? If so, how? What were this person's core beliefs? What topic did they debate with Socrates? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 2

Socrates is still considered wise, more than 2000 years after his death. Why has he been nearly immortalized in the annals of history? Why is he considered so wise? Did his contemporaries feel the same way about him that modern philosophers do? Why or why not? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

Essay Topic 3

Socrates' final wish was that a rooster be given as an offering to Asclepius, the god of healing. What was the significance of this request? Why would Socrates ask for an offering to be given to Asclepius, instead of Apollo - the god of wisdom, and the one who supposedly gave Socrates his other inspirations? What is the significance of the rooster? Be sure to cite specific examples from the text to support your thesis.

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This section contains 746 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample