Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Reading Check

1. Which of the speakers in Plato’s dialogue explains the allegory of the cave?

2. Where are the prisoners trapped?

3. What is behind the prisoners?

4. Why might the freed prisoner want to tell the other prisoners about the outside world?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. In which direction are the chained prisoners facing? Why is this significant?

2. What do the prisoners see on the cave wall?

3. Why does the freed prisoner turn back to the darkness after seeing the fire?

4. How would the other prisoners react if the freed prisoner came back and tried to tell them what he saw outside the cave?

Recommended Next Reads 

Meno by Plato

• In this short dialogue, Socrates and Meno discuss the nature of knowledge and virtue.
• Shared themes include Enlightenment and Goodness.   
• Shared topics include knowledge and education.      
• Meno on SuperSummary

Politics by Aristotle

• Aristotle’s treatise on the purpose of the city-state remains a central text in political theory.
• Shared themes include Goodness and Leadership.