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Guided Reading Questions on The Lightning Thief
Please answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper (typed or in black
ink and cursive) and bring them with you on the first day of school in August, 2015.
1. Developing character through a person's thoughts, words and actions:
a. On p. 1 Percy Jackson reveals that he is a "troubled kid." He provides several
examples of trouble he has caused, but it isn't until the reader meets Annabeth on
p. 88 that Percy's learning problems are named. What two learning problems does
Percy have and why does he have them? What traits make him likeable despite
his problems?
b. Percy Jackson gets exasperated with his mother because she puts up with Smelly
Gabe, yet he is proud of her because "she does have a rebellious streak, like [him]"
(38). Characters who echo the values of the main character are considered
mirrors. Sally Jackson mirrors her son's loyalty and courage as well as his
rebellious streak. List one example of her demonstrating each of these three traits.
c. Characters with values that differ from each other act as foils. Some foils to Percy
include minor characters like the bullies Nancy Bobofit and Clarisse or the abusive
Smelly Gabe, as well as the major character Luke who turns out to be the real thief.
Writers sometimes humanize their villains by providing them with motivation that
makes them appear sympathetic to the reader. At the end of the book, do you
sympathize with Luke's feelings of betrayal by his father? Explain why or why not.
2. Developing setting through detailed descriptions:
a. One advantage of novels is that they can have shifting settings. Riordan's settings
range from real places like New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art and St. Louis's
Gateway Arch to fabled literary places like Hades and Mt. Olympus. Perhaps Camp
Half-Blood is the hardest to picture because Riordan makes it up. Using the
descriptions on pp. 59, 62, bottom of 79, and p.93, draw a map of it locating the
strawberry fields, Thalia's pine tree, the amphitheater and lake, and the twelve
cabins. Title the map Camp Half-Blood and label each place.
b. The cross country trip provides a sweeping setting. Some descriptions are meant to
create a panoramic view suggesting distances covered quickly while other descriptions are meant to help the reader imagine a place. Which does this sentence do?
"We spent two days on the Amtrak train, heading west through hills, over rivers, past
amber waves of grain" (197).
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c. After Percy jumps from the Arch into the Mississippi, what is the function of this
sentence? "Clouds of disgusting garbage – beer bottles, old shoes, plastic bags –
swirled up all around me" (212).
3. Developing plot through internal and external conflicts:
a. Writers need to maintain suspense but at the same time provide clues. When Percy
learns he is the son of Poseidon (p.126), are you surprised? Name at least three
clues readers were previously given about who Percy's father might be.
b. In his external conflicts, Percy fights several monsters. His battle with Echidna and
the Chimera is a low point for his morale (Chap.13). He loses his weapon, gets bitten
by a poisonous snake, and is taunted for running away as he jumps off the building.
Are his doubts about himself reasonable? Can the loser of a battle be a hero? What
does this scene show about the relationship of external to internal conflicts?
c. Medusa tempts Percy to stay with her as a statue. She warns him that he is simply a
pawn of the gods. Does this trigger another internal conflict in Percy or not? If not,
why not? If you were given this quest, would saying, "To hell with it," mean you were
undertaking the quest or not undertaking it?
4. Developing themes through the thoughts and words of the characters.
a. When describing the effects of Mist, Chiron says, "Remarkable, really, the lengths
humans will go to fit things into their version of reality" (155). How does this relate to
the newspaper reporters' views of events? the Greeks' views of the gods? modern
life? Is this a major theme in the book, a minor theme, or just an idea?
b. Several characters (Annabeth, Luke, and Percy) have trouble with various family
members. Is the need to be accepted and loved a theme of the book, or is the
book saying that although relationships are sometimes worth working at, developing
a sense of self-worth matters more?
c. The movie version of this book changes the ending and has Percy save his mother
and leave Grover behind in the Underworld. This undermines the last line of the
prophecy, "And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end" (141). Of course,
in the book, Hades frees Percy's mother later anyway so everything works out.
However, Percy's choice of friends over parent is problematic. What point is the
book making about lose/lose situations?
d. Is Grover's desire to search for Pan in order to reclaim the spirit of the wilderness and
develop a better relationship with nature a major theme of the book? a minor theme?
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just a teaser for Riordan's next book? Explain.
5. Developing style through diction and literary figures:
a. One device Riordan uses is the incorporation of a few Greek phrases to help
with the characterization. Find such a phrase on page 42 and explain who said it to
whom and why Greek would be justified in that situation.
b. Throughout The Lightning Thief humor is used to counterbalance the serious
situations Percy faces. For instance, the Minotaur wears white Fruit-of-the-Loom
underwear and Percy wants to tell the Oracle, "Thanks, wrong door, just looking
for the bathroom" (140). What is your reaction to the book's humor? Does it seem
appropriate for a sixth-grade narrator? Does it change your perception of mythology?
c. Another device Riordan uses for foreshadowing and building suspense is dreams.
At Montauk, Percy first dreams of a horse and eagle fighting on the beach. Later he
dreams of a voice from the pit. As he gets closer to Los Angeles, his dreams get
scarier and more specific. How would the book differ without these dream episodes?
Is there information Percy can only get from his dreams?
d. A flip tone and figurative language also characterize Riordan's narrative style. For
example, Ares refers to Poseidon as Old Seaweed and Hades as Corpse Breath.
Quote a passage from page 329 which illustrates either the flip tone or figurative
language. Remember to put it in quotation marks and document the page number in
parentheses.