EDU-101 Week 7 Cave Allegory

How do the prisoners respond to being chained?

• They struggle to break free and scream for help.

• They sadly and passively accept their fate.

• They are unaware that their situation is anything but normal.

How does the prisoner respond to seeing the world outside the cave for the first time?

• He is disoriented and has a hard time believing it is real.

• He is overjoyed and exhilarated by the new possibilities.

• He is disappointed at how dull and repetitive it is.

Why would the other prisoners resist being freed after seeing the first prisoner return?

• They hear about the dangers of the outside world and decide to remain safely inside.

• They think the returned prisoner has been debilitated by the experience.

• They are afraid that their captors will hunt them down if they escape.

Which of the following is NOT one of the themes of the allegory?

• The basis of our everyday knowledge

• Symbols and representations versus the real things they represent

• Ethical issues regarding the humane treatment of prisoners

Being shackled represents

• anything that sets one free

• anything that contributes to knowledge

• anything that keeps an individual from learning

• anything that keeps an individual in line

What have the prisoners seen their entire lives?

• carvings and other artifacts

• shadows of objects

• statues

• Plato

The shadows represent

• knowledge that sadness can overwhelm

• blank stares

• hidden images

• knowledge/beliefs we gain from others and accept as true

Who do the prisoners in “The Allegory of the Cave” represent?

• Ordinary people living in the world not realizing that everything is an illusion.

• Philosophers and those who see the world as an illusion.

• Philosophers who help other seekers to understand ideas of truth, perception, and reality.

• People who want to break free to experience truth and reality but are bound by their own chains.

What statement best summarizes “The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato?

• One prisoner is unchained and slowly pushed towards the mouth of the cave. As the prisoner is dragged from the cave, he resists leaving and staring into the light.

• Prisoners are chained in a cave, shackled by their necks, unable to see anything but shadows projected on the walls of the cave. All the prisoners have ever known are the shadows in front of them, and the sounds they believe the shadows make.

• One prisoner is unchained and forced to stare into the light. After his eyes adjust to the sudden glare of light, he slowly comes to realize that the shadows were not as real as he had formerly believed.

• The prisoner leaves the cave and realizes that the world is not as he has previously believed. He then comes to understand truth, perception, and reality and returns to the cave to share with others.

What is the central idea of the “Allegory of the Cave”?

• Most men live chained to the wall of a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall, and trying to guess the nature of objects reflected by a fire.

• A person is like a prisoner freed from the cave that comes to understand that the shadows are not reality, rather he understands reality by his experience.

• Men who allow their experience to be shaped by perceptions and shadows do not know a better life.

• A person must return to share the news of enlightenment with others who will not necessarily accept his good news.