Literature
“Medusa’s Head” Skills Work
Name _____________________
Myth: A myth is a traditional story, usually about a superhuman being or an unlikely
event. Myths often try to explain why the world is the way it is or why things in nature
happen as they do.
1. What explanation does this myth provide for the snakes in Africa?
2. What explanation does this myth provide for the Atlas Mountains, close to the
“gateway to the Atlantic”?
Hero: A hero is the main character in a story. Usually the hero has admirable qualities.
1. Who is the hero of “Medusa’s Head”?
Below list three of his admirable qualities and, for each quality, describe an incident in
which he demonstrates this quality.
a.
b.
c.
Foreshadowing: Foreshadowing is the technique of hinting about some event that has
not yet occurred. The prophecy of the oracle which begins this myth has two parts.
1. Which part of this prophecy comes true immediately?
2. What does this suggest about the second part of the prophecy?
Common Core Craft and Structure: Choose three words from the story for this
exercise. Write the sentence that the word is in. Choose a synonym for the word that
seems to be “weaker” or “stronger”, re-write the sentence and then tell how the word
choice affects the effectiveness of the sentence.