The Hidden Oracle

Consider the characteristics of a “fish-out-of-water” story. In stories like this, people are suddenly thrust into a new world that they do not understand very well. Conflicts surface in their process of adjusting to this new world. They may question their identities and grow and change along the way. Often, they are able to solve problems for the people they meet in this new world because they bring special knowledge or abilities along with them from their old worlds. In what ways is The Hidden Oracle a fish-out-of-water story? Point to details and textual evidence throughout the story to support your ideas. Consider these points as you formulate a response.

• What parts of the human world are unfamiliar or surprising to Apollo?
• How does Apollo change as a result of being in this new environment?
• Does being in this new environment cause Apollo to question his identity? How so?
• What problems does Apollo solve in the human world? Which of these problems is he uniquely qualified to solve because of his origins outside the human world?

Teaching Suggestion: This prompt can be answered individually, with a partner or small group, or as a whole class. To increase engagement, it may be helpful to split the class into partners or small groups and ask each set of students to tackle one of the four bulleted sub-questions.