Study Guide

The Labors of Hercules Beal

Gary D. Schmidt
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51 pages • 1 hour read

Gary D. Schmidt

The Labors of Hercules Beal

Gary D. Schmidt
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2023

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Essay Topics

1.

Reflect on Hercules’s narrative voice. How does his first-person narration impact the story? Is he a reliable narrator? Why or why not?

2.

What role does Elly play in the novel? Is she symbolic? Does she contribute to the development of any themes? Be specific and use evidence from the text to support your thinking.

3.

Choose a passage where Hercules describes the beauty of his hometown, Truro, Massachusetts, and a passage where he describes a storm or natural disaster. How do the passages differ, and what do they have in common?

What specific phrases, metaphors, or similes does Hercules use in these descriptive passages? How does his tone and word choice contribute to the theme of The Significance of Setting on Personal Development?

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