The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan Chapters 1 and 2 “I Accidentally Vaporize my Pre-Algebra Teacher” “Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death” Presentation by Mrs. Long Block ___

Plot The Sequence of Events Percy Jackson goes on a field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with his Latin teacher, Mr. Brunner, and his pre-algebra teacher, Mrs. Dodds. Nancy Bobofit, a bully, picks on Grover, Percy’s friend, so Percy pushes her and gets in trouble with Mrs. Dodds. Mrs. Dodds separates Percy from the rest of the class, and he surprises Percy by turning into a Harpy who wants to kill him. Percy manages to kill the Harpy with the help of Mr. Brunner.

Plot Continued Percy takes his final exams, but he knows that he is failing most of his classes and that this will be his last year at Yancy Academy. When Percy overhears Grover and Mr. Brunner talking about him, he is confused by their references to Kindly Ones and danger. When the bus taking Percy and Grover home breaks down, Percy sees three ancient ladies knitting socks and staring at him. He sees one of them cut a string of yarn and fears that somebody might die.

Conflict A struggle between opposing forces. Internal Conflict: Percy feels guilty because he wants to do better in school and make his mom and Mr. Brunner proud. Grover wants to tell Percy more about the danger he is in, but for some reason Grover can’t. External Conflict: Percy argues with Mrs. Dodds then he fights and kills her when she changes into a Harpy.

Setting Where and When a Story Takes Place Chapter One primarily takes place in the present time in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The first part of Chapter Two takes place at a boarding school named Yancy Academy, and the second half takes place on the bus ride home for summer vacation.

Characters The people in the story Protagonist(s): characters who work for good in the story Percy Jackson Grover Underwood Mr. Brunner Antagonist(s): characters whowork against the protagonist. Nancy Bobofit Mrs. Dodds

Mythological Allusions References to Greek and Roman Myths Demigod: a mortal who is half human and half god. Most Greek and Roman heroes were demigods. Percy Jackson is a Halfblood or Demigod in the novel.

Mythological Allusions Continued Harpy – an ugly bird woman who eats people in ancient Greek myths. Mrs. Dodds is a Harpy disguised as a math teacher.

Mythological Allusions Continued The Fates – Three ancient women, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos, who spun the thread of a person’s life and eventually cut it upon a person’s death. The three old ladies Percy sees on the side of the road are sewing electric blue socks. One takes out a strange looking pair of scissors and cuts the yarn while staring at Percy. He feels like it is an omen of someone’s death.

Review Questions Identify Mrs. Dodds. What were the old ladies knitting? Define demigod. What is an allusion? Where does Percy go to school?