Plato's Allegory of the Cave

1. According to Socrates, what does the Allegory of the Cave represent?
The Allegory of the Cave represents a mad house and of imprisonment. Fire came to them as light that they've never been able to see before.
2. What are the key elements in the imagery used in the allegory?
The key elements in the imagery used in the allegory are the shadows.  The prisoners are only able to see those burning people insides the flames through their shadows. What the shadows represent are, in reality, the prisoners.
3. What are some things the allegory suggests about the process of enlightenment or education?
We are on a "need to know" bases. As always,some things are just meant to be kept a secret, thus we know what They want us to know.  This state of mind is what leads people to branch out of things such as our government. 
4. What do the imagery of "shackles" and the "cave" suggest about the perspective of the cave dwellers or prisoners?
They were only limited to the area around them and nothing beyond.  The cave dwellers became known as Gods to those inside.  Through the shadows, anything was possible. Because they have no image of the real world, the prisoners made the shadows their reality.
5. In society today or in your own life, what sorts of things shackle the mind?
Shackles have/will always be a factor in our everyday lives.  There is always something there that eventually keeps us from seeing reality or getting to were we want to be. For example, the internet, parents, teachers, doubters, anyone and anything can prevent us as long as we let them.
6. Compare the perspective of the freed prisoner with the cave prisoners?
Freed prisoners have a sense of reality; they do not dwell of the shadows as the cave prisoners do.  The freed prisoners know how the shadows are created and the reason behind it. They have more perspective of the outside world
7. According to the allegory, lack of clarity or intellectual confusion can occur in two distinct ways or contexts. What are they?
Confusion is when the freed prisoner comes up and tries to explain the reality that is real to the still tied up prisoners.  This puts doubt in their mind of what to believe, the new guy or the reality they had faced their whole life.
8. According to the allegory, how do cave prisoners get free? What does this suggest about intellectual freedom?
To escape, the prisoners van listen in on the freed prisoners about the world around them or help each other out and having good conscience by helping each other remove the chains. Simply imagine what the world around them may be. Intellectual freedom comes from you yourself and your ability to think for yourself.
9. The allegory presupposes that there is a distinction between appearances and reality. Do you agree? Why or why not?
The  is a major gap between what it appears to be and what it actually is. For example, in a dream it appears that you may die cause a green monster is chasing you but in reality its only a dream, nothing more nothing less. This can also come into place with the difference of opinions. What one believes may not be what the other does. Also, two can come away with different perspectives and ideas.1
0. If Socrates is incorrect in his assumption that there is a distinction between reality and appearances, what are the two alternative metaphysical assumptions?
I'd have to agree with Socrates assumptions