I agree with the role Rocinante plays for sure.

I just don't think that makes the name of the horse a good question. It's like asking the name of John Wick's dog. The whole movie hinges on the dog, but what name it has is irrelevant.

The point of reading something like Don Quixote isn't the names. Even Pancho's name is barely important. Hell, I'd even argue that the fact we're talking about Don Quixote rather than Alonso Quixano even illustrates that names aren't exactly the prime bit of information that matters.

Now, it is hard to discuss the story without factoring in name changes. Aldonza/Dulcinea in specific is maybe the biggest symbol of what the Don is experiencing, and the underlying theme of the story. But the specific names? It's just a bad question for a high school English teacher to ask a student.

My reasoning is that, no matter what else is retained, names only serve as a point of reference in damn near all literature. When an early exposure to old school, classical literature is happening, the student is going to already be learning three or four things at once, and memorizing the name of a non dialogue character doesn't serve do achieve that learning, or even test how much that student retained.

You've got them trying to learn how to read critically, how to read archaic styles, how to retain important factors, and how to express what they've picked up. The name of an animal that's essentially stage dressing akin to the sword or armor? That's entirely the wrong question.

What would be a good one is, "what does Quixote's horse symbolize?" Or even, "what do you think about his horse?". Both would get the student thinking rather than trying to just pull up a word that's arbitrary.