Assignments: You Will Be Responsible for Completing the Following Work This Term

The Odyssey______

Assignments: You will be responsible for completing the following work this term…

Anticipation Guide 10 Points Due: 23/26 August Your Mythology IQ 10 Points Due: 23/26 August What would you do? 50 Points Due: 27/28 August Presentation 100 Points Due: 13/16 September Writing Assignment 50 Points Due: 19/20 September Odyssey Project 100 Points Due: 23/34 September Class Notes 50 Points Due: 23/34 September Study Questions 50 Points Due: 23/24 September Vocabulary 30 Points Due: 23/24 September Memorization 50 Points Due: 23/24 September

Class Notes, Vocabulary and Study questions: During any given class period you may be responsible for taking class notes during a lecture, or answering study questions by yourself or as a group. Together, these assignments make up 100 points of your total for the term—you will turn these in with your packet before the final exam.

Writing Assignment: Through a series of interviews you will form a definition of what a hero is to you. This assignment will take place over the course of the next two weeks and will be one page in length.

Presentation: Research, write, and present a speech about an assigned topic. Your speech must include: A 3-4 minute speech/presentation on your topic (see the included topics list) and its powers/responsibilities. You may also include details about the family relationships and symbols associated with your topic. These presentations will occur within the first 3 weeks of class… so GET BUSY!

Odyssey Final Project: You will have a choice of what you would like to do for your final project in this section. Projects include creative and traditional options for presenting the information you have learned during our discussion of the text this term.

Memorization: You will memorize a brief passage from our reading this term… don’t worry, this one is easy—just wait until we get to the memorization for Romeo and Juliet! Presentation: Research, write, and present about an assigned topic. Your topic for this section is ______Worth 100 points

The stories of the Greek myths are all that remain of an ancient religion. The gods and goddesses of stories represent the metaphors that the ancient Greeks used to make sense of the world around them and of life in general.

Those metaphors provided inspiration for a wealth of literature. Since the ancient Greeks began telling these stories in a pre-literate era (before they had writing), at first the stories were passed down from generation to generation in an oral tradition. The story of The Odyssey, for example, is supposed to have been composed by a blind poet named Homer. Today scholars suspect there was more than one “Homer” who helped shape the final epic, as different storytellers added or subtracted details or episodes. Once poets and dramatists began writing the stories down, they preserved them for future generations. What they preserved, though, is the story as they told it. So we must look at the stories as both religion and literature at the same time.

You will understand the great Greek epic poem The Odyssey and the novel The Lightning Thief much better if you have a working knowledge of the gods and goddesses and culture of Ancient Greece. Each class member will be assigned one god, goddess, or Greek related topic to research and present on.

Your Task: Research, write, and present a speech about your assigned topic. Your speech must include the following details:  3-4 minute speech/presentation  Your topic and it’s powers/responsibilities • The family relationships • Your topics symbol(s) – this could be several items, including tools, animals, and/or cities.

Look for other interesting information during your research to add to your presentation. Also, you must have a visual aid of some sort. For instance, wear a robe similar to what the Greek gods and goddesses wore (a sheet will do), bring in one or more of your symbols (a picture will do), serve a treat fit for a god (or your classmates) and explain its connection to your topic, act out a portion of a myth relating to your assigned god or goddess, create a poster of interesting information in reference to your topic, etc.

2 Resources: Our library has some good books you can use located in the reference section/nonfiction room. You can look in encyclopedias, and you might try some of the following Web sites: • The Ancient Gods: http://www.hol.gr/greece/ancgods.htm • Big Myth: http://bigmyth.org • Bullfinch's Mythology: http://www.bulfinch.org • Classical Mythology Online: http://www.oup-usa.org/sc/0195143388/ • Greek and Roman Experience: http://www.springfield.k12.il.us/schools/southeast/pprojects/ • Greek Mythology: http://www.mythweb.com • Greek Mythology Today: http://www.greekmyth.com • Hercules the Hero: Understanding the Myth: http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1998/2/98.02.06.x.html • It Came From Greek Mythology: http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=234 • The Odyssey, a ThinkQuest project: http://library.thinkquest.org/19300/data/odyssey.htm

Good Luck—Have fun in preparing your presentation

Writing Assignment: What is a Hero? Worth 50 points. During the reading of The Odyssey it will be important to have an understanding of the characteristics of a hero. To find the best definition of a hero you will do research through interviews. Interview two people in all of the following age groups.

Three to Five Year Old: 1.______2.______

Twelve to Sixteen Year Old: 1.______2.______

Thirty to Forty Year Old: 1.______2.______

Sixty to Eighty Year Old: 1.______2.______

3 Now, take what you have learned from your interviews and your own ideas about heroism to create your definition of a hero. Your definition should express 3 main ideas about what you believe a hero is.

A hero is: 1______2______3______

The hero one pager and essay

Use the following format to write an essay supporting your definition of a hero.

Introduction – Introduce the concept of “hero” and state your definition of hero—your definition could have 3 points.

Main Idea #1: Topic Sentence – State the first detail to support your opinion. Supporting Details – Using ideas from your interview sheet give details to support your Topic Sentence. (Try for three or four sentences in this paragraph) Concluding Sentence: Wrap up the paragraph and transition to the next paragraph.

Main Idea #2: State the second detail to support your opinion. Supporting Details – Using ideas from your interview sheet give details to support your Topic Sentence. Try using quotes or paraphrase. Concluding Sentence: Wrap up the paragraph and transition to the next paragraph.

Main Idea #3: State your third and last detail to support your opinion. Supporting Details – Using ideas from your interview sheet give details to support your Topic Sentence. Try to give an example from something you know. Give a personal example of a hero. Concluding Sentence: Wrap up the paragraph.

Concluding Paragraph: Remind your reader of your definition of a hero. End on a strong note. Try using a quote, a short story, a startling idea, or remind your readers of your main points.

4 Grading Criteria:

Conducted thorough interviews: 10 Typed 10 Mechanics and grammar 10 Follows outlined order: 20 Total: 50

Odyssey Final Project: Choose ONE of the following options —complete it thoroughly and turn it in on (or before) the assigned due date. Worth 100 points.

1. A diorama is a three-dimensional miniature scene. Select an episode from the Odyssey and construct a diorama of the setting.

2. Draw an imaginary map of Odysseus’ journey. Include the entrance to Hades as well as the location of each of the fantastic creatures he meets. Emphasize real locations, such as Ithaca, Troy, the Mediterranean Sea, Egypt, Sparta, Athens, and Mount Olympus. Draw the map to scale, in color, and with great detail.

3. Sculpt a bust of one of the major characters from the Odyssey (Polyphemus, Odysseus, Scylla, Circe, etc.).

4. In 2-3 double-spaced pages, describe a modern-day visit to the underworld. Include conversations with great heroes, such as Abraham Lincoln, General George Patton, Alexander the Great, Napoleon, and Manhatma Gandi—even Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin. What advice would these past leaders offer a modern visitor? What questions might they ask?

5. Imagine that you are a cover designer for a major book publishing company and that you have been assigned the task of designing a cover for the Odyssey. Draw the scene (freehand, painting, airbrush, or on the computer) from the epic that you think would most likely entice a person into buying the book. In one typed double-spaced page be prepared to explain to your supervisor why you chose the scene you did.

6. In 2-3 double-spaced pages, reset one of Odysseus’ adventures in outer space. Describe Polyphemus, Scylla, Charybdis the Sirens, or the Lotus-Eaters in futuristic terms. Replace Odysseus’ ship and sword with more sophisticated hardware. 5 7. Write a 2-3 page double-spaced essay comparing the use of drugs in the Odyssey (such as the Lotus-Eaters and Circe’s enchantment) and the use of drugs in today’s society.

8. With TWO other classmates, imagine that you are Odysseus, Penelope, and Telemachus enjoying a family dinner—the first since Odysseus’ return to Ithaca. Dramatize a scene in which the three of you try to bring each other up to date on the things that occurred in the twenty years that Odysseus was gone. Write up a script to keep to during the scene (and turn in), record the scene on video, or perform it in front of the class.

9. Create a board game with obstacles and characters similar to those in the Odyssey.

Memorization: Choose one of the following passages and memorize it. You will perform your memorization in front of the class on the assigned date, or by appointment at any time before the due date. Worth 50 points.

Opening: Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of contending, the wanderer, harried for years on end, after he plundered the stronghold on the proud height of Troy… …of these adventures, Muse, daughter of Zeus, tell us in our time, lift the great song again.

Odysseus: I am Laertes’ son, Odysseus. Men hold me formidable for guile in peace and war: this fame has gone abroad to the sky’s rim. My homw is on the peaked sea-mark of Ithaca under mount Neion’s wind blown robe of leaves, in sight of other islands—Ithaca being most lofty in that coastal sea. A rocky isle, but good for a boy’s training.

About the cyclopses: In the next land we found were Cyclopses. giants, louts, without a law to bless them. In icnorance leaving the fruitage of the earth in mystery to the immortal gods, they neither plow nor sow by hand, nor till the ground, though grain— wild wheat and barley—grows untended and wine grapes. In clusters, ripen in heaven’s rains.

6 On revenge: But glaring under his brows Odysseus answered: “You yellow dogs, you thought I’d never make it Home from the land of Troy. You took my house to plunder. You dared bid for my wife while I was still alive. Contempt was all you had for the gods who rule wide heaven, Contempt for what men say of you hereafter. Your last hour has come. You die in blood.”

Class Notes: Write on each subject as discussed in class. Be thorough—these notes are worth 50 points. About the Author:______

Characters:______Odysseus:

Telemechus:

Polyphemus:

Penelope:

7 Sirens:

Eumaeus:

Alcinous:

Antinous: Notes cont… Themes and Motifs______Love:

Guile vs. Strength:

Temptation and its pitfalls:

Disguises:

8 Hospitality:

Notes cont… Major Conflicts______Man vs. Man:

Man vs. Gods:

Man vs. Himself:

Man vs. Destiny:

Symbols______The Father:

The great bow:

The Shroud:

The Wedding Bed:

9 Symbols of temptation:

Vocabulary: define the following words as they are presented through the readings. Part I: ______Muse- Plundered- Guile- Formidable- Lee- Mutinous- Prodigious- Libations- Cairn- Kine- Travail- Maelstrom- Contrived- Part II:______Oblation- Shirkers- Haughty- Impudence- Ruses- Revelry- Forefront- Waned- Equity- Rebuke- 10 Glowering- Bemusing- Study Questions: Sailing from Troy and The Lotus Eaters 1. Who is the narrator?

2. How does Odysseus feel about his home? What does he say about it?

3. Describe what happened on Ismarus.

4. What is keeping Odysseus from reaching home?

5. What happens to the men who eat the lotus flower?

6. What lesson can be learned from the defeat of Odysseus and his men at Ismarus?

The Cyclops 1. How does Odysseus describe Prometheus?

2. Why does Odysseus lie in line 228-231?

3. How does Odysseus blind Prometheus?

4. How do Odysseus and his men eventually escape from the Cyclops?

5. What do lines 512-516 mean?

The Land of the Dead 11 1. Why did Odysseus go to the land of the dead?

2. Who did Odysseus see in the land of the dead?

3. How can a hero be afraid? Odysseus says that he was afraid in the land of the dead… can you be afraid of something but still be heroic? How?

4. What things does Tiresias foretell?

The Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, Cattle of the Sun God 1. Why do you think Odysseus wanted to hear the Sirens’ song?

2. What does Odysseus do to protect his men from the Sirens?

3. What danger is more severe… the Sirens or the Lotus-Eaters?

4. What decision does Odysseus have to make when he faces Scylla and Charybdis?

5. How does Eurylochus persuade Odysseus’ men to slaughter and eat the cattle?

6. What is Zeus’ response to Helios’ demand for revenge?

Part II: the Return of Odysseus 1. Which Goddess decides to help Odysseus when he gets home?

12 2. Why can’t Odysseus just walk into his own home? What is the problem at his house?

3. What does Athena help Odysseus do?

4. Who does Odysseus meet on Ithaca?

5. What does Telemachus say to his father? What is their plan?

6. Who is Argus—why is he brought into the story?

The Suitors 1. How is Odysseus treated in his own home?

2. What does Odysseus tell the men in his house? How does Telemachus react?... How about Penelope?

Penelope and The Challenge 1. What does Penelope want to know about the stranger (Odysseus)?

2. What does he tell her?

13 3. How has Penelope deceived the suitors?

4. What is “the challenge”?

5. Who was the omen from? What does it mean?

6. What is going to happen next?

Odysseus’ Revenge and Penelope’s Test 1. Who does Odysseus kill first? What do the suitors think of it?

2. What are Odysseus’ reasons for killing all of the suitors?

3. Why does Penelope have to test Odysseus?

4. What is Penelope’s test?