Odyssey Reading Guide HONORS Date Lines Pages Assignments 11/1 &11/3 Introduction to The Odyssey Pgs. 737-749 SQ3R, essential questions connections, map, diagnostic quiz 11/4 & 11/5 1-218 & Troy Pgs. 751-759 Essential questions connections, vocabulary, QAR 11/8 & 11/9 219-422 Pgs. 760-767 Qualities of an epic hero, vocabulary 11/10 & 11/11 423-535 & Close look Pgs. 767-771 Reciprocal teaching, vocabulary 11/12 & 11/15 539-659 Pgs. 773-777 Quiz, vocabulary, essential questions connections, vocabulary development 11/16 & 11/17 660-930 Pgs. 778-786 study questions, Essential questions connections 11/18 & 11/19 930-1080 Pgs. 791-795 Odysseus needs a job, study questions, completed vocabulary lists 11/22 &11/23 1082-1220 Pgs. 796-802 Quiz, Did an eclipse bring Odysseus home?, study questions 11/29 & 11/30 1221-1419 Pgs. 803-809 Completed study guide, vocabulary development, Quiz 12/1 & 12/2 Library day to work on projects 12/3 & 12/6 Oh Brother, Where art Thou? H-chart, Comparison of qualities of an epic hero 12/7 & 12/8 Oh Brother, Where Finish projects, compare/contrast art Thou? 12/10 Project presentations Assignments in bold need to be turned in for credit. essay DUE Culminating celebration, FINAL PROJECTS DUE Characters pg 747 Write a one or two sentence definition for each of the following: GODS Aeolus Apollo Athena Helios PDF processed with CutePDF evaluation edition www.cutepdf.com
Muses Poseidon Zeus HUMANS Laertes Nausicaa Odysseus Penelope Telemachus Tiresias SUPERNATURAL BEINGS Calypso Charybdis Circe Cyclops/Polyphemus Scylla Sirens
LOCATIONS Olympus Underworld Ithaca Troy Carthage Notes on Homer & epics:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.
A Story of Epic Proportions: What makes a Poem an Epic? http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=587 Elements of the Epic Hero Cycle Student Name Date Element Example The main character is a hero, who is often possessed of supernatural abilities or qualities. The hero is charged with a quest. The hero is tested, often to prove the worthiness of himself and his quest. The presence of numerous mythical beings, magical and helpful animals, and human helpers and companions The hero s travels take him to a supernatural world, often one that normal human beings are barred from entering. The cycle must reach a low point where the hero nearly gives up his quest or appears defeated. A resurrection. Restitution. Often this takes the form of the hero regaining his rightful place on the throne. Permission is granted to educators to reproduce this worksheet for classroom use
Name Date Period The Odyssey Study Guide 1, p.751-754 1. Whom does Homer ask for help in telling his tale? 2. How long has Odysseus been gone? 3. What is Odysseus doing when we first meet him? 4. Which god is most against Odysseus? 5. Who is the goddess that helps Odysseus? 6. Which god is sent to tell Calypso to release Odysseus? 7. Where does Odysseus go after leaving Calypso? The Odyssey Study Guide 2, p. 756-775 1. Who is king of the Phaeacians? 2. What happens to the men who ate the lotus? 3. Why does Odysseus call himself Nohbody? 4. What is the Cyclops s name? 5. Who is the father of the Cyclopes? 6. Who is Aeolus? 7. Where is Odysseus when cannibals attack him? 8. Where does Circe live? 9. What does Circe turn Odysseus s men into? 10. What does Hermes give Odysseus to protect him from Circe?
Name Date Period The Odyssey Study Guide 3, p. 775-786 1. Whom does Odysseus seek in the Underworld? 2. What are the Sirens? 3. How do the men face and overcome the Sirens song? 4. What is Charybdis? Draw a picture. 5. What is Scylla? Draw a picture. 6. What choice must Odysseus make? 7. What happens as the ship passes between a rock and a hard place? 8. Where does Helios keep his cattle? 9. Who convinces the men to disobey Odysseus? 10. What is Helios s threat to the gods? 11. What happens to Odysseus s men? 12. Where does Odysseus swim to?
Name Date Period The Odyssey Study Guide 4, p. 790-796 1. What does Athena advise Odysseus to do? 2. Who is Odysseus s faithful swineherd? 3. Where does Telemachus go in search of news of his father? 4. What does Eumaeus call Telemachus? 5. How does Athena transform Odysseus? 6. What happens when Odysseus sees his dog? 7. How does Eurycleia recognize Odysseus? 8. Athena says the suitors will. The Odyssey Study Guide 5, p. 798-809 1. What impossible task does Penelope propose for the suitors? 2. Whom does Odysseus trust to help him defeat the suitors? 3. How does Odysseus prove his true identity? 4. Who does Odysseus kill first and why? 5. What sign shows Athena is helping Odysseus win? 6. What happens to the disloyal maids? 7. How does Athena help Odysseus win over Penelope? 8. What was special about Penelope and Odysseus bed?
Name: Period: Essential Question: TEXT CONNECTIONS Text Jot down ideas from the text that relate to the essential question Jot down ideas that connect ideas from the text and events in the world Jot down ideas that connect ideas from the text and events from your own experience Jot down ideas that connect the text, events in the world, and your own experience to the essential question Jot down ideas in the world around you that relate to the essential question Jot down ideas that connect your experience and events in the world around you Jot down ideas from your own experience that relate to the essential question World Self
Name: Period: Essential Question: TEXT CONNECTIONS Text World Self
Name: Period: Essential Question: TEXT CONNECTIONS Directions: Use the chart below to make text-to-self, text-to-world, and world-to-self connections to the essential question Text Self World Text-to-Self Text-to- World World-to- Self Text-Self- World
Name: Block: Right There Think and Search Question Answer - Relationships On My Own Author and You Reflections:
Name: Block:
Qualities of an epic hero: 1. an important figure from history or legend, favored or descended from gods or immortals, but has primarily human qualities 2. participates in a cyclical journey or quest, faces adversaries that try to defeat him in his journey, gathers allies along his journey, and returns home significantly transformed by his journey 3. illustrates traits, performs deeds, and exemplifies certain morals that are valued by the society from which the epic originates 4. has no superpowers, but are smart, brave, and have fears but overcome them to protect their friends, families, and countries 5. The epic hero is also typically joined by sidekicks, who will initially be rejected from the group for their own safety, thus embodying selflessness, a commonly valued trait in society, into the epic hero Knowing the qualities of an epic hero list the qualities/traits and examples of how Odysseus and Ulysses Everett McGill are epic heroes. Odysseus Ulysses Everett McGill 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. What traits do they share? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Reciprocal Teaching (Example) Four Roles Predicting Questioning Clarifying Summarizing Why do you suppose Weisel chose the single word title, Night? What is his intent? After reading this first chapter, what specifics do you expect to learn from this perspective? What is likely to happen next? What happens to the human spirit during tragic times? How will this character respond, based on what you know about him already? Weisel describes, in great detail, the possessions left on the empty street after the first evacuation, why? How does the writer s diction reveal his tone? How does this chapter relate or connect to our essential question? What connections can we make to human rights abuses today? Are there any words or phrases that confused you? Are there any cultural or religious references that you don t understand or you would like clarified? How might you have responded in that particular situation in which the main character found himself? What is important and/or not important in this section of the text? What do you suppose was the writer s intent in this chapter? How would you characterize the overall tone of this opening section? Sixty years later, how has the world changed as a result of the Holocaust?
Reciprocal Teaching The Odyssey Four Roles Predicting Questioning Clarifying Summarizing 1. 1. 1. 1. 2. 2. 2. 2. 3. 3. 4. 3. 3. 4. 4. 4.
Vocabulary and Comprehension NAME DATE Elements of Literature pages 749 788 from the Odyssey, Part One: The Wanderings A. Match each word with its opposite. Write the letters on the lines. 1. Formidable a. sweetly 2. Abominably b. good fortune 3. Adversity c. disinterest 4. Ardor d. weak 5. Rancor e. love B. Write T next to each sentence that is true and F next to each sentence that is false. 1. Homer begins the Odyssey with a prayer to the Muses. 2. Athena tries to stop Odysseus from returning home to Ithaca. 3. Hermes tells Calypso that she should keep Odysseus on her island forever. 4. The men who eat the Lotus flowers lose their desire to go home. 5. The Cyclops is the son of Poseidon. 6. The ancient Greeks thought it was important to treat guests well. 7. Circe has the power to change men into animals. 8. Odysseus puts cotton in his oarsmen s ears so they cannot hear the Sirens sing. C. Answer each question about the Odyssey with a complete sentence. 1. How many years does Odysseus spend trying to get home? 2. Where is Odysseus s home? 3. What kind of animals does Odysseus use to free his men from the Cyclops?
Homecoming of Odysseus May Have Been in Eclipse By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD Published: June 24, 2008 Correction Appended That Odysseus took his time, 10 years, getting home to Ithaca from the Trojan War is the story Homer engraved in the Odyssey. But exactly when did he rejoin his Penelope, who had been patient beyond belief? Skip to next paragraph National Academy of Sciences The sky in 1178 B.C. in nautical twilight, at Ithaca's latitude. RSS Feed Get Science News From The New York Times» Plutarch thought a crucial passage in the 20th book of the Odyssey to be a poetic description of a total solar eclipse at the time of Odysseus return. A century ago, astronomers calculated that such an eclipse occurred over the Greek islands on April 16, 1178 B.C., the only one in the region around the estimated date of the sack of Troy. But nearly all classics scholars are highly skeptical of any connection. An analysis of astronomical references in the epic has led two scientists to conclude that the homecoming of Odysseus, usually considered a fictional character set in the context of a real historical event, possibly coincided with the 1178 solar eclipse. If, that is, Homer indeed had in mind an eclipse when he wrote of a seer prophesying the death of Penelope s waiting suitors and their entrance into Hades.
The new interpretation of the eclipse hypothesis is reported in this week s issue of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Constantino Baikouzis and Marcelo O. Magnasco, scientists at the Laboratory of Mathematical Physics at Rockefeller University in New York and at the Astronomical Observatory of La Plata, in Argentina. They concede that scholars of Homer are still not likely to give much credence to the idea. But it makes for an intriguing story, one that the blind bard, a mystery himself, would have appreciated. Although an eclipse is not mentioned anywhere in the story, there are omens and what Plutarch inferred was a poetic description of a total solar eclipse. Odysseus has arrived home, disguised in beggar s rags and in hiding before revealing himself. It happens that, when Penelope s persistent suitors sit down for a noontime meal, they start laughing uncontrollably and see their food spattered with blood. At this strange moment, the seer Theoclymenus foretells their death, ending with the sentence, The Sun has been obliterated from the sky, and an unlucky darkness invades the world. There are reasons to think that the darkness of a total eclipse had just fallen on Ithaca. It was close to noon when the 1178 eclipse occurred over the Ionian Sea. It was, as mentioned several times in the story, at the time of a new moon, which the scientists point out is a necessary condition for a solar eclipse. And what better atmospherics to accompany a prophecy of doom than a total eclipse, which was considered an ill omen? Experts on Homer have previously discounted such conjecture. For one thing, the earliest verified eclipse records are in the eighth century B.C., about the time Homer was writing but long after the action in what is known as the Trojan War, around the early 12th century B.C. Scholars say there is no evidence supporting a view at the time, widely quoted, that a solar eclipse may mark the return of Odysseus. In their report, Dr. Baikouzis and Dr. Magnasco acknowledged the speculative nature of their study, several times throwing in their own caveats. The notion that the passage could refer not just to an allegorical eclipse used by the poet for literary effect but actually to a specific historical one, they agreed, seems unlikely because it would entail the transmission through oral tradition of information about an eclipse occurring maybe five centuries before the poem was cast in the form we know today. The two scientists derived a possible chronology from astronomical references in the story, including the stars by which Odysseus navigated, the sighting of Venus just before dawn as he arrives at Ithaca, and the new moon on the night before the massacre of the suitors and the presumed eclipse. On the basis of their analysis, the scientists said, these three references cohere, in the sense that the astronomical phenomena pinpoint the date of 16 April 1178 B.C., adding, The odds that purely fictional references to these phenomena (so hard to satisfy simultaneously) would coincide by accident with the only eclipse of the century are minute.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: Correction: June 26, 2008 An article on Tuesday about research into whether a passage in the Odyssey was a reference to a real solar eclipse misstated the time it took in the epic for Odysseus to return home from the Trojan War. It was 10 years, not 19.
WriteAbout Name Date Topic Draw a picture or write symbols in this box to summarize the topic List Key Words about the topic Paragraph: Summarize your learning by using the terms above in a paragraph about the topic. Check off the terms as you use them. Then circle the terms in your paragraph. 25 Quick Formative Assessments for a Differentiated Classroom 2009 by Judith Dodge Scholastic Teaching Resources
H-Chart Graphic Organizer for O Brother, Where Art Thou? Name Odyssey Character: Date O Brother, Where Art Thou? Character: Similarities