World LiteratureOdyssey Book 11

Wednesday, November 2, 2011And

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Warm up

• Consider the ancient Greek rules about civilized behavior as presented in The Odyssey.– How are these rules different than our own?– How are they the same?

You can set this up as a list or in a diagram form.

Today’s Learning Targets

• To analyze how Odysseus experiences “initiation and transformation” (Hero’s Journey)

How do we understand characters? (inferring things from what we read)

How do we come to these understandings? (analyzing the text to support ideas with evidence)

Today’s activities

1. Warm-up2. Period 5 only-finish book 93. Create a monster (if time permits)4. Read Book 115. Small group discussion questions6. Exit ticket

Create a Monster

• With a group of 3 or fewer, design a monster to be our equivalent of a Cyclops (a monster in complete contrast to our views of civilized behavior)

1. Step 1: List behaviors that you consider contrary to civilized behavior. Make these your own pet peeves, not just a repeat of the Cyclops’ behaviors.

2. Create an image that reflects these behaviors.3. We will show these through gallery walk format.

My monster

• Never listens (one head with no ears)• Totally addicted to technology (many arms all

texting and typing away, a second head with headphones melded to its ears)

• Complete lack of compassion (steps on people)

• Abuses animals (kicking fuzzy creatures)

Review-Initiation and Transformation

• The Challenges and Trials– progressing in difficulty– Tempters/tricksters make things tough

• Descent in to darkness• Revelation

Epic Hero Defined

General• Unusual birth• Some strength• Have mentor or guide

– Often a mystical force

• Flawed– Physically or emotionally or

both

Odysseus • Great grandfather Hermes,

patron of boundaries and travelers who cross them, cunning of thieves, orators, wit, literature

• What is his strength?• Who is his mentor?• What is his flaw?

Book 10 (no reading)

• Odysseus ends up on an island and spends some time with his crew as a guest of the king. When he leaves, he is given a gift (all the winds tied up in a bag except the wind he needs to get home quickly). He doesn’t tell his men about the contents, and they think it holds a treasure. Odysseus falls asleep, and when the boat is within sight of Ithaca, the men open up the bag to get the treasure. All the winds blow in force, and the boat is set spinning off course. Later in the book, they have an encounter with giants who eat some of the men, then end up on an island with a witch who turns the men in to pigs. Odysseus saves them, but spends a year on the island with the witch.

Book 11-Small group readingBook 11 starts on page 185

Reading sections1. Elpenor (lines 54-90)2. Antikleia, Odysseus’s

mother (lines 170-254)3. Teiresias (lines 99-169)4. Agamemnon (lines 449-

544)5. Achilles/Akhilleus (lines

540-642)

Questions• With whom is Odysseus

speaking in this section and why is this person important to him?

• Summarize what happens in this section.

• Explain what important information (directions or warnings) Odysseus gains from this interaction.

Key lines• Line 26…”With my drawn blade…” to line 227 “took my own life away.” This section sets

up Odysseus entrance into Hades (an important part of the hero’s journey). He meets the prophet, gets a warning of things to come, and gets news from home from his dead mother.– Theme: hospitality and warning/hubris

• Lines 120-124. Don’t eat the cows of Helios. (They will of course. This also sets up Odysseus to continue his journey alone)

• Line 449 “After Persephone” to 535 “day of faithful wives is gone forever.” Odysseus

meets Agamemnon, a general from the Trojan War, who was killed by his wife’s lover upon his return home. This sets up a comparison between Odysseus’ faithful wife and Agamemnon’s treacherous wife.

• Line 561 “I answered:” to line 580 “than lord it over all the exhausted dead” Odysseus

meets Achilles and praises him for the high position he holds in Hades. Achilles disagrees; it is better to be poor and alive than honored and dead. This highlights the anti-war theme of the poem.

Book 11-Exit ticket

1. What stage of the hero’s quest does this part represent? How does it represent this phase?

2. What character traits does Odysseus display in this part that he did not reveal in his adventures with the Cyclops? How do these traits show through?