Today students were introduced to The Odyssey, an epic poem, and learned about the Hero’s Journey.
1. Quickwrite. Students wrote answers to one of the following prompts:
Answer on a separate sheet of paper.
1. What is your idea of “home”? Is it a place, a person, a feeling? Describe “home” using imagery (appealing to the five senses). Answer in a complete paragraph.
2. What is needed for a long-distance relationship to succeed? Think about couples in which on person frequently travels for work and the other stays home. Give specific examples of relationships that work or do not work to support your answer. Answer in a complete paragraph.
2. Discussion. Students shared their answers briefly.
3. Odyssey Overview. Students received copies of excerpts of The Odyssey. This is a blue booklet that is to be kept in your folder or your binder, but not just out in your bookbag. It is very fragile. Ms. Del Dotto and I made them for you because we thought you would enjoy this translation more than the one in the textbook. Please respect them. We traced Odysseus’s journey in the map on the back and I explained the main conflicts of each character in the family (Odysseus, Penelope, Telemachus).
4. The Hero’s Journey. (didn’t get to it in 1st period) Students received L36: Heros Journey Illustration. I walked students through the different steps of the heroic cycle and then, on the back, students had 7 minutes to apply a movie or book they knew to the hero’s journey by filling in the boxes.
5. First page of the Odyssey. I read the first page of the poem aloud to students, which contains not just foreshadowing but outright spoilers. All his shipmates die, Calypso tries to hold him back, and even when he gets home he has problems.
HW: None. If you want to read ahead in The Odyssey, you may. If you want your own copy, please buy the Robert Fagles translation.
ALEXA GARVOILLE 