ODYSSEY BOOK 21 FEBRUARY 11, 14, 14

Today I will guide us through three sections from Books 16-21 before turning to the following:

Revisit the values of the Grad at Grad on SJ’s webpage. I’d like you to choose the two Grad at Grad principles that you think are most applicable to Homer’s Odyssey. Begin to think about some ways Odysseus struggles with, learns about, or practices your chosen Grad at Grad value. Do this by reading through the description of each value completely and recalling moments in the Odyssey that apply. By our next class, I’d like you to complete my handout from class. You want to find 6 quotes from the entire poem that you think have something to do with your chosen characteristics. Then I’d like you to write a sentence or two that explains how the quote pertains to the principle of the Grad at Grad. Again, if you did not finish this in class, please finish for homework.

I’ll also set your Odyssey documentary project.

HOMEWORK FOR OUR NEXT MEETING:

Please read Book 22, pages 198-215.

ODYSSEY BOOK 22 FEBRUARY 15, 15, 16

Today we’ll spend some time pairing up for the preliminary preparations for your Odyssey projects. I will also give you an outline of the Odyssey test and some suggestions for preparing.

We’ll turn to the violence of Book 22.

HOMEWORK FOR OUR NEXT MEETING:

Please read Book 23, pages 215-226.

ODYSSEY BOOK 23 FEBRUARY 16, 17, 22

How does Penelope finally recognize Odysseus? What is the symbolic meaning of the connection between the olive tree and the marriage bed? Given the reunion of Odysseus and Penelope, can the Odyssey be regarded as a comedy? Why? Why not?

HOMEWORK FOR OUR NEXT MEETING:

Please read Book 23, pages 215-226.

ODYSSEY BOOK 24 FEBRUARY 22, 22, 23

How does Laertes, Odysseus' father, recognize Odysseus? What is the symbolic significance of the fruit trees? Is the anger of the suitors' relatives justified? How does Odysseus propose to deal with this problem? Is the ending of the Odyssey through Athena's intervention a convincing and meaningful way of putting an end to the struggle between the Ithakans? Is it realistic to believe that the suitors' relatives simply dropped their weapons and went back home?

HOMEWORK FOR OUR NEXT MEETING:

Study.

ODYSSEY TEST FEBRUARY 24, 24, 25

“Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.

And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.”
— from C.P. Cavafy, "Ithaka"

what's due?

February 24, 24, 25 — Homer’s Odyssey Test

March 4 — Homer’s Odyssey Documentary

March TBD — Poetry Project and Odyssey Passage Memorization

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Why should we spend our time reading novels and poems when, out there, big things are going on?
“In the realm of narrative psychology, a person’s life story is not a Wikipedia biography of the facts and events of a life, but rather the way a person integrates those facts and events internally—picks them apart and weaves them back together to make meaning. This narrative becomes a form of identity, in which the things someone chooses to include in the story, and the way she tells it, can both reflect and shape who she is. A life story doesn’t just say what happened, it says why it was important, what it means for who the person is, for who they’ll become, and for what happens next.”
— Julie Beck, The Atlantic