What are your three favorite lines from the Odyssey —and why? Consider: 1) a line you like because it reveals so much about the world of The Odyssey —the many turns, the echoing story, the ideas hidden inside it. “This is absurd, that mortals blame the gods! They say we cause their suffering, but they…

Here is a link to a google doc with all my notes for the Odyssey. I continue to edit and modify it whenever I read a new chapter or new ideas arise during class discussion.

Ithaka poem ‘Ithaka’ depicts Odysseus’s journey from when he leaves Ithaka for the Trojan War, to returning over 20 years later. This poem is a refreshing and uplifting perspective on the Odyssey. Throughout the book, we remember a lot of the pain and suffering Odysseus has gone through this journey. However, this poem not only…

Books 11 and 12 have been my favoutire books yet! Here are some of my notes: Book 11 Pg.282-  “On seeing her, I wept in pity. But despite bitter grief, I would not let her near the blood till I talked to Tiresias.”  Odysseus just finds out his mother died at the land of the…

Somehow The Odyssey must escape the endless chain of “and then . . .” what do all these episodes add up to? What is Homer (or this poem) telling us about life and how to live? Write in your portfolio —but in a formal/academic voice —as you unpack the meaning of the incidents and details…

what are you thinking as you read? what are the scenes and details and images that stand out to you?  Despite the Odyssey having quite a serious and somber tone most of the time, the unconventional style Chwast uses makes the tone more lighthearted and playful. The cartoon-approach as well as the very quick pace,…

Guiding questions: Think about: why is everyone (even the gods) talking about Agamemnon and Clytemnestra at the start of The Odyssey?  A story is told where Aegisthus overstepped by sleeping with Agamemnon’s wife and then killing him when he arrives home from war.  The Gods Zeus uses the story to convey that human beings wrongly…

After the IO practice, I found that the main issue was the organization of my speech. This is why I repeated a lot of things and made it way more confusing then it should’ve been. I also felt that my ideas didn’t connect as much as I thought they did, which added to the confusion. …

As I was thinking of comparisons for my IO, I came across a lot of similarities between Fragment 94 and a few panels from fun home. One of the ideas that I found really interesting that I just want to talk about (as I didn’t end up talking about in my io as it just…

Gradual Impact (by Alison Bechdel) 1. what is the conflict? Although it might at first seem that the conflict is between Tamar and Alison, the story actually focuses on Alison’s inner conflict. Alison struggles to separate the physical aspect and emotional aspect of their relationship. She uses Tamar’s outfits (jewelry, deep neck shirt, skirt) to…