Odyssey EssayOdyssey Essay

Some brain droppings from Mr. Some brain droppings from Mr. Kelly as he graded last year’s Kelly as he graded last year’s

essaysessays

Brain droppings in three partsBrain droppings in three parts

• Content• Mechanical• MLA

ContentContent

1. Who is your audience?• Avoid sweeping statements:

– Throughout history, man has always worshipped gods.• Can you prove this? What is this really telling us?

• Be sure to answer the prompt.• History books are different than literature.• Hard to write about something you didn’t read.

– Many argued only what we discussed in class• Make sure facts, plot, characters are correct. • What happened to introductions?

– Attention getters. • Grading

Quality versus Lame quotesQuality versus Lame quotes

• Your quote is support for your analysis, for your argument. If your argument is the gods played a role in everyday life, you could use this: – “Pallas Athena, harboring kindness for the hero, / drifted a

heavy mist around him, shielding him / from any swaggering islander who’d cross his path, / provoke him with taunts and search out who he was” (Homer 3.16-19).

• Look at each word, literary device, etc. Anything at all that can help you argue your point.

Look at every detail:Look at every detail:

• Look at this quote and take notice of every detail:

• “Pallas Athena, harboring kindness for the hero, / drifted a heavy mist around him, shielding him / from any swaggering islander who’d cross his path, / provoke him with taunts and search out who he was”

• “Pallas Athena, harboring kindness for the hero, / drifted a heavy mist around him, shielding him / from any swaggering islander who’d cross his path, / provoke him with taunts and search out who he was”

Nuts and BoltsNuts and Bolts

• For poetry:– Lines are represented with /

– for The Odyssey, use (book.line#s) – (Homer 19.125-129)• If a string of quotes all from the same source, drop the

authors name. (22.128-130)

– For film and textbook, look up MLA Format• LMC Website• Google “MLA citations”

– “MLA film citations”

– “MLA Multivolume book citations”

Quotes and citations (MLA)Quotes and citations (MLA)

• We use quotes to support our argument with solid evidence.

• A citation is a cross-reference. If you make an argument, your reader should be able to pick up the book you are citing and get more information.

MechanicalMechanical

• Biggest problem area1. Proofread.

• Reread it yourself, aloud.• Have another person read it.• Writing lab

2. Efficient sentences:• Rewrite the following, using as few words as

possible: In ancient Greece, the people believed that the

gods were major parts of their lives, the people of Greece would pray to them and look to them for help as did the characters in The Odyssey.

MechanicalMechanical

• Active vs. Passive voice:– Active voice: The subject performs the action

(subject/verb/object)

• Odysseus sacrifices the bull. – Passive voice: The subject is acted upon.

(object/verb/subject; usually uses a to be verb.)

• The bull was sacrificed by Odysseus.

MechanicalMechanical

• Quoting literature:– Poetry: Use a slash \ to indicate a line break.– Over four lines, use block quotes.

• Grading

MLAMLA

1. How do I remember this stuff?• Look it up! Google MLA format..

2. Who is the author of The Odyssey?

Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Robert Fagles. New York: Penguin Books, 1996.

• Notice no Bernard Knox? He wrote the forward…don’t need to cite him.

Three ways to weave a quote (MLA)Three ways to weave a quote (MLA)

• Comma – the most common.– Proctor says, “I think it is not easy to prove she’s a fraud,

and the town gone so silly” (Miller 63).

– “I think it is not easy to prove she’s a fraud,” Proctor says to Danforth, “and the town gone so silly.”

• Or it can be woven more fluently. – While trying to wrestle with the chaos in Salem, Proctor

argues, “the town gone so silly” (Miller 63).

Three ways to weave a quoteThree ways to weave a quote

• Integrate the quote into your own sentence– However, if the town continues on the path

forged, the “main role of government changes from that of the arbiter to that of the scourge of God” (Miller 34).

Three ways of weaving a quoteThree ways of weaving a quote

• Use a colon: (probably the least common)– Proctor believes he will not be believed in the

court of Salem: “She told it to me in a room alone—I have no proof of it” (Miller 53).

PunctuationPunctuation

• “I have no proof for it” (Miller 53).

• “You were alone with her?” (Miller 53).

The power of the media has always had a massive impact on society. It spreads the latest news, gossips, and alerts in a matter of seconds; keeping everyone informed. Although television sets and radios were not invented until the twentieth century, the word of mouth was just as powerful during the Ancient Greek era as the television is today. Oral recitation of was a great medium in ancient times and a popular form of entertainment; often performed by bards and adored by muses. Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, best captured Greek culture owing to its signature tale of the King Odysseus’s chaotic journey home after the Trojan War. Due to the eloquent art of oral recitation, this epic tale told by Homer became a prominent signature of the Ancient Greek society and its lifestyles emphasized by potent epithets.

The use of epithets during oral recitation kept honorable names alive and acknowledged (Fiero 73). “When young Dawn with her rose-red fingers shone once more they yoked their pair again, mounted the blazoned car and though the gates and echoing colonnade they whipped the team to a run and on they flew, holding nothing back--and the princes reached the wheatlands, straining now for journey’s end, so fast those purebred stallions raced them on as the sun sank and the roads grew dark” (Fagles 550; bk. 3). Dawn’s epithet is often repeated in The Odyssey. It expresses a more positive mood to the audience and informs of a new day, fresh start, and/or a new undertaking. Dawn, also referred to as sunrise, is capitalized in each of its epithets. This small detail personifies the term “dawn,” giving it god-like qualities and a sort of importance to Greek culture.

Of the many ancient societies upon which western culture and customs are based, perhaps none is more important and evident in our daily lives that the Greek Culture. Several common practices of ancient Greeks have become common to modern cultures, both Western and otherwise. One custom that has survived the test of time is the concept of hospitality towards strangers and guests to one’s home or business. At the height of Greek power, the practice of hospitality was widespread and avidly followed. One of the best works to chronicle the practice and influence of hospitality in ancient Greece is Homer’s Odyssey. During Odysseus’s travels, he meets a myriad of people, nearly all of whom treat him graciously and as an honored guest. The key to Homer’s depiction of hospitality, however, is not just the examples of generous hospitality, but the range of responses Odysseus receives from his hosts. The practice of hospitality, whether generous or meager, in Odysseus’s time is depicted in Homer’s Odyssey through the actions of Odysseus’s hosts and captors. Additionally, the measure of one’s hospitality to another was often based in the context of their respect for the guest’s lineage, honor, or intentions, or simply in the host’s own fear of retribution from gods and goddesses.

When travelling to their various destinations, Odysseus and Telemachus are often treated royally simply because they are of a noble and famous lineage. Odysseus’s father, Laertes, while aging and no longer in power, was the king of Ithaca and some surrounding land, and his fame spread throughout the ancient world quickly. Some of Odysseus’s hosts are able to recognize him or sense similarities between him and his father upon hearing about his past struggles and travels. Telemachus experiences similar treatment is his travels to Pylos, where he is greeted by King Nestor. Nestor had campaigned at war alongside Odysseus and revered him. The king is amazed at the resemblance between Telemachus and Odysseus, saying, “I look at you and a sense of wonder takes me. You way with words – it’s just like his – I’d swear no youngster could ever speak like you, so apt, so telling” (Homer III.138-140). Nestor then offers the advice and information Telemachus had sought from the king. A feast is arranged in Telemachus’s honor, and the services of Nestor’s son, Pisistratus, are offered. Odysseus encounters the same treatment during his voyages as well. He is often referred to as the son of Laertes in conversation with those who know him or his father. These actions are consistent with the habits of Greek hosts, who would often take special measures to care for a known guest or family member of a close friend. One of the most significant attributes of a person in Grecian times was their heritage and ancestry. This influence often carried over into one’s hospitality towards a visitor “The Greeks traced their origins to events related to the story of Zeus…” (Fiero Vol. 1 77). As seen in the Odyssey, Ancient Greeks placed high authority in one’s family ties.