·
Intro and Thesis Statement: What is the most important lesson or item of
information learned in this episode? (This could be something Odysseus learns,
or it could be something you and other careful readers will learn.)
·
Paragraph or Part 1: What obstacles does
Odysseus face in this episode? What challenges must he overcome? What is lost and what is gained in this
episode?
·
Paragraph or Part 2: What virtues or
heroic characteristics are valued in this episode? How is their value revealed? What is the most important lesson or item of
information learned in this episode? What details from the text support your
argument?
·
Paragraph or Part 3: How does the style of
the passage support your argument? For example, are there epic similes,
metaphors, patterns of expression, or curious phrases that illuminate the text
and support your interpretation?
·
Paragraph or Part 4: How does this episode
enhance the meaning or significance of other parts of The Odyssey? What themes does this episode uncover or enhance? What would be lost from The Odyssey if this episode were removed?
·
Conclusion
FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS
You are not allowed to use any other sources
besides The Odyssey (this especially includes summaries or online
analyses). You may, however, use an online searchable version of The Odyssey
in order to find supporting quotes–only if you then use the Fagles translation
used in this course to type out those quotes (Do not cut and paste). Use
parenthetical citation according to MLA format. Choose short, pithy quotes to
make your point rather than long summative passages. Analyze; do not summarize. Assume the reader of your essay has
already read The Odyssey and doesn’t need to know “what happens
next.” Instead, your task is to convince your reader of a certain
interpretation of the text.
Your essay should be typed and printed in Times New
Roman 12 pt. font, double spaced, with 1-inch margins. Please fill out a cover
sheet (available in your assignment folder for Essay 1 in Blackboard) and make
that the first page of your essay. This does not count toward the minimum
length of three full pages.
Please check to make sure your essay meets the
guidelines for argument, organization, mechanics, and style to be found in the
Writing Help Document and the “6 Rules for Good Writing” document posted on
Blackboard.
While I can’t assess your writing before the official
submission, I can recommend a few things:
1) Cite
passages from long poems not with page numbers, but with book and line number.
For example, cite a quote as (Odyssey 12.326-27), not (Homer, 280).
Since The Odyssey is the only source you are allowed to use
for this assignment, all subsequent citations do not need The Odyssey mentioned
in parentheses.
2) Consider
if you are saying exactly what you mean to say. Example: in a sentence that
states temptation is the cause of death for Odysseus’s
men, do you mean to say that “giving in to temptation”
is the cause, instead? There are logical consequences to imprecise statements.
Could temptation be the means of gaining glory if it is withstood? Ask yourself
if you are really saying exactly what you want to say.
3) Italicize
a word when you are drawing attention to it as a word: For example,
“Homer’s repetition of the word heart in this
passage…” Also italicize titles of long works of literature (The Odyssey) and foreign terms (xenia, kleos, and nostos).
4) In the
paragraph or section on Homer’s style, try to have at least three stylistic
features to comment on. Are there any useful or interesting metaphors in this
episode? Any particularly beautiful or strange descriptions? Point out these
stylistic highlights to reinforce your main point.