"The boy you knew is gone..."
~The Odyssey, Book 20 Line 347
~The Odyssey, Book 20 Line 347
Our big push this week is to finally finish reading The Odyssey--and you, sad to say, will let go of your boyhood, willingly or not....
Odysseus has returned home. He has revealed himself to those who were faithful to him. Telemachus has cast aside all the weaknesses of boyhood for the strength of manhood to stand alongside his father and reek vengeance on those who sought their ruin and/or despoiled their home.
But, canny warrior that he is, Odysseus uses his cunning (honed and trained by years of hard life experiences) to plot a way to kill the suitors and regain his rightful place in his own home and lands. Odysseus persevered through the the thick and thin, ups and downs--the vicissitudes--of life and is now at the point of victory or defeat. To the storyteller, the conflict has reached its crisis and listeners and readers are prepared and expecting the final battle--the climax that has been brewing for so long.
This final battle will be read in class on Tuesday and Wednesday. Book 22--the greatest chapter in all of literature!
This week is for all practical purposes an all Odyssey, all the time week. We will finish reading the book and begin our Epic Poem project. I will post details of the assignment tomorrow. It is not due until the start of March break.
Two Weeks in Review:
Odysseus has returned home. He has revealed himself to those who were faithful to him. Telemachus has cast aside all the weaknesses of boyhood for the strength of manhood to stand alongside his father and reek vengeance on those who sought their ruin and/or despoiled their home.
But, canny warrior that he is, Odysseus uses his cunning (honed and trained by years of hard life experiences) to plot a way to kill the suitors and regain his rightful place in his own home and lands. Odysseus persevered through the the thick and thin, ups and downs--the vicissitudes--of life and is now at the point of victory or defeat. To the storyteller, the conflict has reached its crisis and listeners and readers are prepared and expecting the final battle--the climax that has been brewing for so long.
This final battle will be read in class on Tuesday and Wednesday. Book 22--the greatest chapter in all of literature!
This week is for all practical purposes an all Odyssey, all the time week. We will finish reading the book and begin our Epic Poem project. I will post details of the assignment tomorrow. It is not due until the start of March break.
Two Weeks in Review:
- Monday: Reading: Read Book 21 tonight. Read and comment on "You Are All a Bunch of Punks." Your comment should touch on what you think about poetry at this point in your life.
- Tuesday/Wednesday: Read Book 23 for Homework after the second class period
- Wednesday/Thursday: We will read Book 24 in class
- Thursday/Friday: Introduce Heroic Poetry Project
- Journal Entries: 1) One Fitz Style entry about your response to a crisis in your life. 2) One "Letter to your Son" explaining why your future son should read The Odyssey. Perhaps one day you will be able to share this letter with your true son.
- Poems and Ballads: go to my portfolio site, JohnFitz.com and search for a song and ballad that you actually "like." If this proves too difficult, I must be a lousy poet and ballad monger:) Post a reflection on the discussion board--and engage and extend a conversation with your classmates.
- Comma Rules 9 & 1o: I will post these under punctuation, shortly.
- Next Week: Work on Epic Poem project.