Active Reading and Writing Activities for the Odyssey
Passive: lacking in energy or will: LETHARGIC
Active: marked by vigorous activity: BUSY producing or involving action or movement
As we study the Odyssey, you are expected to read actively. There are many ways to become an active reader and writer, and we are giving you a choice of activities to enhance your understanding of this classic literary work.
RULES
1. One assignment will be due per week. The assignment must reflect current episodes read during that week, but you can also refer to prior episodes.
2. You can choose which assignment to complete each week; however, by the end of the unit, you should complete two assignments from Creative Thinking, one Check for Understanding, and one Connection.
3. Incorporate direct quotes and passages from a current episode of The Odyssey in every assignment in order to support your main point.
4. You may complete one activity for extra credit at any point in the unit.
ASSIGNMENT CHOICES
Check for Understanding
Ø Answer the questions in the text at the end of the reading selection. Please copy the question down first, and then write your answer. Your answers need to be written as complete sentences.
Ø React to the story. What were your thoughts while reading this episode? Which parts of the episode (characters, conflicts, or events) were particularly exciting or suspenseful? What questions did you have? Did the episode remind you of something from your own life?
Ø Create a diagram to represent an important aspect of one episode. You may create a cause and effect chart or flow chart to explore why events occurred. Similarly, you could use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast characters or events. Regardless of the format, your diagram will include 6-8 pieces of information from the episode.
Ø Answer one of the essential questions by relating it to the reading. Use an introduction, body, and conclusion to organize your thoughts.
Creative Thinking
Ø Write an installment of the Odyssey that starts where a particular episode leaves off. Use the same character or characters and tell the story of what happens next. This should be one to two pages.
Ø Interview a character in the text or take him/her to task. Tell him/her what you think of their predicament, their actions, or tell them what they should do next. You may write this in dialogue format, or as a letter to a character.
Ø Write a summary of our reading from the point of view of another character. (Here’s your chance to “see through the Cyclop’s eye” or to “take the voice” of a Siren…) Get into the character’s head and tell us things that the story does not. Explain what the experience of Odysseus’s visit was like for him or her.
Ø Design a game inspired by the reading. This can require mental or physical skill. If it is good enough, we can play it even if it requires going to the gym or outside. Make sure the connection to the reading is evident. Submit the rules, the object of the game, and a description of materials needed.
Connect:
Ø Connect Odysseus’ heroic qualities or adventures to another literary or artistic creation such as a song, movie, television show, comic book, a fantasy novel, a video game, a science fiction story, fairy tale, or other story. Make sure to make the connection obvious by pulling quotes and/or specific examples from the Odyssey and the work you’re comparing it to in order to make the connection clear. Then, in a few well-crafted paragraphs, explain how the two are connected.
Ø Connect the reading to a real-world event or fact. Get online or look in an encyclopedia, browse through a Time magazine, etc, and bring in a related article for the class to talk about. Then, in a few well-crafted paragraphs, explain how our reading connects to the real world. Make sure to make the connection obvious by pulling quotes from both the article and The Odyssey in order to make the connection clear.
Name:______
Tracking Chart
Use this to record the category of your active reading homework. Make sure you select from a different category each week.
Week One: “The Lotus Eaters”
Category ______Due Date: Friday, October 9th
Week Two: “The Cyclops” & “The Land of the Dead”
Category ______Due Date: Tuesday, October 13th
Category ______Due Date: Friday, October 16th
Week Three: “The Sirens” “Scylla & Charybdis” “Twenty years gone. . .”
Category ______Due Date: Tuesday, October 20th
Category ______Due Date: Friday, October 23th
Week Four “The Challenge” “Odysseus’ Revenge” “Penelope’s Test”
Category ______Due Date: Tuesday, October 27th
Category ______Due Date: Friday, October 30th
Assessment
*All homework options will be assessed using the attached homework rubric.
**the literary response options counts for two homework grades in the grade book