Teachers

__Task 1, Books I- IV__ You have been helping your students examine modern and archetypal representations of heroes, and your classes have read "The Power of Myth" and //The Iliad//. You want to develop a lesson that w ill lead students to connect/compare/contrast the hero in //The Iliad// (Achilles) to the only hero they know so far in //The Odyssey// (Telemachos) using "The Power of Myth" and perhaps their modern conceptions of the definition of a hero. Write lesson plans to achieve these objectives. Make sure to include **targets**, **activities**, and **assignments**. Your lesson should be realistic. Remember -- you must develop any handouts you plan on using and post them to your wiki!

__Task 2, Books V, VI, and IX __ Your students have just completed Books V, VI, and IX. How would you assess their knowledge of plot and character? You may create a test with an answer key, essay assignment, or project. You must then decide how the assessment will be graded. Test grades are self-explanatory, but essays and projects will require a rubric, which you must post with your assignment.

__Task 3, Books X-XII__ Design a lesson and activity for your students to complete to help them process the reading. Particularly, how can your students examine the sequence of events and the cause and effect of Odysseus' and his crew's decision making? Keep in mind that Odysseus and his men encounter many different people/monsters during Books X through XII. For this task, your group should create **targets**, **activities**, and **assignments** for your lesson. Consider possibly including more than one activity (group/pair work?) and/or whole class discussion. Include any handouts/organizers, rubrics, discussion questions, and answers that a teacher might need to prepare for the class.

__ Task 4, Books XVI-XXIV __ An irate parent has sent you, an Honors English 10 teacher, an e-mail expressing some concern over the relevancy of students spending time reading this ancient epic, //The Odyssey//. Basically, the parent feels students shouldn’t be wasting precious class time studying a boring, out-dated, and irrelevant story. You have set up a time to meet with the parent and discuss the issue. As a lover of ancient literature, you want to be fully prepared to defend teaching “the greatest tale of all time.” What are your points going to be? Why is //The Odyssey// still relevant? How are you going to persuade this skeptical parent? Feel free to incorporate thoughts from “The Power of Myth” article, modern representations of the heroic cycle, and any points which would help to make your argument strong. You will want to post any notes or presentation materials you prepare for the meeting as well as a transcript of the conversation, or, even better, audio or video clips of the meeting. Keep //The Odyssey// in the curriculum!

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Script for the Ages: Parent: Hi Mr. Kountz. I’m Mrs. Dahmerr; we spoke on the phone recently.

Teacher: Jeffery’s mom, correct?

Parent: Yes, yes. That’s the one.

Teacher: One second, you’re a bit early. Let me put down my dumbbells…732,733…ahhhhh. I’m sorry for being forgetful, but what exactly did we talk about on the phone?

Parent: Well, Jeffery recently brought a ridiculously old book home. It’s covered in cobwebs, there’s dust on it, and occasionally when my son is reading it, the pages literally crumble into nothing.

Teacher: That’s __The Odyssey.__ It was written more than 2000 years ago by a famous author named Homer.

Parent: Why is my kid reading a book //that// old? I think I’d rather have him dismember wild animals he captures; there’s no harm in that.

Teacher: //That// book is essential to modern day learnings Mrs. Dahmer.

Parent: How could a book that old be relevant at all in today’s society?

Teacher: Well, to begin with, __The Odyssey__ reflects how the ancient Greeks acted in lived in their everyday lives. It let historians know how people of the ancient world behaved and what they believed in.

Parent: How could a book with heroes and villains pertain at all to today’s times?

Teacher: Through __The Odyssey__ we learn about the heroic cycle, which in brief summary, is the path that the hero takes to earn his fame. The heroic cycle directly relates and can be applied to most people’s modern day lives. Even though we may not be heroes to the world, we can still be a hero to a friend, a neighbor, or even a community.

Parent: Well maybe, but what would my kid gain from reading this book?

Teacher: __The Odyssey__ places a lot of stress on ideals and proper virtues every good person should possess. Specifically, it places a lot of emphasis on tenacity, empathy, and even valor.

Parent: But will my kid actually use any of these things in his everyday life?

Teacher: While it’s not up to me if Jeffery chooses or chooses not to employ any of the common themes found in __The Odyssey__ in his life, I can say for certain that this book has many valuable themes such as being arrogant and showy does nothing good for you. This is clearly shown when Odysseus, the main hero, shouts his name back at the beast Polyphemos after escaping from his lair. Polyphemos, now knowing Odysseus’s name, prays to the gods to take vengeance on the man who tricked him. One god Poseidon acknowledges the creature’s plea and makes Odysseus’s life very difficult and perilous.

Parent: Ehhh, I am not buying this. If this book is fictional, how could my son even relate to it?

Teacher: While this book may not be entirely truthful or based on factual evidence, the main character Odysseus is nonetheless a real character. By this, I don’t mean that he is based a real person, however, his personality and attitude are very life like and very relatable. This is also true for Telemachos, Odysseus’s teenage son. Telemachos finds complete fascination journeying around the world. Now what teenage boy, even in today’s world, would not want to travel the world, defeat monsters, and have fame?

Parent: Well, that makes some sense I suppose. Do other people even read this book though?

Teacher: Of course they do. Because of all the things this book teaches, it is a very common book that many students all around the world read. __The Odyssey__ allows us to learn about the future through the past.

Parent: What do you mean by that?

Teacher: Well what I mean is, through all of the conflicts in the plot, we the readers can learn what not to do and apply it to our very own lives to better the future of our lives.

Parent: I think I get it now. Because __The Odyssey__ teaches us how to be better people through actions or events of characters, it’s actually HELPFUL.

Teacher: Exactly.

Parent: Thank you very much Mr. Kountz. Could you by chance give me one of your copies of __The Odyssey__ so I can read it?

Teacher: No.