Aim: How does “Sailing From Troy” and “The Lotus Eaters” (Book IX) establish Odysseus’ role as a leader?
The lesson began with a team discussion on the “Do Now” questions.
Do Now: Team List
Consider the fact that Odysseus has been trying to return to his home in Ithaca for 10 years. Imagine being away from your home for that long.
What would you miss the most and why?
Why do we have sayings like the ones below?
Students were put into breakout rooms, based on their teams, to discuss their opinions on these questions. When we returned to the main room, we had a class discussion where volunteers shared their thoughts from the team discussions. We all collectively agreed that we would miss our families and homes the most. We also agreed that sayings like “Home Sweet Home” and “There’s No Place Like Home” are used to express the irreplaceable spot that our homes have, in our hearts. After all, we spend most of our time at home, with some of our most beloved people. Home brings comfort like no other, and there is nothing better than returning home after a long day.
Moving on with the lesson, we learned about the two types of characterization: direct characterization and indirect characterization. To briefly summarize, direct characterization, as its name suggests, directly reveals information about a character. On the other hand, indirect characterization indirectly shows information about a character by providing “hints” through internal and external dialogues.
The exact notes can be found below:
For a better understanding, I’ve attached an image, from the internet, to provide a different point of view.
Attached below are the notes provided in class. This gives a more detailed explanation of how to identify/ ”decode” indirect characterization.
We learned that indirect characterization can be expressed through speech, thoughts, effects (on others), actions, and looks. To quickly memorize this, Ms. Peterson has provided us with the acronym, STEAL.
We then gained an even better understanding by watching “Characterization Lesson | Using Disney's Frozen.” The video uses dialogues from Disney’s Frozen to create examples of and review characterization.
The link for the said video can be found below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZnD0AGqQ7I
Continuing on, we began to read “Sailing from Troy” from the translated copy of the “Odyssey” and answer questions, regarding the passage, with our teammates.
Brief summary of the text: After years of being away from home, Odysseus expresses his longing for home. He compares home to other objects and locations and concluded that there is nothing “more dear” than home. He and his men stopped at Cicones to refill on necessities, but chaos broke out and resulted in deaths. For the next few days, no ships sailed out, and they grieved for the deaths of their friends.
We found that Odysseus mentioned his home in Ithaca in lines 21-26. Though answers varied, the general gist of the answers are as follows: Odysseus expresses his feelings of fondness and love for his home. This can be supported by the statement, “I shall not see on earth a place more dear” and “in far lands he shall not, though he find a house of gold.”
After reviewing the questions as a class, we moved on to reading and answering “The Lotus Eaters.”
Brief summary of the text: Odysseus landed on the coastline of the Lotus-Eaters for a midday meal. He sent a few men to see what the environment and people are like. The lotus-eaters seemed friendly and offered the men their lotuses. Those who ate the lotuses refused to return to Odysseus and longed to stay there forever. Fearing that his other men would also fall “victim,” he called his men back onto the boats and sailed on.
My group and I thought that the lotus-eaters lived in a rather peaceful paradise that provided them with sufficient food. The lotus-eaters seemed to be nice people; even though Odysseus and his men were strangers, they still offered them their lotuses. Knowingly or not, the lotuses happened to put the men ”under a spell,” which caused them to neglect their homes and families. Although this land may seem like a paradise for those who live on it, people from the outer world may think negatively about it. The typical, normal person wouldn’t choose to neglect their homes and families, but the fault remains a mystery since the lotus-eaters, who had offered the fruit, seem innocent. However, the epic seems to imply that the land, which appears to be a paradise, may not be a paradise, after all.
As a class, we collectively agreed that there was a shift in the leadership of Odysseus. Though some had different views, our opinions of him generally became more positive. In “The Lotus Eaters, we see a “better” side of Odysseus as a leader. He reveals himself as a selfless team leader who would do anything in his power to get all his men home.
The text for both “Sailing from Troy” and “The Lotus Eaters” can be found through this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Db2LMqE9jPc2KWYqU-w6nlXJHnEVoqBB/view
A phrase was briefly brought up during the lesson: dynamic character. A dynamic character is a character who learns and changes immensely, from the beginning to the end of a story.
Reflection:
During today’s lesson, I learned a lot about different “elements” of literature. Though I had surface knowledge of characterization from previous years, I was able to refresh my memory on it and gain a deeper and better understanding of it. The brief explanation of dynamic character also introduced me to an element of literature that can be used in other works. Today’s lesson also gave me more insight into Odysseus’ role in the “Odyssey.” I learned more about the feelings of Odysseus, especially towards his home and men. Though my opinions of him had already been positive, my opinions became even more positive as I dove deeper into Odysseus’ life/thoughts.
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