3 pages: Use Fagles’ translation of The Odyssey ONLY
Choose one essay prompt:
1. Pretend you are a screenwriter adapting Andrei Konchalovsky’s 1996 film version of The Odyssey to the screen. Discuss how you would either (1) change one of the
scenes, or (2) include a scene that Konchalovsky omits.
To view The Odyssey film (1997) on YouTube, paste the following URL into your
browser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S_l12WM_KM
2. The concept of a hero has been interpreted in many ways throughout the ages. One
literary hero who stands the test of time is Odysseus. Compare and contrast
Odysseus to a modern literary or film hero.
3. How does the double standard for sexual conduct of men and women affect the
characterization of women in The Odyssey? On what merits are the women
judged? Is this still true of how women are judged today?
4. Who is the heroine of the epic? Penelope or Athena?
5. Who is the true hero of the epic? Athena or Odysseus?
General Essay Requirements:
1. Include at least one in-text/embedded quotation from Fagles in your essay and turn in no less than 2 full pages for a passing grade. You may write as much as you wish.
2. Include research from at least two outside sources and include citations and a Works Cited list of sources.
Introduction:
1. Italicize the title The Odyssey and mention Homer as the author of this epic poem. (The Odyssey is not a novel.) Start off by giving a brief background of Odysseus.
Facts to get right: Odysseus spends 10 years at Troy and 10 years on the journey
home: he is away from Ithaca for nearly 20 years or since Telemachus’ birth.
2. Include a thesis (or the prompt) at the end of your introduction to introduce your topic
and focus your reader. Please use the prompt you have chosen as your thesis to achieve a sharp focus. The thesis drives the essay and carries 10 points in your total score of 100 points
Body of the Essay:
WRITING TIPS
1. Double space the text, using a 12-point font. Use present tense verbs for actions that unfold before you in the reading, and past tense verbs for actions that happen before the story begins or early in the story.
2. Avoid very short paragraphs of less than 8 lines and very long paragraphs that exceed 12 lines.
3. Use transition between paragraphs: either repeat a word from the preceding paragraph or use the following transitional words: first, second, third, for example, for instance, furthermore, indeed, on the other hand, etc.
Quotations
1. Include one in-text (embedded) 3-line quotation from the text for support. Paraphrase or summarize lines that you don’t quote.
2. Set up the quotation by identifying the speaker, listener, and the situation followed by a comma or colon (:) to connect it to the quotation, so that it doesn’t stand alone. The first letter of the first word is in upper case, even if it is in lower case in the text.
3. Two exceptions: If you use the word “that” to introduce the quotation, do not put a comma or colon after “that” and put the first letter of the first word of the quotation in lower case, even if it is in upper case in the text. Quoting a word or phrase does not require a comma or colon.
4. Other helpful reminders for quoting:
a. The in-text quotation includes spaced slashes to show where the line ends in
the text rather than to mark where the periods are.
b. If a quotation ends in a comma, colon, semicolon (;), dash, use the ellipsis (. . .)
to indicate words are omitted. You may include a ? or ! at the end of a
quotation.
c. Copy the text exactly. Sometimes the first letter of the first word of a line is in
lower case if a sentence extends over several lines. Do not capitalize the letter. d. After the quotation, comment on why it is important to your essay.
Research: (List the 2 sources under the title, “Works Cited”
1. Include research from at least two outside sources to add new information on your topic just as you have been doing for your blog research.
2. Include in-text citations (either parenthetical notes or signal phrases) so your reader can locate the full reference in the Works Cited list of sources at the end of the text. The signal phrase includes the author’s name: (J. Marks in his book Zeus in The Odyssey, observes that . . . ); the parenthetical note just includes the author’s last name (Marks).
The Works Cited or source entry:
Marks, J. “Zeus in The Odyssey.” Hellenic Study Series 31, Harvard Univ., Nov. 2008, www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674028128, May 25, 2018.
