Agenda

1. Roots Groups for Plot Discussion Character trait classwork Passage discussion Questions and themes in artwork Agenda 2-6-14

2. prae

3. Get the story out from last night • Be ready to move around with your groups when class starts. • You will need the story and something to write with • When I let you go, get in groups of 3 or 4. No more or less, please.

4. In Your Groups: Plot • As a group, collaborate to come up with a detailed plot line for the story. • Come to a consensus on which elements of the story go in each box. • Your answers for each part need to be detailed and display a knowledge of the story.

5. Plot breakdown • Characters: Odysseus, his men, Polyphemus • Settings: the Cyclops’s cave, Odysseus’s ship • Conflicts: External conflict: Odysseus and his men vs. the Cyclops; Internal conflict: Odysseus must battle his own pride and ego • Exposition: Odysseus and his men arrive at the cave of the Cyclops; Odysseus’s men beg him to take what they find and return to the ship, but he refuses, waiting to see if the Cyclops will give him the gifts “as a stranger’s due.” • Rising Action: Polyphemus returns to the cave, sealing the door. Odysseus demands “the stranger’s gift,” and Polyphemus responds by killing and eating two of his men. The murders continue the next morning; Odysseus comes up with a plan to trick Cyclops and escape • Climax: Odysseus and his men stab Polyphemus in the eye and blind him • Falling Action: Polyphemus screams and his neighbors come to see what has happened; Polyphemus tells them “Noman” has stabbed him; Odysseus and his men hide themselves under the sheep’s fleece all night; Cyclops lets his sheep out in the morning, unknowingly allowing his prisoners to escape • Resolution: when they reach the ship, Odysseus cannot resist calling out to Polyphemus so the monster will know who bested him; the Cyclops nearly destroys the ship before they sail away

6. Character traits and Qualities • Go through the story as a group. • Underline, highlight or mark examples of what Odysseus does or says that suggest his various character traits and qualities as a hero. • Next to what you find and highlight/mark, write the character trait that you believe is exemplified in the passage. Decide on these as a group.

7. For each slide, decide as a group what character trait is being displayed. • You need to infer, from the reading, what the passages tell us about Odysseus’s character. • I will call on you to answer for each.

8. Odysseus’s Character Analysis • “My company then spoke and besought me first of all to take of the cheeses and to return, and afterwards to make haste and drive off the kids and lambs to the swift ships from out the pens, and to sail over the salt sea water. Howbeit I hearkened not (and far better would it have been), but waited to see the giant himself, and whether he would give me gifts as a stranger’s due. Yet was not his coming to be with joy to my company.” 1

9. Odysseus’s Character “as for us our heart within us was broken for terror of the deep voice and his own monstrous shape; yet despite all I answered and spake unto him, saying: ‘Lo, we are Achaeans, driven wandering from Troy, by all manner of winds over the great gulf of the sea.” 2

10. Odysseus’s Character • “So he spake tempting me, but he cheated me not, who knew full much, and I answered him again with words of guile: 2

11. Odysseus’s Character • “So I took counsel in my great heart, whether I should draw near, and pluck my sharp sword from my thigh, and stab him in the breast, where the midriff holds the liver, feeling for the place with my hand. But my second thought withheld me, for so should we too have perished even there with utter doom. For we should not have prevailed to roll away with our hands from the lofty door the heavy stone which he set there. So for that time we made moan, awaiting the bright Dawn.” 3

12. Odysseus’s Character “And I bade my company cast lots among them, which of them should risk the adventure with me, and lift the bar and turn it about in his eye, when sweet sleep came upon him. And the lot fell upon those four whom I myself would have been fain to choose, and I appointed myself to be the fifth among them.” 4 “I spake to my companions comfortable words, lest any should hang back from me in fear.” 5

13. Odysseus’s Character “And a glad sight to our fellows were we that had fled from death, but the others they would have bemoaned with tears; howbeit I suffered it not, but with frowning brows forbade each man to weep. Rather I bade them to cast on board the many sheep with goodly fleece, and to sail over the salt sea water.” 8

14. Odysseus’s Character “my heart within me laughed to see how my name and cunning counsel had beguiled them.” 6 “But when I had not gone so far, but that a man’s shout might be heard, then I spoke unto the Cyclops taunting him:” I would fain have spoken to the Cyclops, but my company stayed me on every side with soft words

15. Odysseus’s Character “So spake they, but they prevailed not on my lordly spirit, and I answered him again from out an angry heart: “‘Cyclops, if any one of mortal men shall ask thee of the unsightly blinding of thine eye, say that it was Odysseus that blinded it, the waster of cities, son of Laertes, whose dwelling is in Ithaca.’”

16. Some we may have missed • Eloquent: shown in how he speaks to Polyphemus • Clever: doesn't tell Polyphemus where the ship is; doesn’t kill Polyphemus because he realizes they need him to roll the boulder from the cave entrance; comes up with a clever plan for escape; uses the name "Noman," which he knows will cause confusion if Polyphemus seeks help • Brave: speaks to Polyphemus and demands his “due” even after realizing how dangerous the Cyclops is; stands up to him even after he’s killed some of Odysseus’s men • Foolhardy: (same examples as those given for “brave” and “proud,” below) • Proud/egotistical: refers to “my great heart” and “my cunning counsel”; mentions his hopes that Athene will “grant me renown”; ignored his men’s requests to leave the cave quickly, so that he could get his “stranger’s due”; had to let Polyphemus know that he'd bested him, which almost led to the deaths of him and his men • Confident: seems to have no doubt that his plan will work • Vengeful: wants to avenge the deaths of his men; says he was “left devising evil in the deep of my heart” • Fair: does not ask his men to do what he isn’t willing to do himself • Deceptive: is able to completely fool the Cyclops • Persuasive: tricks Polyphemus into drinking the wine; is able to talk his men into dangerous acts • Religious: believes in his gods and their power • Strong: forbade his men to weep

17. Questions for group discussion • What traits does he rely on most to resolve the conflict? • What are some of Odysseus’s flaws, or less positive traits?

18. How is this portrayal similar to or differ from the way you envisioned the scene? Why? Why do you think the artist chose to portray this scene over more exciting or gruesome ones? How does the artist emphasize Odysseus’s courage?  How does this painting reflect the themes of the story? Odysseus in the cave of Polyphemus

19. Discussion Questions Cont. • How might Odysseus’s encounter with the Cyclops represent some of the challenges we face in life? • Are all of Odysseus’s character traits necessary? Why or why not? • What might the story suggest about what it takes to succeed in life?

20. Notes on the flawed hero • All heroes in epic tales/poems have characteristics that make them great. • However, they also possess major character flaws that define them and lead to their downfall. • What could be Odysseus’s major flaw?

21. Odysseus, in The Odyssey, is much more complicated. He lives by his wiles as well as his courage. He is an intellectual. Often he openly evaluates a situation, demonstrating the logic he employs in making his choices. When it proves effective, Odysseus lies (even to his own family), cheats, or steals in ways that we would not expect in an epic hero. Although he is self-disciplined (refusing to eat the lotus), his curiosity is sometimes the root of his trouble (as with the Cyclops).

22. On your own—Think about theme • Write a theme for this story. Think about what the author wants us to learn about life from reading this account of Odysseus’s experience. • This is your ticket out the door

23. RAFT writing assignments • Role • Audience • Format • Topic

24. Your RAFT Assignment—remember to tell me what you choose.