Odyssey Test: Short Answer/Essay Section

For this section, complete responses on your Drive or on a separate sheet of paper.  You are expected to complete twenty (20) points worth of questions.  Just think of responses being worth 5 points for each solid paragraph.

This section is an OPEN-BOOK TEST!  Feel free to include references to line numbers (eg: p.895, line 181-183) if you need to, but this is not required.

To get the 5 points, each paragraph needs:

• Clear TOPIC sentence connected to your THESIS (for multiple-paragraph responses, include a one-sentence THESIS paragraph as an introduction)
• At least two details supporting your idea
• Include TEXTUAL EVIDENCE and
• original COMMENTARY for each detail.

SA1: Explain in depth one of the major THEMES from The Odyssey Include one paragraph explaining why the theme is still relevant to 21^st century life, and three paragraphs with ideas to support the theme. [20 points]

SA2: What in your opinion is the CONFLICT of The Odyssey (Man vs. _____) ?  Explain how two different types of conflicts are presented, and what is the CLIMAX of each. [10 points]

SA3: Read “Waiting” pp. 904-905. Discuss how Odysseus’s wife is characterized by Atwood as compared to how Homer presents her. [10 points]

SA4: Explain one situation involving DRAMATIC IRONY. Discuss what was ironic and what effect did it have on you as a reader. [5 points]

SA5: Explain this Homeric simile [5 points].  For another [5 points], write your own Homeric simile describing your feelings about this test.

As ravenous wolves come swooping down on lambs or kids to snatch them away from right amidst their flock all lost when a careless shepherd leaves them straggling down the hills and quickly spotting a chance the wolf pack picks them off, no heart for the fight so the Achaeans mauled the Trojans.

SA6: Compare and contrast Odysseus’s leadership to that of Eurylochus (Part 1, the cattle of Helios). Explain why the men listened to Eurylochus rather than Odysseus. [5 points]

SA7: Describe Odysseus’s character. Was he changed by his adventures? If so, how? If not, what qualities were reinforced by things that happened on the journey? [15 points]

SA8: What character, creature, location, or event could be  a symbol for a contemporary problem?  [5 points]

SA9: Describe a scene from a popular movie, book, or TV show, NOT directly related to Greek mythology, that you feel paralleled (or ripped off) a scene from The Odyssey. [5 points]

SA10: In case you didn’t know, it was Odysseus’s idea to create the Trojan Horse in The Iliad. He also feigned insanity to try and get out of going off to fight in the war. What do these plans tell you about his character, and how do the events of The Odyssey support that characterization? [10 points]