Paragraph 1 – Conditions
Goal:
If you think the men should have revolted: | If you think the men should not have revolted: |
Prove that conditions were plenty bad enough to make them want to revolt. | Prove that conditions were pretty bad. OR Prove that there were enough good times to keep conditions from being truly horrible. |
Common problems:
Examples don’t match the topic sentence.
Interpretation and commentary do not specifically explain how the quote shows conditions.
Interpretation and commentary focus on who is to blame for the conditions rather than the conditions themselves.
To do this paragraph well:
Have two solid pieces of evidence illustrating the conditions you name in your topic sentence.
Make sure your interpretation and commentary focus on conditions and how bad or not bad they were.
Paragraph 2 – Who’s responsible?
Goal:
If you think the men should have revolted: | If you think the men should not have revolted: |
Prove that Odysseus was mostly to blame for the challenges the crew faced. | Prove that something else, besides Odysseus, was more to blame for the challenges the crew faced: bad luck, the crew, the gods, etc. |
Common problems:
Evidence proves that both Odysseus and his crew were responsible, without making a final judgment either way.
Quotes chosen do not actually show someone making a decision or causing an event do happen.
Context does not adequately set up the quoted evidence.
To do this paragraph well:
Have two solid pieces of evidence illustrating who is to blame for challenging conditions.
Make a judgment about who is ultimately responsible for the conditions, even if you acknowledge that multiple people or events lead to the conditions.
Use interpretation and commentary (analysis) to make clear how your evidence shows who is responsible.
Paragraph 3 – According to Locke, should the men have revolted?
Goal:
If you think the men should have revolted: | If you think the men should not have revolted: |
Prove that Odysseus: Made great mistakes Showed human weakness Gave bad orders And did all three of these consistently enough to make a long train of abuses. | Prove that although Odysseus was not perfect, he: Generally avoided mistakes through cleverness or circumspection* Showed as much human strength (positive qualities) as weaknesses* Gave good orders more often than bad ones* * If any of these are true, then Odysseus did not commit a long train of abuses against his crew, and they should not have revolted. |
Common problems:
Paragraph makes no mention of Locke or the right to revolution.
Does not specifically address each of Locke’s three criteria for revolt with factual evidence from the Odyssey.
Does not state whether or not Odysseus’s actions add up to a “long train of abuses.”
To do this paragraph well:
Explain who Locke is and summarize his ideas in the context for this paragraph.
Address each of Locke’s criteria, one at a time, with an example from the story. Use interpretation and commentary to show how each example demonstrates that criteria.
Close the paragraph by saying whether or not a long train of abuse occurred.