Odyssey Analysis Benchmark Assignment Sheet

Press, Tompkins, & LS/Humanities 9

Fall 2012: Odyssey Analysis Benchmark

Important dates:

Tues, Oct. 9 - benchmark assigned
Wed, Oct. 10 - If you do not pass, you will see a 0/50 points in your History AND English grades (the 0 will disappear once you pass the benchmark).
Wed, Oct. 24 (end of Mr. LS’s office hours) - benchmark must be passed

→ This means that you have 3 office hours with Ms. Press and 3 with Mr. LS, plus a whole lot of lunches with Ms. Press, Ms. Tompkins, and Mr. LS to get this up to passing!

This benchmark tests your ability to make the argument that will appear in the second paragraph of your first Humanities paper - are the negative events that occur in the Odyssey Odysseus’s fault or not?

You will choose one claim and piece of evidence from the following:

Option A:

Claim: The negative events that occurred in the Cicones scene were not Odysseus’s fault.
Evidence: “On the spot I told them: ‘Back, and quickly! Out to sea again!’ My men were mutinous, fools, on stores of wine.”

→ Textbook page 983, lines 46-48

Option B:

Claim: The negative events that occurred in the Cyclops scene were Odysseus’s fault.
Evidence: “Cyclops, if ever mortal man inquire how you were put to shame and blinded, tell him Odysseus, raider of cities, took your eye: Laertes’ son, whose home’s on Ithaca!”

→ Textbook page 996, lines 456-460

Now construct your analysis, with at least one sentence of interpretation and at least one sentence of commentary. When you believe you have correctly written your analysis, show it to Mr. LS, Ms. Tompkins, or Ms. Press to see if you’re passing or not.

If you need reminders about how to write your analysis, you can look at the explanations and examples at this screencast or this PowerPoint presentation from class.