Mr.

Kolpak
The Odyssey

Who Needs Shmoop!

Directions: You will write a Summary/Problem/Solution paragraph for each of the
following Books: 8 or 10. Each paragraph asks you to write about what you learned
about Odysseus’ journey. The paragraph of each Book must include the Book title,
author, and page numbers of indirect/direct quotations using MLA format (at least
two per Book). Also, examples and details of the reading will accompany any quoted
work.

Guidelines: For each Book you must do the following: read it (sorry, no Shmoop!),
and summarize the Book that includes information from your “Journey” notes and
“Journey” annotations.

Summary Guidelines:

 Identify the title, author, and topic in the first sentence

 State the main idea/theme of the Book in the second sentence (Note: These
two sentences can be combined into one)
 Be at least 250-350 words—typed in TNR 12 point font
 Include—in your own words—what Homer is saying about the subject of
each Book
 Include quotations, examples, and specific details that demonstrate
understanding of the Books

Summarizing Verbs: argues, asserts, compares, concludes, considers, contends,

contrasts, discusses, emphasizes, examines, explores, focuses on, implies, states, and
suggests (these verbs must be used in moderation)

Journey Categories for Note Taking and Annotating:

 Goal: What are they trying to achieve?

 Obstacles: What prevents them from achieving their goal?
 Response: How do they respond to solve problems they face?
 Consequence: How does this experience change them as individuals and/or
as a group?
 Odysseus: What does Odysseus do? What do his actions reveal about the
kind of man or leader he is?

Important: You will share your work with the class so make it pithy!
Sample Paragraph

In Book 9 of The Odyssey, (In the One-Eyed Giant’s Cave), Homer not only
compares a divide between the “civilized” and “uncivilized,” but he also focuses on
how Odysseus’ hubris creates unforeseen challenges to both himself and his crew.
In this Book, Odysseus and his men are trapped in a cave by the Cyclops, waiting one
by one to be consumed by Poseidon’s son. Luckily, the crew has Odysseus to save
them. By offering libations to the Cyclops, in the form of wine, he weakens the
brute’s mind and body until he passes out. Odysseus and his men then blind him
with a sharpened pole. His men impulsively want to kill him where he stands, but
the clever Odysseus realizes that they must use the Cyclops to move the giant stone
that stands between them and their freedom; all the men “trussed up under…[the
rams] fleecy ribs, as they “rumbled out of the cave toward the pasture” (225). The
dim witted Polyphemus didn’t even know what “hit” ‘em, as each crew member,
except for the 6 that he partially digested and expelled as vomitus, casually “walked”
out of the cave, literally under the Cyclops’ finger tips. Had the “barbarian” followed
the protocols of Greek hospitality and acted toward the strangers in a civilized
manner (instead of eating them), he may have been able to keep his one eye—hey,
one eye is better than two, right? (216). The reader shouldn’t be surprised,
however, by the Cyclops’ actions. The narrator does, after all, call the Cyclopes’
“lawless brutes” (215). In the end, Odysseus and his crew escape the clutches of the
Cyclops and make it back to their ship--but not before Odysseus announces that
“[the] raider of cities…gouged out [Polyphemus’]…eye” (227). Had it not been for
his hubris, he probably should have continued to use his alias: Nobody. I guess even
the man exalted for his “twists and turns” can buy into his own press. Now
Polyphemus’ father, Poseidon, knows that he is a “somebody” and will do all in his
power to keep Odysseus from ever setting foot on Ithacan soil.