Reading Period 9: October 27 - November 2: The Iliad

Long Read:

The Iliad of Homer, books 21-24

Midterm: NOVEMBER 9
Final: DECEMBER 14

Creative Assignments:

We are going to create a "monster manual" for a role-playing game involving heroes of the Trojan war. Choose ten characters from the war, and then choose whether you want to illustrate them graphically, or figure out their character stats. Don't limit yourself to just mortals. Remember, the river Skamandros becomes a character in book 21, and then there are the gods.

If you choose graphic illustrations, create square drawings or paintings of the sort you might find on card games like Magic: The Gathering. Heroic pose, action shot, or portrait. No stick figures, please.

OR

If you choose to write the stats, consider the following elements: size, alignment, stats (STR, DEX, INT, WIS, CON, CHR) hit points, skills, special senses, languages, special attacks, what weapons/armor/money/items they drop when killed, and a useful description of how they would behave in battle or negotiations. Don't get TOO wordy, but give whatever info would be needed. If you're stumped, here's an example of a Monster Manual entry from D&D. If you aren't familiar with RPG gaming, do the best you can. :)

Writing Assignments:

The Iliad is a popular subject for adaptations, such as the poem by Alice Oswald. Consider this list of novels and plays that have been written using The Iliad as source material. If you were to create a novel about some aspect of the story, for any audience, what would you choose to write about? You could pitch a children's book based on Xanthos, Achilles' horse. You could pitch a novel that focuses on the relationship between Zeus and Hera, with the Trojan war as a backdrop. Write a 300 word "pitch" in which you tell what your story would be about, what audience it would appeal to, who the main characters would be, any key scenes you can imagine, and your title. Make it sound great, as if you are trying to convince a publisher to buy it.

OR

Achilles' behavior throughout the Iliad is pretty questionable, but nothing is more questionable than his treatment of Hektor before, during, and especially after his death. Choose a side and argue persuasively whether Achilles is an arrogant jerk for mocking Hektor in death and defiling Hektor's body, or whether his actions are justified either by revenge or the emotions surrounding losing Patroklos. If you had to stand up in court and either defend or accuse Achilles, what would you say? Write a 300 word persuasive essay in which you definitively choose a side, and argue with recognizable rhetorical strategies.

Paper:

Your first draft is due next Tuesday, October 31. Bring two copies printed out to class. If you do not bring two copies printed out to class, you will not only lose points for not having a first draft, but you will also lose points for not being able to do peer editing. Partners will be assigned based on who shows up with a paper in their hand. If you're concerned that your printer might break on Tuesday morning, finish it and print it on Monday, or even Sunday.

AP Lang:

Read "Civil Disobedience" by Henry David Thoreau and come ready to discuss. Also do "Drill 2" that was passed out in class, giving yourself 12 minutes to complete it.

Quiz: 

1. Why does Patroklos say 3 people killed him?
2. How does Achilles react to Patroklos' death? Give two specific things he does.
3. Even though Achilles wants to fight Trojans after Patroklos dies, what problem does he have that means he can't fight?
4. Achilles' horse Xanthos gets to talk briefly. What does he say?
5. Why does the river Skamandros get ticked off at Achilles?
6. Hektor has been boasting about what he'll do to Achilles, but what does he actually do when they finally face off?
7. How does Achilles defile Hektor's body, and what is the reaction of his family members?
8. What does the ghost of Patroklos want to happen to his ashes?
9. Who goes to retrieve Hektor's corpse?
10. Which book of the Iliad contains the story of the Trojan horse?

Reading Period 8: October 20-26: The Iliad

Long Read:

The Iliad, by Homer, books 16-20

Poem: 

"Hector and Andromache" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. She called this a "paraphrase" and if you flip around in this book, you'll find other paraphrases, including one of Anacreon, whose poem we read the other day.

Creative Assignment:

Create a portrait of one of the female gods mentioned in the Iliad: Hera, Aphrodite, Athena, etc. Use unlined paper and some sort of color medium (no digital!). You can imagine them in a traditional Greek goddess sort of way, or you can imagine them in business attire, or as part animal, or as an abstraction, or whatever you like, but tie in visuals from the nature of their godliness. Of beauty, or wisdom, or war, or whatever.

OR

Hector and Andromache
by Georgio de Chirico

Write a short first-person personal essay from the point of view of one of the Trojan women in The Iliad. Start with the word "I" and include confessions, thoughts, emotions, demands, and/or explanations. You can "place" your essay at any point in the story, but make sure you indicate in the title at what point it would have been written.

Writing Assignment:

In the ancient world, motherhood was a matter of survival, as the population was dependent on each woman having lots of kids so a few could survive and the state could flourish. In the world of Homer, women are treasured and respected, and while Zeus is a male, female gods are powerful too. On the other hand, women lead mostly separate lives from men, and though equal under the law, they could be passed around as war loot, or disappear into their husbands' identities. Consider one of the mortal Trojan women in the book, either Chryseis, Briseis, Andromache, Helen. With evidence from the poem, and possibly a bit of research into the roles of women in Ancient Greece, write a 300 word essay explaining her role in the novel. Use quotes, give plot summaries, and bring in your research as needed. Was she just a pawn, or did she have power? Was her personality or opinion important to the plot, or could she have been replaced by a treasure chest? If you do use any research, include a citation at the end of the essay.

OR

Given the following pieces of evidence, construct a 300-500 word argument that the Ancient Greeks and Romans actually made contact with the Americas well before Columbus. You don't have to use all these things. NONE of these things are universally accepted as truth, by the way.

1. A small terracotta head sculpture with a beard and European features, similar to 2nd century Roman sculptures, was found in an archeological site under a building that was built in 1476.
2. Pineapples, a new world plant, show up multiple times in Roman sculptures and art.
3. In the Bay of Jars in Brazil, ancient clay storage jars resembling Roman amphorae were found.
4. In 1513, mapmaker Piri Reis accurately mapped much of South America, and claimed that Columbus had a book that told him about lands on the western side of the Atlantic, which inspired him to explore there.
5. Pliny the Elder reports that a ship full of Indians washed up in Germany, having been blown off course by a storm.
6. The Olmec heads have African features.

Aphrodite, as a subject, has been done before. 

Quiz:

No quiz. Spend the time you would have spent on a quiz on writing your half draft, due Tuesday.

Reading Period 7: October 13-19: The Iliad

Long Read: 

The Iliad by Homer, Books 11-15

Creative Assignments:

While the hoards of Greek and Trojan fighters are compared in their number to swarms of bees, a lot of that swarm gets left on the field, dead. Write a elegy for one of the dead warriors. Use bold metaphors and stark imagery like Homer, and follow Homer's mood and tone as closely as you can.

For brave souls who would like to suffer formal constraints, write your elegy in the form of elegiac couplets. (Note: Not all elegiac poems are elegies for the dead, but yours will be.) Dactylic meter, in couplets of a line in hexameter followed by a line in pentameter. Good luck.

OR

The artist Matt Kish is currently at work on creating a collection of images representing all the people who died in The Iliad. You might remember Matt Kish from his illustrations of Heart of Darkness that we studied last year. You can see this ongoing project, called "Only the Dead," in this public Facebook album. He was inspired by Alice Oswald's version of The Iliad, which is called Memorial and boils down the poem to only the deaths. You can read more about Memorial in its NYT Review, which calls it "a poem that blooms out of slaughter" and I will bring my copy of this book to class for you to examine and read.

Here is Matt Kish's statement about his work: "My aim with these has been to juxtapose images of death and violence with text from comic books which promote a kind of toxic adolescent male power fantasy and to hopefully create visual tension between what the imagery communicates and the collaged text conveys. It's a kind of propaganda that will hopefully encourage the viewer to consider what is promised by those who want our young men and women to go to war, what the reality of war is, and the vast gulf between the two." Your assignment is to create an image in the style of Matt Kish, memorializing one of the dead in The Iliad, using newspaper clippings or other found words to augment your illustration. Here are a few examples of his work from "Only the Dead."

Writing Assignments:

Consider our civilization's fascination with war stories. The Iliad is one of the goriest, with the highest death count, and is by certain metrics the most popular of all time. Movies like Saving Private Ryan, Dunkirk, and Apocalypse Now, books like Catch-22, The Things They Carried, and War and Peace are among the most popular books and films ever created. Write a 500-word persuasive essay in which you answer the question: Why are war stories so enduringly popular? To answer this you will need to establish a warrant: what makes stories popular with readers? You don't need to specifically identify your warrant in the essay, but you should know what it is. You can use The Iliad as an example, or any other specific book or movie that you have read or seen. If you use other essays or articles to get ideas, make sure you reference your sources clearly. Your task is primarily to argue your own position, not to reference others. Figure out what you think about this question, and then construct an essay to support that idea.

OR

Same as above, but answer the question: How should war stories be told? You can find movies and books that gloss over the harsh realities of war, and you can also find movies and books that show war with gritty realism. In arguing this point, you will have to establish a warrant: what is the purpose of war literature? Should it be to glorify and ennoble warfare, or to warn against it? You don't need to clearly state your warrant in your essay, but you should know what it is. You can use The Iliad as an example, or any other specific book or movie that you have read or seen. If you use other essays or articles to get ideas, make sure you reference your sources clearly. Your task is primarily to argue your own position, not to reference others. Figure out what you think about this question, and then construct an essay to support that idea.

AP Lang:

Print out and fill out as much as you can of the data sheet for "Letter from Birmingham Jail" by MLK. Please make sure you've ordered the practice book, as we are soon going to begin tackling multiple choice questions in class.

Quiz:

1. What do Bienor, Oileus, Pisander, Hippolochos, Iphidamas, and Koon have in common, and what is different about Koon?
2. At the end of book 11, Nestor gives a big speech to Patroclus to inspire him to get the Myrmidons fighting. Give an example of one rhetorical strategy he uses.
3. When an eagle flies on your left, carrying a snake, what does this mean? (According to the Trojans)
4. Before Hektor smashes the gates of the wall the Greeks have built, another Trojan rips a hole in it. Who?
5. What god takes on various disguises to try and inspire the Greeks to battle in book 13?
6. When an eagle flies by on your right, what does this mean? (According to the Greeks)
7. Agamemnon, Odysseus, and Diomedes are all wounded. Agamemnon wants to leave, Odysseus thinks there's no way to get out safely. What does Diomedes think?
8. Why is Zeus sleeping through the battle, at the end of book 14?
9. Hektor leads the Trojans to fight the Greeks all the way back to what location?
10. What god is helping the Trojans make this furious attack?

Reading Period 6: October 6-12: The Iliad

Long Read:

The Iliad, by Homer, Books 6-10

Short Read:

1. Letter from Mo Willems, Lisa Yee, and Mike Curato to the Springfield Children's Literature Festival, October 5, 2017. Available linked from this Tweet from Mo Willems. You may also find it interesting to read the replies to the Tweet.
2. The response from Seuss Enterprises, embedded in this blog post (scroll down to "The full statement read:")
3. Responses of the authors, linked from this Tweet.
4. "Dear Mrs. Trump" by Liz Phipps Soeiro.
5. A Washington Post story that links all of these items together.


Creative Assignment:

The Iliad is full of excellent and exciting fight scenes between heroically epic characters. It's almost like a comic book about superheros, where you can hear the POW! and WHOOSH! and ZAP! Illustrate one of the fights (identify by book and line number which fight you are working on) in comic book style, including sound effects.

OR

A Pindaric Ode is a poetic form named after the Greek poet Pindar. (Read more about him here.) While Pindar wrote most of his work about victorious athletes at the various Olympic-style games in Ancient Greece (example here), you can write a Pindaric Ode praising anything. Try your hand at this form, taking for your topic any of the Greek or Trojan warriors with their flowing hair, godlike character, warlike demeanor, etc. Write as Homer would have approved, with exciting metaphors and thunderous sounding words. Your poem, like a good Pindaric Ode, should have a three-part structure: a strophe, an antistrophe, and an epode. (Read more about that here.) Dactylic hexameter not required.

Writing Assignment: 

After reading all the materials in the "Short Read" list, write a 500 word paper in which you analyze the rhetoric of any or all parts of this exchange around the offensiveness of Dr. Seuss. You might dissect each one of these documents, or you might compare the successful letter from the three authors from the widely criticized letter from the librarian. Note: This is NOT a paper where you argue a point or respond to the ideas in these letters. This is a paper where you analyze the rhetoric of the letters and responses. However, your intro should demonstrate that you have an understanding of the controversy and the events surrounding it, and the writers of the various documents. Words you might want to use: consensual/adversarial. Text, reader, author, constraints, exigence. Narratio, exordium, confirmatio, refutatio, peroratio. Ethos, logos, pathos.

OR

AP Lang Choice: In a 500 word essay, answer the prompt for the argumentative paper from the 1999 test that you were given in class on a piece of paper. You can also find it here -- it's question 3. Don't worry about the time limit right now, but do try to hit 500 words, and please write it by hand. If you have a composition book from AP Lit, please use that to write and turn in. If you don't, any paper will do.

AP Lang: Read "The Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx in your textbook, A World of Ideas.

Quiz:

Book 6
1. On what point do Menelaus and Agamemnon disagree, in the beginning of book 6?
2. How are Diomedes and Glaucos related?
3. What strategy does Andromache urge Hektor to adopt?

Book 7
4. We have another one-on-one fight! Who are the combatants this time and what weapons do they use?
5. Priam sends a message to the Trojans offering something and asking for something? What is he offering and for what is he asking?
6. Nestor has a clever idea for building fortifications. How will they be built, and who do they irritate by doing so?

Book 8
7. Zeus forbids the gods to meddle in the war any further, then almost immediately does what?
8. What sign does Zeus send to the Achaians when they're losing the battle?
9. How will the Trojans make sure the Greeks don't flee or raid them at night?

Book 9
10. What rhetorical strategy does Odysseus employ to get Achilles to come back to the war?
11. Does Achilles take the Greeks up on their offer?
12. Who stays behind with Achilles in his tent after the others leave and why?

Book 10
13. What trick do Diomedes and Odysseus play to capture the Trojan scout Dolon?
14. What do they do to him after they get their info?
15. What prizes do they bring back from their raid?