Daily Writings on The Odyssey

These daily writing assignments will be completed in a spiral notebook or on notebook paper. We will
conference with you each day. There will be 20 minutes of time allotted to this assignment every day.

For each book do the following:

Select a character that is featured in that book.

Choose an adjective to describe the character. The adjective should reveal a character trait. Avoid
dead words like good, bad, nice, etc.
Choose a specific example from the book to demonstrate the quality.
Choose a direct quotation that supports your assertion directly. Maximum of two lines,
Think of why this is important to The Odyssey as a whole. (you may not always be able to see this
detailed connection at the time you are writing, but at some point you will).

Every chunk of daily writing should be in this format:

Book #
In The Odyssey, Homer portrays ___________________ as ________________________.
When __________________________________________________________________________
Homer says, _____________________________________________________________________
This example reveals that ___________________________________________________________

Or think of it this way:

A Thesis?
In The Odyssey, Homer portrays __________________ as ___________________.
character

personality trait

Context for your quotation?

o At least one sentence that reminds the reader where your quotation is coming from.
o Ex. When Athena, disguised as Mentes, arrives at the palace, Telemachus immediately welcomes
his guest into his home.

A Quotation of 1-4 lines that is embedded into a sentence.

o Remember to put line breaks / to mark the end of each line.
o Ex. Telemachus says, Greetings stranger! Welcome to our feast. / There will be time to tell your
errand later

A Citation for your quotation that appears in parentheses after it.

o (Book number. Line number)
o Ex. (I.154-55)

An Explanation for your quotation that ties it back in to your thesis.

o Should be 1-2 sentences.
o Ex. The ancient Greeks believed that one should offer refreshment to a guest before asking them
any questions. Telemachus immediately welcomes this stranger into his house and offers her food
and drink before even asking her name.