Class 2 - September 6

Polytropos, xenia, and kleos...today we shook hands with a few Greek words that represent themes woven throughout the Odyssey.  Odysseus is known as "the man of many ways, or turnings" - polytropos.  Xenia is the hospitality shown to strangers.  And Kleos is one's reputation (as in glory or renown).  The theme that emerged most predominately today is xenia.   Through discussion so far we've become aware of many instances (and several violations) of the ancient culture of hospitality  as seen in The Odyssey.  To highlight this theme for us, Mrs. Simcox brought a pineapple and shared some history on its development as a symbol of hospitality.  It is connected to the ancient Greeks, which I never knew!  And of course the pineapple was a tasty addition to the snack table :-) 

*Here are the assignments for next week:
1) Do a careful read of books 9-16: 
Use your yellow highlighter to track the flow of thought.  Y-highlight the main action or event in a sentence that is part of the flow of the story. Use your blue highlighter to mark any passages that impress you or that you think are relevant to discussions we've begun, or to your own questions about the book. 

2) Narration:
Be prepared to offer a very short (1-2 minute max) narration of ALL of the books that remain to be discussed (5-16).  Its helpful to write the main events of the chapter either on the first page of the chapter (where a title would go) or along the tops of the pages.  We'll take turns narrating, but you won't know which chapter you're doing.

History:
Who else is reading The Birth of Brittan?  Let me know who you are, and we'll try to get some posts going on that!

Expectations:
I'll be checking to see if assignments are complete each week.  Since formal writing assignments are not part of the class this semester, my assessment will be based entirely on participation.  I will be able to offer a participation percentage in leiu of a grade at the completion of the semester.   For example, if I have given 20 assignments, and you completed 16 of them, you will receive a score of 80.  Low participation may affect eligibility to continue in the class in the spring.

Blessings til next time,
Mrs. Rape