No Place Like Home Syllabus REVISED
Syllabus: January – February 2011
REVISED
Friday 1/28
CLASS: Continue discussion of world of the dead: What major points does Shay make about Odysseus’s journey to face the dead. Why must Odysseus go there? What do his experiences there teach him or give him or force him to recognize/address? Discuss encounters with Achilles, Ajax, Sisyphus & Tantalus, and Heracles.
HOMEWORK: Complete Response # 4 (see handout) in preparation for the essay on Book 11.
Monday 1/31 – No Class
Tuesday 2/1
CLASS: Discuss essay assignment. Writing Workshop 1: Review Response # 4 and use a highlighter or colored pen to highlight/underline your most interesting and original ideas. Then, do your most interesting ideas fit together in some way? What do you seem to be arguing or coming back to as a central idea in your response? Go back to the text and make further notes/annotations on the passages you want to discuss in your essay. Brainstorming/conferencing.
HOMEWORK: 1. Go back to the texts (The Odyssey and Odysseus in America ch. 9 and 17) and make further notes/annotations on the passages you want to discuss in your essay. 2. Then begin a draft of your introduction. Your intro should set up the context of your argument, should discuss the 2-3 major points you plan on making in your essay, and should end with a clear, succinct thesis statement. It may take you several drafts to craft your argument! Your intro must mention the specific episodes from Book 11 you plan on discussing in your essay and give a preview of what you plan on arguing about those episodes. Bring your introduction (printed out) to class on Thursday.
Wednesday 2/2
CLASS: Get your lunch at 12:24 and bring it to the Student Center for joint class with GWOT: SCREENING & DISCUSSION OF THE MESSENGER
HOMEWORK: Work on a draft of your intro for class on Thursday.
Thursday 2/3
CLASS: Intros due. Writing Workshop 2: Review/workshop introductions and thesis statements; revise your introductions according to feedback.
HOMEWORK: Revise your introductions/thesis statements according to feedback. Organize your ideas (Step 3 of essay handout) and write a draft of your first body paragraph for Friday 2/4.
Friday 2/4
CLASS: Writing Workshop 3: Body paragraphs: topic sentences, incorporating and analyzing evidence.
HOMEWORK: Revise body paragraph according to today’s workshop. Work on your next body paragraphs. Bring in a first draft of your essay to show me on Tuesday 2/8. Bring in an electronic copy as well, if you want to use a laptop during class.