The Odyssey Concludes

Odysseus has killed the suitors and reunited with his wife. As we wrap up our study of the epic, we will continue to explore Odysseus as a hero. We have begun a more indepth study of the text with the "test" that you began yesterday. Your homework tonight is to finish the "test." We will do more with the text as a whole tomorrow.

Our new president...

...wants you to read The Odyssey, Book 22 tonight. So, as you are watching the election coverage, read about Odysseus's slaughter of the suitors. Periods 1 & 3, you should also complete the sheet tracing the events in book 22.

VISION TESTING TOMORROW!! We'll work on prewriting for our essays while we are waiting outside the nurse's office.

The Odyssey Continues...

Tonight's reading homework: Book 20, lines 357-the end; Book 21.

We're getting into the themes and larger ideas of The Odyssey. This explication will lead to a final essay.

9 Blogs...

...and you're done (for the quarter). The outside reading handout refers to a final overall response. You can just cross that out--we don't have time to complete it AND those of you who have worked diligently on your blogs have done amazing work already.

Read Book 9 for tomorrow.

The End is Near...

Today we took an open book quiz on Book 4. I've graded the quizzes from 1st Hour--most students have done pretty well considering that 6th heard it was "extremely difficult." It's the end of the quarter, so we have big things coming up:

1. The Heroes in a Box assignment is due today.

2. Your 9th blog post was due before school today--if you're behind in blogging, just get the posts done. We will not do a "Final Overall Response" as the outside reading handout says--the 9 blogs are sufficient.

3. I am collecting notebooks tomorrow after we complete a Book 5 activity.

4. Read Book 5 for tomorrow.

5. TOMORROW IS AMNESTY DAY. YOU MAY COME IN BETWEEN 8:30 AND 10:00a.m. TO SUBMIT LATE WORK FOR HALF CREDIT. IT IS FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED AND I NEED TO TAKE WORK FROM YOU PERSONALLY, SO DON'T COME TOO CLOSE TO 10a.m. YOU MUST COME IN--EMAILING WORK OR SENDING WORK WITH SOMEONE ELSE IS NOT ACCEPTABLE.

Box O' Heroes

Let's make the Heroes in a Box assignment due Monday--it takes quite a bit of time to sift through all that is available on the internet!

If you find video artifacts, please embed them in your blog rather than simply providing the link that will take the viewer to youtube. Here are the directions for embeding a video:

1. Go to blogger. Either start a New Post or click on the pencil icon below the post you already
started.
2. Open another window, and go to youtube. Find the video you want and click on it.
3. To the right of the video box, you will see two lines: URL and Embed. Highlight the entire
code in the Embed box and copy it (ctrl+c).
4. Return to your blog post. You are likely in Compose mode, so click on the Edit Html menu
tab above the post box.
5. Paste (ctrl+v) the youtube embed code into the Edit Html box on blogger.
6. When you publish your post, you should see the first frame of the video in a box with an
arrow in the middle. Your viewer should now be able to click on the arrow and watch the
video.
...several steps, but it is actually quite simple.

DON'T FORGET!!!!!
AMNESTY DAY IS NEXT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28TH. IT IS A STUDENT-CENTERED LATE-START DAY. YOU MAY TURN IN ANY OUTSTANDING LATE WORK ON AMNESTY DAY. TO DO SO, YOU MUST SHOW UP AND TURN IN WORK BEFORE THE LATE START--BETWEEN 8:30 AND 10:00 AM. YOU MUST SHOW UP IN PERSON...NOBODY MAY TURN IN WORK FOR YOU, AND I WILL NOT ACCEPT EMAILS WITH LATE WORK ATTACHED.

Also, don't forget to read Book 2 for tomorrow.

The Odyssey Begins...

After discussing the hero quest pattern, we dove into book 1 of The Odyssey. Your homework for tonight is to finish reading book 1. Don't fret, you will get the hang of the poetic language--it really is a great story.

Your bookmark provides the reading schedule for The Odyssey. I'm also pasting it below for your reference:

Oct. 23: Book 1
Oct. 24: Book 2
Oct. 27: Book 3, lines 1-287;
Book 4, lines 1-390 & 698 on
Oct. 28: Book 5
Oct. 29: Book 9
Oct. 30: Book 10
Oct. 31: Book 11
Nov. 3: Book 19
Nov. 4: Book 20, lines 357 on;
Book 21
Nov. 5: Book 22
Nov. 6: Book 23, lines 1-258

Prepare for the departure, and don't refuse the call to adventure!