3.7.13+and+3.8.13

//The Odyssey// brainstorms back

//The Odyssey// essay rubric:


 * Sample: Guiding question-->thesis process**

QUESTION: Why does the motif of weaving occur so frequently in //The Odyssey// and what does it reflect about the role of women in the poem? (The underlined portion leads to the "so what" part of the thesis).

TRANSLATION #1: In the poem, Homer depicts women physically weaving at their looms, and alludes to the schemes they weave to entrap men. These two forms of weaving prove to be the method through which women have power in //The Odyssey//, but they also illuminate these women's desperation to escape the trappings of men, and highlight the reality that these women's power only exists in through their ability to charm and trick men.

TRANSLATION #2: Homer uses examples of women weaving in //The Odyssey// to explain the subservient role that women had in the poem, and explore the ways that women used their limited power to affect men.

TRANSLATION # 3: Homer spends much of //The Odyssey// describing the physical power that men have, but through his examples of the many ways women weave traps that conquer or test men, Homer provides evidence that in the poem, Penelope, Queen Arete, and Circe are equally as powerful as the men within the spheres they are allowed to exist.


 * Thesis-->topic sentence (and body paragraph focus):**

THESIS:Homer spends much of //The Odyssey// describing the physical power that men have, but through his examples of the many ways women weave traps that conquer or test men, Homer provides evidence that in the poem, Penelope, Queen Arete, and Circe are equally as powerful as the men within the spheres they are allowed to exist.

TOPICS SENTENCE: Through her dealings with the suitors, Penelope demonstrates the power of women to weave deceptive schemes that purposefully utilize men’s chronic weakness in the face of female wiles.

Topic sentence work: each topic sentence is the “mini-thesis” for the paragraph. It must tie back to the thesis in a clear way and set up what you’ll argue in that paragraph.


 * Topic Sentence--->quotes/analysis process (note these quotes are NOT integrated at this point):**

Topic Sentence: Through her dealings with the suitors, Penelope demonstrates the power of women to weave deceptive schemes that purposefully utilize men’s chronic weakness in the face of female wiles.

Quote #1: “For three years now, getting on to four, she’s played it fast and loose with all of our hearts, building each man’s hopes—dangling promises, dropping hints to each—but all the while with something else in mind” (2.95-100)

Commentary #1: Penelope uses her understanding of man’s weakness, her femininity and position, to artfully draw out the time that she can avoid committing to a suitor. She understands that the longer Odyssues is gone, the more insistent the men will become, but she uses her charms to draw out the process as long as possible. It is notable that it is Antinous, a man, admits that she tricks the men for fours years, and his anger at the trick enhances Penelope’s power over them. Understanding the limited power she has to assert herself directly, she indirectly weaves illusions in the men’s heads that extend her ability to stay true to her husband.

Quote #2: “By day I’d weave at my great and growing web—by night, by the torches set beside me, I would unravel all I’d done. Three whole years I deceived them blind, seduced them with this scheme” (23.167-170).

Commentary #2: This example of literal weaving only enhances the skill that Penelope has to ensnare men in her “mental weavings”. Penelope understands the power that honoring elders, specifically elder males, has in Greek society. Thus, she plays on this tradition, and on male ego, in order to prolong her own life as Odysseus’ wife. Ironically, when she is “caught” in this web of lies, it is by another female—a maid—and not a man, a fact that further showcases female trickery in //The Odyssey//.


 * The next step is forming body paragraphs, but the above mimics the outline you'll use on the rubric I handed out today. You will receive a grade for this work, so keep up.**

Here's the same process in a power point. The power point also includes information about the Introduction


 * HW: By MONDAY you need to have a full introduction that includes a thesis with a clear "so what" element. We'll take a look at these on Monday.**