STUDENT EXAMPLE ASSERTION PARAGRAPHS The Odyssey retold by Geraldine McCaughgrean English 8A PJHS Question 1 Key Idea Theme Tessa The Odyssey, by Geraldine McCaughrean, tells the story of Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca, and the dangers of losing free will. Her description of the crew of sailors lost at sea who fall under the spell of natives who feed them lotus fruit, helps relay the theme and the idea of free will. When Odysseus says, Courage, men! Your comrades have been eating the lotus fruit. Their memories have melted and their wits have drowned in the treacherous juice (McCaughrean 6) the author relays the idea of how Odysseus men have become under the influence of something that has robbed them of their ability to think on their own. The author continues with the story explaining how Odysseus drags his crew back to the ship and forbids them to bring any fruit on the ship. He says, What use would it be to row if we had forgotten where we were going? (McCaughrean 8) With this description, the author explains how without free will you are lost and have no direction. It shows that without free will to choose where you are going it is pointless to row with no purpose. In the end of the story, the author further relays the theme when she says, At last their brains struggled free of the cloying nectar of deadly fruit. (McCaughrean 9) This quote describes Odysseus men as they are far from the island and finally out from under the influence of the lotus fruit. With this, the author expresses the idea of
the importance of regaining your free will. The story of The Odyssey clearly relays the authors theme of the importance of free will and the dangers of losing it. Lucy After reading the section of the Lotus fruit in Homer s Epic poem Odyssey retold by Geraldine McCaughrean, one might infer that Homer thought individuality, freedom, and choice was more important than safety, security and comfort. When the character of Odysseus realizes that Eurylochus and his twenty men have eaten the treacherous juice of the Lotus fruit and their memories have melted away and their wits have drowned, he dragged the foolish friends down towards the sea in order to get away from the never ending comfort that the fruit had given his friends (McCaughrean, 7 & 8). Odysseus thinks that being aware of things, even if these things could lead to danger, is more rewarding in life than having a sense of security without actually realizing what is going on around the village of the Lotus eaters. Odysseus knows what the fruit is immediately and snatches the fruit out of the air and casts it in the pool (McCaughrean, 6). Since Odysseus is the hero of the story, the author probably has the same opinion about the fruit and forbids one lotus fruit to be taken aboard, or wrapped into the lives of Odysseus, his friends, or the society that surrounded Homer. (McCaughrean, 8). Eating the fruit, which blindly provides comfort to gullible people, is not something that Homer or Odysseus believe should be something that people look for. Savannah The author of the Odyssey is showing in his writing how easily humans can be tempted and willing, to give up their free will. This passage shows that free will can be swiped away by very simple things, and in this case it is a pretty piece of fruit. Their memories have melted and the wits have drowned in the treacherous juice. (pg.7 McCaughrean)After tasting the fruit, their homes, their families, and everything these men had just fought for in a war had flitted away
away from their minds. This is all because they lost their free will. An example of this is when a member of the crew goes out to look for food, so the the voyage can continue, and he can get back to his family as soon a possible. Wife? Daughters? Have some fruit. that s what you need. (pg.6 7 McCaughrean ) is what this devoted man says after he has given into the fruit. The key ideas of this passage are that mankind is willing to give up free will for pleasure, and how easily free will can be taken away. Question 2 Craft and Structure Figurative Language Leif Geraldine McCaughrean writes about the imagery of the island in The Odyssey. The way the island is described is too good to be true, Leaving the ships well guarded, he took fifty men inland through the dense, luxurious trees. Velvety, succulent leaves stroked their faces. Sweet smelling flowers drooped, heavy laden with nectar, and sprinkled their hair with pollen. This quote shows the kindness that can kill of the island. The whole island seems to be laden down, as if it were drugged. The connotation gives the island an air of sickly sweetness. This description of the island relates to the story of Adam and Eve because in both stories everything is perfect with a hidden insidious secret. This quote does a good job of leading the character and readers to thinking that the island is safe but deadly, creating suspense. Ethan In this excerpt, the author continually uses ominous language to make the story seem more dangerous and exciting. As he is writing the story, he uses language such as overturning, dragged, seized, and pushing aside (McCaughrean, page 7). Instead of using words such as grabbing or spilling, he uses these words to make theses actions more important and ominous. Generally, because these words have negative connotations, people who perform
these actions are looked down upon or thought of as villains. The author uses personifications to achieve the same effect as the vocabulary, with the same language style. She states, The sinking sun wounded the sky. The night bruised it black (McCaughrean, page 5). He uses verbs and short, simple sentences such as these to symbolize the importance of the setting at this time and to make sure that is noticed by the reader. She is trying to make the setting, the time, seem important because she is later planning on revealing that Eurylochus hasn t yet returned. Because she has made the setting seem more important, she also makes the missing return of the men more important and potentially dangerous. By doing this, she is implying that he may be in trouble, or have gotten lost in his journey to retrieve food and fresh water for their trip home. By using this ominous vocabulary and adjectives similar to them, she makes this part of the story more dangerous and thrilling. She also uses it to reveal that Eurylochus has eaten the lotus fruit, a very important part in this section of the story. Question 3 Integration of Knowledge and Ideas Draws Upon Myths Christina In Rush s Freewill, it talks about how he won t go along with society and chose his own paths. Rush sings about us being puppets, dancing on the strings. (Stanza 2 Rush) These strings represent how we like to follow the crowd, and not step out and do something else, because this is more comfortable. In the Odyssey by Geraldine McCaughrean, the natives and people who eat the fruit are like the people who follow the crowd in society. They forget what they really want to be or do, like Eurylochus. He had a wife and six daughters to get home to. (Pg. 5 McCaughrean) After he ate the fruit, his goals were gone and he didn t need or want to do such troublesome things to go back. Just like what Rush is telling you, that if you choose not to
decide, you still have made a choice. (Stanza 5, Rush) You can choose to do nothing at all, within the clutches of the fruit, or you can fight the fruit and choose free will. Ethan The story the Odyssey, by Geraldine McCaughrean is similar to Freewill in many senses, but mostly they both talk about what will happen in you don t make your own decisions. In the song, the author, Rush, states, I will choose a path that s clear, I will choose Free Will (Rush, page 1). This is relating to the time in the story when the men are eating the fruits because they are lacking the ability to make their own choices. Even though they are always happy, they are never truly happy, because they can t make their own choices. Like the song says, If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice (Rush, page 1). This means that even if you choose not to do anything, you are still using freewill. This is different than what the lotus eaters are doing in the sense that the lotus eaters aren t physically able to leave the island by themselves, because they are so drawn to the fruits. Because they can t make their own choices, they are unable to feel the full range of emotions and are left with just satisfied and content. This is an important part of the story, because it shows what a bad thing that this lotus fruit is and how harmful it can be towards your decisions and choices.