ENGLISH 1-2
La Jolla High School Name:________________________________________
Period:____ Date:______________________________
Writing Prompts about The Odyssey
Directions: Choose one of the prompts below. Write your assignment, which will be graded using the rubric
below. The assignment must be in final draft form (ink or typed, perfect mechanics, heading and title).
Use this sheet as a cover sheet for your writing. Assignment is due:______________________________
Choice #1 (In the Style of a Newspaper Feature Article)
Writing Situation: Odysseus is faced with many problems throughout The Odyssey. Each episode forces
Odysseus to use his strength and cleverness against some foe. The opponent is either a human foe, a natural
force, or a superhuman foe. For example, Odysseus encounters the Sirens, Scylla and Charybdis, and the
Cyclops during his odyssey.
Directions: Pretend you are a newspaper reporter who has the chance to observe Odysseus and his crew during one of their encounters with a foe (select one of the "adventures" prior to Odysseus' arrival on Calypso's
island). Write a feature story reporting the incident (who, what, where, when, how, why). Include interview
statements from witnesses on the scene. Make sure you explain the problem, and the solution that Odysseus
used to solve the problem. Remember, just the facts...this is not an opinion piece.
Choice #2 (Extending the End of the Epic)
Writing Situation: Odysseus has one goal during his wanderings in The Odyssey—to get home. Because he
is an epic hero, he represents the values of his Greek culture. One of those values is having a family, a faithful wife, strong sons, and a good home.
Directions: Write a different ending to The Odyssey. Pretend that when Odysseus gets home after 20 years,
his wife and son have gone on with their lives, and no longer care about him. Be sure to include how this
change in his family would affect Odysseus’ actions and goals.
Choice #3 (Changing the Point of View)
Writing Situation: For the first part of The Odyssey, the story is told from the point of view of Odysseus,
while he is at the banquet of King Alcinous. Because he is the only survivor of his adventures, he is the only
one who can tell the story about them.
Directions: Pretend you are a character in one of Odysseus’ adventures. You can be a sailor, or one of the
monsters, island people, or gods. Tell the story of the adventure from your point of view. Tell what you see
and feel. Remember, your goals, and therefore your purpose in telling the story, may be different than Odysseus’, and you may not care if he gets home or not.
Grading Rubric
6
Well organized with an interesting beginning and strong ending. Shows accurate and insightful attention to specific details
in The Odyssey (Homer's epic poem, not the movie version). Shows attention to audience. Divided logically into paragraphs. Holds reader’s interest throughout. Contains significant details—avoids generalizing. Shows strong knowledge
of spelling, punctuation, and grammar throughout.
5
Well organized with strong beginning and ending. Demonstrates knowledge about characters and plot of The Odyssey.
Divided into paragraphs. Holds the reader’s attention throughout most of the paper. Shows attention to audience. Minimal generalization. Most punctuation, grammar and spelling correct.
4
Some organization. Obvious attention to subject. Shows some attention to audience. Some details are evident. Some
mechanical errors. Beginning and ending could lack clarity and strength.
3
Organization weak. Little evidence of logical division into paragraphs. Few details. Weak beginning and ending. Lacks
attention to topic. May have several mechanical errors.
2
Shows little organization. May be all one paragraph. No sense of audience. Generalizes throughout paper. Many mechanical errors.
1
Little or no attention to topic. Mechanically poor. May be very short. No organization.
0
Did not do the assignment.