Skeletal Outline Tips
Organization
• If your thesis identified folly and hubris as the two
significant internal forces, then discuss
– folly in one paragraph
– hubris in another.
• In the topic sentence, expand on how/why that
particular force affects the crew so much.
• Order the evidence chronologically. Don’t kill off the
crew in Thrinacia (Book 12) in the first paragraph
and then resurrect them in the second paragraph to
analyze their recklessness at Ismarus (Book 9).
Choosing Evidence
• Find at least 6 different examples of the internal or
external forces (not three quotes about the
Laestrygonians and three about Scylla).
• Make sure the example actually affects the goal. For
example, the Clashing Rocks (Book 12) are an
external force, but Odysseus bypasses them, so they
do not delay him or kill his crew.
• Make sure the quote does not simply identify the
internal or external force. It must provide evidence
of the actions of the force if you are to analyze the
consequences (i.e. the impact of the force).
What would you choose?
Which one(s) show the greatest impact/effect of the force?
• “On the seventh day we reached the Laestrygonian land”
(10.89).
• “They . . . found his wife inside -- / a woman huge as a mountain
crag who filled them all with horror” (10.123-124).
• “Snatching one of my men, he tore him up for dinner ” (10.127).
• “But the king let loose a howling through the town / that
brought tremendous Laestrygonians swarming up / from every
side – hundreds, not like men, like Giants!” (10.129-131).
• “They speared the crews like fish / and whisked them home to
make their grisly meal” (10.136).
• “we darted out toward the open sea . . . my ship alone. / But
the rest went down en masse. Our squadron sank” (10.143146).
Organization Reminders
• Organize the evidence chronologically within
each body paragraph.
• Organize the body paragraphs so that the last
event chronologically comes at the end of the
last body paragraph.
Choosing Evidence
• Find at least 6 different examples of the internal
or external forces.
• You cannot use the same evidence and analyze it
as two different forces
– e.g., analyzing the events at Aeolia as temptation in
one paragraph and recklessness in another,
– or calling Calypso’s restraint of Odysseus the actions
of a monster in one paragraph and the actions of a
god in another.
Writing Quotes
• Use quotations marks and place the period after the
final parentheses.
– “They speared the crews like fish / and whisked them
home to make their grisly meal” (10.136).
• Use . . . To delete portions of the quote that you do not
plan to use as evidence.
– “we darted out toward the open sea . . . my ship alone. /
But the rest went down en masse. Our squadron sank”
(10.143-146).
• Use the / to indicate the end of the line.
• Cite accurately with book and line numbers.
Writing Quotes
• “They speared the crews like fish / and whisked them
home to make their grisly meal” (10.136).
• “we darted out toward the open sea . . . my ship
alone. / But the rest went down en masse. Our
squadron sank” (10.143-146).
Write the whole quote for the skeletal outline. You will
choose portions of the quote to incorporate in your own
writing in the actual essay:
When Odysseus landed in Telepylus, the Laestrygonians
threw rocks at the ships and “speared the crews like
fish” so that all Odysseus’ ships “went down en masse”
and only Odysseus’ ship was spared (10.136, 146).