Odyssey Reading Schedule and Annotation Guide
Books 1 – 12
General Annotation Guidelines
• As you annotate, be sure that you write something in the margin for
everything that you underline, circle, or highlight. If you don’t do so, you
won’t remember why you marked it!
• While you do want to be as concise as possible in your annotations, be sure
that you’re specific as well. Instead of just labeling a literary element,
explain what it does. In other words, instead of labeling something as
simply “metaphor,” label it “metaphor comparing the sound of the waterfall
to thunder.” It’s still rather few words, but it’s a step toward the analysis and
interpretation you want to be doing!
• Be thorough, but don’t go crazy! While you certainly want to have substantial annotations, you don’t want to spend hours and
hours on a single reading assignment. A few quality notes per page will be sufficient.
What to Look for in the Whole Epic: I will give you a specific annotation focus for each reading assignment, but ALWAYS be on the
lookout for any of the following things that jump out at you.
• Archetypes
• Epic conventions
• Traits of the epic hero
• Any literary element that you find really striking
Reading and Annotation Schedule
Book
1
# of pages
16
Due Date
Friday, 10/05
Annotation Focus
• epithets
• irony
• kleos, nostos, and xenia
• character introductions
5
16
Tuesday, 10/09
•
•
•
•
•
8
20
Block Day, 10/10-11
• kleos, nostos, and xenia
• traits of Greek culture
• traits of the epic hero
9
19
Friday, 10/12
10
19
Monday, 10/15
11
22
Tuesday, 10/16
12
15
Block Day, 10/16-17
These four books are collectively called “The Wanderings,” and
you’ll be looking for the same few things in each book.
• episodes – Mark and label each episode in Odysseus’s
wanderings
• evidence of the effects of folly/recklessness, temptations,
monsters, and hubris on Odysseus and his crew
• evidence of Odysseus’s metis
• evidence of Odysseus’s leadership and the crew’s loyalty
or lack thereof
• causes of success and failure in each episode
• epic similes and epithets
• supernatural aid and intervention
epithets
epic similes
kleos, nostos, and xenia
concepts of fate and destiny
traits of the epic hero