Mr. Francis
European Literature
Analytical Essay
From Chaos to Calm
Beyond thermodynamics, the
a sociological perspective
degenerate and decline. In
social groups breakdown: a
word entropy can be used to describe
that a society will inevitably
Homer’s Odyssey, we see several
family, a kingdom, a crew, an army.
The nostos of Odysseus is the homecoming story of a famously
successful war veteran. The first half of the text largely deals
with the chaos of sea travel and the unrest that has resulted
from Odysseus’ long absence. The rest of the epic can be thought
of as depicting Odysseus’ effort to restore order to his oikos.
Your challenge: In an analytical essay, establish and defend a
strong thesis that considers one or more aspects of this
transition from chaos to calm.
The topic is deliberately broad, to allow for a broad range of
responses; your thesis and essay should be fairly specific. In
addition to writing mechanics, the assignment will be assessed
based on strength of argumentation, appropriate use of textual
support, correct use of MLA style, and completeness and
convincingness of synthesis between arguments and evidence.
You will be expected to use the vocabulary we have developed
during class.
Length guidelines: 3-5 pages.
Format guidelines: All submissions must be double-spaced with a
Times New Roman font and one-inch margins all around.
Assessment: Your response will be assessed using the Stuyvesant
English Department Rubric.
Submission guidelines: Please upload to turnitin.com by 7:59
a.m. on the assigned due date.
Any assistance in completing this assignment must be noted in
your declaration. I will not tolerate academic dishonesty.
While developing your thesis and gathering your evidence, you
might choose to keep one or more of the following topics in
mind:
-wartime v. home life
-Agamemnon v. Odysseus
-the suitors v. Trojan War heroes
-Skheria v. Ithaka
-the Olympian gods v. Odysseus’ family
-the role of women v. the role of men
-the Heroic Age v. the Iron Age
-fathers v. sons
-civilized v. uncivilized
-Greeks v. non-Greeks
-the world of the living v. the Underworld
-the quest v. the temptation to abandon the quest
-Truth v. storytelling
-the Homeric hero v. contemporary notions of goodness
-Ares v. Athena
-men v. monsters