Odyssey At-home Essay

Below are the instructions for the essay.

Please note:

The instructions AND the passages are attached below. I highly recommend you print out the passages that you decide to write upon and mark them up!

The Odyssey: Passages Essay

For this assignment, you will write a comparison or comparison/contrast essay on a pair of related passages. Choose ONE pair of passages: A, B, C, or D.

· Your essay should consist of a full introductory paragraph (not just a thesis statement) and two body paragraphs.

· This time around no conclusion is necessary.

Your job is to:

· Identify an important idea that the two passages share, and then explain how each passage develops that idea.

· Analyze closely: move beyond paraphrase by explaining the significance of the passages’ words, phrases, and images.

By “full introductory paragraph,” I mean one that begins by identifying the general topic of both passages and makes an assertion about why that topic is important in The Odyssey at large. Then, through a well-controlled series of increasingly specific statements, arrive at your thesis: the controlling arguable (not self-evident) claim that your analysis will demonstrate.

· Your first paragraph should begin with a specific topic sentence, one that states the important idea (not a one-word topic or theme) that stems from the thesis.

· Then proceed to introduce, cite, and analyze a minimum of two embedded quotations.

· Open your second paragraph with a strong transition off the previous paragraph, securely “linking” the second paragraph to the first.

Make sure each paragraph:

· Is double-spaced and formatted according to the Writing Checklist.

· Avoids unnecessary plot summary.

· Contains a minimum of two (2) properly introduced and remarked upon quotations.

· Contains no “floating” (or un-introduced) quotations.

· Contains a minimum of repeated words and phrases from one sentence to another.

· Contains no sentences that begin with “This” used ambiguously.

· Consists of no more than 10 sentences.

Note: you will post your final draft on turnitin.com