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Welcome to the Odyssey Institute Website for
Year 1 and Year 2 of DP Language & Literature!
Below, you will find weekly updates, links, and assignment deadlines to help with your planning and organization of your valuable time. The Summer Assessment & Reading List for incoming Year 2 scholars is on the class resources tab above. ALL ASSESSMENT RUBRICS MAY BE FOUND ON THE ASSESSMENTS TAB. Please feel free to pull them up whenever you need. CLICK HERE to access the course syllabus.
If you need a helpful reminder for how to cite your sources on papers and assessments, click here: MLA Citation Guides for ALL written papers. A great resource for free assessment tips is the IB English Guys. Click on the Link to search out guidance and tips as you prepare for your assessments!
For Blog reading and response, always type out your response in a Word or TextEdit document and cut and paste it into the blog. That way, if anything goes wrong, you have not lost your complete, thoughtful response. Here is the quick link to the blog, Literally Speaking.
All HL essays will be drafted and completed in class to ensure authenticity. Once these essays are completed and checked, scholars will have one day in class to type the HL Essays in Google Docs.
You will receive a weekly email from me every Friday -- it will come through your school email, so make CERTAIN you are regularly checking/monitoring your email!!
Here is a link for scholars to review for Standard Response Protocol (Hold, Secure, Lockdown, Evacuate).
Enjoy studying or background music? Here are some of Mrs. Caraway's current favorite background study music links on YouTube: Soft Fall Jazz or Warm Rainy Autumn Coffee For my Cyrano seniors, here is some lovely French vibes. ENJOY!!
And now, here is our weekly class-by-class update for more effective planning...
YEAR 1- Juniors, Class of 2028
*Remember: All Resource Links (articles, photos, resources for Essays) found below!
Monday, October 19: Scholars will discuss the Ferguson article in groups and as a class. Then, they will discuss the reading in groups. We will also listen to the Iranian national anthem that is referenced in the book.
Tuesday, October 20: Scholars are taking the PSAT all morning.
Wednesday, October 21: Today, we will discuss insights from the reading and our chapter questions. We will discuss our reading and deconstruct an image from "The Key" all together as a class before engaging in our group reading discussions. We will receive the article "Iran's Silent Revolution" to annotate and read.
Thursday, October 22: Today, we will work in our groups and share our insights from the reading as well as our Symbols section in our notebooks. We will share discussion highlights with the whole class. We will do a detailed image analysis from the chapter "The Cigarette" all together in class.
Monday, October 26: Today is the Part III checkpoint! Scholars will share their insights from the reading in groups and as a class, and we will do a detailed image analysis as a class. Finally, we will review for next week's seminar!
Tuesday, October 27: Scholars will prepare for the Seminar, and work on reading their remaining articles.
Wednesday, October 28: Today, is our Part IV Seminar! Prepare your notes! Everyone must speak up during the seminar at least once to earn participation points. We will then reflect on the seminar in our notebooks.
Thursday, October 29: Scholars will spend the first 35 minutes of class completing an ACT benchmark in Toddle. Then, we will discuss and explore the Counter-Revolution/Iran today as we listen to a relatively recent BBC broadcast. We will discuss insights from the articles.
Monday, November 2: Scholars explore the IO Preparation outline as we consider how to pair an article extract with a two-page spread from Persepolis. Then, they will work in their groups on their IO Preparation outlines.
Important Links:
Deconstructing Visual Texts (Persepolis)
David Burnett Photo Collection
Persepolis Graphic Novel Reading/Notebook Guide
Persepolis HL Essay Outline Form
Perspolis HL Essay Rough Draft Form
Important Due Dates
Read "The F-14s" and "The Jewels" as well as Niall Ferguson's article, "The Myth of the Revolution in Iran." (Monday, October 19)
Read "The Key" and "The Wine." Complete the questions in Part III for your selected chapter in your notebook. (Tuesday, October 20)
Read "The Cigarette" and "The Passport" as well as the article. Complete Part III Symbols in your Notebooks. (Wednesday, October 21)
Read "Kim Wilde," "The Shabbat," and "The Dowry." Checkpoint of Part III is due. (Thursday, October 22)
Read four remaining articles from Free Press: "The Iranian Regime is Stronger than We Think," "What Happens if Iran's Regime Collapses," and "2026 vs. 1989," and "The Killing Fields of Tehran" for next week. Review the Part IV Seminar plans for next week. (Monday, October 26)
Part IV Seminar (Wednesday, October 28)
Notebook Checks (Monday, Nov. 2- Thursday, November 5)
Group IO Preparation Outlines (Wednesday, November 4 by end of day)
HL Essay Outline (Monday, November 9)
HL Essay Rough Draft (Thursday, November 12)
HL Essay Final Draft-shared with Mrs. Caraway! (Thursday, November 19)
We begin our Non-Literary Advertising Unit as we prepare for Paper 1 finals on Monday, November 16)
YEAR 2- Seniors, Class of 2027
Monday, October 19: Today, HL essay outlines will be spot-checked for completion by Mrs. Caraway. Scholars will work on constructing their rough drafts.
Tuesday, October 20: Today, scholars will continue working on their rough drafts in class. (Juniors are testing, but it is STILL a regular school day.)
Wednesday, October 21: Today is the final day to work on our drafts in class.
Thursday, October 22: Today, we will participate in critical friends. Scholars will use the essay checklist with their partners.
Monday, October 26: Today, we will begin our unit study of the analysis of non-literary texts as we prepare for our Paper I practice/semester final. We will begin by looking at what is arguably the most prolific non-literary text of today: Websites, which include a variety of articles and blogs. We will listen to the IB English Guys introduce this text type and its conventions. Then, we will work in our groups and alone to go through a website text and guiding question and annotate for details to analyze and plan to organize a response.
Tuesday, October 27: Today we will share our thoughts and points from the website text analysis. Mrs. Caraway will share a guiding handout. Then, we will review a student paper with the IB English Guys.
Wednesday, October 28: Today, we will examine speech texts and their unique conventions. We will take notes on the definition of rhetoric and Monroe's Motivated Sequence in our notebooks. Then, we will watch a speech by Admiral McRaven given at the University of Texas, and take notes on how we see the Motivated Sequence at work.
Thursday, October 29: Today, we will continue our study of speech texts. We will deconstruct a speech transcript with the help and guidance of the IB English Guys. First, they will highlight and review the conventions. Then, we will receive a Malcolm X speech and review it in our groups and walk through a deconstruction of the text with the IB English Guys.
Important Links
Recommended Reading List for Summer Assignment
Electronic Copy of Summer Assignment
IO Student Samples & Resources
Taming of the Shrew Non-Literary Texts
Pride & Prejudice Non-Literary Texts
Cyrano HL Essay Idea Starter and Outline
Important Due Dates
HL Essay for Cyrano - Full Outline (Monday, October 19 IN CLASS)
Cyrano Notebook Checks Monday, 10/19-Thursday, 10/22
Cyrano HL Essay Rough Draft for Critical Friends (Thursday, October 22)
Cyrano HL Essay Final Draft (Wednesday, October 28)
Looking Ahead...
HL Essay Selection Revised to Mrs. Caraway (Monday, February 1, 2027)
Kristin Caraway
Contact Information
Email: kcaraway@topamail.com
Required Course Materials
1. A one subject spiral notebook or composition book
2. A 1-inch binder (which will be stored in class/provided by IB Program)
3. Writing & annotating materials: highlighters, pencils, black ball-point or gel pens
4. Required novels-Hard copies ONLY! No pdfs. (non-literary texts will be provided by Mrs. Caraway)
Literature Materials for Year 2 (Seniors)
Click on the book images below to access Amazon links
1. A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini: $10 in class price (We will read this last)
2. Purple Hibsicus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: $11 in class price (This is our second novel)
3. Cyrano de'Bergerac by Edmond Rostand: $6 in class price (make sure you procure the Brian Hooker translation--We will read this first)
Literature Materials for Year 1 (Juniors)
1. Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen: $7 in class price (We will read this last)
2. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi: $12.50 in class price (We will read this first)
3. Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare: $7 in class price- I would buy the paperback on Amazon, as it is only $4.00. (We will read this second)
I hope that this introduction answers at least some of your questions about the course. Please don't hesitate to contact me via email with any further questions. During the school year work week, I will get back to you within 24 hours at the most.
On the above tab entitled "Class Resources," I will attach important course handouts for your convenience. At present, I have attached your recommended reading list and summer assignments. I also have the syllabus, QPA Guide, and Critical Reading checklist. In addition to giving you choices of reading material for your summer assignments, the Recommended Reading List highlights books that are highly regarded and influential works in the world of literature that would be good reading for those who plan on majoring in English, Literature or Communications in the university setting.
Resources will also be readily available here by link if they are not provided as hard copies. Papers and assessments may be uploaded to Managebac for turn in after final edits are completed.
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