Student Work

Paragraph Writing

Throughout this unit, students practiced writing well-structured paragraphs. Here are two paragraphs written by the same student over the course of the unit. The first one was written individually. The second one was written with a partner and after an in-depth mini-lesson on analysis.

Book 2 Paragraph

“Two conflicts in book 2 are Person vs supernatural and person vs society. For example, For Person vs. Society, Telemachus's suitors wanted his mom to remarry someone because the mom has been leading them on for the past 3 years. Another example is person vs supernatural because Zeus and Athena were on Telemachus's side. Telemachus has a huge argument with his mother's suitors because they wanted Penelope to marry one of them because she had been leading them on and the suitors had been breaking into the castle eating food that wasn't theirs because they wanted to marry Penelope. Zeus and Athena were both on Telemachus's side along with other gods, Zeus helped Telemachus by sending 2 eagles from the sky warning the suitors about the incoming Telemachus. Athena helps Telemachus by being his mentor. Therefore, the two conflicts would be person vs supernatural and person vs society.”

Book 6 Paragraph

“In book 6, Odysseus was successful in speaking with Nausicaa due to his own charisma and intelligence. While introducing himself to Nausicaa, he was able to discern what path of actions to take that would lead him to a beneficial circumstance. The narrator states “at last he thought it best to keep some distance and use words to beg her” on page 201. This is an example of him using his own intelligence to formulate a plan to receive assistance from Nausicaa. However, intelligence alone would not bring him into safety. He needed to use his own charisma. He repeatedly complimented Nausicaa on page 202, comparing her to various goddesses. “My lady, please! Are you divine or human? If you are some great goddess from the sky, you look like Zeus’ daughter Artemis...” This is an example of how Odysseus would use his charisma by using compliments to get on Nausicaa’s good side. Therefore, even with Athena assisting him, Odysseus is naturally charismatic and incredibly intelligent.”