Poem Writing Regarding Greek Mythology – Ovid

Instructions: 205 mythology class
Please choose 1 option for each of the 2 chapters (CHAPTER 33 & 45). Try to create thoughtful and substantive responses. Develop them effectively to explain their significance to our evolving understanding of myth.
Instructions:
205 mythology class- to access textbook, please use link below.
https://drive(dot)google(dot)com/file/d/155-naZwu6eWwcOL_Puvell2V6suM7L47/view?usp=sharing
Chapter 45 (CHOOSE ONE QUESTION)
1. Write a poem featuring at least one figure from classical Greek mythology in the style of one of the poets from this chapter. After the poem, explain how you have tried to stay true to the poet's style. ALTERNATIVE: Write a modernized version of one of the poems in our chapter. After the poem, explain how you have tried to update the poem to reflect personal and/or current cultural issues.
2. Read more of Anne Sexton’s poems in Transformations. Choose your favorite and write a paragraph defending your choice. Explain any differences and similarities you find between your choice and the Sexton poem in this chapter.
3. Examine a section of Milton’s Lycidas about 20–30 lines long. (1) note any words that are unfamiliar to and use a dictionary (or Dictionary.com) to find a synonym, (2) pick out figurative language and images that appeal to you, and then (3) explain to the class in your own words the emotion and ideas that Milton is trying to convey.
4. Find lyrics to a contemporary song that contains references to mythological themes and argue whether the mythological connections enrich the song or not. Which poem in Chapter 45 do you think the modern work reminds you of most, and why?
5. How do the numerous references to mythological figures and places enrich Milton’s Lycidas?
6. Aging is a widely discussed topic in our time. How is Tennyson also dealing with this issue in his poem “Ulysses”? What other theme(s) do you detect? How are those themes connected? Be sure to support your assertions with evidence from the poem.
7. Discuss the final five lines of Tennyson’s “Ulysses,” comparing Homer’s Odysseus figure with the one in this poem. Do you think one characterization is more valuable today than the other?
8. Identify the African gods and goddesses mentioned in Lorde’s poems in this chapter. How does she reinvent and reformulate them to confront personal, social, and political issues?
Chapter 33 (CHOOSE ONE QUESTION)
1. In the last paragraph, why does the woman say: “I decided to tell them that some Navajo had kidnapped me”? Why would she not tell them how it really happened? Why not mention the "Yellow Woman" story? Explain in some detail.
2. The telling of the story is a very important aspect of “Yellow Woman.” Would it be as effective if it were not a first-person narrative? Give specific reasons why or why not.
3. Write your own short story—based on any of the myths in this book—as a first-person narrative, from your own point of view. Be sure to consider cultural aspects of the story, perhaps trying to update it.
4. Who names the narrator “Yellow Woman”? Why is this important? Explain using details from the story.
5. Do you think the woman is too complacent? Is she too passive? Why might this be so? Use examples from the story to help explain this.
6. What is the significance of the encounter between the “Navajo” and the white man? Would this have been part of the ancient story? Explain.
7. Research the Laguna Pueblo (part of Leslie Marmon Silko's ethnic heritage) and at least one other Native American group, excluding those we have studied. Compare these on the basis of their mythology, history, art (baskets, rugs, pottery, etc.), and so forth. Accompany your report with as much visual information as possible. Point out/Emphasize anything that might help us to better understand "Yellow Woman."