The Odyssey: Book Analysis

Just answer each question thoroughly the readings for these 9 questions is from "The Odyssey Books I-IV"
1.At the outset of the text what to do we learn about Odysseus and his situation. What kind of person is he? What is his current situation? What has he experienced and endured? Where is he currently?
2.Why do you think Odysseus is in the situation that he is in?
3.What is the setting at the beginning of the Odyssey and where is Odysseus?
4.What is the conflict or conflicts?
5.Explain the nature and substance of the conversation between Zeus and Athena.
6.Who is Telemachus? and what kind of person is he? (site examples to illustrate this)
7.What is the situation Telemachus faces on the island of Ithaka and why? (site examples)
8.Why does Telemachus call the assembly?
9.Who are the suitors? What are they like? What do they (really) want? (Antinous, Eurymachus, Amphinomus in particular)
The next set of questions are... (Same book The Odyssey)
1.Give examples from Book IX that let us know that Polyphemus is primitive and doesn’t abide by Greeks standards of civilization.
2.Why is Polyphemus’ barbarity a problem for the ritual of xenia between himself and Odysseus and his men? Why does Polyphemus not abide by the rules of xenia? What is it about him that makes him flout those rules?
3.There are repeated foreshadowings that Odysseus will in fact arrive home and therefore the reader knows this even before we read of his actual landing at Ithaca in Book XIII. But what is meant by the repeated assertion that Odysseus will arrive home “late”?

His being “late” is mentioned 4 times in the course of these books: Book IX line 592; Book XI line 129; Book XII line 152; line 474. At the end of Book IX line 592 Polyphemus says:
Hear me – Poseidon… grant that Odysseus, raider of cities, Laertes’ son who makes his home in Ithaca, never reaches home. Or if he’s fated to see his people once again and reach his well-build house and his own native country, let him come home late and come a broken man – all shipmates lost, alone in a stranger’s ship- and let him find a world of pain at home!”
4. By Book XIII many characters have foreshadowed the fact that Odysseus will return home. But what kind of home is he returning to? At the beginning of Book XIII can Odysseus consider “home” (Ithaca), his home? Why or why not? What specifically makes Ithaca his home beyond simply the fact that this is where he comes from? What specifically connects him and his identity to Ithaca beyond simply place?
5. What status does Odysseus have when he returns to Ithaca? Is he understood as a member of Ithaca’s society? Why or Why not?
6. We have discussed that what has prevented Odysseus from returning home is not simply the Gods but of Odysseus himself. Explain just how Odysseus has prevented himself from returning home by providing specific examples and a general explanation. In a sense Odysseus has not been ready to go home, why?
7. How does this speech of Tiresias relate to the inability of Odysseus and his men to return home? p. 252-3
The next set of questions are... (From The Odyssey)
Opening Lines: Book 1 p. 77.
1. If the opening lines of the Odyssey are a microcosm of the text, what do you conclude are some of the primary themes illustrated in them? Name 4 and briefly discuss why you think they are themes.
The Conclusion
1.What are some of the reasons Odysseus returns as a beggar, a nobody, to his own palace? (Books 17-18)
2. How is Odysseus treated by the Suitors while he is a beggar? What does this say about the suitors? (Books 17-20)
3.Why do the suitors never recognize that this beggar is Odysseus even when he strings the bow?
4.When do you think the Suitors finally recognize the beggar is Odysseus?
5.When do you think the Suitors should have recognized Odysseus?
6. What are the Suitors doing as they are getting killed and how is this significant?
7.We are often told even if Odysseus gets home it still may be too late. Does he get home too late? Why or why not?
The next set of questions are...
Reading: Shakespeare’s Othello
Assignment:Read all Five Acts (i.e. the entire play) answer the following questions
Questions:
1.Following what transpires in each Act, what is the over-arching plot of the play? What is the conflict which propels the plot forward and what is the resolution or conclusion to the conflict?
2.Discuss the following characters in terms of who they are and how they relate to some of the other key characters. Describe their role in the society: Are they a husband, wife, soldier political leader and so on…? Of course they may have multiple roles. Second, describe their character; what type of person they are psychologically. In particular consider the role reason and passion play in their psychological make-up. Lastly, consider their motivation(s). What are they motivated by? What makes them tick? Why do you think they do what they do?
Do this for the following characters:
Othello
Iago
Desdemona
Rodrigo
Emilia