Iliad Dialectical Journals Iliad Dialectical Journals Overall views. Some were awesome and, with permission from the authors, will be used to model journals for future classes. Showed detailed analysis, clever commentary and made me smile!

Most were in the high B to A- range. Most were in the high B to A- range. Moments of scholarly insight but other times flavored with “I’ve got to get this done” interpretation.

Some were an exercise in meeting the basics of the assignment. Some were an exercise in meeting the basics of the assignment. “The god-like son of Peleus wanted to win that glory for himself” (68). Everyone wants glory. And glory can be obtained for many reasons. Generic response. Uses an untouchable. Could apply to anything.

Expand, analyze, probe… “The god-like son of Peleus wanted to win that glory for himself” (68). The epithet, god-like, appears often throughout the Iliad, usually to define a great fighter, illustrating the Greek’s obsession with that skill. Analyze the literary devices used in the text.

Add an analysis of the Greek culture. The epithet, god-like, appears often throughout the Iliad, usually to define a great fighter, illustrating the Greek’s obsession with that skill. In contrast to my view of a loving and forgiving God who preaches to turn the other cheek in the presence of violence, the greek gods were capricious and used the warriors as their own pawns in a game of war. It didn’t seem to matter whose cause was the most valiant, only who fought with the most skill. Used a vocabulary word. Applied to my own life and made an allusion to the Bible.

Watch voice~ Even in academic journaling…watch kicking into casual voice. Loses credibility. Excellent “I did not come here because the Trojans have injured me” (Achilles 48). Achilles had gone to aid his friend Menelaus. It’s almost like the phrase “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” except that in this case it would be reversed to “my friend's enemy is my enemy”. The Greek men are honor bound to defend, not only their own homes, but the homes of their friends and countrymen as well.

Poor voice “This is probably the goriest act thourhgout the Iliad and I really hate Achilles all the more because of it. You’d think this would bring down someone’s honor-gage unless Hector had personally dishonored them. I guess it would be Okay then. (Okay, okay, I really don’t think that ). Then don’t write it!

Response Once a child becomes an orphan, she continued, ‘his friends leave him. With a bowed head and tears on his cheeks, he approaches his father’s friends, tugging at their coats. The one who pities him will offer him a cup for a moment, enough to wet his lips but not enough to fill his mouth. And a child whose parents still live strikes him and pushes him away from the table saying: ‘Go away! No father of yours is eating with us! So the needy child tearfully returns to his widowed mother. Poor Astyanax, who has known only the best of love and care ! (72)

Analysis Homer cuts from the scenes of manly men to a touching interaction between wife, son and father. Andromache pleads with Hector to think of his family, and gives insight into the role of the man as head of the household. Even though one talks of a Greek hero, abandoning women and children upon the death of the male leader is not heroic at all. Hector chooses death so that he can die with honor, but leaves his family to live in poverty and despair. Andromache will be taken captive as a “prize of honor”, separated from her baby and treated as a slave. There is no honor in abandoning your family.

Writer’s workshop Read the directions! Save time…cut extra words like, “In this passage the writer discusses. Apply the literature terms (heroic hero, arete, Homeric simile Identify a theme to develop. It will help with organization. This year we look at the Hero’s Journey. How do the Iliad characters measure up to your definition of a Hero.