Name:

website: http://www.geocities.com/reinsteinalan email: [email protected]

Newton South High School Mission Statement

Newton South High School, a community of students, parents, faculty, and staff

(1) Is dedicated to equality and opportunity for all; (2) Expects integrity; responsibility; and respect for self, others, and the environment; (3) Creates a climate of safety and kindness; (4) Encourages communication and personal connections; (5) Nurtures curiosity, creativity, and a passion for learning; (6) Fosters self-confidence and success for all learners.

Gilgamesh Unit—Reading #1: Pts. I and II (pgs. 15-50)

Pt. I

1. What kind of leader is Gilgamesh? Give an example of his “callous” (16) ways.

2. What kind of “man” is Enkidu? What action does he do that upset the hunters? (on page 16).

3. What is the role of the prostitute who was sent to Enkidu? By whom? What does she accomplish?

4. What is Gilgamesh’s dream and how is it interpreted by Ninsun, Gilgamesh’s goddess mother?

5. How do the people describe Enkidu (pg. 22)?

6. Describe the fight between Gilgamesh and Enkidu at the end of Part I.

Pt. II

7. Who is Humbaba? Why does Gilgamesh want to kill him?

8. What words “filled their minds” as the two friends went off on their journey to kill Humbaba?

9. How is Humbaba killed?

10. How does Ishtar, the goddess of love and protector of Uruk, offer to protect Gilgamesh from the anger of the other gods over Humbaba’s death? What “enraged” her (p. 44)?

11. Who/what is the Bull of Heaven? What is Enkidu’s role in its death?

12.According to Enkidu, what is “what it means to be a man” (p. 49)?

CLOSER READING: Look back at the questions and circle ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of the reading. Below, explain your reasoning:

Name:

website: http://www.geocities.com/reinsteinalan email: [email protected]

Newton South High School Mission Statement

Newton South High School, a community of students, parents, faculty, and staff

(1) Is dedicated to equality and opportunity for all; (2) Expects integrity; responsibility; and respect for self, others, and the environment; (3) Creates a climate of safety and kindness; (4) Encourages communication and personal connections; (5) Nurtures curiosity, creativity, and a passion for learning; (6) Fosters self-confidence and success for all learners.

Gilgamesh Unit

Reading #2: Pts. III and IV (pgs. 53-92)

Part III

1. Describe Gilgamesh’s initial response to Enkidu’s death (53-54).

2. What is the quest that Gilgamesh’s “life became” (55)? Who is Utnapishtim and why does Gilgamesh “yearn” to talk to him?

3. Why does Gilgamesh need to pass through the mountains of Mashu? Who guards the gate?

4. How does Sidduri, the barmaid in the cottage, respond to Gilgamesh’s profession of sadness over Enkidu’s death on page 63?

5. What information does Gilgamesh want from Siduri?

6. Who is Urshanabi? How does he help Gilgamesh?

7. What Biblical story does Utnapishtim’s tale remind you of?

8. What is the “secret” Utnapishtim tells to Gilgamesh on page 84?

9. What is Gilgamesh referring to on page 85 when he says, “I have it! I have it!”? And how does he lose it on the following pages?

Part IV

What does Gilgamesh ask of the old man and what is the old man’s response? What does this response appear to be telling the reader?

CLOSER READING: Look back at the questions and circle ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of the reading. Below, explain your reasoning:

Freshman English--Reinstein Name:

website: http://www.geocities.com/reinsteinalan email: [email protected]

Newton South High School Mission Statement

Newton South High School, a community of students, parents, faculty, and staff

(1) Is dedicated to equality and opportunity for all; (2) Expects integrity; responsibility; and respect for self, others, and the environment; (3) Creates a climate of safety and kindness; (4) Encourages communication and personal connections; (5) Nurtures curiosity, creativity, and a passion for learning; (6) Fosters self-confidence and success for all learners.

Mythology Unit Reading #1:

“The Two Great Gods of Earth” (Demeter and Dionysus)

Introduction

1. Demeter was the goddess of what? Dionysus was the god of what?

2. Name the worship for Demeter, which as a festival occurring once every five years.

3. Why is it logical that Dionysus and Demeter be worshipped together?

Demeter

4. What were the circumstances in which Persephone was taken by Hades? Where did he take her?

5. How did Demeter respond to Persephone’s disappearance?

6. What information did the Sun give to Demeter? How was Demeter disguised when she wandered the earth?

7. How did her temple come to be built in Eleusis?

8. Why was the following year “dreadful and cruel for mankind”?

9. What did Zeus do to help resolve the problem?

10. What did Hades do in order to keep Persephone with him? And with what result?

11. Who was later sent down to help Demeter with her disappointment?

12. Which is the goddess who sorrowed, and which the goddess who died?

Dionysus

13. What is the story behind Semele’s death? And what is the story of Dionysus’s birth?

14. Why was Dionysus taken by the pirates? What animal did Dionysus turn himself into aboard the boat?

15. How does the story on the pirate ship reveal Dionysus’s temper?

16. Who were the Maenads?

17. Why didn’t Dionysus’s cousin, Pentheus, want Dionysus’s followers to celebrate in his kingdom?

18. What advice does Teiresias give to Pentheus? How does Pentheus meet his end?

CLOSER READING: Look back at the questions and circle ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of the reading. Below, explain your reasoning:

English 210—Literature and World History Name:

website: http://www.geocities.com/reinsteinalan email: [email protected]

Newton South High School Mission Statement

Newton South High School, a community of students, parents, faculty, and staff

(1) Is dedicated to equality and opportunity for all; (2) Expects integrity; responsibility; and respect for self, others, and the environment; (3) Creates a climate of safety and kindness; (4) Encourages communication and personal connections; (5) Nurtures curiosity, creativity, and a passion for learning; (6) Fosters self-confidence and success for all learners.

Mythology Unit Reading #2: “How the World and Mankind Were Created” (77-94)

Cronos and His Children

1. Complete below a family tree that shows each family tree member from Chaos to the five races of monsters.

GREEK MYTHOLOGY

FAMILY TREE

_____________

Night Erebus

Love

Light Day Earth

Earth (Gaea) _____________ (Ouranos)

50-headed monster _________________ Titans Giants Furies Typhon

Cronos—Rhea

___________ ____________ ___________ Zeus ___________ ____________

2. What does the word cyclops mean?

3. Describe Cronus’s response to the births of his children.

4. How was Zeus spared? How did he defeat Cronus?

5. What punishment did Zeus give to the Titans? To Titan Atlas?

6. What was the final battle for the forces of Heaven against the forces of Earth?

Prometheus and Pandora

7. What does the name Prometheus mean? What does the name Epimetheus mean?

8. What gifts is Prometheus known to have given man?

9. List the five races of man.

10. How did Prometheus trick Zeus? How does Zeus respond in anger toward Prometheus and Epimetheus?

11. Pandora, as the first woman, suggests that women have a nature to do what? In another story, which part of women is the source of all misfortune?

12. What did Zeus give to Epimetheus along with Pandora?

13. What left from the box that Pandora opened? What remained in the box?

14. How was Prometheus eventually punished by Zeus?

15. What is the additional punishment given to Prometheus because he wouldn’t give Zeus important information?

16. Who eventually saves Prometheus?

17. The Flood

18. Why did Zeus decide to destroy mankind?

19. Who were Deucalion and Pyrrha?

20. How did they survive the flood?

21. How long did the flood last?

22. Who were the Stone People?

CLOSER READING: Look back at the questions and circle ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of the reading. Below, explain your reasoning:

English 210—Literature and World History Name:

website: http://www.geocities.com/reinsteinalan email: [email protected]

Newton South High School Mission Statement

Newton South High School, a community of students, parents, faculty, and staff

(1) Is dedicated to equality and opportunity for all; (2) Expects integrity; responsibility; and respect for self, others, and the environment; (3) Creates a climate of safety and kindness; (4) Encourages communication and personal connections; (5) Nurtures curiosity, creativity, and a passion for learning; (6) Fosters self-confidence and success for all learners.

Mythology Unit Reading #3:

“Pyramus and Thisbe” (135-138); “Orpheus and Eurydice” (138-142); “Pygmalion and Galatea” (145-150)

Pyramus and Thisbe

1. What keeps Pyramus and Thisbe from seeing each other? How do they communicate with each other?

2. What is their plan for eloping? (that is, where do they plan to meet?)

3. Why does Thisbe leave, after arriving at the meeting place first? What does Pyramus think when he picked up Thisbe’s cloak? What does he do?

4. How does Thisbe respond when she finds her lover?

5. How do the gods respond to Pyramus and Thisbe’s story?

Orpheus and Eurydice

6. Why instrument did Orpheus play? Give an example of how Orpheus’s music helped the argonauts.

7. How does Eurydice die?

8. What is the one condition given for Eurydice’s release from the underworld? How does the plan go?

9. What happens to Orpheus afterward?

10. How does this final part of the story affect the local nightingales?

Pygmalion and Galatea

11. Give both possible reasons why the woman-hating Pygmalion would make a statue of a woman?

12. Why does Pygmalion go to the festival? What does he pray for?

13. What has happened to the statue when Pygmalion returns home?

CLOSER READING: Look back at the questions and circle ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of the reading. Below, explain your reasoning:

English 210—Literature and World History Name:

website: http://www.geocities.com/reinsteinalan email: [email protected]

Newton South High School Mission Statement

Newton South High School, a community of students, parents, faculty, and staff

(1) Is dedicated to equality and opportunity for all; (2) Expects integrity; responsibility; and respect for self, others, and the environment; (3) Creates a climate of safety and kindness; (4) Encourages communication and personal connections; (5) Nurtures curiosity, creativity, and a passion for learning; (6) Fosters self-confidence and success for all learners.

Mythology Unit Reading #4:

Hubris and Heroism: “Phaethon” (180-184); “Daedalus” (192-194);

“Theseus” (208-217 […that duty done he led his soldiers back to Athens.”])

Phaethon

1. What does Phaethon want to know from Helios (in some versions, Apollo)?

2. How does Helios respond to Phaethon's request? Why is this response a mistake?

3. Describe Phaethon’s ride in the car?

4. What happened to the head of the Nile?

Daedalus and Icarus

5. Give brief details of why and how Daedalus was imprisoned.

6. How do he and his son, Icarus, escape from the labyrinth?

7. What does Daedalus warn Icarus not to do; what is the result?

8. What is King Minos's plan to catch Daedalus?

9. How does Daedalus win the contest? What happens to King Minos?

Theseus

10. Where is Theseus sent at birth?

11. What causes him to return to Athens? Describe Theseus’s return to Athens?

12. Explain Medea’s plan for Theseus. What happens?

13. What is the Minotaur? How did the labyrinth come to be?

14. Why do fourteen Athenians have to go to Crete once a year? What is Theseus’s plan for getting the news of his success to his father?

15. How does Theseus kill the Minotaur? How does he then escape the labyrinth? With whose help?

16. What happens to Ariadne?

17. What important thing does Theseus forget to do upon returning? What are the consequences of this blunder?

18. Give two examples of Theseus’s greatness as a king.

CLOSER READING: Look back at the questions and circle ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of the reading. Below, explain your reasoning:

English 210—Literature and World History Name:

website: http://www.geocities.com/reinsteinalan email: [email protected]

Newton South High School Mission Statement

Newton South High School, a community of students, parents, faculty, and staff

(1) Is dedicated to equality and opportunity for all; (2) Expects integrity; responsibility; and respect for self, others, and the environment; (3) Creates a climate of safety and kindness; (4) Encourages communication and personal connections; (5) Nurtures curiosity, creativity, and a passion for learning; (6) Fosters self-confidence and success for all learners.

Mythology Unit Reading #5:

“The Trojan War” (255-276)

1. What is Eris’s plan to anger the gods?

2. Who is Paris? Why is he asked to judge? What is Paris offered by Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite? Whom does he choose?

3. What plan does Helen’s father make to protest? Whom does he select to marry Helen? How does the Trojan War begin?

4. Why doesn’t Odysseus initially join the war? And why doesn’t Achilles join?

5. What does Agamemnon agree to do in order to get rid of the disruptive wind?

6. How long does the war last?

7. Why is Apollo angry with Agamemnon? What does Apollo do to punish Agamemnon?

8. How does Achilles’s mother respond?

9. How does Zeus trick Agamemnon?

10. Which two soldiers are left alone to fight?

11. Why does Hector pray to Athena? What is her response?

12. How does Hector respond to Andromache’s plea that he not fight?

13. What advice does Nestor give to Agamemnon?

14. How does Hera help the Greeks?

15. What is Patrocles’s act of bravery?

16. How does Achilles respond to Patrocles’s death?

17. Describe what Achilles does to Hector’s dead body? How does Priam respond to such disrespectfulness?

CLOSER READING: Look back at the questions and circle ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of the reading. Below, explain your reasoning:

English 210—Literature and World History Name:

website: http://www.geocities.com/reinsteinalan email: [email protected]

Newton South High School Mission Statement

Newton South High School, a community of students, parents, faculty, and staff

(1) Is dedicated to equality and opportunity for all; (2) Expects integrity; responsibility; and respect for self, others, and the environment; (3) Creates a climate of safety and kindness; (4) Encourages communication and personal connections; (5) Nurtures curiosity, creativity, and a passion for learning; (6) Fosters self-confidence and success for all learners.

Mythology Unit Reading #6:

“The Adventures of Odysseus” (291-318)

1. Why were the Greeks punished by the gods after their victory against Troy?

2. What happened to Cassandra, the soothsayer?

3. How does Poseidon respond to Athena’s request for help?

4. Why is Odysseus protected?

5. How long altogether was Odysseus away from his home?

6. Meanwhile, what has been going on with Odysseus’s wife, Penelope?

7. How does she try to stall her suitors?

8. While Poseidon is away, how does Athena try to help Odysseus?

9. Who is Telemachus? What information does he try to get from Nestor and Menelaus? What information does Menelaus give Telemachus?

10. What makes Odysseus’s journey from Calypso especially difficult? Where does he eventually land?

11. Odysseus recounts ten adventures after leaving Troy, his stay with the nymph Calypso being his last. Describe briefly the other nine.

12. How is Odysseus disguised when he returns to Ithaca?

13. What is the plan to rid the house of the suitors of Penelope?

14. Describe the success of the plan.

CLOSER READING: Look back at the questions and circle ONE question that you think represents the most interesting or significant moment of the reading. Below, explain your reasoning: