Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Is the Odyssey Really Necessary?
We just finished the Odyssey, which took over a month to complete, and which was a pain to read. Roughly 400 pages, we easily could have cut most of it out of the curriculum and just read the important parts. Also, lots of it is detail that shouldn't be needed could be cut out. The book could have versions designed for school purposes, and those designed for other literature purposes. For example, in the version for schools, most of the detail and unnecessary parts could be cut out, and there could be a part that analyzes what happens and explains the analytical thinking behind it. Then for the literature lovers, and people that only want the real deal, there can be a complete version like we have now.
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3 comments:
There's already a cut down version of the Odyssey. It's called Ulysses. and while the name of Odysseus is not the same, the entire plot and characters are (plus it's WAY shorter and in regular english). It's about I want to say maybe 150-200 pages and it's in a regular small book size so it's not the size of an epic. My 6th grade class read it, and it was much better than the Odyssey (I think this is because we didn't have to annotate it... but that's because we were 6th graders). I'm sorry you didn't like the Odyssey, but to be completely frank, I hated it too... so I really can't blame you.
Hopefully the next book you read in english (which is Joy Luck Club for you?) will be better... because it will DEFINITELY be shorter :)
I agree with you. I hate reading the Odyssey! My class still hasnt finished and it seems like we having been reading it forever. Most of the parts are unnecessary and could definitely be cut out. Hopefully they will think of changing the curiculum for the future, although I doubt they will.
I think that it makes it worse since we have to active read about two to three books a night, which amounts to like two hours a night spent tired and frustrated. The long descriptions and quotes are unecessary and do not enhance the book in any way. I think we should, like Frank suggested, read Ulyssey, if anything at all.
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