The Contents of the Reading Log:
The reading log should include at least three vocabulary words + their definitions
Plus a brief summary of the plot
Plus any thing pertaining to theme; to character; to figurative language: metaphor, simile, personification, imagery, idioms, etc.
The Reading Log Should Include the Following Episodes:
The Lotus Eaters
Calypso
The Cyclops
Circe
The Land of the Dead
Circe
The Sirens
Scylla
Charybdis
The Isle of Helios
Example of What a Reading Log Should Look Like:
Page 684:
The Isle of Helios:
The Isle of Helios is still in flashback. Odysseus is in the court telling what happened to him and his men while they were on the island of the Sun God.
Gales: very rough gusts of wind; not quite hurricane level but very intense
Insidious: treacherous; more dangerous than apparent
Teireisias tells Odysseus in the Underworld not to eat the cows and sheep of the god Helios for the sheep and cattle are magical - they are never born and they never die.
Odysseus and his men are driven by hurricane force winds and lashing rains to land on the island of Helios, where they are trapped for weeks due to the wild raging storms. Odysseus' ship has some food, but after a month they run out. The men are starving and try to survive by fishing and hunting, but they are not having any luck - the gods have turned their backs on them and are not helping them find food. Slowly, the men are starving. Odysseus has warned them not to eat the sheep and cows, which belong to the sun god, but the men are in agony and are starving to death. Odysseus is also starving and is heart sick over his men's suffering. He goes off by himself to a quiet place to pray to the gods so that the gods may help his men with their hunting and fishing. But Odysseus, weak from hunger, falls asleep, and while he sleeps, the men, overcome with the pain and suffering that comes with starvation, butcher Helio's sheep and cows and eat them. Odysseus awakens and when he discovers what his men have done, knows that the prophecy must come true - his men will be destroyed by the gods and he will be the only one who survives.
Heart sick with the secret knowledge he holds of his men's impending deaths, Odysseus orders the men back on board the boat to try to sail home. And faithful to the prophecy, Zeus, angered by the men's actions, sends a thunderbolt to Odysseus' ship, drowning all the men on board, save Odysseus.
Analysis:
Odysseus and his men land on the island due to bad weather. The men have barley on board which they eat, but eventually, after about a month, they run out of food. The men try to fish; they try to hunt, but without any luck. But notice that the men are starving. The gods do nothing to help them. The gods could, if they wanted, send them rain and help them with their fishing and with their hunting, but they don’t; the gods ignore their pleas. Despite the men’s best efforts at hunting and fishing, they catch nothing and are suffering the long, slow and painful death of starvation.
While Odysseus, overcome with exhaustion, tries to pray, he falls asleep, and while he is sleeping the men mutiny, ignore his orders, and kill the sheep and the cows.
Zeus sends the lightning to strike the boat, setting the fire and the men all drown, except for Odysseus who swims to the island of Calypso, which takes us back to the beginning of the story where we first meet Odysseus sitting on Calypso’s beach crying from homesickness.
Theme:
The theme of this particular story is pretty complex. The theme is stated in a form of a sentence: it must have a subject, should state what happens as a consequence of a character flaw or an action.
The theme is a moral or a point of the story.
According to Greek philosophy, destiny is determined by the gods and cannot be changed.
Those who disobey the gods will be destroyed or punished.
Those who obey the gods will be spared.
Those who are tested by the gods and who are loyal to the gods will prevail.
