Topic: Today's Odysseus... Konstantinos Kavafis' Ithaca

Lesson plan elaborated by: Katarzyna Maciejak

Target group:

1st‑grade students of a high school.

Core curriculum

Core curriculum (old)

I. Receipt of statements and use of information contained.

1. Reading and listening. Student:

1. reads the meaning of the whole text (and in it the meanings of words, phraseological relationships, sentences, groups of sentences ordered in a paragraph, distinguishes real and etymological significance) and fragments separated by it; can explain their meaning and function on the background of the whole;

II. Analysis and interpretation of cultural texts.

1. Initial recognition. Student:

2. defines the problem of the work;

3. recognises a literary convention (permanent appearance of a given literary solution within a historically specific set of works);

2. Analysis. Student:

1. indicates the means of artistic expression used in the work and their functions (previously known, in addition: oxymorons, synecdoors, hyperbolas, ellipses, parallelisms) and other determinants of the poetics of a given work (from the basics of verification, composition, genology) and their functions;

2. recognises literary allusions and cultural symbols (eg biblical, romantic) as well as their ideological and compositional function, as well as signs of tradition, eg ancient, Judaic, Christian, Old Polish; ZR

3. Interpretation. Student:

1. uses contexts in the interpretation of the work (eg literary, cultural, philosophical, religious);

2. compares the functioning of the same motifs in various literary works;

3. reads the allegorical and symbolic content of the work;

4. Values and evaluation. Student:

1. recognises the relationship between language and values, understands that the language is subject to valuation, (eg clear, simple, understandable, pictorial, beautiful language), is a valuation tool, and a source of cognition of values (values fixed in the meanings of values such as: good , truth, beauty, faith, hope, love, freedom, equality, brotherhood, God, honor, fatherland, solidarity, independence, tolerance);

2. sees national and universal values present in literary works and other cultural texts.

Core curriculum (new)

I. Literary and cultural education.

1. Reading literary works. Student:

4. recognises in the literary text the means of artistic expression learned in primary school and the means of meaning: oxymoron, periphrase, euphonia, hyperbole; lexical, including phraseologies; syntactic: antithesis, parallelism, enumeration, epiphora, ellipse; versioning, including the launcher; defines their functions;

5. recognises mythologisation and demythology in literary works, understands their universal character and role in interpretation; ZR

6. interprets the allegorical and symbolic content of a literary work;

7. understands the concept of archetype, recognizes archetypes in literary works and determines their role in creating universal meanings; ZR

8. understands the notion of a literary motif and topos, recognizes the basic motifs and topos, and perceives the vitality of biblical and ancient motifs in literary works; defines their role in creating universal meanings;

9. presents a proposal for interpretation of the work, indicates in the text places that may constitute arguments in support of its interpretation proposal;

10. uses the necessary contexts in the interpretation of literary works, especially the historical, literary, historical, political, cultural, philosophical, biographical, mythological, biblical and existential context;

11. recognises universal and national values present in literary works; determines their role and relationship with the work's issues and the importance to build their own value system.

2. Receipt of cultural texts. Student:

3. recognises references to biblical and ancient traditions in contemporary culture;

4. compares cultural texts, taking into account various contexts;

III. Creating statements.

1. Elements of rhetoric. Student:

4. explains how the rhetorical means used (eg rhetorical questions, calculations, exclamations, parallelisms, repetitions, apostrophes, metadases, inversions) affect the recipient;

2. Speaking and writing. Student:

3. agrees with other people's views or polemicizes with them, substantively justifying their own opinion;

4. build a statement in a conscious manner, with the knowledge of its language function, taking into account the purpose and the addressee, keeping the principles of rhetoric;

5. in the interpretation presents a proposal to read the text, formulates arguments based on the text and known contexts, including personal experience, and performs a logical argument for the validation of formulated judgments;

IV. Self‑study. Student:

5. develops the ability of independent work, inter alia, by preparing various forms of presenting their own position;

6. uses multimedia sources of information and makes their critical evaluation.

General aim of education

Uczniowie poznają reinterpretacje opowieści o Odyseuszu i rozszyfrowują metaforę życia jako podróży.

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Learning outcomes

Student:

• explains the reinterpretations of the story of Odysseus;

• defines the formal features of the work belonging to the lyric;

• explains the metaphor of life as a journey;

• indicates contemporary cultural texts containing the theme of the journey.

Methods/techniques

• expository

  • talk.

• activating

  • discussion;

  • didactic game.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Before classes

Students recall the content of the myth about Odysseus.

Introduction

1. The teacher gives the subject of the lesson, determines the purpose of the classes and sets criteria for success together with the students.

2. The teacher encourages students to reflect briefly on how the history of Odysseus is present in culture.

Realization

1. Brainstorm. The teacher writes the key word on the board: PILGRIM and asks the students to give the associations. At the end of the lesson, they jointly verify the entry by adding new proposals.

2. Common discussion on the symbolic meaning of „Ithaca”.

3. Students get acquainted with the poetic text in the abstract. They pay attention to the mood of the text and the lyrical subject.

4. The teacher randomly divides the class into five person groups. Each of them is to discuss the tasks and exercises included in the abstract and determine the correct answers. After the expiration of time, members of each team count to five and remember the number assigned to them. Then they draw cards with task numbers for the next group. The teacher gives the score for each task, then invites the students to play. Selected students from subsequent groups follow their instructions.
   Correctness of the answer is assessed by the group issuing instructions, and any doubts are resolved by the teacher.

5. Common discussion on the symbolic meaning of „Ithaca”.

Summary

1. The teacher asks: If there was going to be a test on the material we have covered today, what questions do you think would you have to answer?
   If the students do not manage to name all the most important questions, the teacher may complement their suggestions.

2. The teacher sums up the lesson together with the students; Auxiliary questions: how does Konstantinos Kawafis use the travel motif? In which books familiar to students read the travel theme? What is the proof of the continuous presence of Odysseus in culture?.

Homework

1. Listen to the abstract recording at home. Pay attention to pronunciation, accent and intonation. Learn to pronounce the words learned during the lesson.

2. Find a song that has a travel theme (you can choose any music genre), and specify the mood of the song. In a short note, analyze the use of the travel theme. Auxiliary questions: What cultural works does the song lyrics refer to? For what purpose have selected themes been used in the text?.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Today's Odysseus... Konstantinos Kavafis' Ithaca

The adventures depicted in The Odyssey became stories told in every era. And they were not only repeated – but also perpetually reinterpreted in search of new meanings. In the Middle Ages, for example, The Odyssey was considered a symbol of every man’s journey: we are like Odysseus heading to our Ithaca, namely heaven (such pilgrims were described in Latin as homo viator – a man on the way, a man on the journey). Even in modern days, Homer’s epic may be read at both literal and symbolic levels. One of the most interesting interpretations was presented in a poem by Konstantinos Kavafis, a remarkable Greek poet.

Konstantinos Kavafis (1863–1933) – a modern Greek poet; a creator of exquisite poetry inspired by ancient literature. He is considered to be one of the greatest European poets of the 20th century.
His literary début was the publishing of his collection of poems Poiemata (Poems) in 1904. He was recognised in his lifetime, but fame came posthumously, e.g. Unpublished prosaic works and Prose were published in 1963.
In Poland A selection of poems (1967), Selected poetry (1979), and finally A collection of poems (1992, 1995) translated by Zygmunt Kubiak were published. His works were also translated by Antoni Libera and Czesław Miłosz.