10th Grade World Literature
Honors Summer Reading Assignment
Please use a separate sheet of paper for your assignment. Please type, double space, and use
either Times New Roman or Arial font for your answers. Summer Reading assignments
will be collected the first day of school. Plan to have two copies of your typed study guide
questions and your typed response [one to hand in and one for your own personal use in class]
with you in class the first day.
We will be discussing this play for the first few weeks of school, so make arrangements to have
this play with you in class. In addition, students should be prepared for a test on this literary
work during the first week of school.
Summer Reading Selection: Oedipus the King [or Oedipus Rex] by Sophocles
*NOTE* Read the version translated by Stephen Berg and Diskin Clay ISBN #019-505493-8
Requirement #1: Preparatory Help = Annotate your copy of the play as you read!
Annotation is like having a conversation with the text. You will know the play better, your
critical reading skills will improve, and you will decrease study time when you make notes in
the book as you read. Here are a few ideas for annotating while you read:
 When you read, highlight, underline, place symbols that will emphasis important
literary components like characterization, setting, theme, turning points in the plot, etc.
 Star important ideas as you come across them in the text.
 Use a red pen that will contrast with the black ink on the page.
 Use a bright highlighter. The colors will serve as visual clues on the page that you will
remember when you refer back and study.
 Place brackets around longer texts that would take too long to underline and make a
note in the margin. Make many personal notes in the margin.
 Make a list of all the characters on the back of the front cover
 Write down questions in the margin next to passages that you do not understand [place
a flag next to those portions of text also]
 Make a list of key ideas on the inside of the back cover. Things like, timelines of events,
changes in a character, ideas that you agree with or disagree with, and any personal
responses that seem significant to you.
Be sure to look deeper than the basic facts of the text. If you are used to “spark noting” through
material, you will need to train your mind to go deeper and make significant connections on
your own. Look for key ideas such as character identification and characterization, theme work,
setting relationship, symbols, motifs, examples the author uses to illustrate points made. Your
own analysis is needed and identification of close-reading elements is expected. Avoid the
temptation to just hit on basic plot summary: Sparknotes will not help you on the test! Be
purposeful and intentional. You will not be assessed for your annotations but I highly
recommend the effort!
Requirement #2: Type the answers to the following questions using complete
sentences on a separate sheet of paper. Be sure to include the four line MLA
Heading in the top left corner of your paper (Name, Miss Lenhart, 10th Grade
World Literature, date).
1.
2.
3.
4.
Define tragedy.
Identify the setting of the play.
Identify the four plagues destroying Thebes at the beginning of the play.
According to Apollo’s oracle and the prophet Teiresias, why have the gods sent the plague upon
Thebes?
5. Why are the Theban citizens confident that Oedipus can save them? What has he done in thepast to
increase his credibility?
6. What is your first impression of Oedipus? What leadership strengths and weaknesses do you note?
7. Where did Oedipus live before he came to Thebes? Why did he leave? Explain the circumstances
fully.
8. What is ironic about Oedipus’ statement, “My power is absolute in Thebes, my rule reaches
everywhere / my words will drive the guilty man, the man who knows, / out of this city, away from
Thebes forever”? (Line 313-315)
9. Who is Apollo? What does he symbolize? What is his role in the play?
10. What is hubris? How is it evident in Oedipus through his words and actions?
11. What does light symbolize throughout the play? (includes sight references)
12. What do darkness and blindness symbolize throughout most of the play? What is ironic about
Teiresias’ blindness?
13. What does Oedipus “see” after his sight is destroyed?
14. When Oedipus learns from Kreon that the plagues will only cease when Laios’ murderer is found
and punished, what is his rash and impulsive response?
15. Explain Teiresias’ reluctance to reveal the “cure” for the plagues to Oedipus.
16. Why does Oedipus accuse Kreon and Teiresias of conspiring to overthrow him? How does each
man respond? What defense does Kreon offer?
17. The play alludes to two riddles. What was the sphinx’s riddle? How does it apply specifically to
Oedipus?
18. What is the second riddle that Oedipus must solve? (Line 600 and on)
19. What prophecy does Oedipus fear? Why does Jocasta tell him not to fear prophecy?
20. Where was Laios murdered? Why was he traveling?
21. What is the significance of the crossroads? How is it symbolic? Why does Sophocles emphasize
that Laios was murdered at a place where two roads merged into a third?
22. Why does it matter whether Laios was killed by bandits or a bandit? What difference does it make
to the play and to Oedipus?
23. What circumstances led Oedipus to kill the stranger in the chariot at the crossroads? What does
this incident reveal about both Laios and Oedipus?
24. What happened to the only surviving eye witness of the murder? (Line 990 and on)
25. How does Jocasta respond when she realizes that she is married to her own son? What does her
initial response (Line 1329 +) reveal about both her morality and her view of the gods?
26. What does Oedipus incorrectly believe is the reason for Jocasta’s pleas to end his search?
27. Briefly explain how Oedipus was saved from “death by exposure” on Mt. Kithairon.
28. What “good” news does the messenger bring from Corinth? What important information does he
later reveal about Oedipus’ background?
29. What is ironic about the choral speech starting on line 1377? What do they assume about Oedipus’
parentage?
30. Analyze Jocasta’s suicide. How is it selfish? How does it reveal her unwillingness to obey and
submit to the gods’ authority?
31. What does Oedipus’ decision to blind himself reveal about his understanding of the gods? Is it
important that he submits to exile rather than killing himself as Jocasta did? Explain.
32. What request does Oedipus make to Kreon on behalf of his children?