English IV “Life According…” I.2 (TAKE-HOME Paper)
name: _____________________________________________
Complete the take-home essay by Monday, 3/3 (E Day). Please submit your essay to me in
print form AND as an attached Word document by 3:30 pm. A penalty of a letter grade
(A- to B-) will apply for each day an essay is turned in late.
Directions:
 Select one of the essay options below.
 You may use your copy of the Iliad and any notes you have (either separate or margin
notes) in answering the essay.
 You may refer to books of the Iliad that we did not read (except for in summary) if they
contain information relevant to your discussion.
 You may “research” within the Iliad and your own notes and organize your thoughts as
you see fit before you begin writing.
 Adherence to the Honor Code:
o Your “research” must NOT involve the Google or any other secondary
sources of information, online, print, in-person, or otherwise.
o You may use spell-check and grammar-check, but you may NOT use the
internet, additional texts, notes, or notes from other individuals, living or
deceased, or any other resources besides those explicitly authorized above.
 You may complete your essay over multiple sittings.
 Please set your essay between approximately 1,000-2,000 words. Essays should be no
fewer than 1,000 words.
 Please use the MLA-format for in-text citations.
 Format:
o 12-point font or larger, Times New Roman or Cambria
o 1-inch top, bottom, left, and right margins.
o double-spaced
 Paper is worth 120 points. You will be graded on the “Non-Research-Based” Rubric
across the 14 criteria listed therein.
Some tips:
 Consider each of the essay options carefully.
 Outline your response to the question topic you choose based on your memory of
the work.
 Research the text itself to locate textual evidence supporting your work. If you find
that there is not much support or that the text seems to indicate something different
than what you are arguing, you should consider revising your outline accordingly.
 Structure your paper so that you have a deliberate arrangement of topic sentences,
argument, textual support, and textual analysis.
 Keep in mind that whatever text you cite must be commented upon and analyzed.
Don’t cite a ton of text if you aren’t going to do anything with it.
 Revise your paper once for organization, structure, ideas, etc.
 Revise your paper a second time for writing, style, spelling, and punctuation. Avoid
using anything but the third person. Don’t express opinions—make arguments!
English IV “Life According…” I.2 (TAKE-HOME Paper)
name: _____________________________________________
Essay Option #1 - Recommended
Discuss the notions of heroism that arise from an examination of both Homer’s Iliad and
Euripides’ Iphigenia. Be sure in this paper to address the characters of Achilles (in both
texts), Iphigenia, and Hector. You may also want to consider analyzing the characters of
Agamemnon and Odysseus in both texts to flesh out your analysis.
Essay Option #2
The backdrop and crux of action in the Iliad is war. Examine Homer’s attitude towards war
throughout the poem. Does the poet glorify and celebrate war by focusing so much on it and by
elevating certain fighters as heroes and even some gods over others? Or should one read the
Iliad or certain aspects of the poem as anti-war? Something else? What about Euripides in the
play Iphigenia at Aulis? Keep in mind that the best response is not necessarily the simplest. Be
sure to cite specific examples of dialogue/events from the Iliad to support your arguments.
Essay Option #3
In her famous essay, The Iliad, or the Poem of Force, the French philosopher Simone Weil
treated Homer's poem as an exploration of how human beings can be subjugated to brute force.
She also saw the recognition of this fact as a necessary step toward compassion – something that,
as a Christian theologian, was deeply important to her. And yet, the fact remains that the Iliad
takes place in a pre-Christian world. How does the value system of the Iliad parallel or differ
from that of Christianity, or another established belief system with which you are familiar? Be
sure to cite specific examples of dialogue/events from the Iliad to support your arguments.