Griepentrog: English 9
Literature Circles: The Odyssey
Overview: A literature circle is a structure for talking about a text with your peers as you read it together.
Students are in charge of the discussion and determining the order in which all members will complete their
assignment packet. There are between 4-6 members in each literature, and members rotate through the jobs
listed in this packet. Circles will meet during the designated time listed in the packet. Points are earned for
thorough and insightful completion of the role sheet and the group’s daily discussion. Literature circle
assignments will be recorded in the “Daily Work” category, and each role sheet is worth ten points.
If you are absent the day of a literature circle, you are required to complete your daily role sheet along with
the “Absentee Role Sheet.” This must be completed and turned in the day you return to class.
Literature Circle Roles

Discussion Director: Your role demands that you identify the important aspects of your assigned
text and develop thought-provoking questions that your group will want to discuss. Focus on the major
themes or “big ideas” in the text and your reaction to those ideas. You are also responsible for
facilitating your group’s discussion.

Illuminator: You find passages your group would like to read or should hear aloud. These passages
should be memorable, interesting, puzzling, funny, or important. Your notes should include the
quotations and an explanation as to why you included them.

Connector: Your job is to connect what you are reading with the outside world. You can connect
events in the story to your own life, happenings at school/community, news events, political events,
popular trends, or other stories. These connections should be meaningful to your own life.

Artistic Adventurer: You are responsible for sharing an artistic representation of the material read.
Avenues for expression include artwork in any medium, music, poetry, collage, music, mobile, etc. Your
artwork should demonstrate your understand of the text along with your creativity and insight.

Style Editor: You are responsible for identifying important elements of the author’s style. Some style
elements include word choice/diction, literary devices used, sentence structure, punctuation, etc. Your
work should include quotations of the material that you are pointing out along with an explanation as to
why these quotations are important and what they have to say about the author’s style.

Summarizer: Prepare a brief summary of the reading. Use the questions on your role sheet to help
you decide what to include in your summary. In some cases, you might ask yourself what details,
characters, or events are so important to know for a test. If it helps you to organize the information,
consider making a numbered list or a timeline.
Griepentrog: English 9
Literature Circle Assignment Due Dates

Literature Circle #1—Monday, April 13, 2015
o Reading to discuss: “Calypso, The Sweet Nymph,” “I am Laertes’ Son,” and “The Lotus Eaters”
o Literature Circle #1 Role Sheet—completed

Literature Circle #2—Tuesday, April 14, 2015
o Reading to discuss: “The Cyclops”
o Literature Circle #2 Role Sheet—completed

Literature Circle #3—Wednesday, April 15, 2015
o Reading to discuss: “The Witch Circe” and “The Land of the Dead”
o Literature Circle #3 Role Sheet—completed

Literature Circle #4—Thursday, April 16, 2015
o Reading to discuss: “The Sirens; Scylla and Charybdis” and “The Cattle of the Sun God”
o Literature Circle #4 Role Sheet—completed

Literature Circle #5—Monday, April 20, 2015
o Reading to discuss: “The Meeting of Father and Son,” “The Beggar and the Faithful Dog,” and
“The Test of the Great Bow”
o Literature Circle #5 Role Sheet—completed

Literature Circle #6—Tuesday, April 21, 2015
o Reading to discuss: “Death at the Palace” and “Odysseus and Penelope”
o Literature Circle #6 Role Sheet—completed
The Odyssey text is online! Access the text using the following links.
 Part One: The Wanderings
o Literature Circle #1
 http://www.nexuslearning.net/books/Holt_ElementsofLit3/collection%2014/The%20Odyssey%20The%20Wandering%20p1.htm
 http://www.nexuslearning.net/books/Holt_ElementsofLit3/collection%2014/The%20Odyssey%20The%20Wandering%20p2.htm
o
Literature Circle #2
 http://www.nexuslearning.net/books/Holt_ElementsofLit3/collection%2014/The%20Odyssey%20The%20Wandering%20p2.htm
 http://www.nexuslearning.net/books/Holt_ElementsofLit3/collection%2014/The%20Odyssey%20The%20Wandering%20p3.htm
 http://www.nexuslearning.net/books/Holt_ElementsofLit3/collection%2014/The%20Odyssey%20The%20Wandering%20p4.htm
o
Literature Circle #3
 http://www.nexuslearning.net/books/Holt_ElementsofLit3/collection%2014/The%20Odyssey%20The%20Wandering%20p4.htm
 http://www.nexuslearning.net/books/Holt_ElementsofLit3/collection%2014/The%20Odyssey%20The%20Wandering%20p5.htm
o
Literature Circle #4
 http://www.nexuslearning.net/books/Holt_ElementsofLit3/collection%2014/The%20Odyssey%20The%20Wandering%20p5.htm
 http://www.nexuslearning.net/books/Holt_ElementsofLit3/collection%2014/The%20Odyssey%20The%20Wandering%20p6.htm
 http://www.nexuslearning.net/books/Holt_ElementsofLit3/collection%2014/The%20Odyssey%20The%20Wandering%20p7.htm
Griepentrog: English 9

Part Two: Coming Home
o Literature Circle #5
 http://www.nexuslearning.net/books/Holt_ElementsofLit3/collection%2014/The%20Odyssey%20Coming%20Home%20p1.htm
 http://www.nexuslearning.net/books/Holt_ElementsofLit3/collection%2014/The%20Odyssey%20Coming%20Home%20p2.htm
 http://www.nexuslearning.net/books/Holt_ElementsofLit3/collection%2014/The%20Odyssey%20Coming%20Home%20p3.htm
o
Literature Circle #6
 http://www.nexuslearning.net/books/Holt_ElementsofLit3/collection%2014/The%20Odyssey%20Coming%20Home%20p3.htm
 http://www.nexuslearning.net/books/Holt_ElementsofLit3/collection%2014/The%20Odyssey%20Coming%20Home%20p4.htm
Role Sheet Completion Order
Group
Members’
Names
Literature
Circle #1
4/13/15
Discussion
Director
Literature
Circle #2
4/14/15
Illuminator
Literature
Circle #3
4/15/15
Connector
Literature
Circle #4
4/16/15
Artistic
Adventurer
Literature
Circle #5
4/20/15
Style Editor
Literature
Circle #6
4/21/15
Summarizer
Summarizer
Discussion
Director
Illuminator
Connector
Artistic
Adventurer
Style Editor
Style Editor
Summarizer
Discussion
Director
Illuminator
Connector
Artistic
Adventurer
Artistic
Adventurer
Style Editor
Summarizer
Discussion
Director
Illuminator
Connector
Connector
Artistic
Adventurer
Style Editor
Summarizer
Discussion
Director
Illuminator
Illuminator
Connector
Artistic
Adventurer
Style Editor
Summarizer
Discussion
Director
*Your role sheets need to be grammatically and mechanically error-free, include citations to the text, and be
legible.
Griepentrog: English 9
Discussion Director
Date: ________________________________
Name:_______________________________
As the Discussion Director, it is your job to write down some thoughtful and insightful questions that you think
your group would want to discuss. Provide a minimum of five thought-provoking questions below. These
questions must be open-ended questions.
Example: What do you think of Odysseus’ decision not to tell his men about the danger of Scylla? Is his silence
justified? Why or why not?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
In this box, you should review, retell, or reflect on what you read so far. Use the back if necessary.
Griepentrog: English 9
Illuminator
Date: ________________________________
Name:_______________________________
As the Illuminator, you find passages your group would like to read or should hear aloud. These passages
should be memorable, interesting, puzzling, funny, or important. Your notes should include the quotations and
an explanation as to why you included them.
Example: “She ate them as they shrieked there, in her den / in the dire grapple, reading still for me / and
deathly pit ran me through / at that sight—far the worst I ever suffered / questing the passes of the strange sea”
(“The Sirens; Scylla and Charybdis” 829-832).
This passage is memorable because here Odysseus acknowledges the Scylla’s power and that this has been the
worst sight that he has seen on his travels. I believe that Odysseus feels this way because he knew about her
power and cruelty, but he didn’t tell his crew before they encountered her. He probably feels guilty.
Passages
Explanation—reason for selecting
In this box, you should review, retell, or reflect on what you read so far. Use the back if necessary.
Griepentrog: English 9
Connector
Date: ________________________________
Name:_______________________________
As the Connector, your job is to connect what you are reading with the outside world. You can connect events
in the story to your own life, happenings at school/community, news events, political events, popular trends, or
other stories. These connections should be meaningful to your own life. Provide a minimum of three
connections.
1. __________________________________________________________________________
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2. __________________________________________________________________________
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3. __________________________________________________________________________
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Griepentrog: English 9
Artistic Adventurer
Date: ________________________________
Name:_______________________________
As the Artistic Adventurer, you are responsible for sharing an artistic representation of the material read.
Avenues for expression include artwork in any medium, music, poetry, collage, music, mobile, etc. Your
artwork should demonstrate your understand of the text along with your creativity and insight.
Title of your piece: _______________________________________________________________
In the space below, please provide a written description of what you shared and explain how it demonstrates a
facet of the assigned reading (5-7 sentences):
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In this box, you should review, retell, or reflect on what you read so far. Use the back if necessary.
Griepentrog: English 9
Style Editor
Date: ________________________________
Name:_______________________________
As the Style Editor, you are responsible for identifying important elements of the author’s style. Some style
elements include word choice/diction, literary devices used, sentence structure, punctuation, etc. Your work
should include quotations of the material that you are pointing out along with an explanation as to why these
quotations are important and what they have to say about the author’s style.
Style element using specific examples from the text
Example: In Book 12, Homer uses strong diction to describe the effects of Charybdis. His
word choice includes “when she/ vomited,” “like a caldron / seething over intense fire,”
“heaves and rises,” “spume / soared,” “fell like rain.” These words effectively illustrate
Charybdis’ strength along with visualizing her power for the audience.
Line #’s
Lines 805-813
In this box, you should review, retell, or reflect on what you read so far. Use the back if necessary.
Griepentrog: English 9
Summarizer
Date: ________________________________
Name:_______________________________
As the Summarizer, you will prepare a brief summary of the reading. Think about the following questions as
you begin to think about what to include in your summary.
 What are the most important events in the section you read?
 What makes them so important and influential?
 What effect do these events have on the plot? Characters? Conflicts? Themes? Setting?
 What changes in plot, character, or tone did you notice when you read?
In some cases, you might ask yourself what details, characters, or events are so important to know for a test. If
it helps you to organize the information, consider making a numbered list or a timeline.
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In this box, you should review, retell, or reflect on what you read so far. Use the back if necessary.
Griepentrog: English 9
Literature Circle Absentee Assignment Sheet
Your punctual attendance of the class is critical to your individual and group success. In the rare events that
you are absent on a meeting day, you must complete the following:
 Your completed role sheet along with any notes or materials that go with it.
 Check with your discussion leader to get any additional information that you might have missed.
 Complete the writing exercises below.
ALL of these items must be turned in prior to the meeting day for planned absences.
For absences due to illness, you must complete the following requirements and bring it to school the day that
you return.
Date: _________________________________
Name:_________________________
In the space below, write a summary of the material that you read for this literature circle. (If you are
Summarizer, your role sheet will suffice for this section).
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In the space below, write a response and reflection to the material you have read for this literature circle.
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