The End of The Odyssey

Goodness. The final moments Ulysess was not how I expected. I exoected Penelope to recognize him right away and for her to throw her arms around him and I predicted a huge parade in the streets and everyone rejoicing in Ulysses' return. But nope. Of that's not what happened. I was overcome with sadness when Penelope treated Ulysses coldly. I do unerstand her reasoning though. If I were in her place, I would have been weary to. Ulysses really could have been any low life poser trying to marry Penelope. And I course I was relieved when Ulysses finally proved himself to be who he said he was and that Penelope decided to believe him. I was actually surprised that Telemachus hadn't spilled the secret that Ulysses was home. I could not have kept that from anyone. If it were me, I would have slipped out of pure excitement. I have to say, Ulysess kicked some butt. He totally killed those suitors and it brought joy in my heart to know that those insolent suitors were gone for good. I had pure hatred towards them the minute they were described.
                          When we first got the assignment to read The Odyssey, I have to say I was a bit weary. I knew that it was a more complicated, in-depth book that would push my limits. But when I finished it and thought back, it actually was surprisingly fun to read. I loved how much action and emotion was condensed into it and how well it all tied together. I feel like if I have to read it again in the future, I'll look forward to reading it and I'll look forward to reading the tale of Ulysses.

My Overall Odyssey Experience(So Far)

You know, I have to be completely honest, I am loving The Odyssey right now. It has a great balance of action(Let us think back to the whole Cyclops incident) and it had great descriptive detail that sometimes can be crucial to the story while at other times, those details can just be unnecessary information. As we all know, it happens in every great book. I feel that the story line is a dangerous yet almost mysterious adventure that takes determination and skill. The characters are heavily defined and are easily distinguished. And I must say that Minerva is probably my favorite character as of right now(knowing me it may change) and I just feel that she plays a huge role in this story while still staying in the background. She's just one of those characters that you can't hate and I that what I seem to like about her. It seems as if she does everything right, as of right now. I can' wait to see what happens next in our Odyssey Adventure!!(:

More on the Concept of Active Reading

Yes, active reading is quite a hassle. It is something I am very passionate on not doing. Well, yes, I am doing it because I have to but no, I do not like it. At all. At the beginning of The Odyssey, it actually helped me comprehend the book much better. It helped me understand the characters and the roles they play. But since I now know who everyone is and what their stories are, active reading is becoming somewhat of a drag. It does not help my understanding and it does not make me like the book any more than I do now. Don't get me wrong, I love the book just not the active reading. Oh well, I guess it's one of those things that may not benifit me now but it may come back to me in the future. I guess I just have to suck it up and get used to it.

NanoWrimo

Although NanoWrimo is a bit of a hassle to keep up with, I still feel that he has helped me tremendously. Being able to see my percentage has pushed me even furthur to reach my word goal. I don't plan on finishing my novel completely by the end of the month but, I do plan on reaching that goal. I continue to write everyday and will not stop until my goal is reached

The Odyssey: Book 2

Well, yet again I had to read and comprehend the story paragraph by paragraph. Although, I did feel that I could understand the story better without having to do as much "active reading". The more I read it, the more I could feel myself getting hooked on it. Yes, it is a pretty heavy read but, I have decided that I have to stay open-minded and just read it. I have to admit when I saw what we had to read, I felt a bit disdraught. I really didn't want to read books II-IV. But the more I read, the more I felt that The Odyssey may make it in my "Top Ten Best Books of all Time" list. And it's pretty hard to make it on the list. I know that compared to the rest of the book, we haven't read very much yet and it should be hard to tell if I'll like this book or not but, the way the book has been going, it's hard not like it. Active reading has helped me a lot though. I decided that the first time I read it I would write side notes and highlight things instead of just reading it through. Let me just say, actively reading all of this is a lot of work! But if it helps me understand the book better, I feel like it is a necessity.

The Odyssey:Book 1

As I started to reading book 1, I, unfortunately, found myself zoning out. The words were just bobbling around the pages and I had to keep reading the same sections over about three times. I found that it was boring me. I read all of book 1 through once with no stopping and no side notes. This was not a very great way to read this book. It's so deep and in-depth that it's almost impossible to read it all the way through. I found that I had to stop after every paragraph, go back and re-read it, and make sense of what the paragraph was implying and how it was a factor in the whole story. I did this the entire time the second time I read through it and I discovered that it helped, a lot. I could understand and comprehend what the text meant when I went back. The book was also much more enjoyable. I actually liked reading it and I felt like once I understood it, I could enjoy it. It was a great read and I honestly can't wait to finish the rest of the book in the upcoming weeks.