Download English II Honors

Arizona’s Most Excelling Schools!
Arcadia High School
4703 E. Indian School Road
Phoenix, Arizona 85018
Telephone: 480-484-6300
FAX: 480-484-6301
Web site: arcadia.susd.org
May 2017
Dear Incoming Honors English 2 Students, Parents, and Guardians:
Welcome to the second year of the Honors English program at Arcadia High School. We look forward to meeting you and to
sharing a year of challenging reading, writing and thinking.
In order to prepare for some of the first assignments you will encounter as a student in Honors English 2 (a class with a
curriculum focused on world literature), you will be required to complete outside reading. We recommend that you do some
reading before school starts in August. There is one book that you should read:
 Mythology, by Edith Hamilton
Read the following sections and complete the questions provided:
 Introduction to Classical Mythology
 The Gods
 The Two Great Gods of Earth
 How the World and Mankind were Created
 The Earliest Heroes
 Eight Brief Tales of Lovers
 Four Great Adventures
 Theseus
 Hercules
 Perseus
 Atalanta
 The Adventures of Odysseus
 Brief Myths
This book is readily available at public libraries, local and online bookstores, and as a downloadable e-book.
You should read each section of Mythology carefully and answer the questions provided on an electronic document (i.e., a Word
doc, Google doc, etc.). The answers will be collected electronically through turnitin.com within the first two weeks of
school. In addition to answering the questions, we suggest you take notes in order to prepare you for corresponding
assignments. Pay special attention to all standard literary elements such as: elements of plot, characterization, setting,
symbolism, and theme(s). There will be lessons, assignments, and assessments (including essays and objective tests) early in
the first quarter that will assume you are familiar with the above-listed myths and that will require you to write intelligently about
them. Any reading and preparation work you do before the school year starts will better prepare you to do well on these
assignments and assessments (and will lessen your workload during the first weeks of the school year).
We hope you have an enjoyable summer, and we look forward to seeing you in August.
Regards,
Arcadia English Department
Edith Hamilton’s Mythology: Review Reading
Questions
English II Honors
Please type your answers to the following questions.
Be detailed and type your answers in complete
sentences. Please label each section of reading and
follow the numbering system on this sheet. *Be
ready to turn in your answers electronically to
turnitin.com within the first two weeks of school.
Introduction to Classical Mythology
1. What is Greek and Roman mythology supposed
to show us? According to this view, little
distinction had been made between what two
things when the myths were being shaped?
2. But what really lurked in the world of the creators
of the first myths?
3. The Greek myths show us that the Greeks had
changed in what way by the time we know of
them?
4. When were the myths first told in their present
shape?
5. Who created the myths as we know them?
6. What is the first written record of Greece, and
who wrote it?
7. Why should that be important to us to know what
the early Greeks were like?
8. With the Greeks, a new point of view dawned.
What was this new point of view?
9. In what image did the Greeks make their gods?
And how was this different than gods created by
earlier peoples?
10. With the coming of the new idea of gods, how did
the universe change?
11. How did the Greeks feel about their gods?
Briefly describe how the Greek gods sometimes
behaved.
12. According to Hamilton, myths are not religious in
nature. Instead, what do myths explain?
13. Some myths explain nothing. What purpose do
these tales serve?
14. The myths are early
_________________________ as well as early
_____________________________.
15. Who was the most prolific storyteller of
mythology, and why does Hamilton avoid using
him as a source?
16. Hamilton lists 14 storytellers or myth creators.
List them, and for each one list and/or describe
what they wrote.
The Gods
17. Who were the Titans, and who was their leader?
18. What 12 great Olympian gods succeeded the
Titans? (You should know both their Greek and
Roman names.)
19. Based on the characteristics of their gods, what
are some things that the Greek gods suggest
about Greek attitudes toward life?
20. How did Zeus become ruler of the gods?
21. Who were some of the lesser gods? Which of
them, if any, are you familiar with?
22. Who were the Muses and the Graces?
23. How is the term “muse” used today? (There are
at least a couple different uses/definitions.)
24. Who were the Fates?
The Two Great Gods of Earth
25. How and why was Persephone taken from her
mother?
26. What real-world occurrence is explained by the
myth of Persephone?
27. Do you think Demeter was a good mother? Why
or why not?
28. What Greek views of male/female relations might
be revealed by the story of Persephone?
29. How did Pentheus die?
30. Do you think Dionysus was responsible for
Pentheus’ death? Why?
31. How does the view of alcohol promoted by this
story compare to views about it held by people
today?
How the World and Mankind were Created
32. What is the “theogony”?
33. How were heaven and earth formed?
34. Who were the children of Mother Earth and
Father Heaven?
35. Why was Prometheus punished?
36. Do you think Prometheus is admirable? Why?
37. The gods are a “family,” of sorts. Describe a
family you can think of (either in real life or in
literature, movies, etc.) that they resemble.
The Earliest Heroes
38. How and why was Io punished?
39. How did Prometheus try to comfort Io?
40. In the story of Europa, why did Zeus change
himself into a bull?
41. Why do you suppose Europe was named after
this particular woman?
42. If our country could be renamed with a mythderived name, what name would you suggest?
Why?
43. Why did Odysseus blind Polyphemus?
44. Do you have any sympathy for Polyphemus?
Why?
45. How and why is Echo punished?
46. What might the moral of the Narcissus story be?
(Consider: On the one hand, the man was turned
into a flower, but on the other hand, it’s a
beautiful flower—one we still prize today.)
47. How did the anemone flower supposedly come
into being?
Eight Brief Tales of Lovers
48. What natural phenomenon does the story of
Pyramus and Thisbe explain?
49. The plot of the Pyramus and Thisbe story is
strikingly similar to—and indeed is one of the
inspirations of—which famous play by William
Shakespeare?
50. Which other Shakespearean play, a comedy,
incorporates the story of Pyramus and Thisbe?
51. Why did Orpheus fail to bring his wife back from
Hades?
52. What are “halcyon days”?
53. What kind of medication is Halcyon?
54. Pygmalion falls in love with a statue rather than a
real woman, and then he is rewarded for his
devotion to this “perfect” woman when she is
brought to life. How do you think this story might
have been used by some in the days when it was
told?
55. Which play by George Bernard Shaw is titled with
a reference to the story of Pygmalion and
Galatea? And what is the movie musical
adaptation of Shaw’s play called?
56. Would you describe the relationship between
Endymion and the Moon as a healthy one?
Why?
57. Was Daphne’s transformation into a laurel tree
worth it? Explain.
58. Why do you think there might have been so
many myths about women who wanted nothing
to do with men?
Four Great Adventures
59. Why did Zeus kill Phaethon?
60. Who was most to blame for Phaethon’s death—
Phaethon, his father, or Zeus? Explain.
61. Who was Bellerophon’s father, and why did the
gods kill him? What does this suggest about the
gods and their feelings about humans?
62. How did Bellerophon spend the end of his life?
And what does this suggest about the gods and
their feelings about humans?
63. How was Icarus like Phaethon?
64. Who is more responsible for Icarus’ death—
Icarus or his father? Explain.
65. Considering the stories of Phaeton, Bellerophon
and Icarus, what might be a theme they all
share? And who might have benefitted from the
telling of such stories in ancient Greece?
Theseus
66. Who was Procrustes, and how did he die?
67. How is the word “Procrustean” used today?
68. Who almost poisoned Theseus, and why?
69. What was the Minotaur, and why would seven
young men and women each year be especially
concerned about it?
70. Who helped Theseus kill the Minotaur?
71. What did Ariadne and Medea have in common?
72. How did Theseus’ father die?
73. What did the Greek attitude toward taking one’s
own life seem to be?
Hercules
74. How did Hercules show his “specialness” at an
early age?
75. Theseus was the thinking man’s hero. What was
Hercules?
76. What did Hercules do that he could almost not
bear, and that Theseus had to help him deal
with?
77. Why did Hercules have to perform the 12 labors?
78. How did Hercules die?
79. Why do you think that Hercules is one of the
most well-known and well-liked of the Greek
heroes?
80. Which hero, Theseus or Hercules, do you think
would be more likely to be seen as a hero today?
Explain.
Perseus and Atlanta
81. How and why did Acrisius put his daughter and
grandson in danger?
82. How and why did Perseus slay Medusa?
83. Do you have any sympathy for Medusa? Why?
84. Who raised Atalanta?
85. Why did Atalanta race her suitors?
86. Men willingly risked death to marry Atlanta—a
woman they knew very little about. What does
this detail of the story suggest about how the
ancient Greeks viewed women?
87. How did Hippomenes win Atalanta? How do you
think she felt about the whole thing?
88. What does Hippomenes’ method of winning
Atalanta’s hand suggest about women (from an
ancient Greek point of view)?
The Adventures of Odysseus
89. Why didn’t Odysseus go right home after the
war? Why were the gods angry? What does this
show you about the Greek view of the gods?
90. What were some of the dangers and problems
faced by Odysseus?
91. Was Odysseus faithful to Penelope while he was
away?
92. Why did Penelope do so much weaving?
93. How did Odysseus regain his throne? How long
had he been away?
Brief Myths
Briefly describe:
94. The Amazons
95. Arachne
96. Aurora and Tithonus
97. Callisto
98. The Hyades
99. The Myrmidons
100. Orion
101. The Pleiades
102. Sisyphus