Download II. Body: Paragraphs 2-3 or more - English I 2015-16

8th Grade English I
Greek Mythology LBQ
Name _______________________
Analytical Question: What do Greek religious beliefs reveal about the Greek culture and people? Use at least
three sources to support your claim.
Document 1:
View the short video introduction to mythology and complete the following chart:
Activity 1:
God/Goddess
Areas of Control
Details
Zeus
Hera
Poseidon
Hades
Ares
Apollo
Aphrodite
Eros
Athena
Hermes
Dionysus
Activity 2: After reading the article, add the Roman name of the god or goddess in parenthesis beside the
Greek name.
Q: According to Robert Graves, what purposes does mythology serve?
Q: Based on the context of cosmogony, what does it most likely mean?
Q: According to mythology, from where do the Greek gods and goddesses originate?
Q: What impact have these mythological gods and goddesses had upon literature?
Document 2:
Source: "Zeus." Encyclopedia Mythica from Encyclopedia Mythica Online.
<http://www.pantheon.org/articles/z/zeus.html> [Accessed June 16, 2014].
Zeus, the youngest son of Cronus and Rhea, was the supreme ruler of Mount Olympus and the Pantheon of
gods who resided there. Being the supreme ruler he upheld law, justice and morals, and this made him the
spiritual leader of both gods and men. Zeus was a celestial god, and originally worshiped as a weather god by the
Greek tribes. These people came southward from the Balkans circa 2100 BCE. He has always been associated as
being a weather god, as his main attribute is the thunderbolt. He controlled thunder, lightning and rain. Theocritus
wrote circa 265 BCE: "sometimes Zeus is clear, sometimes he rains". He is also known to have caused
thunderstorms. In Homer's epic poem the Iliad he sent thunderstorms against his enemies. The name Zeus is
related to the Greek word dios, meaning "bright". His other attributes as well as lightning were the scepter, the
eagle and his aegis.
Before the abolition of monarchies, Zeus was protector of the king and his family. Once the age of Greek
kings faded into democracy he became chief judge and peacemaker, but most importantly civic god. He brought
peace in place of violence and Hesiod (circa 700 BCE) describes Zeus as "the lord of justice". His duties in this role
were to maintain the laws, protect suppliants, to summon festivals and to give prophecies. As the supreme deity
Zeus oversaw the conduct of civilized life. But the "father of gods and men" as Homer calls him, has many
mythological tales.
His most famous was told by Hesiod in his Theogony, of how Zeus usurped the kingdom of the immortals
from his father. This mythological tale of Zeus' struggle against the Titans had been caused by Cronus, after he
had been warned that one of his children would depose him. Cronus knew the consequences, as he had overthrown
his father Uranus. To prevent this from happening, Cronus swallowed his newborn children:
Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Hades and Poseidon, but his wife Rhea (who was also his sister) and Gaia her mother,
wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes in place of the infant Zeus. Cronus thinking it was the newborn baby
swallowed the stone. Meanwhile Rhea had her baby taken to Crete, and there, in a cave on Mount Dicte, the divine
goat Amaltheia suckled and raised the infant Zeus.
When Zeus had grown into a young man he returned to his father’s domain, and with the help of Gaia,
compelled Cronus to regurgitate the five children he had previously swallowed (in some versions Zeus received
help from Metis who gave Cronus an emetic potion, which made him vomit up Zeus' brothers and sisters).
However, Zeus led the revolt against his father and the dynasty of the Titans, defeated and then banished them.
Once Zeus had control, he and his brothers divided the universe between them: Zeus gaining the heavens,
Poseidon the sea and Hades the underworld. Zeus had to defend his heavenly kingdom. The three separate
assaults were from the offspring of Gaia. As he did with the Titans, Zeus banished them all to "Tartarus", which is
the lowest region on earth, lower than the underworld.
Q: How did Zeus’ role as a god evolve as the Greek culture changed?
Q: How did Zeus gain control of Mount Olympus?
Document 3:
Go to the following link: http://www.shmoop.com/persephone-demeter-hades/
The first page provides the myth overview and, more importantly, provides insight into the thinking of the
Greeks at the time the myth was circulating. After reading the first page, answer the following question.
Q: What was the cultural context in which the Greeks lived that allowed the myth of Hades,
Persephone, and Demeter, to be believed?
Continue reading page 2, and answer the questions that follow:
Q: According to Greek mythology, why do the seasons occur?
Q: How does the tone of the author on the website differ from the tone of the author of Document 2?
Document 4:
Read the play Antigone, and locate examples of how the religious beliefs of the characters of this ancient
Greek play reflect the values of the culture. After you finish the play, return to this document and respond to the
prompt.
How do the religious beliefs of the characters reflect the values of the culture? List specific ways.
Step Four: Discussion of Documents
Directions: Work with a partner and discuss your answers to the document questions. Use a different color pen
to add or change information to your answer.
Step Five: Bucketing and Chicken Foot
Bucketing Directions: Look over all the documents and organize them in your final buckets. Write labels under
each bucket and place the number of the document in the buckets where they belong. Remember, your
buckets are going to be your body paragraphs.
Chicken Foot Directions: On the chicken foot below, write your thesis and your road map. Your thesis is
always an opinion that answers the LBQ question. The road map is created from your bucket labels and lists
the topic areas you will examine in order to prove your thesis.
Step Six: From Thesis to Essay Writing
Directions: Use the outline handout to organize your thoughts. This will ensure you include all the necessary
information for an effective essay.
Connections Between Greek
Mythology and Greek Culture
Guiding Question: What do Greek religious beliefs reveal about the Greek
culture and people?
Understanding the Question: Restate the question so that your understanding of the
terms religious beliefs and culture are clearly
understood.
From Question to Statement: Turn the question into a statement, and this statement
will be incorporated into your opening paragraph.
Essay Directions: Write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several
paragraphs, and a conclusion. Use evidence from at least three documents to support your
essay. Support your response with relevant facts, examples, and details. Address the following
in your essay:
•
Identify and explain the religious beliefs of the ancient Greeks.

Take a position and answer the Guiding Question.
Essay Outline
I. Introduction: Paragraph 1
A. Attention-getter/Hook/Grabber: This sentence captures the attention of your audience pulling them into the
paper with its interesting idea, fact, perspective, etc.
B. Background: The reader needs to know a little about the topic because you are going to be making a specific
argument about that topic.
C. Statement of the Guiding Question: To bring the reader towards the specific emphasis of your paper, add the
information from the guiding question, making sure to define key terms within the statement by using a synonym or
explanation.
D. Thesis and Roadmap: State the claim of your essay and provide a road map to the reader about the direction
of the paper and the order in which your ideas will be presented. This order should be the same as the order identified
in the essay directions unless there is a valid reason to change it.
II. Body: Paragraphs 2-3 or more:
In the body, you will develop your thesis (or claim) through a series of points for which you will provide evidence. Use
the structure below and on the next few pages to assist you.
A. Components
1. Topic Sentence: State the main idea of this paragraph. This idea should be the first one mentioned in
the thesis statement. If you think in terms of the thesis being the road map, the body paragraph is
the first destination point along the route.
2. Evidence: Provide specific evidence from the documents to support the main idea. Introduce each
piece of evidence and explain its relevance to the main point. Evidence may be summarized,
paraphrased, or directly quoted. Use parenthetical citation with the document name if you do not
mention the document name when you introduce the evidence.
3. Argument: Clearly state how the evidence connects to and supports the main idea as well as the
thesis of the essay
B. Body Paragraph 1
1. Topic Sentence: _____________________________________________________________________
2. Evidence: __________________________________________________________________________
3. Argument: __________________________________________________________________________
C. Body Paragraph 2
1. Topic Sentence: _____________________________________________________________________
2. Evidence: __________________________________________________________________________
3. Argument: __________________________________________________________________________
III. Conclusion: Last paragraph of the essay
A. Restatement of thesis: Using the same concept, state the thesis of the essay in different words than those
used in the introduction
B. Summary of Key Points of Argument: Review the key points that support your argument.
C. Summary of Faults in Opposing Viewpoint: Review the key problem or faults in the opposing view’s
Argument
D. Insight/Importance of Topic to Reader: Offer an insight about how this topic affects or connect to the reader
or the world.