Ooops!

Folks,

I was informed after class that I am  week off in my calculations: in my mind, it was Week 6 this week… but it’s Week 7, because Chuseok ate our Week 6!

Therefore, I’m going to postpone your homework assignment. I’ve uploaded Oh Brother Where Art Thou, but I have a feeling that with exams coming so soon, it will be unlikely you’ll even watch it before next class, so… we’re going to watch the film in class. This is me being nice.

Once again: on 10 October, we will watch the film Oh Brother Where Art Thou? in class. We will discuss the film, and its treatment of the Odyssey story, after exams, so I am giving you a copy of the film to watch again and review for 22 October (when our discussion will happen).

To prepare for our class on 10 October, you can (a) pre-watch the movie, or (b) read Bulfinch’s treatment of the Odyssey narrative. (It’s Chapter XXIX in the .epub version of Bulfinch that I have uploaded on this site; Ulysses is just the Roman name for Greek Odysseus.)

As for the assignment I gave you:

I’m changing the due date to 29 October. The assignment is as follows:

Adapt the Odyssey to Korea:

  • Think up a way to adapt The Odyssey to a Korean setting, in any time after 1953. (ie. The end of the Korean War.) You should create a cast of characters who correspond to the major characters in The Odyssey, though of course you don’t need to parallel all the characters.
  • Develop a plotline that parallels the adventures of Odysseus, with as many correspondences as you can fit it. Who is Telemachus? Who is Penelope? Calypso? The Siren? Circe? The Cyclops? What are Scylla and Carybdis? Of course you can add characters, if necessary, and you can remove some characters from the Odysseus, or some adventures. But the story should capture as much as possible from the original narrative, while translating it to Korean culture and history.
  • Write out your plotline in point form. DO NOT WRITE THIS AS A STORY: just the vague outline of the story is enough. I’ll upload an example in a day or two, so check back here.
  • Submit your outline for a Korean Odyssey film in class on 29 October.
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