Lesson Plan in World Literature

Simulated Demo for Language Curriculum for Secondary Students

I. Learning Objectives
At the end of discussion, the students are expected to:
a. Tell something about the prolific literature and the majestic civilization of Greece.
b. Identify the elements of the short story entitled, “The Adventures of Odysseus”.
c. Share personal experiences about an act of heroism as embodied by the character of
Odysseus.
d. Identify the functions of gerunds in a sentence

II. Subject Matter:

Literary Focus – “The Adventures of Odysseus”. Hamilton, Edith (an abridged short
story from the original novel “The Odyssey” by Homer.
Reference: Mythology – Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. Hamilton, Edith. pp. 211-
229. Grand Central Publishing
Language Focus – Gerunds and its functions in a sentence
Reference: Grammar for English Language Teachers with Exercises and a Key. Parrott,
Martin. pp. 140-142. Cambridge University

Materials
PowerPoint Presentation
Chalk
Pictures

III. Procedure

Teacher’s Activity Students’ Activity

“Benito, please lead the prayer” (Benito leads the prayer)

“Good morning class!” “Good morning Sir Aleluya, peace and all good!”

(Students answer)
“How are you today? How was your past class?
Did you learn something?

Motivation
(Students answer)
“Class, have you ever heard of this maxim?
“There’s no place like home.”

“Have you ever experienced being far away from (Students answer)
 home?” What did you feel?

“Yes, you all are right. Class, today, we are going

to discuss a short story about a hero who has
been away from his family and his experiences
as he traveled homebound. It is entitled, “The
Adventures of Odysseus” by Homer. Let’s unlock
the vocabularies first.

“Class, I’ll read the word first and repeat it “Yes, Sir”
afterwards. I’ll use the words in a sentence and
choose it’s synonym from the pool of words,
okay?”

“Prophetess” (Students repeat)

“Quaipo is swarmed with a lot of quack (Students raise their hands.)

prophetess.” Who wants to answer?” (Student answers)

1. Prophetess (‘pra-fe-tes) – a female

prophet

Can you use it in a sentence? (Student answers)

“Very good, thank you! The next word is “fleet”.

Who wants to take it? (Students repeat and raise their hands.)

“Spanish fleets defeated the Cuban fleets as they (Student answers)

battle on shore.”

2. Fleet (flit) – warship

Can you use it in a sentence? (Student answers)

“Good Job! Thank you! The next word is (Students repeat and raise their hands)
“sacked”. Who wants to answer?”

“The Philippines was eventually sacked by the (Student answers)

Spaniards.

3. Sacked (saekt) – captured

Can you use it in a sentence? (Student answers)

“Brilliant answer! Thank you! How about this (Students repeat and raise their hands)
word “arrogance”. Who wants to take it?”

“His arrogance made him lose all his money.” (Student answers)
 4. Arrogance (‘ae-ro-gence) –
boastfulness
(Student answers)
Can you use it in a sentence?
(Students repeat and raise their hands)
“Good! Thank you! And the last one, ‘voyage’.
Who wants to answer?”
(Student answers)
At last! I finally won a voyage to Singapore!

5. Voyage (vo-ij’) – journey / trip

(Student answers)
“Can you use it in a sentence?”

“That’s very good!

“Class, let’s read the words for the day.” (Students read)
1. Prophetess
2. Fleet
3. Sacked
4. Arrogance
5. Voyage

Quiz

“Class, before discussing the story, I want to

check if you’ve gone through it. Kindly get a
quarter sheet of paper and number it 1-10.

1. Who told Trojans that the Greeks were

inside the wooden horse?
2. How many years has Odysseus been
away from home?
3. What was Odysseus’ disguise upon
arriving in Ithaca?
4. Where did Odysseus traveled to look for
Teiresias?
5. How many years did Odysseus fared in
the sea?
6. What was Athena’s disguise when he
talked to Telemachus at the sea?
7. Who were the allied gods of the Greeks?
(2)
When did Odysseus sailed away from
Calypso’s Island?
What was Penelope’s way to prolong the
wait of her suitors?
Answers:

1. Cassandra
2. 20 years
3. An seafarer
4. Erebus
5. 10 years
6. Mentor
7. Athena
8. Zeus
9. Fifth morning after Hermes’ visit
10. Weave and unweave the cloth she was
doing.

“Pass your papers. At the count of 10 all papers (Students pass and check their papers)
must be in my hands now.”

Class, I am sure you are already familiar with the (Students listen)
Greek Civilization. It is one of the pioneers that
ruled the early civilization. Can you say
something about the Ancient Greece?

“Yes, the Greek literature is one of the oldest yet (Students listen)
popular literary resources that has ever made. It
reflects the ingenuity and the creativity of the
people during the ancient era. I am going to
show a brief overview about Greek Lit.

“What can you say about the literature of (Students raise their hands and answer)
Greece?”

“Very Good! Let’s discuss the life of the author.” (Student 1 answer)
Who would like to start?

Thank you! How about his education and works? (Student 2 answer)
Who wants to answer

Very Good! Thank you for your answers

Motive Questions:

1. Why did Zeus and Athena became angry (Student answers)

with the Greeks?

2. What was Telemachus plan to get rid of (Student answers)

her mother’s suitors?

3. What happened during the meeting of (Student answers)

Telemachus and Menelaus?
 4. What happened when finally (Student answers)
Telemachus and Odysseus sat face to
face?

During Reading

Let’s identify the elements of a short story. Let’s (Student answers)

habve first the characters. Class, there are ways
of describing the characters of a story. The first
one is through his/her physical appearance –is
the character fat, muscled, with green eyes,
ebony hair. It can also be through what the
character thinks and feels and what other
characters tell. Who would like to describe the
first two characters?

“Very Good! Thank you! How about the next 2 (Student answers)
characters?

“Good Job! Thank you! Who would like to take (Student answers)
the next two characters?

“Nice answer! Thank you! And the last two (Student answers)
characters?”

“Yes! Thank you! And where did the story (Student answers)
happen?”

“Good! Thank you! The story happened mainly (Student listens)

at the sea and in Ithaca 10 years after the Trojan
War.”

“Class, let’s talks about the plot. As you have (Students listen)
observed, the story is about an adventure of
Odysseus. He has gone through different places
because of the Poseidon and Athena’s doing. I
have here a map showing the trail Odysseus had
passed before he eventually arrived in Ithaca.
What we re going to do is group yourselves into
four. I’ll be giving you the stations and tell about
what Odysseus had experienced, okay? “Yes, Sir”
(Students group themselves)
“Let’s start, group 1?” (Group 1 tells their summary)

“Good, group 2?” (Group 2 narrates the events)

“Nice summary, group 3?” (Group 3 narrates the events)

 “Very Nice, group 4?” (Group 4 tells the events)

“Great job! Group 5?” (Group 5 summarizes the events)

Very Good! Group 6? (Group 6 narrates the events)

“Great summary! And last but not the least, (Group 7 concludes the story)
group 7?”

“Good narration guys!”

Plot:

I. Greek fleet journeys back to Sparta.

Athena gets angry because Ajax hurt
Cassandra. Poseidon and Athena
conjured to send big waves to sweep
Greek fleet and destroy them. Ajax
was killed. Menelaus has gone to
Egypt and Odysseus was alive but
wandered for 10 years.
II. In Ithaca, Penelope is pursued by
suitors across the land. She hated
them and contrives a strategy to
prolong their wait. Telemachus
asked helped from Athena. Athena
disguised as seafarer and told him to
build a ship. He was jeered by the
suitors and went to the sea and
prayed again. This time Athena
disguised as Mentor. They left at
night and went to Nestor.
III. They arrived at Nestor’s abode but
he doesn’t know any news about
Odysseus. He told them to go to
Menelaus. They arrived at Sparta
afterwards and attended a banquet.
Menelaus told a story about
Menelaus and Helen saw that
Telemachus look like Odysseus.
Telemachus asked Menelaus about
his father. Menelaus told him that he
was in Calypso’s Island.
IV. Meanwhile, upon Zeus’ command to
free Odysseus, Hermes told Calypso
to build a ship and send him away.
Odysseus sailed home but Poseidon
saw him and he sent big waves.
Odysseus woke up and saw that he
 was in an island. He saw women
bathing and asked help to Nausicaa.
She told him to go to his father alone
and asked for help. There, he told his
story about his journey.

V. His journey started from sailing 9

days in the sea and arrived at Lotus
Eaters – Cyclops Polyphemus –
Country of Winds (King Aeolus) –
Country of Laestrygons – Aeaea
(Circe’s lair) – Erebus (Persephone
and Hades) –
Sirens – Scylla and Charybdis – The
Island of the Sun – Calypso’s Island –
Country of Phaenicians

VI. Odysseus sailed home and

successfully arrived at Ithaca. Athena
talked to him and turned him as a
poor man. Eumaea helped him went
to his house. Telemachus headed
home and went to Eumaea and saw
his father. They went home and saw
Penelope’s suitor.
VII. Penelope told that if anyone sent
straight the arrow from the holes of
twelve rings. Odysseus shot the
suitors and he all killed them.
Penelope rejoined with Odysseus.

“Thank you! Very Good! Class, in short stories (Student listens)

we have this element called “conflict”. A conflict
is the opposition of forces which ties one
incident to another and makes the plot move.
We have three classifications.
1. Man to Man – where the main character
is battling against another character.
Protagonist vs. Antagonist
2. Man vs. Himself – where the main
character is battling against an internal
problem inside him.
3. Man vs. Nature – where the min
character is battling against the forces of
nature.

“Class, what do you think is the conflict of the (Student answers)

story?”
“Very Good! Thank you! Class, the story has (Students listen)
portrayed Odysseus as person who goes on
amidst the trials. What do you think does the
story tell us?

“Nice answer! Thank you! Who else wants to (Students raise their hands)
answer? (Student answers)

“Thank you! Good realization! Class, we have to

remember that an act of heroism and a valiant
soul will always prevail and conquer everything
that hinders you to be successful. Do you have
any experiences where someone or something
has got you away from being successful?” (Student answers)

“Thank you for the sharing.” Class, the story of (Students listen)
Odysseus is one of the greatest novels ever
written in Greek Literature. It is a mythological
story.”

Language Focus

Class for our language focus for today, we’re (Students listen)
going to discuss gerunds. Gerunds are one of the
three classifications under Verbals. Gerunds are
verb forms that functions as nouns.

In forming the Gerund, you should always

remember the formula:

main verb + ing

For example:

jouney+ ing = journeying

believe + ing = believing
destroy+ ing = destroying

Can you give me examples of gerunds? (Students give examples)

Good, thank you!

Class, there are 5 functions of Gerunds in a (Students listen)

sentence.

a. Subject – Gerunds functions as subject in

the sentence.
 Examples:

Voyaging back home took Odysseus

forever.

Caring for Odysseus is the passion of

Calypso.

Talking to Teiresias warned Odysseus

about the sacred oxen.

Can you give me an example? (Student answers)

Very good! Where is the gerund here? (Student answers)

Okay, is it clear?

b. Direct Object – usually follows after the (Students listen)

transitive verb and answers the question
who? Or what?

Example:

Odysseus kept waiting for a sail

homebound.

Telemachus cannot bear seeing her

mother weep.

Poseidon detests looking for Athena.

Can you give me an example? (Students give examples)

Nice sentence! Where is the gerund (Student answers)

here? Okay, is it clear?

c. Subject Complement – usually follows (Students listen)

after a linking verb/ verb auxiliary

Polyphemus’ revenge is prolonging the

journey of Odysseus.

Circe’s evil magic is weakening the

assembly of Odysseus.

Athena’s plan is helping Odysseus find a

way.
 Can you give me an example? (Students answer)

That’s a brilliant one! Where is the (Students answer)

gerund here? Is it clear?

d. Object of the Preposition – usually (Students listen)

follows after a preposition

Ino, the sea-goddess, succeeded in

helping Odysseus.

By using his eternal prowess, Odysseus

sent straight the arrows.

Athena encouraged Telemachus about

voyaging.

Who wants to give an example? (Students give examples)

Good! Thank you. Where is the gerund (Student points the gerund)
here? Is it clear?

Generalization

Class, let us generalize. What are gerunds? (Student answers)

Good! Can you repeat that? (Student repeats it)

Good! How about the functions of gerunds? (Students answer)

Good! Class, bring out a quarter sheet of paper.

IV. Evaluation
Directions: Underline the gerund word and identify its function in the sentence (2pts
each item).

1. Athena hated seeing Telemachus cry out of loneliness. Direct Object

2. Calypso’s love for Odysseus was preventing her to set him free. Subject Complement
3. Penelope missed spending her day with Odysseus. Direct Object
4. Longing was Odysseus’ hardest trial. Subject
5. Nausicaa finds happiness in doing the laundry. Ob of the Preposition
6. Odysseus’ journey involves fighting a lot of monsters. Direct Object
7. Menelaus kept narrating about the war. Direct Object
 8. In keeping with his tradition, Telemachus honored Menelaus. Ob of the Preposition
9. Penelope’s suitors were jeering Telemechus. Subject Complement
10. Crying was the only resort of Odysseus to ease his pain. Subject

V. Assignment
Write 3-paragraph essay about your planned career in life. Use gerunds and underline
them. (10 pts)

Comments and Evaluation:

Prepared by:

Denmark D. Aleluya
BSEd – English III
SJCQC