Comments for Isabel Block

For some reason, I cannot open the file containing your paper using the 
Open Office software that I have on my HC computer today.  This is supposed to
be an open-source equivalent for the Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, Excel, 
etc. programs, but there are some incompatibilities that crop up from 
time to time, and there is also some problem with that whole program today.
So I have to give you comments like this instead of being
able to insert them directly in the source file for the paper.  Sorry 
for the inconvenience.

Your opening paragraph flows well and introduces your main point
effectively.   But I think the idea of discussing cleverness as a constant,
then rashness/cautiousness, and finally pride/humility separately didn't 
turn out so well.  That choice makes the paper rather shapeless because
you are discussing closely related aspects of Odysseus's behavior in
the same episode in more than one place.  It's also sometimes hard to 
separate out what is due to cleverness and what is due to patience.  Similarly, 
other actions can have aspects of both pride and rashness.  So the 
organization could be improved and the paper could be streamlined somewhat.  

Second paragraph: "cunningness" is probably OK according to some dictionaries, 
but why not keep it simpler and say "cunning?"  That is also a noun.   Also, 
the tenses shift from present to past about halfway through.  It's OK to 
narrate events like this entirely in the present.    The paragraph where you 
are discussing how Odysseus's cleverness is a constant throughout the story is 
actually  very long.  It would be good to break it into smaller paragraphs.  For 
instance, when you shift from the episode in the cave of the Cyclops to the 
encounter with the suitors, it would be natural to start a new paragraph.  

The paragraph that starts "Although the journey ... " on page 2 takes a 
while to get started.  The first two sentences are wordy and could be
combined into one to introduce  more efficiently the topic that Odysseus 
has learned patience.  

At the top of page 3, "Cicones" is the name of the race of people, 
not the place.  The town is Ismaros.  More substantively, does Odysseus
really share responsibility for the fact that his troops were caught
flat-footed feasting and drinking?  Or did he try to warn the men that
they needed to get out fast?   I agree that Odysseus SHOULD learn something 
from that episode.  But I don't see that you have really shown that he
has learned patience because of that.   You say, "Perhaps the Odysseus 
that was so rash to kill the men of Cicones [see above] would have tried 
just attacking the Cyclops."   Maybe, but as we have established, he's also 
not stupid, and the Cyclops is a much stronger opponent.  Your 
evidence seems to be that he waits until the Cyclops is incapacitated (dead 
drunk) before he attacks.  But isn't that really just his cleverness again?  
I think other readers might just say he's arranging a situation where his 
disadvantages against a stronger opponent are minimized and then making 
the most of it.  Why is this a case where he showed patience he would not 
have shown before?  Does he show the same patience when he is escaping
and reveals his true name and lineage to the Cyclops?  You discuss that
part of the episode later and that is one of the things that prompted
the general comment about organization above.  

Start a new paragraph at the "Another instance where it is apparent ... "
(Even though you're still discussing Odysseus's new patience, you don't
want paragraphs to get this long and unwieldy.)  And I have the same
more substantive comment.  It's true that Odysseus can be rash at times.
But again, he's not stupid and I think if you look closely you 
can also see rashness in him right up to the end.  For instance, did you 
think about the scene at the very end of the story in Book 24?
Does that fit with what you are saying?

The final paragraph is a good conclusion.  


Content/Evidence

B+

Structure/Mechanics

B-