Pointless Literary Overachieving

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In my high school freshman English class, we were broken into groups and given the assignment of acting out scenes from The Odyssey by Homer. Being absolutely insane, I decided to memorize a three page section of the book.

Ulysses and Sirens by Herbert James Draper

Ulysses and Sirens by Herbert James Draper

In my high school freshman English class, we were broken into groups and given the assignment of acting out scenes from The Odyssey by Homer. Being absolutely insane, I decided to memorize a three page section of the book. My vision was to stand to the side of the โ€œstage,โ€ Ancient Greek theater style, and recite while my fellow classmates acted the scene out.

It took so long to memorize those pages. The presentation took five minutes, and mostly inconsequential in the scheme of the entire class. What a waste of time.

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Comments

  1. Angela says:
    February 5, 2011 at 6:44 pm

    When I was in my British Literature class in High School, we all had to memorize Chaucer’s prologue in Old English. Needless to say, when I’m nervous about anything or a big event is going on, I will mindlessly start quoting: “Whan that aprill with his shoures soote,the droghte of march hath perced to the roote…” I found that it really confuses people, and I sort of like that.

    Reply
    • Angela says:
      February 5, 2011 at 6:46 pm

      (sorry…that’s from Canterbury Tales…I forgot the title in my over-zealousness to respond…)

      Reply
    • Dann says:
      February 5, 2011 at 6:51 pm

      I, fortunately, never had to work with either Old English or Middle English. That shit is complicated.

      I studied Canterbury Tales in college, translated to modern English. My professor read us a few lines in Middle English to give us a feel for the lyrical qualities of the original text. I remember it sounding like she was part singing, part trying to swallow, and part imitating a child’s made-up language.

      Reply

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