In tenth grade English students are selecting passages from The Odyssey to do a close reading and analyze figurative language. Students have a menu of scenes to choose from. They are evaluating the authors’ word choices and how it impacts the experiences of the reader. In ninth grade English, students are doing a similar task involving the book Beowulf. This skill at close reading allows students to take a closer look at an ancient and classic test and go beyond the story to examine the author’s words and choice of metaphor, simile, personification, and other examples of figurative language.
