FINAL PAPER TOPIC WHAT IS ITHACA?

FINAL PAPER TOPIC (Tips Will be rewared)

WHAT IS ITHACA?

In a 3-4(You can do 3 my writer) page paper please define and analyze the allure of Ithaca from Homer to modernity. Why has it meant so much to ancient and modern readers alike? In order to respond fully to this question, it’s imperative you read the Odyssey in its entirety, the Power Point that I posted above and Cavafy’s poem “Ithaca.” In addition, you might have to do your own brief search in order to be more informed. Even though the final paper is not formally speaking a research paper, you will need to look up a few things related to your topic to respond insightfully and have a better understanding of the influence of the symbolic Ithaca on modernity.

The final paper should not be about the geography of Ithaca, it should be MAINLY about Ithaca as a literary milestone. In other words, how has Homeric Ithaca, inspired literature and art of subsequent generations? In my power point there are several references to literature and art (Cavafy’s “Ithaca,” Walt Whitman’s “Had I the Choice,” Derek Walcott’s “The Sea is History,” or even films like The Wizard of Oz and Gone with the Wind), that have interpreted and reinterpreted the idea of Ithaca and what it means to modernity.

Your task is to evaluate at least one of these references and examine how the idea of Ithaca has been interpreted by other authors and artists than Homer. One of them is the modern poet Constantine Cavafy whose poem “Ithaca” is crucial to the modern understanding of it. If you are also going to discuss a film, please make sure you watch it and you don’t rely on online notes of the film without ever seeing it.

TIPS/REMINDERS ABOUT THE FINAL PAPER

Please read again my REVISION NOTES (POSTED A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO).

-Have a title that best captures your topic and the spirit of your paper

-Remember to put main titles in italics

-Insert page numbers

-Do not jump from tense to tense, stick with one tense

-Make sure your third-person verb forms are correct

-Have transitions (paragraphs)

-Do not ever address the reader as YOU -instead use ONE or WE: “As one/we may argue…”

-Be aware of rules of punctuation

-Know not only the forms of figurative language, but also how to use them

-Introduce quotes properly: “according to…”, or “as the author states/claims/argues/maintains/declares/ponders…” (a while ago I posted a link to a guideline of proper introduction of quotes)

-Use specific examples in the form of quotes from the texts to illustrate your points

-DRAW AN OUTLINE before you write the paper

-Have a clear thesis and personal perspective on the topic

-Do not oversimplify or generalize and AVOID clichés. Be specific and think small
THE MEANING OF ITHACA – FIFTH AND FINAL CLUSTER OF NOTES ON THE ODYSSEY

WHAT IS ITHACA?

In this announcement I would like to emphasize the importance of Ithaca not only as the destination of Odysseus, but also as theme that has influenced literature and art ever since the days of Homer. This is not only today’s topic, but also the topic of your final paper. Ithaca is not only the physical destination of nostos but also a metaphorical and spiritual place, a symbol and a state of mind if you will, that inspires a whole new meaning of the idea of leaving and returning to one’s origins. In the following Power Point with audio (attached below) I explain the journey of Ithaca as powerful inspiration from antiquity to modernity, from literature to film, from art to life. Please go over it and read/listen to it critically.

Once you complete reading the first 16 chapters of the Odyssey, check the famous (short) poem “Ithaca” by C. P. Cavafy and see how Cavafy captures the essence of Ithaca in a modern context: it is not the destination that matters as much as the journey that takes you there. It is the journey that enriches one’s life with experiences, pleasures, and feelings before the final destination of home and, eventually, death.

In addition, pay attention to some other poets and novelists I have included (Whitman, Baudelaire, Walcott, Kundera and Wolfe), as well as filmmakers, and examine how each of them was inspired by the idea of Ithaca.

What is Ithaca? According to The Odyssey it is Odysseus’ home island, his destination after a long and adventurous journey. But aside from being a Homeric and geographical topos (place), Ithaca emerged through the centuries as a state of mind that, according to a critic, “underlies the modern understanding of the Odyssey as spiritual biography.” A number of poets and novelists, as mentioned above, have been inspired by the symbolism of Ithaca and have produced remarkable works influenced by it.

In the Power Point, I am outlining the everlasting influence of Ithaca as a literary theme and symbol of the destination of the long journey of life in literature and film. Moreover, I am outlining the pivotal presence of the sea in Homer’s poem. Remember, Ithaca is an island, a space surrounded and defined by the sea, and Odysseus travels by sea to reach it, defying the forces of oblivion. The sea is unfathomable, unlimited, unpredictable, ever flowing, and a constant reminder of the human adventure that has evolved through the sea for thousands of years. The sea is both a mirror of the human experience and a reminder of the invincibility of nature that always defines (and often defines) the human experience.

POWER POINT

https://us.docworkspace.com/d/sAEVGYUnLh9mjAbuHp76tpxQ

Please check the biography of one of the most well-known modern poets, Constantine Cavafy and read his seminal poem “Ithaca” which provides us with a modern interpretation of Ithaca as state of mind, rather than a destination. Below please find links to

1/Cavafy’s biographical info

2/his poem “Ithaca” (also in the PPoint)

3/My cluster of notes on Cavafy, his poem and his era

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/51296/ithaka-56d22eef917ec

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/c-p-cavafy

https://us.docworkspace.com/d/sAAh1YqnLh9mjAaCIp76tpxQ

In Cavafy’s understanding, Ithaca emerges as a metaphorical space and a state of mind, an idea that triggers recollection, hope, nostalgia, and sometimes, disappointment. Some questions that emerge from the modern interpretation of Ithaca, among many others, are:

-Can anyone ever return to his/her original home?

-How is the idea of home shaped by memory in the mind of the beholder?

-Is nostos a physical or psychological journey in modernity?

-How does time change the notion and the memory of home?

-What is most rewarding for us moderns, the destination or the journey?

-How does longing and searching for home add to someone’s experience?

-If Odysseus lived today would he be able to ever return home?
-Use synonyms; never repeat the same word more than twice in a short paper.

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