(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa teacher who includes “The Odyssey” as required reading in her World Literature class says she’s excited to hear her students’ reactions to the blockbuster movie of the summer. Rochelle Auchenbach, an English teacher at Spencer High School, includes “The Odyssey” in a unit about ancient heroes.
“The Odyssey” was written about three-thousand years ago. Auchenbach describes it as a collection of chapters or episodes.
Auchenbach asks her students to compare “The Odyssey” as an original source and how it’s adapted in modern works, like the hit Disney series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.”
Auchenbach says….
Iowa academic standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History do not require that “The Odyssey” to be taught, but the standards say high school students in Iowa are expected to be attentive readers who understand and enjoy complex works of literature.
