The Adventures of Ulysses

Which elements of Ulysses’s adventures might be symbolic or allegorical? Because some elements of his story stand for something greater than themselves or represent parts of life outside the story itself, what moral lessons do his adventures teach?

Teaching Suggestion: This question asks for critical and abstract thinking skills that may be a stretch for students, depending on their prior experience and intellectual maturity. If you think that your students will struggle with these skills, you might prepare them by first discussing one of Ulysses’s adventures together—for instance, pointing out how the lotus might represent the many kinds of addictions and obsessions that can distract us from our real goals in life.

Differentiation Suggestion: English language learners, students with dysgraphia and dyslexia, and those with attentional and executive function challenges may struggle to use the entire text to complete this assignment. These students might work in small groups, dividing up the text among them, or, alternatively, you might assign these students just one or two stories to work on. Another reasonable accommodation for these students might be allowing them to fill in their answers on a graphic organizer where they can list symbols/allegories and their meanings, then write brief explanations of what life lessons are implied by these figurative representations.