Prof. Modestino | Howard University

Week 2 Jan. 21 and 23.

3 min read

Jan. 21st Slides

Reading in 2026

Active reading practice

Book 5.55–85 (Calypso’s Cave)

  1. Locate 3 details of divine perfection (smells, colors, crafts).

  2. Locate 3 details of the wild, uncurated natural world.

  3.  Find 1 detail that feels eerie or “too perfect.”

Goal: In 7 minutes of silence, move from skimming to noticing.

The Cost of Immortality

“By day he sat out on the rock beach, in tears and grief, staring in heartbreak at the fruitless sea.” (5.156-158)

  • Calypso offers eternal life. Odysseus chooses “nostos”.

  •  Why is the perfect- cave a failure of hospitality?

  •  Is a world without struggle actually a world without humanity?

Rituals for Focus

  • The 20/5/20 Rule: - Read for 20 minutes, “eyes-away” for 5, read for 20.

  - High-intensity sprints prevent scanning fatigue.

  • Bimodal Input (The Ear & Eye):

  - Follow the physical text while listening to the audiobook.

  - Reduces Extrinsic Load: the epic was meant to be heard.

  • Stolen Focus:

  - Put your phone in another room. The mere presence of a device drains your operating memory by 10-15%.

  • Active Dialogue:

  - If you don’t have a pen (or stylus) in hand, you aren’t reading; you’re just looking.

From Isolation to Social Rituals

  • Book 6: The encounter at the river is a classic Betrothal Type-Scene: in the ancient Mediterranean, the ritual of a stranger meeting a maiden at a well or washing-place serves as a formal precursor to marriage negotiations.

  • Book 7: The Phaeacians: They are “close to gods” but disconnected from human pain.

7.239–298: Success in Phaeacia depends on Queen Arete, not King Alcinous.

Jan 23rd Slides

Correcting the Chatbot: Books 1–8 Quiz

In-Class Writing Assignment

STEP 1: THE INPUT & RECORDING*

1. Type this exactly into your chatbot:

“Identify 5 distinct scenes of hospitality in the Odyssey Books 1-8. For each: 1) Identify the Host and Guest, 2) Describe the meal or bath provided, and 3) Name the gift given.”

2. At the top of your paper, write:

  • Which Chatbot you used

  • A 1-sentence summary of the AI’s general accuracy.

STEP 2:

For THREE of the 5 points the AI provided, you must write:

  1. THE OUTPUT: Briefly quote the key claim the AI made.

  2. STATUS: Is this Accurate, Vague, or a Hallucination?

  3. TEXT PROOF: Provide the specific Book and Line # with a detail from the book that proves the AI is right or wrong.

STEP 3: THE DEEP DIVE

Pick the AI’s most detailed answer.

Find that scene in your book. Identify one social tension or interaction in that scene that the AI completely ignored.

Example: Was there a delay in the ritual? Did the guest seem uncomfortable? Was the host following the rules perfectly?

Graph View

Backlinks