“The Odyssey”: From Lingering Questions to Research
Objective
To document the evolution of a lingering question you may have into a formal research question and record your initial steps at answering it. This is an exercise in process, not a final polished essay.
Step 1: Identify Your Lingering Question
Think back through our reading of The Odyssey. What is the one thing that still feels unresolved, contradictory, or strange to you?
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The Initial Question: This may have a “correct” answer found in the text or deals with basic plot/character motivation (e.g., “Why didn’t Odysseus just tell his crew what was in the bag of winds?”). Your goal is to refine it into a more open-ended research question that would take interpretation and argument.
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Research Questions: The are arguable, multi-faceted, and requires looking at the text through a specific lens—historical, psychological, feminist, or narratological (e.g., “To what extent does the crew’s repeated ‘disobedience’ serve as a narrative device to insulate Odysseus from the moral failings of his voyage?”).
Step 2: Refinement Process
You can do this on your own or use the Course Chatbot to refine your thinking. I have provided it with specific system prompts to help with this assignment. If you do use it (or any other chatbot), briefly document this interaction by including a sentence or two about what you asked and how it helped (please do not copy and paste long text, summarize)
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Input your “lingering question.”
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Ask the AI: “Help me turn this into a formal research question. What are the different scholarly angles I could take with this?”
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Ask for research keywords or specific types of primary/secondary sources that would help answer it.
Step 3: The Preliminary Search
Spend 20 minutes searching for a source or context that addresses your new question. This could be a JSTOR abstract, a historical detail about Bronze Age seafaring, or a commentary on Homeric epithets. You can ask the Chatbot to help point you in the right direction, but again document the help in it provides. Try to find reputable information, not slop, and you can check with the chatbot about your sources. If it is a long article, don’t feel like you need to read the whole thing, but summarize what you hope to find in it to help answer your questions.
Submission Requirements
Total Length: ~300–500 words.
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The Evolution: State your original question and your final Research Question.
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The Process Log: Briefly describe your AI interaction (if any) or the process you used and developed. Did the AI suggest a lens you hadn’t considered? Did it help you narrow your scope?
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Preliminary Findings: A short paragraph describing one source you found (or a specific lead) and your “working” answer to the question.
Note on AI Accuracy: While the AI is excellent at helping you narrow your scope, it may “hallucinate” specific scholarly citations or misattribute specific Homeric theories. Your job is to verify any claims it makes through our library databases. Do not take its “tips” as absolute truth—treat them as hypotheses to be tested.
Submit your Assignment in the link for your section, Due Friday, Feb 6th, at Midnight.