An exceptional way to help your students follow a story is for them to track the events from it. Not only is this a great way to teach the parts of a plot, it also reinforces major events, which helps students develop better understanding of how the events fit together to provide the overall structure of the story.
Agamemnon, calls for all Kings and Prices to wage war against Troy. A Trojan has kidnapped his wife, Helen. A messenger comes and makes Odysseus go to war, even though he doesn't want to.
10 years pass and they still have not saved Helen. Many Trojans and Greeks die in battle. The goddess Athena tells Odysseus of a plan to help rescue Helen. They build the Trojan Horse.
The Greeks rescue Helen but anger the gods while doing so. The gods force the Greek ships to stop their trip home at the Island of the Lotus-Eaters where three men of Odysseus' get their memories erased.
The ships set sail again, but the gods force them to stop their journey at another island. Odysseus's curiosity leads them to the cave of the cyclops, Polyphemus, where the soldiers are trapped inside.
To try to escape, Odysseus, gets the monster drunk and then stabs him in the eye. Odysseus tells the monster that his name is, "No One". When Polyphemus calls for help, he is shouting, "NO ONE hurt me" and the other cyclops stop trying to help.
The men escape by hiding under the bellies of sheep. Odysseus taunts the monster, because he thinks he is safe, and tells the monster his real name. Polyphemus tells him that he is part of a prophecy, that has now come true. Polyphemus puts a curse on Odysseus.
Odysseus and his men find shelter at Aeolus's fortress. Aeolus enjoys Odysseus' stories of the war. Aeolus helps Odysseus by trapping all the winds in a bag, so Odysseus could have a safe journey home to Ithaca.
The men can see the shores of Ithaca and are almost home, until, some of the men open up the bag of winds, which causes a huge storm. Their ships are blown far, far away from home. Odysseus is upset but vows that he will make it home to Ithaca.
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