GRADE 6 ANTHOLOGY: UNIT 1

Name: ___________________________________________________

Global Context & Area of Exploration:

Orientation in Space & Time: Homes and journeys, discoveries

Key Concept:

Identity:

The unit explores how journeys and challenges shape the identities of individuals,
both in literature and in real life. Through the study of heroic figures, you will
examine how identity is constructed, expressed, and perceived in different
contexts.

Statement of Inquiry:

Journeys and challenges, whether real or fictional, reveal the resilience and
identity of individuals, shaping their destinies and the societies they belong to.
 The Tale of the Cyclops

Once upon a time, there was a very brave soldier name Odysseus who was making his way
home from war. Odysseus had been away fighting for a very long time, and faced many
scary obstacles on his way home. He sailed with a crew of many brave men, and one day on
their journey they came across a very beautiful land. They decided to set up camp there,
and ate roasted goat on the beaches while they relaxed. Across the water was a land thick
with forests and beautiful mountains. Odysseus was curious to meet the people who lived
over there, and decided that he should go and see what they had to offer.

The following day, Odysseus packed a fine wine to bring as a gift for whoever lived there,
and sailed across to the beautiful land with a handful of his men. After a few hours of
exploring and not seeing any people, they stumbled across a cave that contained penned up
sheep, as well as a large amount of milk and cheese. Odysseus assumed the man who lived
here must be very rich, so they waited for the owner to return, helping themselves to milk
and cheese. Right before dark herds of sheep began entering the cave, followed by their
shepherd, a giant Cyclops. Angered, the Cyclops asked what they were doing there.
Odysseus politely explained to him that his name was ‘Nobody’ and that they were
exploring and wanted to see who lived in this cave. The Cyclops was a cruel giant with one
large eye instead of two, and he decided that Odysseus and his men were not leaving.

The Cyclops lifted an enormous boulder and blocked the doorway, then picked up two of
Odysseus’s men and ate them for dinner before lying down to sleep. Odysseus and his men
mourned the loss of their companions, and Odysseus began to think of ways to get them
out of this cave. The rock was far too big for them to move on their own, so he began to
think of other ways to escape. The next morning, the Cyclops ate two more of Odysseus’s
men before herding his sheep out the door. Once he was gone, Odysseus ordered his men
to find sharp flint and sticks, and tied them together to make a very large spear. When the
Cyclops returned, Odysseus politely offered him the wine he had brought. The Cyclops
thanked Odysseus for the wine, ensuring him that since he was kind, he would eat him last.
Then, after eating two more of Odysseus’s brave men, the wine took it’s effect and the
Cyclops fell into a deep sleep. Once asleep, Odysseus and his men lifted the large spear they
had made earlier that day and stuck it right into the Cyclops’ eye. Enraged, the Cyclops
awoke but was unable to find the men for he could no longer see.

The following morning, the Cyclops moved the rock to allow his sheep to pass, feeling the
top of each sheep to make sure no man escaped. Odysseus had anticipated this, and tied
the sheep together with the men clinging to the bottom of them. Once out of the cave, the
men scurried back to their boat and sailed back to the rest of the crew on the other side of
the island. When the Cyclops realized the men had all escaped, he was furious!

Questions:
1. What did Odysseus bring as a gift to the people he expected to meet in the
beautiful land?
o a) A large spear
o b) Fine wine
o c) Roasted goat
o d) Milk and cheese
2. Why did the Cyclops trap Odysseus and his men in the cave?
o a) He wanted to show them his treasures.
o b) He thought they were thieves.
o c) He wanted to eat them.
o d) He needed their help with the sheep.
3. How did Odysseus and his men escape from the cave?
o a) They moved the boulder together.
o b) They climbed out through a hole in the ceiling.
o c) They tricked the Cyclops by hiding under the sheep.
o d) They waited until the Cyclops fell asleep and then ran out.
4. What effect did the wine have on the Cyclops?
o a) It made him stronger.
o b) It made him angry.
o c) It made him fall asleep.
o d) It made him more polite.
Analytical Questions
1. Why do you think Odysseus told the Cyclops his name was ‘Nobody’?
2. What does the Cyclops’s reaction to the gift tell us about his character?
3. Why did Odysseus choose to blind the Cyclops instead of killing him?
Creative Thinking Questions
1. Create an alternate ending to the story where Odysseus does something different to
escape from the Cyclops. What happens next?

Captain Robert Scott’s Diary Entries

Compare and contrast the story of Odysseus and the Cyclops to the journey of Captain
Robert Scott.
What challenges did each hero face?
How did they respond?
How did these experiences shape their identity?

THAI CAVE BOYS RESCUE

Christina Soontornvat is a Thai American storyteller, engineer, and science educator. She is
the author of a dozen books for children, including the “Diary of an Ice Princess” chapter
book series and the middle grade novel A Wish in the Dark. For her forthcoming book All
Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team, Christina travelled to
Thailand to interview first responders and conduct research.
In June 2018, expert rescuers from all over the world assembled at the Tham Luang cave
complex in northern Thailand to search for a group of 12 soccer players and their coach who
had become trapped inside by rising floodwaters. For the first 10 days of the mission, these
elite professionals did everything they could to locate the boys, to no avail. One Thai rescuer
I interviewed told me that after day 10, most of the people at the base camp believed the
boys were dead. How could a group of ordinary kids with no food or clean water survive for
so long underground?
As we now happily know, the boys were indeed found alive (and eight days later, were
rescued). How was this possible? The boys kept themselves alive by keeping their hopes
alive. Read enough survival stories and you will find a common thread among even the most
harrowing events: the will to survive. It turns out that in our hierarchy of human needs,
hope is the most important.
As I researched and wrote this story, I found myself drawn to the same question again and
again: How did these young people keep up their hopes in such a desolate and hopeless
situation?
The boys, ages 13 to 17, were regular kids. They had no specialized survival training. They
were athletic, but by no means were they elite. But after listening to their stories and
meeting them in person, I have come to realize that there were two factors that aided their
survival:
They had each other.
And they had a teacher
The boys were already a team, and the bonds of trust and friendship built on the soccer field
were vital to keeping their spirits up inside the cave. When one boy was feeling despondent
or needed to cry, the others would comfort him as best they could. Just as they had huddled
up together before a soccer match, the boys huddled close in the cave to keep themselves
warm and to make sure that no one felt alone in the darkness. They talked about their
families and what they would do (and what they would eat!) when they got out. Not if they
got out. When.
As much as the friends supported one another, the most important person to their survival
was their coach. The boys could not have asked for a better person to guide them through
their 10-day trial. Coach Ekkapol “Ek” Chantawong had trained for years as a novice
Buddhist monk before becoming their coach. The practices that he implemented with the
boys inside the cave were simple, but essential.
He kept himself calm, knowing that the children would subconsciously mirror his mindset.
Even when he realized they were trapped, after trying and failing to swim out through the
flooded cave passages, Coach Ek reminded himself not to panic. He maintained composure,
but he never lied to the boys about their situation or his own feelings and fears. By being
honest, he demonstrated that he trusted his players to be able to handle the truth, and in
turn they rose to the occasion.
Coach Ek also gave the boys a sense of purpose: Each day they kept to a schedule, taking
turns using stones and their bare hands to dig a tunnel into the cave wall. This small activity
broke up the dark monotony and gave structure to their day. More importantly, it sent the
message to each boy that he was important and had a part to play. This feeling of being
needed is a crucial one in a survival situation. Many survivors have recounted that they
would have given up if they hadn’t felt that other people were depending on them to keep
going.
Coach Ek also led the group through breathing and meditation exercises. Deep breathing
releases stress, lowers your heart rate, and helps you manage pain and discomfort. It is an
essential component of meditation and calming the mind. The boys could not control the
outside world, or what happened the next day. But they could control the most important
thing for their survival: their own minds.
We are now entering our eighth month of a global pandemic; an election looms; the
symptoms of climate change flare all around us; and the fight for racial equity continues to
run up against barriers of hatred and ignorance. No, we are not physically trapped inside a
cave, but this moment in time is testing the hopes of so many of us. And yet, hope is what
must hold onto if we are going to make it through and make change in the world.

Right now I am trying to practice the lessons I learned from those ordinary, extraordinary
teenage boys. I am trying to breathe. I am reminding myself that even though there is so
much I cannot control, I can control my own mindset. I can be a calm presence for my
children and remind myself that they need me. I remind them that I need them, too.
When I see children during an author visit these days, it is always through a screen. It’s not
the same as gathering in person, but I am grateful that we can gather at all. It still feels good
to be together. I smile for the students and tell them that they are very important. I tell
them that just knowing they are there helps me feel more bright and hopeful, which is very
much the truth!
And I tell them what the Wild Boars taught me: we are stronger than we think we are. And
we are going to get through this—and whatever comes next—together.

Question: Imagine you were one of the young boys trapped in the cave
Write a descriptive diary entry in your copybook recounting your experience
 THESEUS AND THE MINOTAUR

In ancient Greece, people told myths to explain the ways of the world. Myths often
portrayed brave heroes and vicious monsters. The ancient Greeks also believed in
powerful gods who watched over Earth and intervened when they saw fit. In this
particular myth, a prince from Greece’s capital city of Athens travels by sea to another
city, Crete, in order to fight a monster. As you read, take notes on how Theseus’ actions
and characteristics help drive the plot.
King Minos of Crete was a powerful man, feared by the rulers of the lands around him.
When he demanded goods or men for his great armies, they felt they had to agree. When
he demanded they send tributes to honour him, they sent them without question. It was
the only way they could stop him going to war with them. But his demands on Athens
became too much for them to bear. King Minos had a great palace built for himself. Inside
this palace, Minos had built a giant maze, a labyrinth, and, at the centre of the maze, he
kept a terrifying creature – the Minotaur. Now this was no ordinary animal; it was a
monster, half man and half bull. It was powerful and savage, and it loved to eat the flesh of
the humans who had been shut into the labyrinth by King Minos. They would wander
through the maze, completely lost, until at last they came face to face with the Minotaur.
Not a great way to die, really.
As for Athens, Minos demanded that every year King Aegeus of Athens send him seven
young men and seven young women. “Why do we send these young people to Crete every
year?” Theseus, the King’s son, asked his father. “And why is it that none of them ever
return?” “Because if we did not send them, Minos would wage war on us and it is a war that
we would not win,” said King Aegeus. “And they do not return because they do not go to
Crete as slaves. They go as food for the Minotaur.” “Father, this is terrible,” shouted
Theseus, “we cannot let this go on. We cannot sacrifice any more of our young citizens to
this tyrant. When it is time to send the next tribute, I will go as one of them and I vow that it
is the last time the Minotaur will be fed with the flesh of any of our people.”
Try as he might, his father could not persuade him to change his mind. Aegeus reminded
him that every year, other young men had sworn to slay this terrible beast and they had
never been seen again. Theseus insisted that he understood the dangers but would succeed.
“I will return to you, father,” cried Theseus, as the ship left the harbor wall, “and you will be
proud of your son.”
“Then I wish you good luck, my son,” cried his father, “I shall keep watch for you every day.
If you are successful, take down these black sails and replace them with white ones. That
way I will know you are coming home safe to me.”
As the ship docked in Crete, King Minos himself came down to inspect the prisoners from
Athens. He enjoyed the chance to taunt the Athenians and to humiliate them even further.
“Is this all your king has to offer this year?” he jeered. “Such puny creatures. Hardly even a
snack for the mighty creature within the labyrinth. Anyway, let’s get on with it. I am not a
hard-hearted man, so I will let you choose which one goes first into the Minotaur’s den.
Who is it to be?” Theseus stepped forward. “I will go first. I am Theseus, Prince of Athens
and I do not fear what is within the walls of your maze.” “Those are brave words for one so
young and so feeble. But the Minotaur will soon have you between its horns. Guards, open
the labyrinth and send him in.”
Standing behind the king, listening, was his daughter, Ariadne. From the moment she set
eyes on Theseus, Ariadne fell in love with him. As she listened to her father goading and
taunting the young prince, she decided that she would help him. As he entered the labyrinth
and the guards walked away, she called softly to him. “Theseus, take this,” she whispered.
“Even if you kill the Minotaur, you will never find your way out again.” She threw him a
great ball of string and he tied one end of it to the entrance. He smiled at her, turned and
began to make his way into the maze, the string playing out behind him as he went.
Theseus walked carefully through the dark, foul-smelling passages of the labyrinth,
expecting at any moment to come face-to-face with the creature. He did not have long to
wait. Turning a corner, with his hands held out in front of him feeling his way, he suddenly
touched what felt like a huge bony horn. In an instant his world turned upside-down, quite
literally. He was picked up between the Minotaur’s horns and tossed high into the air. When
he landed on the hard cold stone, he felt the animal’s huge hooves come down on his chest.
Every last breath seemed to be knocked out of him and he struggled to stay alive in the
darkness. But Theseus was no ordinary man. He was the son of the King, he was brave and
he was stubborn.
As the Minotaur bellowed in his ear and grabbed at him with its hairy arms, Theseus found a
strength which he did not know he possessed. He grabbed the animal’s huge horns, and
kept on twisting the great head from side to side. As the animal grew weak, Theseus gave
one almighty tug on the head, turning it almost right around. The creature’s neck snapped,
it gurgled its last breath and fell to the floor with an enormous thud. It was over, he had
done it. The Minotaur was dead. All he had to do was make his way out of...and then he
realised the awful truth. In the struggle, he had let go of the string, his lifeline. Theseus felt
all over the floor in the pitch darkness and kept thinking he had found it, only to realise that
all he had was a long wiry hair from the Minotaur.
Despair set in and Theseus wondered if this was where his life would end, down in the dark,
all alone, next to the stinking body. Then, his hand brushed a piece of string and, with a
whoop of delight, he knew he had found the thread which would lead him back out. As he
neared the entrance of the labyrinth, the darkness began to fade and he made out the
figure of Ariadne, waiting for his return. “You must take me back to Athens with you,” she
cried, “My father will kill me when he finds out that I have helped you.” “But of course you
must come with us,” said Theseus, “it would be cruel to leave you here.”
Quickly and quietly, they unfurled the great black sails of their ship and headed for home. “I
cannot believe how my life has changed,” said Ariadne, as they sailed across the calm seas
towards Athens. “To think that I am free of my cruel father and that I will soon be married
to a great prince.” “Married?” said Theseus, “Oh, yes, that will be...er... wonderful.” But in
truth, Theseus did not really find her attractive. So, when their ship docked at an island on
their way home, to collect fresh water, Theseus sent Ariadne off to find bread and fruit. The
moment she was gone, he set sail and left her on the island.
Now, you might think that this was a bad way to reward someone who had helped him and
had saved him from certain death. The Gods clearly thought the same thing, for they had a
further horror in store for him, as a punishment for his ungrateful treatment of the young
girl. In his haste to get away, Theseus forgot to change his sails to white. King Aegeus,
waiting on the headland, saw the ship approaching with its black sails flying in the wind. “My
son has failed and he is dead,” he cried. And in despair, he flung himself from the cliff into
the raging waters below. From that day on, the sea was named in memory of Theseus’
father, and to this day, it is known as the Aegean Sea.

Theseus and the Minotaur: Text-focused Questions

1. Write a glossary of definitions for four of the following words: savage, puny, feeble, goad,
bellow, despair, unfurl, haste. Use the sentence that they appear in to help you.
2. What does the word “tyrant” most closely mean as it is used in paragraph 7?
A. A person who runs a country
B. A leader who torments people
C. A solider who is ready to fight
D. An innocent young citizen
3. Which quote from later in the story best supports your answer to Part A?
 A. “As the ship docked in Crete, King Minos himself came down to inspect the prisoners
from Athens.” (Paragraph 11)
B. “He enjoyed the change to taunt the Athenians and to humiliate them even further.”
(Paragraph 11)
C. “‘Those are brave words for one so young and so feeble.’” (Paragraph 15)
D. “Standing behind the king, listening, was his daughter, Ariadne.” (Paragraph 16)
4. If it weren’t for Ariadne, do you think Theseus would have been able to get out of the
maze? Use details about the maze and Theseus’ character to support your ideas.
Odysseus and the Sirens

• What do you think is

happening in these images?

• What emotions do you think

Odysseus is feeling at this
moment?

• Why do you think the sailors

are ignoring Odysseus?

Homer tells the story of Odysseus—also known as Ulysses—a respected warrior who is
returning home, to the island of Ithaca, from the Trojan War.

It’s a war the hero never wants to fight in the first place. It isn’t that he is afraid to fight. His
concern stems from an oracle’s prophecy predicting that if he fights, his post-war journey
home will take a really long time.
Odysseus doesn't want to leave his family for such a long time, so he pretends to be a
lunatic. His efforts to avoid the conflict fail, however. He ends-up fighting in the Trojan War
(during which he becomes a hero).

Why is The Odyssey still popular? It’s a timeless and fast-paced tale which features a hero
on a seafaring adventure traveling through exotic lands, enduring terrible storms and
horrifying monsters. All of this is set against an enthralling, supernatural atmosphere where
gods move around in humble disguises so they can be involved in human activities.

Those gods, of course, are capable of casting spells and curses. They can predict things,
which actually come true, and their warnings to humans can help people avoid catastrophes
—provided, of course, that they heed the warnings.

At the center of it all is a human hero called Odysseus (Ulysses) who is a sympathetic,
complex man. He tries to do the right thing and usually pays attention to what the gods tell
him.

He especially heeds advice from the goddess Circe who warns him about the “Sirens.” These
two monsters, who pretend to be beautiful women with amazing voices, try to assure
sailors, who pass their island, that they just want to entertain them with beautiful melodies.

What they really want, however, is to kill them.

What is the message about the Sirens which Circe gives to Odysseus? Among other things,
she warns him that his men must fill their ears with wax so they do not hear the Sirens’
beguiling songs:

First you will come to the Sirens who enchant all who come near them. If any one unwarily
draws in too close and hears the singing of the Sirens, his wife and children will never
welcome him home again, for they sit in a green field and warble him to death with the
sweetness of their song.

There is a great heap of dead men's bones lying all around, with the flesh still rotting off
them. Therefore pass these Sirens by, and stop your men's ears with wax that none of them
may hear; but if you like you can listen yourself, for you may get the men to bind you as you
stand upright on a cross-piece half way up the mast, and they must lash the rope's ends to
the mast itself, that you may have the pleasure of listening. If you beg and pray the men to
unloose you, then they must bind you faster.

This warning triggers fear in Odysseus. He heeds Circe’s warning, taking care to completely
block his men’s ears with bees’ wax.

The good ship glides across a calm and grey sea toward an island of sloping meadows,
golden in the sun. The crew wants to land, but Odysseus knows better. He tells them:
That is the Island of the Sirens. Circe warned me to steer clear of it, for the Sirens are
beautiful but deadly.

They sit beside the ocean, combing their long golden hair and singing to passing sailors. But
anyone who hears their song is bewitched by its sweetness, and they are drawn to that
island like iron to a magnet. And their ship smashes upon rocks as sharp as spears. And
those sailors join the many victims of the Sirens in a meadow filled with skeletons.

Taking a large block of beeswax, a gift from Circe, Odysseus breaks it into small pieces and
gives one to each of his men. He tells them to soften it and put it into their ears. In this way,
they will not hear the song of the Sirens.

But Odysseus wants to hear that famous song and still survive. Circe has told him how to do
it.

He orders his sailors to tie him firmly to the ship’s mast. When he is firmly tied, and his men
have the beeswax in their ears, they row their ship alongside the island.

Then Odysseus hears the magical song of the Sirens as it floats over the summertime
waters:

Odysseus, bravest of heroes,

Draw near to us, on our green island,

Odysseus, we’ll teach you wisdom,

We’ll give you love, sweeter than honey.

The songs we sing, soothe away sorrow,

And in our arms, you will be happy.

Odysseus, bravest of heroes,

The songs we sing, will bring you peace.

When he hears the words and the music, the song enchants Odysseus’ heart. He longs to
plunge into the waves and to swim to the island. He wants to embrace the Sirens.

He strains against the bonds which hold him to the ship’s mast. He strains so hard that the
bonds cut deeply into the flesh of his back and arms.
Nodding and scowling at his ear-plugged men, he urges them to free him. Expecting this
reaction, the men row harder and harder with their oars.

To Odysseus, who is bewitched by the song, the Sirens look as beautiful as Helen of Troy. To
his crew, made deaf with beeswax, the Sirens seem like hungry monsters with vicious,
crooked claws.

The ship speeds forward and soon the song of the Sirens is an echo of an echo. Only then do
the crew members stop rowing and unplug their ears.

Eurylochus unbinds his grateful captain, Odysseus, who has now come to his senses.

By heeding the advice of the goddess Circe, Odysseus has avoided a catastrophe. He will
face many more trials and temptations before he reaches his home and family.

Guided Questions:

1. What challenges did Odysseus face during his encounter with the Sirens?
2. How did Odysseus show heroism in this story?
3. Why is it important that Odysseus listened to Circe’s advice?
4. How does Odysseus's journey teach us about the qualities of a hero?

“Imagine you are a hero on a journey. You come across a dangerous place like the island of
the Sirens. Describe the challenge you face, the choices you make, and how you overcome
the danger. Use descriptive language to bring your story to life.”