Poetry

Telemachus

Poetry as a Cognitive Artifact

Topic Description and Links

Mentor, how then shall I go?

- Telemachus, to Mentor in The Odyssey by Homer

In Homer's epic, The Odyssey, Athena disguises herself as Mentes and presents herself to Telemachus, Odysseus' son, to be his guide. When we first see Telemachus, he is grieved by false news of his father's death, intimidated by his father's lagacy of intelligence, and feeling inadequate to deal with affairs in his father's absence. Athena visits Telelmachus and encourages him to travel to learn the truth about his father and advises him in encounters with others along the way.

The episode reveals a significant character development in Telemachus with the aid of a mentor, through an expanded repertoire of experience (and thus ability to do case-based reasoning), and through travel and encounters with strangers (also an example of situated cognition).

This is an early example of cognitive apprenticeship--it provided readers with a mental model of a complex cognitive strategy that was initially learned through declarative knowledge acquisiton (whew!). If Homer only knew what an efffective cognitive scientist he actually was, who knows where educational technology might be today!

Generative Questions and Hints

To help you reason through this case, answer these questions and record your responses to recall during the corresponding lesson activities in Greece and for the reports that you will make on what you have learned.

	The Telemachus example shows how many complex ideas can be related through one simple device--in this case, a narrative poem. Hint: Rap Music Videos
	What implications does this have you as a developer or user of contemporary educational technology?
	Can you think of a modern instance where the complex is conveyed using the simple?
	Can you think of any curriculum or programs that incorporate the mentor model?

Lesson Activity

Talk with a native Greek about the contemporary use of poetry as an educational device. Is poetry still used in the same manner there today? Notice how their perspective differs from the one displayed here, and report the contrasts.

Gather data from your activity and record notes on your reasoning of this case for later analysis and reporting (and publishing on the QFK Web).

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