A Thousand Ships

One of Haynes’s goals in her novel was to highlight the experiences of the women in the Trojan War myth in order to give these characters a voice. What are the defining qualities of the women’s experiences in the novel? How are these different from the men’s experiences?

Teaching Suggestion: It may benefit the class to compare Haynes’s characters to the same characters represented in ancient sources, such as Homer’s Iliad, Euripides’ Trojan Women, or Ovid’s Heroides. This comparative approach could help the class identify the modern elements in Haynes’s novel.

Differentiation Suggestion: English learners, students with dyslexia, and those with attentional or executive function differences might find sorting through the entire text to find evidence daunting. You might help these students pinpoint the most relevant sections of text to limit the amount they need to review or allow students additional time to gather evidence. Alternatively, advanced students and those in need of a challenge might benefit from a close analysis of Haynes’s rhetorical choices; consider providing a specific passage for this exercise, which students could annotate in order to explore the author’s intentions and the effects of her techniques.