Introduction
Polydectes, King of Seriphos, has sent young Perseus to get the head of Medusa the Gorgon, the very sight of which will turn any man to stone. His hope is that the boy will never come back, clearing the way for him to marry Perseus’s mother, Danaë. But Perseus is on his way home even now...
AS Perseus passed by the Libyan coast, he heard a pitiable cry. It came from a lovely young woman, chained by hands and feet to a rock, who told him that she was the Princess Andromeda, and that her mother Cassiopeia had angered Poseidon by comparing the beautiful Nereids, the spirits of the waves, unfavourably with her.
Poseidon had unleashed a torrent of such watery devastation that the local people had gone to an oracle for advice, who had told Andromeda’s father Cepheus, King of Ethiopia, that he must chain her to this rock. Now Cetus, a ravening sea-monster, was on its way to devour her.
In a moment, the monster was upon them. Perseus told Andromeda to look away, and drawing the head of the Gorgon from his bag, turned Cetus instantly to stone. Then he released Andromeda, and with her parents’ blessing took her with him to Seriphos.
He had something he wanted to show Polydectes.
Précis
Perseus, returning from a mission to fetch the head of Medusa (which would turn any man to stone) came across Andromeda, chained to a rock and awaiting a dreadful sea-monster. He used the head to turn the monster to stone, before going on to confront the man who had never expected him to come back alive. (56 / 60 words)
Perseus, returning from a mission to fetch the head of Medusa (which would turn any man to stone) came across Andromeda, chained to a rock and awaiting a dreadful sea-monster. He used the head to turn the monster to stone, before going on to confront the man who had never expected him to come back alive.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: about, although, if, must, ought, since, until, whether.
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Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 King. Pitiable. Want.
2 Gorgon. Tell. Watery.
3 Anger. Spirit. Woman.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
Your Words ()
