Read the excerpt from The Odyssey.

My home is on the peaked sea-mark of Ithaca
under Mount Neion's wind-blown robe of leaves,
in sight of other islands—Dulichium,
Same, wooded Zacynthus—Ithaca
being most lofty in that coastal sea,
and northwest, while the rest lie east and south.
A rocky isle, but good for a boy's training;
I shall not see on earth a place more dear,

Read a student’s paraphrase of the excerpt.

Odysseus’s home is Ithaca, a rocky island surrounded by other islands. Odysseus considers Ithaca a great place in which to grow up.

What key detail should be added to strengthen the student’s paraphrasing of this excerpt?

A) Dulichium, Same, and Zacynthus are all visible to Ithaca.

B) Odysseus holds his home very close to his heart.

C) The islands surrounding Ithaca lie to the east and the south.

D) Ithaca lies under Mount Neion and to the northwest.

The word "paraphrasing" refers to the act of writing the main ideas of a text by using one's own words. This means when you paraphrase you preserve the main ideas of a text but changed the language to express them. In the excerpt from "The Odyssey" presented the main character Odysseus is describing his home by telling the reader details about the landscape in which his home is "peaked sea-mark of Ithaca" and "coastal sea" that is surrounded by other islands "Dulichium, Same, wooded Zacynthus" and that despite the rocky landscape he considers it is a good place, he really appreciates "I shall not see on earth a place more dear".

When paraphrasing this excerpt all the main ideas or details previously described should be preserved but expressed using simpler language, in the student's paraphrase excerpt the details of location, geographical features and Odysseus opinion of this place as great to grow up are preserved, however the last line idea "I shall not see on earth a place more dear" which is about the way Odysseus loves this place is not mentioned. Because of this for strengthening the students' paraphrasing, it is necessary to add an idea that expresses this part of the excerpt or "Odysseus holds his home very close to his heart" as in this way all the main details will be preserved and expressed in simpler language which is the main purpose of paraphrase.