This excerpt best highlights the epic poetry elements of an epic hero who fights bravely, an invocation to a muse, and: a) a difficult journey with trials. b) important historical events. c) a list of everyday events. d) repetition of key phrases.

a) A difficult journey with trials.

Explanation:

The excerpt that the question was based on is from Homer's epic narrative "The Odyssey", The very first paragraph of Book I.

He saw the townlands  and learned the minds of many distant men,  and weathered many bitter nights and days  in his deep heart at sea, while he fought only  to save his life, to bring his shipmates home.  But not by will nor valor could he save them,  for their own recklessness destroyed them all—  children and fools, they killed and feasted on  the cattle of Lord Helios, the Sun,  and he who moves all day through heaven  took from their eyes the dawn of their return.  Of these adventures, Muse, daughter of Zeus,  tell us in our time, lift the great song again.

This is an invocation to the Muse, asking him for inspiration and help in writing the epic tale of the hero Odysseus.

Epics are tales of heroes whose deeds far exceed that of normal actions, showing his bravery and courage in the face of any form of complications. Epic poetry also have an invocation to the muses for help in writing the stories of the heroes in such a way that their good deeds and bravery do not go unnoticed. Lastly, epic narratives/ poetry also details the difficulty of the trials of the hero and his companions through which he will emerge victorious and more respected.

two factors or characteristics of a chapter that might make it difficult to read would be words i don't understand, or if i don't fully understand what's going on in the chapter. strategies i can use to get through the difficult material would be a dictionary, and re-reading previous chapters to get a better grasp of what the author is trying to say.

martians or other types of aliens represent a unique fear as opposed to zombies. vampires and other types of monsters.   in most sci-fi stories, aliens come from other worlds and have different or more advanced technology.   abductions and experimentation on human bodies that involve these technologies, or the use of these technologies against human beings and the use of unknown "powers", are a type of fear that's different from that of other types of monsters.