Portfolio Deadline Looming; Epic of Gilgamesh Activities

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During period 1, please work on your portfolios. Print out and secure work that you have finished. Write your reflection. Workshop and revise any pieces you would like feedback on. Complete or compose last minute drafts.

During period 2, please select a chapter and sketch a mind-map of Gilgamesh's journey for that chapter. Be prepared to summarize key events in the chapter with the class. You will be working in groups for this assignment. Help each other help our class.

Consider the 4 functions of myth. How does the Epic of Gilgamesh rate? Let's discuss.

Then, let's hold the epic up to Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey. We'll read about the hero's journey and examine how the epic rate with those ideas as well.

With time remaining (unlikely, but possible) we'll discuss the literary elements of epics.

Characteristics of Epics
  • Great length (obviously longer than a dithyramb (choral song), ode, lyric, narrative, or dramatic poem) 
  • Dignified tone & elevated style (the tone is often formal; the diction often metaphoric or figurative)
  • Deal with a single person; a certain, specific people; or the history of a race in a period of crisis
  • Supernatural events and characters (often Gods and Goddesses and/or monsters)
  • The epic often includes a contradiction between society values and the individual
  • There is often a flashback to past problems that also foreshadow events to come
  • The deeds of the hero in an epic affirm both the individuality of the hero and the collective consciousness of the society.
  • Primary epics were originally composed to be sung and later written down (i.e, Homer, Beowulf, etc.)
  • Secondary epics were originally written to be read (i.e, Milton’s Paradise Lost)
  • Mock epics poke fun at the form (i.e., The Rape of the Lock)
HOMEWORK: Portfolios are due Tuesday, Nov. 1.

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