Hero's Journey Analysis; Mythic Voices; Northrup Frye & Grendel
Please turn in your homework. See previous post for details.
Please use your lab time today (until 8:00) to continue working on your Star Wars Hero's Journey analysis. Remember: titles of major works (novels, films, full length plays, epic poems, etc.) are italicized. This analysis draft is due Tuesday, Nov. 29.
Also, you may begin planning or generating ideas for your mythic story retelling. Here's how to begin that:
1. Scour and flip through the collection of myths in Mythic Voices. Pick a myth outside of cultural Greece. You may feel free to do other portfolio pieces with the stories you have read: Cupid & Psyche, Theseus, The Golden Fleece, Perseus, Hercules, etc. [you will find Cupid (Eros) & Psyche, Hercules & the Hydra, Demeter & Persephone, Theseus, the Trojan War, Odysseus, and even Gilgamesh in the mythic voices collection. Do not pick these myths for this assignment, please.]
2. Choose a myth from the collection. Do not pick a myth you are familiar with. Read the myth. As you read, consider how you might update or alter the story. Take notes, create a mind-map, or outline ideas. Consider how many scenes you might need to write to tell the story (what might those scenes be?--use index cards to arrange scenes, etc.)
3. Feel free to use Northrop Frye or Joseph Campbell's theories to outline/construct your plot.
4. Use Jungian archetypes for characters (ego types): the trickster, shadows, the caregiver, the rebel, etc. Look at the 12 common archetypes here. You may also use Northrop Frye's or Joseph Campbell's archetypes. Feel free to combine, change, remove, or extend the characters in the original myth.
5. Like the novel Grendel, retell or update or recreate the original myth in some creative way. Use post modern/contemporary writing techniques such as multiple perspective, poetic prose, metafiction, or stream of consciousness.
6. Write a draft. This will be a requirement for your 2nd marking period portfolio. The project is not due until January. You may workshop the draft in December.
CLASSROOM:
Go to the library and pick up Grendel by John Gardner.
Let's discuss Northrup Frye's archetype theories: particularly Summer, Autumn, and Winter.
Grendel by John Gardner: then let's open up this book and begin reading. See homework below.
See links above for help while reading the novel. You may also check out some Anglo Saxon culture...Classics Summarized: Beowulf (10 min.); Odin and the Pagan Beliefs of the Anglo-Saxons (video, 7.44) & Horrible Histories (Vikings)
Please use your lab time today (until 8:00) to continue working on your Star Wars Hero's Journey analysis. Remember: titles of major works (novels, films, full length plays, epic poems, etc.) are italicized. This analysis draft is due Tuesday, Nov. 29.
Also, you may begin planning or generating ideas for your mythic story retelling. Here's how to begin that:
1. Scour and flip through the collection of myths in Mythic Voices. Pick a myth outside of cultural Greece. You may feel free to do other portfolio pieces with the stories you have read: Cupid & Psyche, Theseus, The Golden Fleece, Perseus, Hercules, etc. [you will find Cupid (Eros) & Psyche, Hercules & the Hydra, Demeter & Persephone, Theseus, the Trojan War, Odysseus, and even Gilgamesh in the mythic voices collection. Do not pick these myths for this assignment, please.]
2. Choose a myth from the collection. Do not pick a myth you are familiar with. Read the myth. As you read, consider how you might update or alter the story. Take notes, create a mind-map, or outline ideas. Consider how many scenes you might need to write to tell the story (what might those scenes be?--use index cards to arrange scenes, etc.)
3. Feel free to use Northrop Frye or Joseph Campbell's theories to outline/construct your plot.
4. Use Jungian archetypes for characters (ego types): the trickster, shadows, the caregiver, the rebel, etc. Look at the 12 common archetypes here. You may also use Northrop Frye's or Joseph Campbell's archetypes. Feel free to combine, change, remove, or extend the characters in the original myth.
5. Like the novel Grendel, retell or update or recreate the original myth in some creative way. Use post modern/contemporary writing techniques such as multiple perspective, poetic prose, metafiction, or stream of consciousness.
6. Write a draft. This will be a requirement for your 2nd marking period portfolio. The project is not due until January. You may workshop the draft in December.
CLASSROOM:
Go to the library and pick up Grendel by John Gardner.
Let's discuss Northrup Frye's archetype theories: particularly Summer, Autumn, and Winter.
Grendel by John Gardner: then let's open up this book and begin reading. See homework below.
- Choose one of the following characters in the novel: Grendel, Hrothgar, The Shaper, The Dragon, Unferth, Wealtheow (the queen), Hrothulf, or The Stranger.
- As you read the novel, note how Grendel (the character/narrator) depicts, describes, or labels these characters (he also labels and describes himself--or his image of himself). Make a list of labels or descriptive phrases/sentences/lines that help characterize your selected character. We'll discuss what you found when we return next week.
- Use Northrup Frye's archetypal theory as a key to understanding Grendel. Take notes of what you notice or patterns that seem to fit Frye's theories. You may also look for elements of Campbell & Jung's hero's journey or archetypes in the novel.
- Keep an eye out for kenning. Kenning is a poetic technique where two words are placed together (usually with a hyphen between them) to make a new compound word. It was a popular poetic device in Anglo Saxon writing. "Whale-road" for ocean, for example, or "falconswift", or "life-bloated". Two nouns are juxtaposed to create a new word/idea. Use it in your poetry and prose. Notice it's use and power in the novel Grendel (and the epic poem Beowulf...)
- Finally, note a few things in the novel: person versus nature. Nature is often depicted as, well, natural. It is status quo...it is human nature or universal nature as much as it serves as a contrast (usually for the protagonist) or conflict in a novel. Note what is natural versus what seems to be unnatural or supernatural. We'll discuss this more when we return from our break.
- According to Aristotle "man is a rational animal." Rational meaning sensible, logical, or intelligent. Bertrand Russell, a British philosopher, wrote: "Man is a rational animal. So at least we have been told. Throughout a long life I have searched diligently for evidence in favor of this statement. So far, I have not had the good fortune to come across it” (from Unpopular Essays). Grendel considers himself a rational being. Others see him as a monster. Who is right?
See links above for help while reading the novel. You may also check out some Anglo Saxon culture...Classics Summarized: Beowulf (10 min.); Odin and the Pagan Beliefs of the Anglo-Saxons (video, 7.44) & Horrible Histories (Vikings)
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