Myth Prezi Project; Portfolio; Workshop

Please turn in your homework. See previous post for details.

Kristen Wiig: Goddesses of Creation, SNL

• Use the time in the lab to complete research on your mythological topic
• You should know the major gods/goddesses of your chosen mythological subject
• You should know the creation myth that goes with that tradition
• You should identify key cultural traditions/beliefs that are represented in the myths of this culture: for example: arête (strength) is a common cultural quality examined in many hero myths. Find examples of some others.
• You should identify one hero from this tradition and be able to tell this legend
• Use the time in the lab to prepare and begin designing your Prezi. 

PREZI notes: 

• Prezi's and other presentations should only contain the KEY IDEAS of your presentation. You are NOT supposed to read to us. You (the speaker) should know your information. If you need to, write this in your notes, but do not copy/paste sections that you should know and deliver this information during your presentation as if you just saw it. That's the audience's job.
• To help break you of this habit, no slide you present should have more than 10 words on it. Feel free to include a title or a short, brief statement/sentence, but that's it. The details? That's for you to tell us.
• Design your slides with interesting and helpful graphics, designs, or pictures. 
• You may use videos, but keep these short and to the point. Be able to explain to us why you included the video.
• Attribute your sources (or provide a works cited slide at the end). 

During lab time you may also continue working on your adapted myth assignment for your portfolio (see previous post for details). 

CLASSROOM (Period 2):

A word about myths (the least we need to know):

• Myths usually run along cultural lines--embodying a specific world view or belief of that culture. They are often the basis of religion or religious belief.
• Myths often explain origins, natural phenomena, or aspects of our 4 major themes in literature: life, death, nature, or love. Myths often touch upon these themes.
• Myths name or describe the supernatural or divine world of beings beyond our human comprehension. They may include legends and are closely related to fairy tales and folklore. Hero myths or legends are used as role models for behavior or cultural taboos and mores. They exemplify what a culture deems important or essential to their group or way of living.
• Myths attempt to explain the connection between the divine and human existence, or to answer: Who am I and how do I fit in to the natural order? They often concern themselves with humans and their place in the natural order of the universe.
• Creation myths explain how a person or world came to be. There are a variety of creation myth types. See Eliade's chapter/handout for details. You should know the type of creation myth you use in your Prezi project.

Myths. Watch the following short videos concerning mythology.

• A Host of Heroes
• An Antihero of One's Own

Writing Adventures:

So we've learned about myths and met some heroes along the way. How is a writer to use this information? Enter: the adventure story. Whether you are writing a romance, mystery, thriller, horror, science fiction, fantasy, or chase scene in your upcoming novel, being able to write about ACTION and ADVENTURE is helpful. In the next few classes we'll take a closer look at the adventure archetype.

Here are a few sub genres of the style:

• Robinsonades: from Daniel Defoe's famous novel Robinson Crusoe, this is a type of adventure story that deals with the survival of its protagonist. Good contemporary examples are Into the Wild, Kon Tiki, The Swiss Family Robinson, and The Life of Pi.
• Picaresque: Having its origins in Medieval Spanish lit, the picaresque is all about the journey. A protagonist has "life adventures" and meets interesting people along the way, without the overt danger or life versus death trope found in many action stories. Often the protagonist is an anti-hero (a common person just like you and me: people who have no heroic qualities to recommend them) who mingles with a variety of other people (usually, at least in the traditional sense, people from a lower social caste or people from a different culture). The tone of the picaresque is light and sometimes humorous. Jerome K. Jerome's comic novel Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) and The Good Companions by J.B. Priestly are good examples. So is Wodehouse's Jeeves & Wooster series or the Rumpole books by John Mortimer. For classical Victorian literature, The Pickwick Papers, Great Expectations, and Oliver Twist would also serve the genre.
• War and Combat: Any story that involves the conflict of war and its effects can be an adventure story. Apocalypse Now, Saving Private Ryan, All Quiet on the Western Front, even Ender's Game. This one lends itself nicely to mixing with other genres: even zombie fiction (World War Z, for example)!
• Character based Action: From James Bond to Doc Savage, many of the pulp writers (and those that were influenced by them) continue to write adventure series for a specific character. From Conan the Barbarian to Robert Ludlam's Bourne character, from Sherlock Holmes to Harry Potter, these are usually a recurrent character or protagonist and his/her adventures.

Workshop: Please workshop your Star Wars/Hero's Journey analytical papers. Revise and complete a new draft for your portfolio. Due in January.

HOMEWORK: None.