Reading & Writing Myths
English 12
OReilly
Text: Parallel Myths, J.F. Bierlein
Every week, we will read short versions of myths from cultures from around the world. The stories will be arranged by themes: for instance, the first week we will read creation myths; another week, we may read flood myths. And each week, you will be asked, to find shared mythic elements or traits between stories and track those shared mythic elements. Find at least six different shared mythic elements.
Example:
Theme: Creation Myths
Shared mythic element: Chaos/nothingness
1) Myth: Norse Creation Myth
Quotes: The Norsemen believed that, in the beginning, long ago there was "only a vast bottomless deep shrouded in an atmosphere of mist" (44).
2) Myth: Greek Myth Eurynome and Ophion
"In the beginning was Chaos and darkness" (46).
This is an example of the shared mythic element of Chaos and nothingness and two examples from two different creation stories. For each myth theme, You must find six quotes like the two above that show shared mythic elements between myths from different cultures, but you may choose a number of ways to show how mythic elements appear across cultures. For instance you may have one mythic element, such as water, that you find in six different creation stories. You could have three shared mythic elements and quotes from two different stories. Or you could have two shared elements and three quotes from three different stories. You may have more than six example quotes, but not fewer.
Some possible mythic elements for the creation myths: chaos, water, diving into water, loneliness, opposites (good and evil, male and female), trees, birth, mother and father, supreme beings, above (the heavens) and below (underworld or under water); human emotional traits, such as: boredom, desire, irritation, anger, jealousy, sibling rivalry, evil, goodness.
Mythic element tracking rubric 30 homework points per theme :
12 points_____ You will find at least six examples of some mythic element that appears in more than one myth.
12 points_____ You will use the format above: state the myth theme: creation, flood, heroes, etc; state the name of the shared mythic element, name the myth and the cultural origin, and PROPERLY quote the text ( quotation marks, (page), then period).
6 points _____ Type, proper heading, this rubric attached (2 points a piece)
Proper heading?
Your name
my name
subject
period/date
Turn your mythic element tracking in when you turn in your myths (see below):
Your Myths:
Take at least one of the mythic elements you found in the myths and incorporate it into your own myth. We will have library and class time to read your myths and type your myth or literary tracking.
Rubric for Your Own Myths 25 writing points:
5 points_____ Your have two myths between 2-3 pages OR one myth of 4-6 pages. Please do not exceed six total pages (see me if you have a pressing desire to write an epic).
5 points_____ Your myth incorporates at least one of the mythical elements that you found in your reading.
5 points_____ Your myth clearly falls into one of the studied themes: creation, earliest times, flood, etc.
15 points_____ Your myth is typed, 12 point font, Times New Roman, double spaced, proper heading, this rubric is attached, at the top of the paper. Please include a clever title and below the title, you list the theme category (creation, flood, etc); mythic elements included in the story, and the ponderous questions below that you have incorporated into your paper.
5 points extra credit _____ The ponderous questions:Your myth ponders some question about human existence. For instance, consider some of the following:
- How/why do evil/death entered the world?
- Why do humans suffer?
- Why are humans flawed?
- What is the relationship between humans, the earth, and/or other forms of created life?
- Are humans above the cyclical scheme of the natural world, or are they part of this organic cycle?
- Is the created world static, evolving, or devolving?
- How/why do humans succeed despite their flaws?
- What are powerful human traits that lead to success?
- What is reality? What is delusion?
- What creates happiness? What is happiness?
- What is passion? what is love?
- Your own ponderous question...run it by me first.
See these sites for further reading:
creation myths:
Myths and movies:
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