• Name

• (Possible) major / area of concentration

• Foreign Language Knowledge
  

• writing as a process [EDITING!]
• citation, research,
  
• and an independent writer’s voice

• MSU English statement
• The College of New Jersey
• UC Davis

The heroic ‘formula’ according to J. Campbell:

Myth as a Rite of Maturation

-    A young man leaves his home, which is now destroyed because the biological father is dead
-    A substitute father figure may exist (uncle)
-    As the young figure meets obstacles, he gains helpers along the way.
-    A rebirth occurs
-    The young figure is now ready to become a father himself—a man.

From p. 36, The Hero of a Thousand Faces:

Separation / Departure

Trials and Victories of Initiation

What do the following things symbolize for you?

• water

• cave

• fire

Review of L. 2

1. Vocabulary / Concepts: Archetypes, psychoanalysis, literary criticism, symbols (cave, water), rites of maturation

2. MLA Citation Method

Jennifer: Joseph Campbell refers to a “supernatural aid” that will help the hero continue his journey (69).

Kelly: Literature shows symbolism and how it “carries the human spirit forward” (Campbell 12).

Works Cited:

Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton: Bollingen/Princeton UP, 1973.

How to cite a movie:

The Matrix. Dir. Andy and Larry Wachowski. Perf. Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss. Warner Home Video, 1999.

In-class Writing: Summarize Campbell's monomyth.

Review:

A.    Purpose of this course:

-    Improve your skills as a writer

-    Improve your critical thinking

B.    Essay 1: the Monomyth

-    Analyze any “cultural text” (book, movie, story, song) according to Campbell’s concept of the hero’s journey (or, critique Campbell’s mode of analysis)

-    Part of our project this semester: the building blocks of literature (myth, fairy tale, archetypes)

C.    What is the hero’s journey (a.k.a. the monomyth)?

-    a story that is repeated in thousands of stories all over the world and throughout time
-    A hero DEPARTS on a journey, undergoes a rite of INITIATION, and RETURNS to show how much he has learned
-    Why?

•    process of MATURATION: separating from mother and father
•    meeting your mate (in Campbell: goddess, temptress)
•    creating a new family among various “helpers”

Student Questions:

DEPARTURE:

Gary: What is assistance from without? (207)

[Many students]: What is the belly of the whale?

INITIATION:

Lindsay: Who can be the goddess?

RETURN:

Travis: Returning to the hero's starting point of the journey at times seems too painful and unproductive. So why do it?

Understanding CAMPBELL:

[Many] What role do women play in the hero's journey?

Jennifer: What does the title of the book mean?

Gary: What do religious images have to do with the journey and becoming a hero? (249)

Review:

Approaches to Fairy Tales

1. Why did LRR’s mother let her walk through the wood
by herself?

2. Why does the grandmother always seem so ignorant?
Why does the child seem ignorant?

3. How can one explain the morals of fairy tales to
children without saying so explicitly?

4. Why are most of the characters in FT mostly women?

5. Why is the villain often an old woman? Is there any
significance to the wolf dressing up as a woman?

6. What were the human aspects of the wolf in Perrault’s
version of LRR? How did this appeal to the court?

7. What’s the difference between myth and fairy tales?


Red:
-    sexuality
-    passion
-    fire
-    blood
-    puberty

Wolf
-    danger
-    deception
-    evil
-    greedy
-    sexual
-    hunger

Qualities of Good Writing

1.    organized
2.    well-researched
3.    detailed
4.    accessible to the reader
5.    has a thesis
6.    good spelling and punctuation
7.    variety of vocabulary / appropriate word choice
8.    complete thoughts
9.    good opening and conclusion
10.    clear and concise
11.    not too repetitive
12.    strong opinion and argument
13.    knowledgeable
14.    correct citations
15.    supporting details

Lüthi:

Is the female in FTs really in need, and is the hero really “heroic”?

Why do women dominate in FTs?

Where do FTs come from? What do they mean? What is their message?

Lüthi argues that men are often the “wanderers” and that because women tell FTs, they star in them.

Bettelheim:

What do FTs mean? What is their message? What do they teach?

Fairy tales represent the maturation of young people, on the one hand, and can influence how children see the world.

Sample arguments:

Bettelheim argues in “The Struggle for Meaning” that fairy tales represent young children’s fears of abandonment and give them hope for a happy ending (of marital bliss).

Max Lüthi suggests in “The Fairy-Tale Hero” that protagonists and folk tales represent the desire of the individual to reunite with the community.

In “Go! Be a Beast” Marina Warner points out that the motif of bestiality in fairy tales underlines women’s fear and eventual acceptance of male sexuality.

SYMBOLS IN FAIRY TALES

Snow White
-    Childlessness
-    Black, red, white
-    stepmother
-    liver and lungs
-    7
-    Dwarves
-    Red apple
-    Mirror
-    Red-hot shoes

Rapunzel
-    childlessness
-    garden
-    rapunzel
-    hair
-    in tower

Review

Student Questions:

Bluebeard?

3.    Why does the author assume we know parts of the story (in “When the Clock Strikes”)?

4.    Why is the floor “sea green” in Tanith Lee’s story?

5.    What is the significance of time in FT? What does 12 symbolize?

6.    What is the purpose of violence in FT? How does the violence of FT affect children?

7.    What do witches symbolize in FT?

8.    Why do some FT have happy endings? Why don’t some of them? Esp. in “When the Clock Strikes”?

9.    How do different FT address their audience?

Poems: rhyme, rhythm, heroic couplet

“A woman / who loves a woman / is forever young” (l. 1-3).

Narrative style: narrator, 1st, 2nd, 3rd; frame narrative

"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: a Tale for Children"

by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Discuss your group's assigned question. One person should note the group's answers. Another person should be in charge of finding evidence in the text. And another person should be in charge of keeping track of the time (10 min.).

1.    Why are there crabs in the house? Is it for the same reason the old man with enormous wings falls in the courtyard? What other associations does the story make between the old man and the crabs?

2.    How does the old man differ from our usual conceptions of angels? What is the essential difference?

3.    Explain Father Gonzaga’s approach to the angel. What implications—about the angel and about the church—may be derived from his failure to communicate with him effectively?

4.    Who receives the benefit of the angel’s success as a sideshow freak? Why does he fall? Compare what he has to offer with what the spider-woman has. What reasons might people have to prefer her?

REVIEW

Myths about Lincoln

-    free slaves (“the Great Emancipator”)
-    Honest Abe
-    Log cabin
-    Shot in theater by Booth and moved
-    Lawyer

Lincoln Images

-    monument
-    $5
-    speech
-    birthday
-    penny
-    Disney: “Great Moments with Lincoln”

Review of Course Goals

1) Understand the techniques for reading, analyzing, and writing about literature

- Close reading

- Multiple reading(s)

- Literary elements: symbols, repetitions/motifs, and word choice

- Fairy/folk tale root of all stories: maturation, journey, and transformation

- Genre: Short story, frame narrative, poetry, novel, novella, and drama

2) Recognize the importance of cross-cultural critique for appreciating literature’s role in reflecting the human condition

- Culturally specific practices

- Arabic tradition: 1001 Nights, Haroun and the Sea of Stories

- Western tradition: Folk and Fairy Tales

3) Develop writing skills relevant to writing assignments across disciplines: writing as a process, citation, research, and an independent writer’s voice

- Giving credit for others’ work/research = academic writing style

- Writing as a process: Good writing begins with good editing

4) Prepare students to answer the question: “What does literature teach us?”

- Summarize from portfolio work, first in a partner setting and then in class discussion