Mythology--only the brave may enter; only the daring may succeed!
Course Description: Mythology is a course devoted to the specific study of ancient myths and stories. These stories have lived on in our culture for thousands of years, so there must be some entertainment value they create and some value to what they offer. In this course we dig into these ancient myths in order to see how they still relate to our experiences today. I will constantly push to help you understand the power these myths have in terms of what they show us about our society, our history, and our own humanity. If I do my job well I might even make some of these “ancient stories” interesting.
Unlike other English courses, part of this course is content driven. That means by the end of the semester you will need to know specific terms, concepts, story details and names. For example, by the end of the semester you will be required to know the various Greek and Norse gods, as well as their specific roles, powers, and personalities. Another example: you will need to know iconic heroes such as Odysseus, Achilles, King Arthur, Sigurd and Perseus, including what they did and why they have become iconic. This focus on content means that reading comprehension and note-taking are essentials.
Another major goal of this course is to improve your basic English skills—critical reading, effective personal writing, thesis & explanatory writing, active reading strategies, and reading analysis.
As we read through various myths, we will focus on human experience, culture, and cross textual connections. In the beginning of the course we will explore guiding topics: questions we will explore for every myth. For any myth you read, you should learn to be able to do the following:
- Summarize the major events within the myth
- Explain the different characters and their roles within the myth
- Connect myth details to previous myths and topics discussed in course
- Analyze how the myth builds archetypal theme ideas (covered as a class)
- Break down what can be revealed about a given culture based upon myth details
- Explain how the myth conveys needed world and human knowledge
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