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Introduction	Required Chapters
Due Date	Suggested Steps and Advice
Extra Credit Assignment	Greek Mythology Resources

Introduction:

Edith Hamilton wrote a wonderful little book on mythology and so did Thomas Bulfinch. Both are great resources for you and both display the personality of the writer and editor. Each person put in what he or she thought was important for the student of mythology. With this project you get to make your mark on the world of mythology and skew it to your personality. Everything you write will be based in some way on the myths of the ancient Greeks and Romans but most of the information will have the flavor of your personality, tastes, life and skills.

Your assignment is to create a book or web page  using the subjects that follow. Your book or web page will be graded on its interest, creativity, style and depth. A working knowledge of Greek and Roman mythology is necessary to complete any of the chapters so please do your homework and study what goes on in class.

Break into groups! You must be in a group of at least three but no more than six. The more people in your group, the more work there will be for the individuals, so be careful how you divide up. Please pick workers and not friends. Remember to carry your own weight. People will really remember whether you are a reliable person or not, so prove yourself.

 

Required Chapters:

Group Pantheon - Look at the members of your group. If they were gods, what would their attributes be? What kinds of gods would they be? What would their domains be and what personality traits would come through? Would each person have a special power? Please write a full page description of each member of your group as if that person were a god. (Each person in the group must do this by describing the other members of the group. Large groups suffer here.) This is primarily a creative exercise, so be creative. Illustrations can help but are not necessary.

Modern Mythic Allusions - Find, list, categorize and display all the references to ancient mythology that are found in today's world. Did you know that Ajax cleanser refers to a hero from the Iliad? Look carefully at the logo for FTD Florists and see whom they have portraying their delivery person. The Rand-McNally Atlas refers to one of the Titans. Look at that recent Academy Award winning movie that was based on a doomed ocean liner.  What was the name of the ship? Look at the symbol for the medical profession, the rod with the snakes twirling up around it. Do you know what that is called and with which god it is associated? There are words in our language today that refer to the ancient Greek or Roman myths (chronological, museum, herculean, atlas are just a few). Create an in depth chapter. It will take time and a lot of searching.

This Is Who I Am - Each student, after extensive exploration into Greek and Roman mythology, will write an essay describing the character with whom he or she most identifies. Which god or hero or character is most like you? Why do you say so? Please write a one to two page description of your comparison of a mythical character to yourself. One to two pages means more than one and less than two.

Create a Myth - Each member of the group will create a myth of her own on one of the following topics:

• Creation of the World
• Creation of Humankind
• The Home of the Gods
• The World of the Dead
• The Creation of a Flower or Tree
• The Creation of an Animal
• The Creation of School, Teachers, Homework, or Detention

Students in the same group  may duplicate topics. (For example, two students in the same group may each write a story about the creation of the world.)

PowerPoint Presentation - Each group will create and make a PowerPoint presentation that will teach the basic facts of the Greek pantheon. The presentation will follow the format given in class. Examples of note cards can be found here. Each group will first write the story board of the presentation and then will put the information on slides. After the information is written on all of the slides and approved in class, the group can then begin to work on layout, illustrations, and transitions.

The Electric Teacher Web Site has a tutorial for the commonly used tasks using PowerPoint.
 

Due Date:

Your book or web page is due the week of April 2. You may present you finished work any day of that week or before, but no books will be accepted after that week.

 

Suggested Steps and Advice:

Step 1: Read the assignment thoroughly several times. Learn the parts of the book. All parts of the book are creative, but they require knowledge of the subject. If you know the assignment completely, you will come up with ideas as you learn from my instruction or from your own research. These ideas can not come if you are not familiar with the assignment.

Step 2: Begin research. Look in the library of the school. Look in the library of your town. Check out the libraries of the other towns. Use the Internet. Use the sites from my web page. I have listed some great sites for you about Greek and Roman mythology. There is much for you to discover. There are people on the Internet that will discuss mythology with you. Search. Find. Explore. Discover.

Step 3: If you took Step 1 seriously, your brain will be working as you learn in class and on your own. You won't be able to stop yourself from thinking of good ideas. You will not be able to stop your brain from creating. You will have given it a task (find facts about the topics) and you brain will work on this task even while you sleep, if you have studied the project assignment. If you have any enthusiasm for this assignment at all, work hard early. Get as much done as you can while your spirit is up and you will not feel overwhelmed later on.

Step 4: Share! Share your ideas, but be careful of just talking about them. How often have people talked about their ideas enthusiastically and then never followed through with them because they lost the desire in the talk? If you are enthusiastically talking about what you are going to do, that is the time to get something on paper! If you just talk about your ideas, they can dry up, so do something about your project that day. Remember: Don't just talk. Execute!

Step 5: Share! Share some more. Work in groups for research. Work in pairs and bounce ideas against each other (and write about the ideas that sound as if they will work). Meet after school. Meet at the library. Find someone with whom you work well. But remember: You are not looking for a friend. You are looking for a partner. There is a difference. This is business!

Step 6: Illustrations are a great idea, but do not make them your first priority. save them for later when your enthusiasm starts to wane. Pictures are fun and often easier than the creation of good, sound, structured stories and tales. If writing is hard for you, as it is me, do the writing first.

Step 7: Think about the structure of your book, web page or PowerPoint presentation. What will it look like? How will it be filled? What will the cover or home page look like? I wish I could say that the content is the only thing that counts with a book or page, but the truth is that many books do not sell unless they are attractive and many web pages are not given a chance unless they grab attention (or are assigned reading like this one). Style sometimes counts, so take that into consideration. But remember, too, that substance is more important.

Step A: This step counts as parts of all the other steps. HAVE SOME FUN WITH THIS. I know it is school work and that this is an assignment and all that, but as long as you have to do it anyway, why not enjoy the work? Pull some pages off the internet, grab a few books from the library, underline a few interesting facts, make some notes and then have a pizza party at somebody's house. Bring magazines over and share what you find from the advertising. Write a play together and make it an extra chapter in your book. All I want is for you to learn about the classical mythology and be able to apply it to your life. I'd be happier if you could have a few good memories while working on this. Good luck!

Extra Credit Assignment

mrtrevenen@hotmail.com

You have my e-mail address. If you communicate with me about the subject being taught in class, you can receive between 1 and 5 points on a homework assignment. You can e-mail me more than once but only once per day. This means that in a thirty day period, you can earn between 30 and 150 points on a homework assignment.

Your e-mail message must have something interesting to start with, but often I will respond with a question or a topic of my own. You can then answer the question or you can pass on it and try a new topic of your choice. If you find a really interesting site, to send students to, I'd be very happy.

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