Questions We Can Help You To Answer
Paper instructions:
Your final project is to write and creatively present a “Myth for These Times”. In addition to the myth creatively presented, you are required to write an analysis of your myth, discussing its possible meanings, using universal, cultural and psychological analytical methods, and speaking to archetypal motifs and characters.
Write a myth that speaks to the issues that society as you know it is facing at this time. A myth that holds within it the possibility for transformation. Consider the myths and legends and fairytales we have explored and discussed in this class. Recall that a myth holds within it both the ailment and the cure for that ailment. Consider your own social, spiritual, political concerns; what ails society, and what is the myth that could transform or ‘bring medicine’ to that ailment? What story will you tell? Use any of the structures and concepts we have examined in this class: hero’s and heroine’s journeys, alchemy, model of the psyche, archetypes, symbolic representations. I am looking for a mythic sensibility rather than literary prowess. Explore, experiment, tell an old story from a new perspective. Surprise us. Scare us. Inspire us.
NOTE: Your myth may be anywhere from 1 to 4 pages typed, double-spaced, 12pt font, and may be accompanied by images. Remember, if you read from your myth, you will only have 7 minutes which translates into 3 and 1/2 pages of double-spaced prose. If you choose to read for your presentation, you will not have time to read the whole thing. You may summarize to introduce and read an excerpt to give us a glimpse of the tale you are telling. See Final Project Rubric for more information.
Analysis:
In your analysis of your myth, discuss its possible meanings using the universal, cultural, and psychological analytical methods explored in this class. This means you will be required to compare your myth to others to observe similarities; compare your myth to others to observe differences; and apply the model of the psyche and archetypes to analyze the possible psychological significance of your myth.
Consider the following in your analyses:
• What themes are significant?
• What symbols reveal deeper, more complex ideas?
• How are these themes and symbols similar and different from other myths we have studied?
• Is this a typical hero’s or heroine’s journey? If not, how does it differ, and how do you see that difference interrupting old meanings, or creating new meanings?
• Do you use alchemy as an underlying structure, and if so, to what end?
• Are there archetypal images, processes, and/or characters in your myth? How do their presence and/or interactions affect the meaning of your myth?
• And, finally, what do you think this myth is saying? Why do you consider it a myth for these times?
NOTE: Your analysis should be 3-5 pages typed, double-spaced, 12pt font. You are required to back your analysis and interpretation up with at least two secondary sources – i.e. use the works of psychologists, artists, scholars, mythologists, etc. to expand on points you are making, and to cite your sources using MLA format and a Works Cited page. See Final Project Rubric for more information.
