Monday, September 21, 2015

Myth: The Hero's Journey

You will need your notes on The Hero's Journey and Archetypes for this. 

We will be watching clips from the Pilot of Grimm and pausing to note which archetypes are shown (and how) and which stages of the journey are illustrated (and how). Students will then write two paragraph (7-10 sentences)—

  • Choose an archetype and discuss how it is used in the show.
  • Choose one step of the Hero's Journey and discuss how it is played out in the show.

Myth: Notes and Assignments Pre-Bacchanalia


  • Extra packets of notes are kept in the top, black basket (under the orange folders) if you need another copy.
  • Don't forget to turn in one analytical paragraph for either "Ganesha and The Moon" or "The Wolf Man". I will accept it until 9/25/15.
  • 3 God Assignment: Choose a figure form any mythology and compare it across cultures (at least three) or time periods. How are they similar and different? Why do you think they change? I will accept it until 9/25/15
  • Make sure to log onto the google classroom or politely ask me if you are missing any of the Trojan War notes.


English 2: Notes for 9/10-9/21

Mythology: stories told to help people understand the rules of the universe and our place in it.

The Norse: warrior people who raided and conquered any groups touching the Atlantic ocean; their myths were strongly their religion until the rise of Christianity. 

  • Major Gods and Goddesses
    • Odin: King; Poetry, battle, and death
    • Erda: earth, fertility; mother of Thor
    • Frigga: seer, mother of seven children w/Odin; Queen of the realm
    • Thor: God of sky; Associated with law (sort of sheriff)
    • Sif: Wife of Thor
    • Balder: Wisdom & Knowledge; Son of Odin and Frigg; killed by Hod (thanks to Loki)
    • Freya: fertility, love, lust;; Goddess of the Vanir
    • Hel/Hela: Helheim; God/Goddess of the Dead
    • Loki: Trickster; At least half giant; becomes increasingly evil over the course of the mythic stories
  • Realms
    • Asgard: Where the gods live
    • Vanaheim : the Vanir home; connected to Asgard
    • Alfheim: the light elves home; connected to Asgard
    • Midgard: Land of Humans (Earth)
    • Nidavellir: Land of dwarves; connected to Midgard
    • Jotunheim: Land of giants; connected to Midgard
    • Svartalfheim: Land of dark elves; connected to Midgard
    • Hel/Helheim: Realm of the dead
    • Niflheim: World of the dead
    • Valhalla: Where dead heroes are taken by the Valkeryie to feast and train until Ragnarok
  • Ragnarok: the end of the world; all creatures fight on the side of light or dark, no one survives from Elder Edda

The Celts: early people who lived in Ireland and parts of Greater Britain
Choose one of the cycles to look up. Write a paragraph about it. Turn in the paragraph (7-10 sentences).
  • The Cycles
    • Mythological Cycle: the stories of The Dagda, The Morrigan, and the other gods of Ireland
    • The Book of Invasions: records the five waves of "invaders" to Ireland; the Tuatha (children of Danu) became The Fae
    • Finean Cycle: records the adventures of Finn Mac Cool and his warriors, the Fianna
    • Ulster Cycle: records the adventures of Cuchulainn, The Cattle Raid of Cooley (The Tain) and the hero's misadventures with Queen Meave and The Morrigan
    • The Cycle of Kings: records the major events of various Irish kings and nobles; each set of stories focus on a different clan
  • A Few Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes
    • The Dagda, god of earth and treaties; ruler over life and death; leader of the Tuatha; master of magic, fearsome warrior, artisan; married to The Morrigan; the never-empty cauldron, harp, club of life and death
    • Lugh of the Long-Spear; sun god, warrior, full of energy; son of Clan and Ethlinn; a classic hero and High King of Tara
    • The Morrigan, battle goddess; shapeshifter including crow, wolf, and cow; also goddess of strife and self-rule (sovereignty) 
    • The Brigid, three-faced goddess; healing, poetry, technology; fertility, home and hearth; daughter of Dagda; wife of Bres of the Fomorians; the three-faced goddess (crone, mother, maiden); mother of Ruadan; sometimes she is mixed in with Saint Brigid, the only woman to ever become a Bishop in Catholic Church
    • Epona, horse goddess; fertility and earth; farmers will often name their best horses after her; shapeshifter; takes the dead to The Summerlands; one of the only Celtic gods/goddesses to have her own feast in ancient Rome

The Hero's Journey

  • Leaves Home/Recieves Quest
  • Meets Company
  • Faces Trials
  • Separates from Company
  • Final Trial: Win, Lose, or Die

The Screw-up's Journey
The Anti-hero's Journey
The Interior Journey


Folk Tales: oral stories to teach teenagers in the Middle Ages how to live in the world, how society worked and how to get along in life.

Fairy Tales: stories written by the literate for the literate to examine "modern society" and how to best survive in it. Connected to much folklore in that it was meant to help young people navigate a dangerous world

Honors 4: Homework 9/21

Read and annotate "Give Genetic Engineering Some Breathing Room".

Practice Paragraph

  • Pick any of the GMO articles to write a practice analytical paragraph for.
  • Pick one sentence from the 3-sentence summary to use as the topic sentence (include the article's title). Don't forget to use two examples from the text (explain each example)
GMO Questions

  • Are GMOs an international issue? Explain fully.
  • How do GMOs affect American food? Explain fully. [If the questions was "What effect do GMOs have on American food?" then affect would be effect.]
  • Do GMOs need activism for or against? Explain fully.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Honors 4: Vocab for 9/11 Quiz


  • Classic Archetypes: in Jungian psychology, a collectively inherited unconscious idea, pattern of thought, image, etc., universally present in individual psyches. 
  • Hero: puts the well-being of his people above his own safety and from beginning to end, he learns important skills and changes as a person 
  • The Catalyst: an event or person who causes significant changes in others
  • Mentor or Guide: teaches and protects the hero; gives the hero magical gifts to help complete the quest; often tied to nature or religion; could be a failed hero who is trying to help the next generation 
  • Gatekeeper: person who guards a gateway or task; sometimes they are part of the villain’s company or sometimes they can become allies or members of the hero’s group 
  • The Villain: the evil opposing the hero 
  • Trickster: element of chaos, curious to know how and why, practical joker; often causes problems for everyone by accident; comic relief  
  • Thief: generally a reformed criminal who is part of the group to redeem himself/herself 


English 4: Vocab for 9/11 Quiz

Alley: a roadway between buildings that is smaller than a street and often used for deliveries, garbage, shortcuts, and nefarious activities
Ally: a person(s) that will help, not harm

Antagonist: the opponent of the protagonist (not always the “hero”)
Protagonist: the main character, sometimes called the hero (not always the villain)

Are: form of “to be”
Hour: measurement of time equivalent to sixty minutes
Our: possessive pronoun includes self and others

Bourgeois: affluent, middle-class folk who are conventional, conservative, or materialistic
Proletariat: low-wage earning folk who often struggle to afford the basics (food, shelter, clothes)

Friday, September 4, 2015

English 2: Vocab for 9/11


  • Allusion: a historical or cultural reference to something outside the piece of literature
  • Ambiguity: uncertainty of intended meaning
  • Atmosphere: mood, ambience, or emotional tone of a text
  • Cacophony:  the use of words and phrases that imply strong, harsh sounds within the phrase (these words have jarring and dissonant sounds that create a disturbing, objectionable atmosphere)
  • Characterization: creating and establishing specific individuals (characters) in a story, poem, or film
  • Conflict: a resistance the protagonist of the story finds in achieving his aims or dreams
  • Connotation: secondary or associated meanings for a word (contextual usage sometimes)
  • Denotation: dictionary definition of a word