Thursday, August 23, 2018

Announcements and Reminders:                           Sit in the same seat as last time.  If you brought your composition book, put your name and period # on the front, and place it in the black crate for B7.   If you don't have one yet, make sure you bring a composition book ASAP.

Targets for Today: I can better understand why it is important to learn about mythology.  I will learn about more creation myths. I will learn about origin myths, then write my own original origin myth.

Today’s  Agenda: 1. Why Study Mythology?   Within the story you receive, how many references to mythology can you find? Circle each one, and write your total in the box. Why Study Mythology -- Answers 2. More Creation Myths:   Native American:   Read a Native American creation story.     -- Respecting Native American Stories  Egyptian:  Ra     -- We will finish the story about Ra.  The Biblical Creation "Myth" As with the stories of any living religion, we should show respect, and be considerate of the beliefs of others in the classroom.   Genesis 1 -- Judeo-Christian Traditions ex nihilo  -- out of nothingness  Genesis 1 King James Version (KJV) 1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 6 . . .  divide the waters from the waters. . . . Heaven (sky)  9  . . . dry land  . . . Earth and Seas  11  grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 14   lights in the firmament of the heaven  -- sun, moon, stars 20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. 3. Origin Myths -- How did things come about?   Sample Origin Myth: How Humans Got Fire      The Sky People (who weren’t human) were about to celebrate the Green Corn Festival in their village square; by tradition, this was the only place fire was allowed. Humans didn’t have fire, so they couldn’t cook food or warm themselves. Rabbit thought this was wrong and decided to steal fire and give it to people. He came up with a trick: He made his hair stand on end so impressively that the Sky People made him leader of the dance. As he danced past the fire, he bent down low--so low that his hair caught on fire. He ran away with his prize.      The Sky People didn’t want their fire to spread around, so they made it rain for four days. But Rabbit hid in a hollow tree and his fire stayed lit. The first humans saw the fire and came running to light firebrands. After that they had fire in their homes, and those with fire shared with those who didn’t. Finally the rains stopped, everyone was allowed to have fire, and people remembered Rabbit fondly for his generous deed. Write Your Own Origin Myth What is the last digit in your phone number? That digit will tell you which of the following will be the subject of your myth. Your story must be at least two paragraphs long. Make up an origin myth (2 paragraphs) to explain: 1--why it gets dark at night 2--why cats and dogs don’t get along 3--why it gets cold during winter 4--where stars came from 5--why snakes have no legs 6--how the skunk got its stripes 7--why humans have no tails 8--why wolves howl 9--why bears hibernate 0--how the rose got its thorns Share stories.

If You Were Absent: Look for the handouts for Why Study Mythology and a Native American creation story. Read the story and complete the assignment on Why Study Mythology.  You can check your answers here:  Why Study Mythology -- Answers See above for directions to write your own origin story.  We will share them next time.

Vocabulary: Mythology: A myth is a story, but it's a special kind of story that has two primary characteristics:    significance and staying power.  Significance  The subject matter is about important, something about how the world works or how the world itself got going or how things came to be.   Staying power These are stories that have survived centuries, sometimes millennia,and this istestament to the deep meaning or functional importance of these stories to the people who hear and tell them.-- the stories that stick around and get told over and over again through generations

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