Academic Coaches Conference - 2018 Junior English A Program of the Indiana Association of School Principals
The complex social and political changes that took place in Mesopotamia in the late Uruk period toward the end of the fourth millennium [BCE] represent a quantum leap of unprecedented dimensions that did not occur again until the Industrial Revolution almost six thousand years later.
INNOVATIONS, INVENTIONS, AND DISCOVERIES Cities The Centralized State Civil Engineering Wheeled Vehicles Sailing boats Pottery and Kilns Metallurgy The Loom The Weathervane Glass Cement Mathematics Mass Production Printing Record keeping Ethical concepts and moral ideals Music The Lute, Lyre, and Harp Sculpture Education Writing Literature, esp. the epic Law Stories that formed the basis of Old Testament stories
I. Mythology Atrahasis 28% A. Background and support material from Myths from Mesopotamia 1. Introduction 2. Introduction to Atrahasis 3. Notes to Atrahasis 4. Glossary 5. Supplement B. Atrahasis: A Prose Version for Young Adults C. Literary analysis D. Elements of a Myth
II. Poetry/Epic: Gilgamesh - 40% 1. Background information from Myths from Mesopotamia 2. Gilgamesh a. Literary analysis of fiction b. Elements of poetry c. Elements of an epic d. Monomythic structure 1. Stages of the hero s journey 2. Archetypes in the monomyth
III. Romance: One Thousand and One Arabian Nights - 32% A. Literary analysis of fiction B. Elements of a medieval romance C. Comparison and contrast between tales and to Atrahasis and Gilgamesh IV. Doctor Strange (movie, PG-13) (tested in only the Interdisciplinary round) A. Elements of fiction B. Elements of an epic C. Elements of a medieval romance D. Monomythic structure E. Comparison and contrast to other pieces studied for the competition
PUBLICATION and SOURCE INFORMATION Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh and Others. Trans. Stephanie Dalley. Ed. Stephanie Dalley. Rev. Ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000. [Only the coach will need this source.] Hewig, Patricia. Atrahasis: A Prose Version for Young Adults. 2018. This source is provided by IASP. Gilgamesh. Trans. Stephen Mitchell. New York: Atria, 2004. Doctor Strange. Dir. Scott Derrickson. Perf. Benedict Cumberbatch. Marvel Studios, 2016. Film. McCaughrean, Geraldine, One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1982.
Internet site links Monomythic structure as per Joseph Campbell and Christopher Vogler is discussed in the following: http://kryptonradio.com/2016/11/11/marvels-doctor-strange-heros-journey/ parallels between Gilgamesh, Doctor Strange, and monomythic structure Points out the http://www.skepticfiles.org/atheist2/hero.htm Campbell s monomythic structure in movies The original memo by Vogler about https://cpmorton.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/thewritersjourney-campbell-monomyth.pdf An introduction by Vogler plus his memo about monomyths in film http://bornagaintechnologies.org/ohs/moodledata/8/summary_of_hero_s_journey.pdf by Vogler, this source defines the stages and different kinds of characters in a monomyth http://www.craftywriters.club/reading/christopher-vogler-the-writers-journey.pdf book by Vogler. Includes some good graphics as well The full
The Dropbox for the Junior High English competition also contains the following: Adaptation of Atrahasis Literary analysis questions Elements of a myth Elements of an epic Elements of a medieval romance Vocabulary list Diagram and notes on Campbell s monomythic structure Notes on Vogler s monomythic structure Links to helpful websites
Vocabulary Terms anaphora anthropomorphic aphorism bacchanal contest literature (see pg 42 of Myths from Mesopotamia) deductive reasoning entrepreneur epithet hyperbole inductive reasoning liturgical lyric poetry mellifluous metaphor metonymy misogyny narrative pacing pastoral poetry syllogism synecdoche temporal/temporal world * Contestants should also know the definitions of the literary terms (that apply to the readings used for this competition) that appear in the Literary Analysis document.
Questions to Ask When Analyzing a Piece of Literature 1. General 2. Plot 3. Character 4. Setting 5. Motif 6. Symbol 7. Theme
Questions to Ask When Analyzing a Piece of Literature 1. General 2. Plot 3. Character 4. Setting 5. Motif 6. Symbol 7. Theme Page 1 of 9
1. The epic is a prolonged narrative poem. Characteristics of an Epic 2. The story blends history, legend, folklore, and/or myth. 3. The epic features a large-scale setting. 4. The epic develops a universally significant theme. 5. The epic oftentimes opens with an invocation (but not in Gilgamesh). 6. The story usually begins in medias res (but not in Gilgamesh), and tells of events that transpired before the narrative s present time setting (which it does in Gilgamesh). 7. The story features a hero of noble/divine birth or a hero from a family who has played an important part in the development of the society in which the hero lives. 8. The hero is important or historically significant to the society in which the hero lives. 9. The hero possesses character traits that reflect the values of his society. 10. The hero performs deeds that require great courage, boldness, strength, persistence, and endurance. but he also possesses human weaknesses that make him a character with whom the reader can identify and sympathize.
Characteristics of an Epic 11. The hero s actions determine the fates of many people. 12. The story features supernatural forces (including gods and goddesses) and mythological creatures. 13. These supernatural forces insert themselves into human events, sometimes directly intervening in them. 14. The hero of the epic embarks on a great journey or quest to achieve something of tremendous value to himself or his society. 15. The hero s journey is beset with danger, loneliness, and temptation. 16. The journey requires the hero to travel where no mortal has traveled before. 17. The journey many times transforms the hero in a life-altering way. 18. The epic features literary conventions such as epithets, repetition, and hyperbole. 19. The primary and secondary characters and the plotline of an epic often serve as archetypes for characters and plotlines of stories written during later literary periods. See also Joseph Campbell s stages of a monomyth and Christopher Vogler s mythic structure for writers, which discusses epic archetypes and the stages of the hero s journey.
Elements of a Medieval Romance 1. The hero is bound by the chivalric code of behavior 2. The story idealizes the hero s noble deeds as he journeys on a quest 3. The story idealizes feminine beauty 4. The story idealizes romantic love 5. The hero loves an idealized female character 6. The story features imaginary and vast settings 7. The story features characters who conceal or disguise their identities 8. The numbers 3 and/or 7 or sets comprised of 3 or 7 members appear in the story 9. The hero claims his rightful reward for meeting extraordinary challenges 10. The quest benefits a kingdom, nation, or society 11. The story appeals to the reader s emotions 12. The story appeals to the reader s fanciful imagination
Characteristics of a Myth A myth may not have all of the following characteristics, but it will have a majority of them. 1. Explains the origin or the creation of the universe and/or Earth and/or humankind 2. Features characters who are gods, goddesses, demigods, mythical creatures, and/or proto-humans or humans 3. Is set in a period before the creation of humankind and/or during a time when there was interplay between the world of humans and the world of the gods 4. Portrays the world of humans and the world of the gods as existing side by side in two different realms 5. Portrays gods and goddesses as possessing powers beyond those of humans 6. Portrays gods and goddesses as possessing human emotions and human urges 7. Depicts events that are the work of the gods and goddesses 8. Explains the origin of important rituals or important beliefs/practices of the culture that gave rise to the myth 9. Has a sacred tone 10. Seeks to explain the mysteries of natural phenomena 11. Seeks to answer questions about the human condition, such as Why are here? Who are we? What is our purpose? Why do we have to die? or to help reconcile humans to the unpleasant realities of life
Stages of Monomyth in Gilgamesh Explanation of Terms (All page numbers refer to the book The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell.) Departure 1. The Call to Adventure: The hero is summoned to an adventure that transfers his spiritual center from his ordinary world to a world that is completely unknown to him. This new, unknown world is filled with strange beings, unimaginable torments, superhuman deeds, and delights that are impossible in his ordinary world (p. 48). In Gilgamesh, Enkidu s death calls the hero to begin his journey in search of Utnapishtim. 2. Refusal of the Call: In some monomyths, the hero ignores the call, refusing to take the difficult first psychological step necessary to begin his journey. Consequently, he is trapped in a psychological world that becomes an emotional wasteland. The refusal is essentially a refusal to give up what the hero assumes to be his own best interest (p. 49). In Gilgamesh, the hero does not refuse the call, but he does wander in a wasteland of dry stones and does mourn the fact that a life that ends in death has no meaning. 3. Supernatural Aid: The hero encounters a protective figure who is the helpful, protective power of destiny. Many times, this figure is a guide, teacher, ferryman, or conductor of souls to the afterworld (pp. 59-60). In Gilgamesh, the hero encounters the Scorpion People, Shiduri, and Urshanabi, all of whom aid Gilgamesh on his journey to find Utnapishtim. 4. Crossing the First Threshold: This threshold stands at the limits of the hero s ordinary world. Beyond is darkness, the unknown, and danger (p. 64). Crossing the threshold is a passage from the known to the unknown. This threshold and the other thresholds that the hero will encounter later in the story are protected by a guardian whose job is to ward away all who are incapable of encountering what lies beyond (p. 67). In Gilgamesh, the hero encounters three thresholds, each guarded by one of the supernatural beings listed in #3. 5. The Belly of the Whale: This is a sphere of rebirth where the hero is outside the grip of time (p. 74). In Gilgamesh, this is Utnapishtim s isle.
Stages of Monomyth in Gilgamesh Explanation of Terms Initiation 6. Trials: One by one the trials break down the hero s resistance (p. 89) to the truth he will ultimately accept (p. 90). In Gilgamesh, the hero s trials occur both before and after his arrival on Utnapishtim s isle. 7. The Meeting with the Truth: Once the hero s mind is free of its resistance to the truth, he sees there is nothing that is either good or bad; there is only the law of being (p. 95). Up until this point, the hero has assumed that anything that works against his own best self-interest is bad, but he now sees that the Cosmic Law demands that he redefine his definitions of good and bad. In Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim states Though no one has seen death s face or heard / death s voice. Suddenly, savagely, death / destroys us, all of us, old or young. He makes clear that he never sought immortality; he did what he did to save humankind and the animals and plants upon the earth, not to gain immortality. In the short term, his efforts to build the ark, collect the animals, and gather and store fodder for the animals certainly did not seem as if they were in his own best interest, but ultimately they obviously were. Providing for the needs of others in the end was in his best interest and unexpectedly brought him immortality. He questions whether Gilgamesh has done anything that would move the gods to grant him immortality. 8. Temptation: One last time the hero chooses to see life the way he wants it to be or the way he thinks life ought to be rather than accept it as it really is (p. 101). In Gilgamesh this stage corresponds to the episode in which Gilgamesh sleeps for seven days. He chooses to see himself as a person who can go seven days without sleep. He believes he is up to meeting Utnapishtim s challenge to undergo yet another trial of going seven days without sleep. Even when he wakes up from his seven-day sleep, Gilgamesh does not believe that he ever slept. But Utnapishtim forces him to face his failure. Gilgamesh s attempt to follow the temptation of finding favor with the gods has failed.
Stages of Monomyth in Gilgamesh Explanation of Terms Initiation continued: 9. Atonement: The hero, however, sees that the temptation he has followed did not get him the happiness he seeks. Thus, he accepts that life is not what he wants it to be; instead, he accepts the truth that he has tried so hard to avoid: the world is the way it is. In Gilgamesh, the hero cries out Death has caught me. He has failed to circumvent the Cosmic Law. 10. Apotheosis: The hero sees that what life really is is neither good nor bad but instead it just is. The hero becomes free of all fear and finally finds peace. He is reborn as a person who is more than what he was (pp. 127, 137). In Gilgamesh, this acceptance occurs in the purification rite of bathing. He emerges from the bath as a new man resigned to the fact that he must leave Utnapishtim s isle without winning the gods gift of immortality. He resigns himself to the fact that death is not bad; it just is. 11. The Ultimate Boon: In many monomyths, the hero returns with a magic elixir or object that will magically save the society in which the hero lives. But Campbell sees this magical elixir as a symbol for the spiritual peace that the hero takes with him when he returns to the ordinary world. When the hero returns to the ordinary world with his heart filled with total peace, from that inner peace will emanate a love for humanity that will result in actions that will benefit all humankind (pp. 148-165). It is this spiritual peace that is the ultimate boon that is the wellspring of the good the hero will do when he returns to the ordinary world. In Gilgamesh, the hero leaves Utnapishtim with a quasi-peace; he is resigned to his fate as mortal human, but he still sees his mortality as against his best interest. If he were totally accepting of his mortality, he would not react so excitedly to the prospect of finding the plant of eternal youth.
Stages of Monomyth in Gilgamesh Explanation of Terms Return 12. Refusal of the Return: In some monomyths, the hero so loves living in the blissful belly of the whale that he does not want to return to the ordinary world where he experienced so much unhappiness. This stage does not occur in Gilgamesh. Instead, Gilgamesh refuses to return to the ordinary world without the immortal life he journeyed so far to win. He makes one last attempt to gain immortality by trying to gain the plant of eternal youth. But he fails. He finally accepts, without resentment, the inevitability of death. His total acceptance results in total inner peace. 13. Magic Flight: In some monomyths the hero does not gain the ultimate boon with the blessing of the protector of the boon. Instead the hero steals it and makes off with the prize during a magic flight. This stage does not occur in Gilgamesh. 14. Rescue from Without: In some monomyths, someone from the ordinary world goes in search of the lost hero, finds him, and provides a means of rescue and return to the ordinary world. In Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim orders Urshanabi, who is only a servant to the gods but not a god himself, to provide his boat and his skills to return Gilgamesh to the ordinary world. Like the heroes who are saved by a search party, Gilgamesh must still rely on someone else to return him to the world from which he came just as the hero in the paragraph above must rely on someone else to save him.
Stages of Monomyth in Gilgamesh Explanation of Terms Return continued: 15. Crossing the Return Threshold: Campbell describes this stage as a coming back out of the yonder zone (p. 188). This stage is usually achieved with some kind of pain. In Gilgamesh, the trip covers at least 1,400 miles and must have been made with great effort, although these efforts are not described in any detail. 16. Master of Two Worlds: The hero has been blessed with an understanding beyond that of the normal person. It is an understanding of the essential nature of the Cosmos. The hero now understands what it means to be human as well as understands the nature of the Cosmos. The hero now willingly accepts whatever may come to pass to him. In Gilgamesh, the hero returns to Uruk a new man with a new understanding of his human condition and consequently with a new purpose to his life. His inner peace finds expression in his benevolence to his community. He no longer focuses on himself, but instead focuses on making the lives of his subjects better by restoring Uruk to its antediluvian greatness. In essence, he now is motivated by the same love of his fellow man and of life itself that motivated Utnapishtim to embark on his adventure. 17. Freedom to Live: The hero becomes the conscious vehicle of the Cosmic Law. Instead of bitterly railing against the laws of the Cosmos, absorbed in his personal torments, he now peacefully and cheerfully works within the Cosmic Law, focusing on the world outside himself and its improvement. In Gilgamesh the hero returns to restore Uruk to its antediluvian greatness. The great boon has transformed him from an arrogant, self-absorbed king to a kindly benefactor. He has become a new man fostered in the land of the Deity. Ironically, it is his good works and his story that have gained him a form of immortality that he could never have imagined or expected