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Examining Belief 1: Myth and Meaning
Examining Belief 1: Myth and Meaning
Myth and Meaning Cary Honig Email: caryh@school-one.org fully updated for 2023
Welcome to the Examining Belief 1 page. Hopefully, this overview with links to the assignments in context will make your life easier.
Examining Belief is a class that takes an objective approach to understanding some aspects of religious experience and history. It focuses on understanding the theories about the importance and meaning of mythology during trimester one, on the Old Testament, particularly Genesis and Exodus, during trimester two, and on the New Testament, particularly the gospels, Ephesians and James, during trimester three. The main skills addressed in this class are learning how to write a research paper and how to present that research to a class (without reading the paper aloud). Students need to be willing to write a research paper and to make an oral presentation of about fifteen - twenty minutes in order as well as to read and answer questions about fascinating but challenging readings to earn credit in the class. This class can be taken for either English or history credit. The workload is the same whether it is taken as an English or a history class.
One aspect of doing academic research that must be mastered is learning how to use research material appropriately and citing it properly. We will spend class time learning about this, and students must follow these instructions in order to earn credit. Students who don't follow these directions in college will not remain there long. This is not just a stodgy rule; it's a matter of fairness and honesty. One must give others credit for their ideas and hard work. Students should read the source policy carefully before the first class and be prepared to follow it. Every student will have to sign this policy on the first day of class.
Students will receive copies of Jung's Man and His Symbols and Ovid's Metamorphoses, which they must return or pay to replace. There will be handouts for the other class readings. Students are strongly encouraged to use School One's digital library subscriptions to JSTOR. One great new resource this time around is a subscription to the Biblical Archeology Society Digital Library, and students must use at least one of them in research for their papers. JSTOR is widely used at colleges, so this is important preparation, and it's a great source of information not available for free on the web. The BAS library features easy to read articles with lots of visuals over the past 45 years or so. The following link explains how to make your own account at these digital libraries so that you can use them anywhere you're online. I am also including a link to The Columbia Guide to Online Style to help with citation.
The Columbia Guide to Online Style by Janice R
Digital Library access for this class 23
2023 webinar recording on JSTOR usage/updates
On the other hand, wikipedia is not a legitimate source for this paper. A student can use it to get an overview to begin research and perhaps to find sources, but cuts and pastes or paraphrases from wikipedia or citations to it are not acceptable. This is very easy to catch if anything rouses my suspicions, and it doesn't take much to do that.
In general, homework reading will be due on Mondays and paper-related assignments will be due on Wednesdays, but this isn't exactly the case during the first two weeks, so please look at those assignments below carefully. Homework must be done of time. Late homework will lead to extra work. Students who are late with eight or more assignments cannot earn credit.
There will be weekly reading assignments for which students will write answers to questions. These are weekly because I expect them to take some time, so students should not leave the whole reading until the night before it's due. Some of them will be easy to do in one sitting, but especially those with four pages of questions will not be easy or pleasurable to do in one sitting. These are not big assignments for a week, especially if taken as five to ten pages per night. If I detect any inkling that this homework is based on another student's work (and that's not limited to direct copying), and I am very good at discerning this (ask students who were in Trials last year), there will be no credit for the trimester.
The overall research paper assignment for the trimester with sub-deadlines is linked here:
and now for something completely different:
A funny paper some guy wrote about Baywatch as mythology
Week One: Overview of how to write a research paper. Look at model paper about Bunyoro and Busoga mythology. Review of the research paper assignment and specific sub-deadlines. Particular instruction about note cards. Addressing our views about religion and mythology coming into the class. Introduction of Carl Jung and the concept of the unconscious. Grammar: usage
DNA verifies aspects of Irish myth 20
DNA verifies aspects of Swahili oral tradition 23
Cary's African mythology paper. w notes.doc
Introductory in-class questions
Jung - The Holy Grail of the Unconscious.doc
The first homework reading assignment in Man and His Symbols (pages 2 - 26) is due by class time on August 30, which is the first day of class. The questions are found in the Jung questions document linked below, and students should refer to the vocabulary document to make the reading easier. Reading further now will make next week's longer assignment easier. Students should also be considering which culture they want to write about in their paper, and they are encouraged to consult with me about it (in person or by email) if they aren't sure.
The first paper assignment is a one page summary of the student's chosen topic, the reasons why it was chosen and how s/he will approach the research. It is due on Wednesday, September 6 at class time. See the overall Research Paper assignment linked above for details.
Week Two: This week is focused on Jung's theories, especially the collective unconscious and archetypes and how they are used by Jung to explain how myths are created and why they are important. Students will have their homework from last week back and can add notes to it as we discuss the material. It is vital that homework be done on time so that we can discuss it in class. We will read Book One of Ovid in class. Grammar: apostrophes
Ovid, Book 1 questions and vocabulary
The second reading assignment, which consists of 4 question pages instead of the usual two, covers pages 26 - 94 in Man and His Symbols and is due by class time on Monday, September 11. Note that it's 2 two sided questions sheets. The questions are found in the same document as last week's reading questions. It's interesting but a good bit of reading, so don't leave it all until Sunday.
Students' first 20 notecards plus at least 2 bibliography cards are due on Wednesday, September 13. They will be returned the next day. See research paper assignment sheet and research handout for details. We will go over how to do note and bibliography cards in class the first week. It's easy and makes writing the paper and bibliography easy.
Week Three: This week will continue our discussion of Man and His Symbols. Students will also received feedback about their first set of 20 note cards to be sure their initial research is going well. If we have time, we will begin discussing Joseph Henderson's views from the same book.
Grammar: Agreement
This week's reading assignment has 4 question pages and covers pages 97-156 in Man and HIs Symbols, but it is by a new author: Joseph Henderson. This reading more explicitly ties Jung's ideas to mythology, and is it is due by class time on Monday, September 18 Reading homework will now always be due on Monday unless there is a day off, in which case they can be emailed or handed to me on Tuesday morning.
Henderson questions and vocabulary
Students' first 40 notecards (including last week's 20) plus at least 4 bibliography cards (including last week's two) are due on Wednesday, September 20. They will be returned the next day. See research paper assignment sheet and research handout for details. If I asked for changes on the first 20 note cards, those changes (things like adding page numbers or being sure the source is clear) should be made by this deadline.
Week Four: This week we will discuss Henderson's views, specifically with relation to issues like the significance of the hero, beauty and the beast, monsters, initiation and transcendence in myths. If we're working in a timely way, we'll take time out to write creations myths and try to guess the group each myth represents. Grammar: Commas and adverbial clauses
Creation Myth creative writing assignment: in class
This week's reading assignment consists of two shorter readings by Joseph Campbell and Robert Graves, who have very different views of what's going on in mythology. The readings will be handouts. Both question sheets are due at class time on Monday, September 25. This will lead to a really enjoyable assignment next week.
Joseph Campbell questions and vocabulary
Robert Graves questions and vocabulary
Students' 60 notecards plus at least 6 bibliography cards are due on Wednesday, September 27 by class time. They will be returned the next day. See research paper assignment sheet and research handout for details.
Week Five: We will discuss Joseph Campbell's focus on the hero as central to world mythology and Robert Graves's view that mythology is often coded history. I will provide a chart of what I see as key elements in hero myths, and we will use it to assess current popular mythological heroes from James Bond to Harry Potter (and anyone students suggest). We will discuss what these elements may signify and suggest about the age group particularly addressed in hero myths. We will also address what to do with the note cards when it's time to write. Grammar: commas and subordinate conjunctions
Putting It (the research paper) Together
When To Use Notes in your paper
Wendy Doniger on Harry Potter and his mythical roots
This week's reading assignment should be a pleasure and a reward for all of the more serious work so far. Students will read Robert Graves's translation of Apuleius's story of Cupid and Psyche, which will be a handout. The question sheet is due on Monday, October 2 by class time.
Students' introductions to their papers (approximately one typed page) are due on Wednesday, October 4 by class time. They will be returned the next day. Students are welcome to do more than this if they want to get ahead. See research paper assignment sheet and model paper (Bunyoro myths) for details. I am happy to work with students on their papers before school, during lunch or after school if they make appointments.
Sample Introduction and early body section from my paper
Week Six: We will discuss Cupid and Psyche in terms of gender and how a female hero in mythology created in an earlier age is different from and similar to a male hero. We will chart Psyche on our hero chart to help this process. Grammar: Commas and Coordinating Conjunctions
This week's reading assignment is from the work of the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski, who connects mythology to magic and ritual. Students need to read pages 96 - 148 and answer the four question pages for Tuesday, October 10 by class time.
Malinowski questions and vocabulary
The first halves of the students' (approximately five full typed page) papers, with the first page revised based on my comments, are due on Wednesday, October 11 by class time along with the draft of the introduction with my comments on it so I can check your progress. It would be great if some were a day or two early. They would get first priority for being graded and returned right away. Students are welcome to hand in more than this if they want to get ahead. See research paper assignment sheet and model paper (Bunyoro mytho) for details. I am happy to work with students on their papers before school, during lunch or after school if they make appointments.
Week Seven: We will discuss Malinowski's theories about myths and magic this week. What is the social purpose of magic (especially if it really can't do what it claims). Why does a belief in magic survive despite so much evidence against it? How does magic and magical thinking affect our lives even in the twenty-first century?
We will watch Cocteau's wonderful film of Beauty and The Beast either this week or next. We will compare the film to Cupid and Psyche as well as other stories the students know.
Grammar: commas and non-essential clauses
Do You Believe in Magic - Times 07.doc
Beauty and the Beast questions
This week our reading is about the theories of the anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss, who died at 100 about 15 years ago. The reading assignment comprises two chapters about mythology from a book about Levi-Strauss's theories by the anthropologist Edmund Leach. This will be the most difficult theory to understand, but I think you'll find it a bit easier coming from Leach than directly from Levi-Strauss, to whom you should move on if you find him interesting. The assignment is to read pages 59 - 91 and to answer the questions by Monday, October 23 by class time. I am also attaching some articles about Levi-Strauss that aren't required but will provide more information including his New York Times obituary. Note that no reading is due when you get back from Columbus Day weekend, and it's not in honor of Columbus, but a smart student would use this opportunity to get a bit ahead on the reading and also to finish up the first drafts of their papers.
Levi-Strauss questions and vocabulary
The influence of Levi-Strauss 2009
An Appraisal of Levi-Strauss09
Savage Detective - levi-strauss '09
The students' full first drafts including a properly done bibliography and full parenthetical notes, with the first halves revised based on my comments, are due on Wednesday, October 18 by class time along with the draft of the first half along with my comments. It would be great if some were early. They would get first priority for being graded and returned right away. I will do my best to have all of the papers back to students by Monday, October 23. See research paper assignment sheet and model paper (Bunyoro myths) for details. I am happy to work with students on their papers before school, during lunch or after school if they make appointments. The hardest part of the class is now done.
Conclusion and bibliography review.
Week Eight: We will discuss Levi-Strauss's ideas, particularly with regard to mythology and its function in society. Once we have done that, we will summarize and compare the major theories about mythology that we have discussed so far this trimester. As one of these theories must be used in each term paper, this should help students having trouble with that part of the paper. Introduction to Ovid.
Grammar: commas and initial words and phrases and comma rule review
summary of theories about myths
Remember that you had two weeks to do the Levi-Strauss reading listed under last week's assignments. It's due on October 23. If you are done, you can get ahead on Ovid.
There is no due date for the research paper this week, but students should be working on revising and seeing me for help if they are not sure about any aspect of the revision. The final revision is due next Wednesday, November 1, and there are no exceptions. Be sure that I get the draft I marked up along with the final draft.
Week Nine: We will analyze the first book of Ovid's Metamorphoses using our newfound analytical skills. Students will begin their oral presentations to the class, using their note cards or online presentations but not reading their papers. Grammar: Quotations and punctuation
Our weekly reading is easy and fun this week so as not to interfere too much with completing the term papers. Students will read Books 2-3 of Ovid's Metamorphoses (Greek mythology by a very entertaining Roman author) and answer the questions by class time on Monday, October 30 by class time. Many of the stories in Ovid are as vital as key Bible stories for understanding later western literature, and Ovid was one of Shakespeare's main sources (along with the Bible, Plutarch and Raphael Holinshead).
Ovid 2-3 questions and vocabulary
reading Ovid in the Age of MeToo 18
The thoroughly revised final draft of the research paper MUST be in by class time on Wednesday, November 1 along with the draft that I marked. This includes a revised bibliography and all notes done properly and mechanics fixed. Students should have seen me the previous week for help if they needed it.
Students who had four to seven late assignments have an extra essay assignment that must be done well in order to earn credit. Students who had more than seven late assignments are not eligible for credit. It MUST be in by Tuesday, November 7 by class time with an absolutely complete revision in by Tuesday, November 14 at class time at the latest.
Week Ten: The main focus this week is student presentations about their research. Those who didn't go last week will likely go this week. We might spend a little time discussing Ovid depending on the schedule. Grammar: Colons and Semi-colons
We will continue with Ovid. The questions for books 4-5 are due on Monday, November 6 by class time.
Ovid 4-5 questions and vocabulary
Week Eleven: We will finish up with any remaining student presentations. Students cannot earn credit without doing the presentation for the class, so don't come up with a cold if you haven't presented. We will also be discussing Ovid's great myths and applying our theorists to his stories. Punctuation: punctuating with however
Our final reading assignment is to read Ovid's books 6-7 (up to page 199) and to answer the questions. This is due by Monday, November 13. Students who have remained caught up have now completed their homework for the trimester. Those who had some late work still have to do their extra essay revisions for the next day.
Ovid 6-7 questions and vocabulary
Week Twelve: We will continue to analyze Ovid's stories using what we have learned all trimester. Preview of trimester two. Grammar: Semi-Colons
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