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| TABLE OF CONTENTS
/ Role and Evolution of Story In Culture
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SUMMARIES
/ Encapsulating Another
Writer's Work (his/her "voice")
The assignments (six total):
 | 1-5. Five, one-paragraph summaries
 | identify the voice being summarized, |
| identify "where" your voice is heard, |
| identify the writer's thesis, |
| identify his or her main points, and |
| identify his or her conclusions. |
Remember to continually reference back to
the author you're summarizing. The five "voices" are:
| Joseph Campbell, "The Meaning of Myth [Story]"
/ packet |
| Arthur Brown, "Storytelling, the Meaning of Life and The Epic of Gilgamesh"
/ packet |
| Stith
Thompson, "The Universality of the Folktale" / WRAC,
pp 523-526 |
| Bruno Bettelheim, The Uses of Enchantment:
"Introduction: The Struggle For Meaning," pp 25-28 / packet (right after the Uncle Remus
flood story) |
| Jocelyn Chadwick, "Why Huck Finn Belongs in the Classroom"
/ packet
(right after Joseph Campbell's 12-step hero journey readings)
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| 6. You may choose any one of your five summaries (each worth 1% of your grade)
and rewrite that one you like best for a 10% grade. |
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CRITICAL ANALYSIS
/ Analyzing & Responding to Other Writers' Work
The assignment: 3 Options
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EXPOSITORY SYNTHESIS
/ Explaining the How or Why of Other Writers' Work
| This assignment is student-driven; you may
choose any story, writer, genre, or idea to explain the how or why or
both of some element of interest to you. You will look for at least
two other writers (more are encouraged) that have something to say
about the topic you decide to develop--and synthesize all voices
involved, including your own.
Remember, to synthesize means to draw the relationships between the
parts; in writing, a synthesis of voices are presented in relationship
to each other. |
For example, you might write, "Disney, to keep
Song of the South a family film, had to downplay the reality
of slavery. He reports '....,' but so-and-so gets his dander up when
he hears this. He writes that . . .. But then Chadwick reminds
us that. . ."
Notice the words "dander up," "reminds us that." These are words
that position the speakers in relationship to each othr.
Below are some ideas to get you started. You may
pick from this list or wander off the trail to discovery. If so, let
me know what you come across so we can talk about development.
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HOW? |
WHY? |
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| we know the universality
of the flood |
| the various versions
compare |
| Noah and Gilgamesh were
mythical "hero" stories |
| truth is revealed in our
study of the various flood stories |
| the importance of the ark
is revealed by different cultures and religions |
| the stories teach us |
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| the flood story is so
eternal |
| we can or can't dismiss
the story |
| Gilgamesh sought
immortality |
| Noah sought righteousness |
| there are such strong
similarities in the Gilgamesh and Noah stories |
| Gilgamesh teaches us one
thing and Noah another |
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| Huck Finn
is a "hero journey" tale |
| Jim becomes a
father-figure to Huck in the Disney film version |
| Huck Finn came to
"unlearning" (using Chadwick's word here) what he'd been taught |
| Twain pushed Huck into a
corner, forcing him to make moral choice |
| the high violence level in
the Disney film enhances or distracts from Twain's story |
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| Huck Finn
is controversial |
| Twain manages to
offend for 150 years |
| the changing debate
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| Twain spoke out against
racial inequality |
| Disney, if he says he
wants to produce family films, upped the level of violence in
his film over the 1949 Mickey Rooney film |
| we should or shouldnot
censor stories |
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| Song of the South
is a collection of "fables" |
| Uncle Remus took on the
father role for Johnny |
| Disney used animation and
live acting to enliven Song |
| the Oscars tried to skirt
the issue of racial prejudice in the '40s |
| the original stories, the
newer cartoons, the various book editions, and Song
differ and how those differences reflect cultural "sensativities" |
| the "meaning" of Uncle
Remus |
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| Song of the South
is so controversial |
| Song should be
re-released |
| Song should be
buried |
| Song was a
clnematic wonder |
| James Baskett only won an
"honorary" Oscar |
| we should should or should
not are about Uncle Remus and what he can or cannot teach us |
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| stories "reconcile what we
can't reconcile" |
| stories morph from culture
to culture from, era to era |
| stories teach conflict
resolution |
| stories limit or enhance
our self perception |
| stories speak the truth |
| fairy tales and myth
differ |
| fairy tales bridge the
conscious and unconscious |
| stories bring us hope,
purpose, and meaning |
| how we "act out" gender
role modeling |
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| people are afraid of
stories |
| stories carry great import |
| stories morph from culture
to culture, from era to era |
| people love stories |
| Bettelheim and others
believe in fairy tales |
| Campbell believes in myths |
| we need stories |
| "stepmothers" are cruel in
our stories |
| we absorb gender roles
modeled from stories |
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| Hollywood capitalizes on
"Cinderella" |
| Disney alters oral fairy
tales and what happens to them |
| Disney creates and
recreates |
| we can learn from
"Cinderella" |
| we are effected by
"Cinderella" |
| children are able to learn
conflict resolution with "Cinderella" |
| father loss or fixation
destroy family unit |
| father loss haunts a
girl/woman, boy/man |
| father loss is illustrated
in other stories |
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| "Cinderella" remains our
favorite story |
| Disney reduces story to
formula and serves story robbed of power and meaning |
| fathers are important |
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| PERSUASIVE SYNTHESIS |
| You will write about a belief or personal philosophy--which you see reflected in story.
You may use one story or several, and you may use anything from ancient literature,
folklore and fairytale, and/or twentieth/twenty-first century literature. This can include
film. You may restrict your thesis to you personally or you may expand your thesis to
include society at large--and comment on gender, social, and/or political issues.
You are to try to persuade me to your viewpoint/thesis--a thesis that can't be proven, and
you will use story to support that viewpoint.
For example:
I could write a persuasive synthesis stating that Miracle on 34th Street is
a metaphor and analogy of God. I would use scenes and quotes from the story, both
versions, to support that statement. One scene in particular comes to mind; when Santa
Claus was asked to raise his right hand swear to tell the truth, he wanted to know where
the Bible was. The bailiff said they didn't use Bibles anymore. Santa looked confused,
then recovered and said: "Very well, then, I'll just put my hand over my heart."
He was making a clear statement that we are governed by a higher authority and he
deliberately aligned himself with that authority in much the same way Jesus aligned
himself to higher authority. Furthermore, that scene also suggests that love, symbolized
by Santa using his heart for swearing upon, is the key to discerning truth and seeking
justice--blah, blah blah; you get the picture.
2nd example: I could write a persuasive synthesis using Peter Pan to demonstrate
the roles men force onto women when they refuse to grow up. With this folklore story, it's
Wendy or Tinkerbell. In the Bible, it's Mary Magdalene or Virgin Mary. In cruder terms,
it's mother or whore. I would give examples from numerous stories that reflect this
"truth" that I can't prove. To bring balance and end on a more positive note, I
might use Ever After, and point out the obvious restoration it is to a woman when
the man in her life decides to grow up.
3rd example: I could write a persuasive synthesis using "Hansel and Gretel" and
"Cinderella" to convey my ideas on blended families. I might bring in some
background and historical facts about stepmothers in Europe and compare that with
stepmothers in our own culture. I would need to have an authority on marriage and family
affairs, and would look to psychological and sociological texts.
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| READ: The WRAC chapter on Persuasive Synthesis |
| LENGTH: Five pages or 1200 words
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