Fantasy LiteratureMaking of Myth

Question Your Reality

jane fullerton

Components of the Course

The Hero’s Journey Myth- analyzing and creating Symbolism The Collective Unconscious Dreams FANTASY

Texts

The Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell

Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin

On a Pale Horse by Piers Anthony Princess Bride by William Golding

Movies (some, but not all)

Star Wars Trilogy (IV, V, VI)Batman BeginsThe MatrixThe Power of Myth

What Else We Will Be Doing!

Journal Writing 4 Critical Essays Reflective Writing Critical Thinking and Debating College Essay Fantasy Story Analytical Paper Exploring!!!!

Expectations

I treat this class as a college course! Therefore it is a more relaxed environment. This means more responsibility on your part, less reminding on my part.

We will be engaged in a lot of critical discourse. The Hero With A Thousand Faces can be difficult

because it is a college level text. Essays need to be edited, typed, and written in MLA

format.

Discussion/Participation

The other element that is a vital and indispensable part of this class is critical discourse!!!!

Journal Assessment- an essential component!

Journals Assessment Your journals are a place to reflect. There are times when I

will give you specific journal assignments. I will collect the journals periodically--. The idea is to create an ongoing discourse, a conversation with yourself, the characters, the author and me. How many journal assignments are appropriate? I cannot answer that question. If you do the minimum which is answer the specific journal assignments that are assigned you will at most receive a C to D range.

What is A work? Effort-- a true discourse which includes classroom discussion, the books, movies, other materials, and your own thoughts. It means taking the initiative to really question--reflect--disagree-wonder about all we are doing in class and in our lives.

Some Questions to Ponder

Do you believe dreams are important? Do we have a soul? Who are your heroes? What is sin? What is myth? Do we need myth? Why are symbols important? Are there universal symbols? What is the difference between conscious and unconscious? Is instinct important? Does our culture need mythology? Do you believe in magic? Does it even exist?

HEROES!!!

How do you define the concept of a Hero?

The Journey

It is my hope that this class will provide an environment of exploration and cultivation of ideas and theories. Our culture has lost much of the art of story telling, yet we love our heroes! We will explore our own definitions of fantasy, myth, and culture.

You will be asked to keep an open mind because many of us share differing beliefs!

Through critical discourse we can create new myths through our collective experiences and stories!