Myths & Legends Project Stage 1

You are split up into groups of four to six. Each group is given one of these myth or legend areas of focus:

  1. Divine Myths: Divine myths involve a god or gods and goddesses. They explain the ways of the gods and typically the rules by which the gods and goddesses expect people to live. These myths are often set in a time and place apart from the modern world. Followers of some religions may consider divine myths to be sacred texts.(http://www.ehow.com/info_8158014_different-types-myths.html)
  2. Nature Myths: Nature myths attempt to explain natural occurrences, such as weather and cosmology. Numerous myths, whether people consider them sacred or historical, involve explanations of weather and the universe. In Greek mythology, some of the most powerful gods and goddesses were associated with the weather. Zeus, the king of the Greek gods, was also the god of thunder, lightning, clouds and rain.(http://www.ehow.com/info_8158014_different-types-myths.html)
  3. Afterlife Myths: The ancient Greeks, Romans, Egyptians and Chinese had myths that involve the afterlife. Some involve rebirth and some describe a place that people go when they die. Because death and dying are a part of every culture, death and dying play a prominent role in mythology, even in the myths of cultures of today.(http://www.ehow.com/info_8158014_different-types-myths.html)
  4. Cosmogony Myths: Cosmogony myths, otherwise known as creation or origin myths, describe the making of the world and universe. According to ancient Greek myth, there was once a great darkness where only a bird existed. Life sprung out of the great bird’s egg. The Book of Genesis, the first book of the Jewish Torah and the Christian Bible, describes the creation of the world by the Hebrew god as the work of six days.(http://www.ehow.com/info_8158014_different-types-myths.html)
  5. Prestige Myths: Prestige myths describe a hero, king, gods or a powerful city. One famous prestige myth is the Roman tale of Hercules, a demi-god (i.e., half god and half man) who possessed incredible strength. Another is that of Achilles, a hero of Homer’s Iliad, one of the oldest works of Western literature.(http://www.ehow.com/info_8158014_different-types-myths.html)
  6. Eschatologyl Myths: Eschatology myths are myths of the destruction of the world. Christian eschatology involves the rapture, tribulation and the end of days. Unlike Norse mythology, it does not involve the death of the divine. In the Norse eschatological myth, Ragnarok or “The Doom of the Gods,” involves the destruction of the sun, moon, gods and Earth. (http://www.ehow.com/info_8158014_different-types-myths.html)

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This will be an ongoing project. It will unfold over the next two weeks. I hope you’ve found a legend to focus on. You should be able to recognize complex elements of plot, including setting, character development, conflicts, and resolutions.

Myth s & Legends Project Stage 2

Preparing for Myths & Legends Project Presentations !

You have read at least one myth or legend from the area you have been assigned. You have also had time to discuss the myths and legends everyone in your group has read. In a couple of days, you will begin preparing a brief presentation for the class in which you tell about your legends.



STEP I – ROUGH DRAFTING – Your assignment is to write a (mostly third-person) composition in which you write down what you will say in your presentation.

  1. PREWRITING – This is what we call “planning”. Planning comes in many forms: freewriting, drawing, listing, outlining, webbing (this is a great site), clustering (check out Link #1, Link #2), concept mapping, visualizing, cubing. Now, think for a few minutes about your legend. Jot down your ideas.
    1. Jot down the main events in the story in chronological order.
    2. What is a legend? What things in your story make it a legend? How does my legend satisfy the definition of a legend?
  2. DRAFTING – Write at least four paragraphs. Include notes about what graphics will be included and where they would be on the slide; what sounds will be included and when they would be heard, whether a song will be used and how.
    1. INTRODUCE – Write a third-person paragraph in which you introduce the legend you read. Tell where it came from and any other background information you might have about it. This may be followed by a one-sentence transitional paragraph.
    2. SUMMARIZE – Write a third-person paragraph in which you summarize your story. Tell the main events in chronological order. This may be followed by a one-sentence transitional paragraph.
    3. EXPLAIN – Write a third-person paragraph in which you explain how this story is a legend. This may be followed by a one-sentence transitional paragraph.
    4. EXPOUND – Write a first-person paragraph in which you give your own thoughts or ideas about the story.


STEP II – PROOFING – In class/finish at home (CW/HW). When you finish the rough draft of your paper, ask at least two students who sit near you (the people to your left and right in the group) to read it. Your neighbors should each use editor’s marks while following a peer editing guide and peer review forms:

  1. What did s/he like best about your work?
  2. Which parts were difficult to understand?
  3. What could be done to improve your work?


STEP III – EDITING – When you get your work back, reread your paper:

  1. Consider your critic’s comments.
  2. Decide on the corrections that must be made.
  3. Continue work toward a Final Draft.


STEP IV – FINAL PROOFREADING & DRAFTING
Double-check your:

  • Grammar – Use this Grammar Checklist.
  • Spelling – Use this Spelling Checklist.
  • Organization – Is your writing organized as required above?
  • Clarity – Is your composition easy to understand?

Legend Project Stage 3

Hound of The Baskervilles – Legend Project Stage 3 has you preparing oral presentations using some of the technology at your disposal.

You may be asking:

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