The Course

Mythology is a study of the stories about the origins of a people and their deities, ancestors and heroes. Our main focus will be on ancient cultures but we will always try to relate our studies to the modern world.

Many of the myths we study were once the religions of entire civilizations so we will remember always the words of Mark Twain:

"The greatest disrespect is disrespect
for another person's religion."

FAKE THEM OUT

A lot of people judge on appearances. Make them think you're wonderful. Type your final drafts. Always use a complete heading and a title, leave one inch margins and write on only one side of the paper. Make the computer do the work. Have it type your heading and title. Have it type double spaced. Use 12 point type.

BYTES AND RAM

If you work on a computer, wonderful. You will be able to hand in beautiful papers that have been carefully formatted, grammar checked and spell checked.

Make copies of your work to bring to class. If I ask to see your work and you say it is at home on your computer, I will say "*.*" We will do a lot of work in class. You need to bring everything with you.

Do save a copy on disk. The teacher is a nitpicker. He will ask you to reprint your essay for insignifigent details. If you need to type a heading or title, or italicize a book title that you only underlined, or, great Odin, he loses your work (claiming that you never turned it in), you can simply print out a new copy. Neat.

THE ULTIMATE

Our ultimate goal in this course will be to understand the mythologies of other people and relate them to the world we live in. You will be able to see the myriad references to the gods of other cultures in your daily life!

I would rather be tied to the soil as another man's serf, even a poor man's, who hadn't much to live on himself, than be King of all these the dead and destroyed.

Achilles

SPELL IT RIGHT

a lot. all right. receive. separate. it's These are not mythical spellings! Write them right! All of your work should be proofread. Final drafts should be perfect. Use your parents, use your friends, use your computer. Just get it right.

CREATION

Work in a group of three or four. Create a culture and a mythology. Describe climate, principal gods, conflicts, ideas of good and bad. Write a myth that explains their creation and another about some aspect of their society. Illustrate and dramatize your story.

Monday: Group name, members

Tuesday: One page outline, schedule

Thursday, September 1. Presentation

CONTACT

E-mail me! Send me a note that includes your name, your class and period, your e-mail address and some thoughts about your hopes and forebodings about this class. [Too hard? Go to http://jbf.fergus.com and choose "Class Informaton" from the menu.]

E-mail: jbf@fergus.com

Website: http://jbf.fergus.com

Phone: 775-8525 431-6823