ENG 4623/5623, Mythology

Spring 2002

Myth in Contemporary Culture Project

Your purpose in this project is to demonstrate the continuity of myth into contemporary culture and to suggest reasons for that continuity. To do this you will select an item of expressive culture produced since 1975, document its use of mythology, and examine why its creator drew upon mythology to accomplish his/her purpose.

The item with which you work can come from a variety of sources: literature, film, painting or other visual art, music, or advertising, for example. You are not restricted except by date in your choice of expressive culture to examine. The mythological influence on the item can take several forms. In some cases, a contemporary creator may have drawn directly from a particular mythological tradition and alluded to, for example, gods from Celtic mythology in a poem. Or the creator may use a mythological pattern such as those which structure cosmogonies in his/her work (e.g., world-parents, emergence). Perhaps the contemporary item includes character types (for example, Trickster) from mythology, or possibly evidence of the processes of mythopoesis may be found in the work. Your first task will be to identify and to document precisely what mythological material or processes have endured or been revived in the item you choose.

In order to assess the reasons for the appearance of the mythological material or processes, you will need to look at some secondary material on the item itself or on its genre. For example, you may not be able to find anything on the particular sword-and-sorcery novel you have chosen, but you should be able to locate examinations of sword-and-sorcery fiction in general. Your response to this second task will necessarily be more speculative than your identification of the mythology in the item, but you should nevertheless be able to suggest some conclusions.

Before you can begin your project, you must have it approved. You will need to do that during a short conference (five or ten minutes) with me in my office (W408). Conferences should take place during the week of 4 April or earlier, with final approval of topics by 12 April. Papers on topics that have not been discussed with me will not be accepted.

The result of your researches should be a typewritten paper of about five pages. Each project should involve at least three secondary sources. Secondary sources are books or articles about your subject. If, for example, you are writing about the use of myth in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the Harry Potter book is your primary source. Secondary sources would include works about the Potter series and works about the myths that you are identifying in the novel. While you may use websites as sources, both primary and secondary, you should be very sure that they are authoritative. If you incorporate an error from a website into your paper, you not the site will be the responsible party. You can count only one website as a secondary source. As in any research paper, all material that is not your own should be documented, using the in-text style prescribed by the Modern Language Association.

The paper, of course, should take the form of an essay with a clearly stated thesis (e.g., "J. K. Rowling uses references to Ugaritic mythology in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone because she is proselytizing for the ancient Ugaritic religion"), which you support with specific data from your sources.

The paper is due by close of business on Monday, 25 April. You may submit the paper via e-mail (but only in a double-spaced format) by 5:00 on 25 April, by turning it in at the English department office before 4:30 on 25 April, or by giving it to me personally by 5:00 on 25 April. DO NOT SLIP PAPERS UNDER MY DOOR. THEY WILL NOT BE READ. Late papers, which will lose one letter grade, will only be accepted until the beginning of the final examination slot for this class at 12:30 on Thursday, 28 April. Early submissions are acceptable.