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Storytelling & Guided Reflections

The guided reflections are an opportunity to reflect on the significance of mythic stories presented in assigned readings, and to compare the telling of those stories to your own experience of storytelling. The guided reflections are basically forms that you fill out; what you write will be more reflective than for a paper proving a particular point, and you will not be penalized for minor grammatical errors. But your responses to the prompts on this should be neatly written or typed, and revised to ensure that everything you say is clear.

The sequence and due dates of these assignments are as follows, with links to the more detailed instructions listed further below.

Due Dates
Assignments Due
February 18
March 16
email selection for first guided reflection
March 25
First Guided Reflection (with revision of part 1 as needed
after April 6
oral assessment of Story Summary (by appointment)
May 13

Storytelling Practice

This assignment is designed to get you to experience for yourself what it is like to tell a mythic story repeatedly, for at least one other person, to the point where you can tell it by heart. You will need to refer to this experience in step # 3 of both guided reflections below.

Instructions:

  1. Select a plausible mythic story with contemporary relevance that you can summarize in 150-300 words. The full version of your story can can be quite a bit longer, but you must be able to summarize it briefly. The story can be fiction or non-fiction, religious or secular, something you have created yourself or read/heard somewhere else. The following three categories of stories are acceptable, as illustrated by the on-line samples linked to each category:

    (a) contemporary miracle stories plausibly suggesting the intervention of some unseen powers and/or forces (samples #1-4);
    (b) plausible accounts of legendary heroes of your own culture interacting with unseen powers and/or forces (sample #5); and
    (c) direct descriptions of unseen realms whose existence is plausible to your modern audience (samples #6-7).

    IMPORTANT: With regards to (a), fairy tales and fables are not mythic stories as defined in this course (see "Myths, Stories & Reality"), although your story may include one or two minor magical elements. Allegories and parables are also usually too generic to be plausible, though you may with focused revision be able to adapt them to describe specific historical circumstances. With regards to (b) & (c), avoid the mythology of ancient cultures (especially dead ones like those of Egypt, Greece & Rome) which are too remote and implausible to modern audiences.

    In selecting your story, finally, make sure to:

    • choose something that helps you think about your place in the world, or your relationship to some greater reality, or that is in some other way meaningful to you.
    • consider carefully whether you will be WILLING TO TELL YOUR STORY ONCE A WEEK to whatever audience is available to you.
    • adapt your story to fit your own situation and style as a storyteller     if you have read or heard it from someone else.

    When you have chosen your story, type a summary of it and respond to related questions on the "Storytelling Plan" form (download PDF/ MS Word).

  2. Schedule a time each week when you can tell your story to at least one other person. Possibilities include:

    •  telling the same story to a different audience each week, including potentially other students in the class or some community storytelling group;
    •  telling the same story with slight variations to several close friends and/or relatives; and
    •  telling a different installment of a longer story to the same audience over a series of weeks.

    Record the details of each telling on the "Storytelling Log" handed out in class, which you will be required to turn in at the end of the semester. IMPORTANT: make a back-up photocopy of your log around mid-term to make sure you don't loose it.

  3. After telling the story several times, write out and keep revising a list of 7-10 key storytelling points (1-2 sentences each) that summarize important details you always make sure to cover; learn to tell the story by heart, covering all of these points. This list of points will serve as a checklist when you tell your story by heart sometime after mid-term.

Assessment: The "Storytelling Plan" (see #1 above) is DUE at the beginning of class February 18. Your "Storytelling Log" (see #2) will be collected without prior notice at several points during the term, so please make sure to bring it with you to every class.

Your storytelling (50 points of your grade) will be assessed sometime after April 6 (the first week after spring break), at which time you must submit a printed list of storytelling points (see #3 above). You will also use this storytelling practice as a reference point in both reflections described below, part #3 of which will indirectly assess the thoroughness and awareness with which you tell your story.

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Guided Reflections

Intended Audience:

Think of the guided reflections as a simulated conversation between yourself and a peer keenly interested in mythology, but who has not studied the topic in an academic context. This hypothetical conversation partner wants to hear about (1) some specific example of the role mythic stories have played in the lives of real people; (2) broader traditions of mythic storytelling going back to ancient times; and (3) how the mythic stories of other cultures resemble and differ from stories people tell today. The "Guided Reflection" form guides you through this simulated conversation. While the steps are clearly laid out by the form, the thinking process required is the most challenging task you will undertake for this course.

Instructions:

Select a mythic story told to and/or by characters described in one of the assigned primary sources (book chapter in CP, film, or novel) whose telling is depicted or alluded to in that source, as described in the on-line list of sample stories. Make sure that

  • your chosen story is drawn from one of the appropriate units (units 1 or 2 for the first reflection, and units 3 or 4 for the second).
  • the story has some detail, theme or issue in common with your own storytelling practice, even if the story you tell is very different from the one you read about.
  • if you chosen a story recounted in one of the assigned or optional films, you to review the film again in its entirety to record the details exactly.
    NOTE: you must chose a story from a written source for at least one of the two reflections.

Once you have chosen your story, complete all parts of the "Guided Reflection " form available for download (units 1-2: PDF/MS Word; units 3-4: PDF/MS Word), which asks you to address the three points numbered in the first paragraph above. Your responses should reflect the deep thinking involved in a conversation carried out over several days; responses composed in a single brief sitting will be unlikely to address the deeper significance of the stories analyzed and the three-way comparison required (see FAQ #7).

Important Warning:As noted in the syllabus, I will generally elect severe penalties for academic dishonesty: a zero score for the assignment, and failing the course for a second offense. Inclusion of material from uncited sources--including an internet site or another student's paper--is the most obvious form of plagiarism in paper writing.You are responsible for reading my comments regarding the importance of academic honesty, and my no-tolerance policy for incidents of dishonesty, in FAQ, #10-13; as well as for requesting clarification if there is anything you do not understand.

Other Requirements:

  • typed responses, NOT TO EXCEED 5 PAGES
  • hand-written self-assessment & name
    on BACK of LAST PAGE ONLY
  • attach draft (Units 1-2) or previous reflection (Units 3-4)
  • DUE: beginning of class Wed/Thu, March 25 & May 13

**IN CASE OF LOSS, KEEP TWO (2) ELECTRONIC COPIES **

Note also my comments about late policy & style/format.

Extra Credit: up to five points of extra credit may be given for any paper that reflects thorough reading of one or more of the optional EB listing or viewing of the film listed in the schedule for the corresponding unit. Make sure to hand-write "PLEASE CONSIDER FOR EXTRA CREDIT" at the top of your paper if you wish your reflection to be considered.[TOP]

Alternative Final

If you have scored at least a 90 on both of your previous journal reflections, you may choose to write a more creative paper instead of the second guided reflection. Whatever form this final paper takes, it should still include the elements mentioned on the "Guided Reflection" form:

  1. precise description of a mythic story told to and/or by characters whose telling is depicted in one of the assigned primary sources from Unit 3 or 4;
  2. thorough consideration of related, older storytelling traditions linked to that mythic story, as described in SHM, EB &/or CP; and
  3. thoughtful discussion of your own storytelling practice in relation to that mythic story .

Please observe the same length and other format requirements listed above for the guided reflection.


Storytelling & Guided Reflections (TOP)

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