The King Must Die , Mary Renault.

 This assignment has three components. Each student will Carefully read a work of fiction from the selected reading list Write a one (1) page (250 word) introduction to the novel.This introduction will identify the major characters with a brief description of each the setting of the story: time, location, any special characteristics the central conflict in the story – What is at stake? What problems is the novel addressing? What direction is the novel taking? However, while this introduction may indicate where the novel is going, it should not explain how the conflict is resolved in the end. In other words, do not summarize the novel. Instead, this introduction should be similar to the blurb of a book. Write a five (5) page analysis (1250 words minimum, no maximum) of the novel, explaining the ways in which myth underlies the novel, how myth is used in the novel, how any particular myth may be modified in the novel, how the various theories and approaches to myth can open up the novel to a reader, and an explanation for the choices made by the author based on the student’s own perceptions of the work without reference to resources other than the work of fiction itself. Students must incorporate at least three (3) different critical approaches to their novel from each of three categories: a plot approach, a character approach, and one approach other (Category 3). Students are encouraged to apply additional approaches to add breadth to their paper, and students should examine in depth each theory as it applies to their novel. The student’s aim in the analysis is to demonstrate to the instructor that the student can apply the various ideas and theories about myth studied in this class to a work of fiction. Give a brief summary of the approach being used, including identifying its source Define the specific stage, trait, or nature of the approach being applied, and Indicate the specific details from the novel that demonstrate the theoretical approach defined. The three required approaches must be developed with significant details covering a significant portion of the approach. Some possible approaches to the analysis CATEGORY 1: Plot Approaches (must provide significant details as support) – minimum of one required. For each of these approaches apply as many stages functions, incidents, or elements as fit the novel. Campbell’s monomyth (use the simplified 11 stage version ONLY) (Must apply at least five stages of the monomyth to the novel) Lord Raglan’s “hero of tradition” (must apply at least 5 of the 22 typical incidents to the novel) Propp/Hastings 31 functions of the fairy tale (must identify at least 7 functions) or Waller Hastings’s Simplified Version of Propp (must use all five) Otto Rank’s 10 Basic Elements of the Hero Myth (must apply at least 5) CATEGORY 2: Character Approaches (must provide significant details as support) – minimum of one required Male/Female Divine archetypes (Must apply specific types to at least three different characters) Woolger and Woolger’s The Goddess Within Jean Shinoda Bolen’s Every Woman’s Goddess The Triple Goddess (Godesses of Life, Death, and Regeneration) (Leonard & McClure) The Male Divine Archetypes (Leonard & McClure) Propp’s functional characters (dramatis personae) of fairy tales (must identify at least five and explain how the functions apply in detail) Carol Pearson’s six archetypes (must identify at least three or apply at least three to the same character, being sure to apply the Goal, Fear, and Task to details from the story as evidence for the identification) Italian stock characters (must identify all four and explain in detail) Jung’s Primary archetypes – self, persona, shadow, anima/animus (must apply all four in detail) Freud- id, ego, superego (must apply all three in detail) Rank’s View of the Artist (adaptive, neurotic, productive) Homeric Hero (must apply arete, hubris, ate, and nemesis to a single character — you may also apply other terms as well as applying arete, hubirs, ate, and nemesis to multiple characters, one character at a time) CATEGORY 3: Other Approaches (must provide significant details as support) – minimum of one required Great Goddess and the Warrior King/Stag King – Frazier, Gimbutas, Graves Binary oppositions and coded language – Marx, Levi-Strauss, Eliade, Jung, Freud, Rank Sacred and profane space – Mircea Eliade (this is also a binary opposition) Archetypal imagery – Guerrin, Freud (phallic/yonic) Sociological/Anthropological approaches – Frazier, Graves, Malinowski – This is one of the most difficult approaches and will require extensive explanation. Rituals – Levi-Strauss, Eliade, Frazier, Raglan, Jung, Freud, fertility Myth as ideology/community – Lincoln, Levi-Strauss, Malinowsky (In what way does the novel illustrate a specific ideological viewpoint, e.g. Christian, Buddhist, capitalist, communist, feminist, racist, and so on. How does this ideology shape the novel and its characters? This is the most difficult approach and will require extensive explanation. Weigle creation types (ONLY if story includes a creation myth) This is not a research assignment. Students may not use any source material other than the work of fiction itself. Again, students may not use any resource materials for this assignment other than materials presented in this course. Under no circumstances should students be reading any materials that discuss their novel. Students who use materials to discuss the novel that are NOT part of the course content will be charged with a violation of academic integrity, will receive a zero for the assignment, and will fail the course.