Block Day, September 13 ~ Lewis on Mythology

Prefix

• di - two
• dia - across, through

Suffix

• fic - making, causing
• ful - full of

Root

• sci, scientia - know

Grammar:

• Take Sentence Structure Notes: I know it sounds basic, but please, begin your grammar notes with the definition of a sentence. 
• "A complete sentence must have ________, __________ and ____________________.
• Take notes from this page and this page.
• Then use this one to test your knowledge. 

EQ: So, if myths are worth studying because they capture this human desire to be more than we are, what is it that we want? What exactly are the qualities of hero? Examples? 

Journal 6: Perspectives on Myth 
Read over this page. What rings true from these voices? Record one of the quotes and why it rings true over the others?

Activity: Hero's Journey

• Activity: What story am I telling?
• Video Clip: What is the Hero's Journey?
• Application: In small groups, use this chart to figure out how common hero stories fit the pattern. Your group will choose a movie or book to work on together. Some stories may include The Hunger games, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Spiderman, Batman, Superman, Divergent, Back to the Future, The Hobbit!!! (basically any good hero story you all know).

Journal 7: Lewis on Myth
Considering our essential question. C.S. Lewis has a pretty cool answer:

In one way, of course, God has given us the Morning Star already: you can go and enjoy the gift on many fine mornings if  you get up early enough. What more, you may ask, do we want? Ah, but we want so much more -- something the books on aesthetics take little notice of. But the poets and the mythologies know all about it. We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words--to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it. That is why we have peopled air and earth and water with gods and goddesses and nymphs and elves--that, though we cannot, yet these projections can enjoy in themselves that beauty, grace, and power of which Nature is the image. That is why the poets tell us such lovely falsehoods. They talk as if the west wind could really sweep into a human soul; but it can't. They tell us that "beauty born of murmuring sound" will pass into a human face; but it won't. Or not yet. For if we take the imagery of scripture seriously, if we believe that God will one day give us the Morning Star and cause us to put on the splendour of the sun, then we may surmise that both the ancient myths and the modern poetry, so false as history, may be very near the truth as prophecy. At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door.... but all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumour that it will not always be so. Someday, God willing, we shall get in. (from The Weight of Glory).

Journal 7 Prompt: Lewis Quote: Summarize this Lewis quote in 3-6 sentences. Then answer a few questions: How does it answer the E.Q.? What is he saying Greek stories really are? What were the Greeks actually hoping for in their own stories?