Reading and Literature:
GENERAL STANDARD 16: Myth, Traditional Narrative, and Classical Literature
Students will identify, analyze, and apply knowledge of the themes, structure, and elements of myths, traditional narratives, and classical literature and provide evidence from the text to support their understanding.
Young students enjoy the predictable patterns, excitement, and moral lessons of traditional stories. In the middle grades, knowledge of the character types, themes, and structures of these stories enables students to perceive similarities and differences when they compare traditional narratives from different cultures. In the upper grades, students can describe how authors through the centuries have drawn on traditional patterns and themes as archetypes in their writing, deepening their interpretations of these authors’ works.
Grade Level
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Learning Standards
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PreK–4
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Grades PreK–2
16.1: Identify familiar forms of traditional literature (Mother Goose rhymes, fairy tales, lullabies) read aloud.
16.2: Retell or dramatize traditional literature.
16.3: Identify and predict recurring phrases (Once upon a time) in traditional literature.
Grades 3–4
(Continue to address earlier standards as needed and as they apply to more difficult texts.)
16.4: Identify phenomena explained in origin myths (Prometheus/fire; Pandora/evils).
16.5: Identify the adventures or exploits of a character type in traditional literature.
For example, students listen to and compare trickster tales across cultures such as the Anansi tales from Africa, the Iktomi stories of the Plains Indians, the Br’er Rabbit tales, and the pranks of Til Eulenspiegel.
16.6: Acquire knowledge of culturally significant characters and events in Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology and other traditional literature (See Appendix A).
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5–8
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Grades 5–6
(Continue to address earlier standards as needed and as they apply to more difficult texts.)
16.7: Compare traditional literature from different cultures.
For example, students read stories about constellations from several cultures, and show how each culture configured and explained a group of stars.
16.8: Identify common structures (magic helper, rule of three, transformation) and stylistic elements (hyperbole, refrain, simile) in traditional literature.
Grades 7–8
(Continue to address earlier standards as needed and as they apply to more difficult texts.)
16.9: Identify conventions in epic tales (extended simile, the quest, the hero’s tasks, special weapons or clothing, helpers).
For example, after reading stories about Perseus, Theseus, or Herakles, students create their own hero tale, employing conventions such as interventions of the gods, mythical monsters, or a series of required tasks.
16.10: Identify and analyze similarities and differences in mythologies from different cultures (ideas of the afterlife, roles and characteristics of deities, types and purposes of myths).
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9–10
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(Continue to address earlier standards as needed and as they apply to more difficult texts.)
16.11: Analyze the characters, structure, and themes of classical Greek drama and epic poetry.
For example, students read Sophocles’ Antigone and discuss the conflict between Creon and Antigone as a manifestation of the eternal struggle between human and divine law.
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11–12
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(Continue to address earlier standards as needed and as they apply to more difficult texts.)
16.12: Analyze the influence of mythic, traditional, or classical literature on later literature and film.
For example, students trace the archetypal theme of “the fall” from the Old Testament as they read Hawthorne’s “Rapaccini’s Daughter,” and excerpts from Milton’s Paradise Lost and view the film version of Bernard Malamud’s The Natural. Or, students read The Oresteia, by Aeschylus and compare it to a modern version such as Eugene O’Neill’s Mourning Becomes Electra or Jean-Paul Sartre’s The Flies.
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Sample Grades 9–10 Integrated Learning Scenario:
Add-An-Adventure
Learning Standards Taught and Assessed:
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Language Strand:
• 3.12 Give oral presentations to different audiences for various purposes, showing appropriate changes in delivery (gestures, vocabulary, pace, visuals) and using language for dramatic effect.
Literature Strand:
• 14.5 Identify, respond to, and analyze the effects of sound, form, figurative language, and dramatic structure of poems.
• 16.11 Analyze the characters, structure, and themes of classical Greek drama and epic poetry.
• 18.5 Develop, communicate, and sustain consistent characters in improvisational, formal, and informal productions and create scoring guides with categories and criteria for assessment of presentations.
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Introduction:
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Students read selections from a poetic translation of Homer’s Odyssey that focus on Odysseus’ adventures and return to Ithaca. The teacher points out characteristics of the oral epic such as the use of extended similes, epithets, tag lines, elaborate descriptions, and plot devices like interventions of the gods. Teacher and students examine and map out the non-linear narrative structure of the work, and discuss the effects of each adventure on Odysseus’ situation and decisions. In discussions and in journal writing, students analyze Odysseus’ complex character and describe how various traits are revealed by his words, actions, or reactions to people and events. (Standards 14.5 and 16.11)
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Practice / Assessment:
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The teacher introduces the project: to create and present orally a new adventure for Odysseus that incorporates the characteristics of the oral epic and demonstrates several aspects of Odysseus’ character. The teacher gives the students criteria that specify the requirements for the content of their new adventure. Using these criteria. students produce a rough draft of their epic tales. (Standards 14.5 and 16.11)
The teacher, or a professional storyteller, actor, or drama teacher, introduces students to the basics of effective storytelling, such as use of facial expressions, gestures, variations of pace and volume, props, and sound effects. (Standard 3.12)
Students practice telling their tales to each other and to family members, focusing on portraying Odysseus’ character. After some rehearsal experience, students and teacher develop criteria for assessing storytelling performances and, if necessary, revise the criteria for story content. As students receive feedback, they revise the story content to improve plot structure, level of detail, and character development, and they also refine their delivery. (Standards 18.5 and 3.12)
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Culminating Performance and Evaluation:
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Students perform their adventures for their classmates. Performances are videotaped for teacher evaluation based on the criteria created by the class and teacher. (Standards 3.12, 14.5, 16.11, and 18.5)
Students plan and present a celebratory event during which they perform their stories for parents, friends, and community members.
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