Instruction
Your journal will consist of three steps:
Step One--Summarizing (What?)
Summarize at least six of the thirteen myths in Chapter 4 and at least five of the nine flood myths in Chapter 5. Relate the most important details of each myth. Describe the important concepts of the section you are summarizing. Be sure to use direct quotations and paraphrases to construct a faithful summary of the myth. You are writing only for yourself here, so do not worry about grammatical errors, but be sure to include page numbers for exact quotations. Just be sure the summary is comprehensive and as close as possible to the original meaning.
Step Two--Responding (So What?)
Immediately following the summary, write your reaction to what you have just read (so what?). At this point, you want to explore your reaction to the text and connect the new information to your existing web of knowledge.
Step Three--Analyzing
Respond in detail to the following prompts:
For Chapter 4:
Discuss similarities and differences between and among these myths.
Many of the myths detailed in Chapter 4, “The Earliest Times,” discuss a “fall of man” or “fall from grace,” which could otherwise be expressed as a decline from more perfect times closer to creation to less perfect times further from creation. What could be an explanation for this “corruption” of the human experience or “corruption” of mankind?
For Chapter 5:
Discuss similarities and differences between and among these flood myths.
Do you detect a common pattern in the chronology of the flood myths? That is, is there a pattern to what happens first, second, third, etc. in these stories? If yes, describe the pattern. If no, demonstrate why not.