World Mythology Online L. Fanelli-Teague Midterm Paper Prompts The following prompts may be used for your 3-5 page midterm paper, due March 15th by 5:00 pm. Please upload your papers under the Assignments tab on Sakai. You may also email it to me as a Word attachment. Remember: if you would like to pursue another topic for this paper, please discuss with me before proceeding. Compare and contrast the moral lessons of two and no more than three stories that weve read. For example, you may want to compare how Charles Perraultand his overt moral at the end of each fairy taleinfluences the readers experience of the tales as opposed to Pu Songlings stories in Tales from a Chinese Studio. Or, you may want to compare the moral value in Perraults fairy tales to Angela Carters, Perraults translator and a more contemporary interpreter of the fairy tale genre. Ask yourself: what are the benefits or drawbacks to having a moral message infused in these stories? Do myths need to have a moral value to be meaningful or successful? Are moral lessons essential for myths to continue to circulate and be meaningful to more modern audiences? Consider the ways in which female agency or power are presented in two and no more than three different texts. You should first define power for yourself: is this power sexual? Emotional? Physical? Social? Then, you may want to closely examine one particular fairy tale and compare the ways in which the female protagonist is either barred from or endowed with power in the three different versions we read: Perraults, Grimms, and Carters. Or, you may want to compare and contrast the presentation of female sexuality in one of Pu Songlings tales with the Maenads in Euripides Bacchae. Compare and contrast the theme of madness in two and no more than three stories that weve read. Define madness first and then try to situate it within the context of gender, power, and the time period within which the story takes place. Some questions to ask yourself: are the characters in question really mad? What makes you think this? Is their madness unqualified, or is there something or someone else to blame, such as another character or even society at large? What are the respective authors trying to communicate about normal behavior? Some texts you may want to consider are Euripides Bacchae, Songlings strange tales, or any of the creation/destruction myths. Compare and contrast the theme of the journey in two and no more than three texts that weve read this semester. You should first define what you mean by journey (i.e. emotional, physical, psychological, spiritual) and then consider the ways that the protagonists in each respective texts embark on, and negotiate, these journeys. Do these journeys also imply a transformation of sorts? What is the goal, if any, of the journeys these characters are on, and do they succeed in reaching their journeys endpoints? Some obvious examples to consider include The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh. Submission To submit your assignment, enter text in the Submission Text box below and/or attach one or more files and then click Submit. Save your work frequently. Submission Text

World Mythology Online L. Fanelli-Teague Midterm Paper Prompts The following prompts may be used for your 3-5 page midterm paper, due March 15th by 5:00 pm. Please upload your papers under the Assignments tab on Sakai. You may also email it to me as a Word attachment. Remember: if you would like to pursue another topic for this paper, please discuss with me before proceeding. Compare and contrast the moral lessons of two and no more than three stories that weve read. For example, you may want to compare how Charles Perraultand his overt moral at the end of each fairy taleinfluences the readers experience of the tales as opposed to Pu Songlings stories in Tales from a Chinese Studio. Or, you may want to compare the moral value in Perraults fairy tales to Angela Carters, Perraults translator and a more contemporary interpreter of the fairy tale genre. Ask yourself: what are the benefits or drawbacks to having a moral message infused in these stories? Do myths need to have a moral value to be meaningful or successful? Are moral lessons essential for myths to continue to circulate and be meaningful to more modern audiences? Consider the ways in which female agency or power are presented in two and no more than three different texts. You should first define power for yourself: is this power sexual? Emotional? Physical? Social? Then, you may want to closely examine one particular fairy tale and compare the ways in which the female protagonist is either barred from or endowed with power in the three different versions we read: Perraults, Grimms, and Carters. Or, you may want to compare and contrast the presentation of female sexuality in one of Pu Songlings tales with the Maenads in Euripides Bacchae. Compare and contrast the theme of madness in two and no more than three stories that weve read. Define madness first and then try to situate it within the context of gender, power, and the time period within which the story takes place. Some questions to ask yourself: are the characters in question really mad? What makes you think this? Is their madness unqualified, or is there something or someone else to blame, such as another character or even society at large? What are the respective authors trying to communicate about normal behavior? Some texts you may want to consider are Euripides Bacchae, Songlings strange tales, or any of the creation/destruction myths. Compare and contrast the theme of the journey in two and no more than three texts that weve read this semester. You should first define what you mean by journey (i.e. emotional, physical, psychological, spiritual) and then consider the ways that the protagonists in each respective texts embark on, and negotiate, these journeys. Do these journeys also imply a transformation of sorts? What is the goal, if any, of the journeys these characters are on, and do they succeed in reaching their journeys endpoints? Some obvious examples to consider include The Odyssey and The Epic of Gilgamesh. Submission To submit your assignment, enter text in the Submission Text box below and/or attach one or more files and then click Submit. Save your work frequently. Submission Text