Story Telling

My story telling experience began at the KOA in Bozeman, MT. It was my family reunion and I have about twenty little cousins. (I know that seems like a lot, but its the truth!) I told them my favorite story about the sword and the stone. It was getting close to bed time, so I knew i had better keep it interesting. I had them help turn the pages in the book and even once in a while i had them help me read a couple of lines. Telling stories to young children can be kind of difficult, because they can ask questions before you get to the main points. I learned that you kind of have to go with the flow and let it be for the kids, so that you know at least they are enjoying it. I also learned that voice tone is very important especially depending on the type of audience that you are telling the story to. For children you need to have several different tones such as a lower one for more intense parts and a lighter happier one for just normal parts. This storytelling was a great experience it taught us how to interact with our audience's and also get the myth or story across to the audience.

Reflection

This was a very interesting class that gave me a broader prospective on myth and how it surrounds us. My favorite part was reading the stories from Jane Yolen and remebering some of them from stories that were told to me as a child. It was interesting to see the parallels in the stories, and the simple life lessons, that were evident in each story that are taught to all of us as childern.

Advertising

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Family Rituals

Everyone always has a different family ritual during the holiday season. My family is probably fairly similar to everyone else's, but like Victor Turner states that rituals have different perspectives between people and between different families. My family has a big prime rib dinner on Christmas eve, then on Christmas day we open presents and enjoy the company of family members. To others this may seem like a typical Christmas; however, to us it has a very special meaning.

4th of July

Every year our family gets together on the 4th of July and celebrates independence day. This family ritual is never planned, everyone just knows where it will be, what time, and obviously the day. Everyone contributes something and by the time we get all of the food laid out there is enough food to feed a small army. And the even sadder part is that most of it is gone at the end! This ritual is kind of like family reunion; everyone shows up, they gossip, eat, play games, and then eat some more. Our family then departs for the day and goes their separate ways. Some of the family wont speak to each other for a couple more months or maybe even tell the next 4th of July.

The End

Two years of hard work, dedication, suffering, chaos, and did I mention hard work? Casper College lasted two years of my life, but it wasn't the college part that was hard, it was the extra curricular activities that I participated in was, it was livestock judging. The entire two years at Casper College I just wanted to be done, most days I just wanted to give up and quit, but a part of me just couldn't bring myself to just quit. We would judge livestock rain or shine, or snow! Well it was usually below freezing or pretty close! But my coach always said practice makes perfect, so after our first competition of sweeping the floor clean and a van loaded with trophies. We were first in the nation. Each compitition getting more competitive by card turned in. Finally it was the last competition of the year after all of our hard work and effort it was finally over. Something inside us felt missing after the season had ended. After if was all over and we simply wanted to quit each day, the end snuck up on us and left. As the year finished up and we graduated from Caper College, we each hold a bond for those two years of hard work and dedication.

Calving Season

It was my first time alone during calving season. My dad needed me to get up several times during the night to check on the heifers to make sure they were doing fine. Well the first time I got up it was about eleven thirty. I grabbed the fully charged flash light and started towards the corrals. The heifers in the first lot were doing just fine as far as I could tell but the closer I got to the second lot I noticed a heifer in the corner alone. As I got closer I noticed that she had already started giving birth. The closer I got I noticed that something wasn't right. To skip the entire anatomy of the birthing process the most preferred way is to have the front feet come out first and then the head follows, however this wasn't the case I noticed the calf's back legs were coming out first, so I knew that this calf needed to be pulled and it had to be soon. I moved the heifer into a calving shoot. (which is simply a shoot that keeps the cows from moving while you help her pull the calf out) I began to pull on the back legs with all my might, but being 5' tall I wasn't of much help to the poor lady! So I had no choice I ran up to the house and called my uncle who lives right next door. He came over within five minutes to save the day. He helped me put the pulling chains on the legs of the calf and with one mighty tug from my uncle the calf slid right out. The calf was alive and healthy! And as soon as we released the heifer for the shoot she fell madly in love with her baby. After my parents arrived home I had told them what had happened, and of course my dad teased me for a while that I wasn't able to do it on my own!

Mid Term

The most important thing I have learned so far is the the hero guide/ranking systems. While reading these stories is very important, I found that keeping these guides in mind while you are reading the story actually helps you comprehend the story even better. I found that having a print out of each list and checking off when a story meets the criteria makes it not only easy to see which analysis the story best fits, but also helps to understand key plot points and to write an analysis or review of the story better. Not only do these guides apply to myths but they could potentially work for many other works of fiction.

Trickster

So during work today a big storm came through, and hailed massively. I texted my boyfriend that a big hailstorm came through and totaled his pickup and that the window was knocked out. He then called me upset and I continued to act all upset about the incident and that I felt really bad. He then started to get upset but I told him that it was just a joke and we laughed about it. While I found it really easy to do over the phone it would have been very difficult in to do in person and keep a straight face.

The Prose Edda

My own episode:


Analysis: The Prose Edda does not seem to fit any of the hero guides very well. I think that this is because of the fact that one it is told from some one else's point of view, so it does not follow the normal basics of a story. Two, while the entire concepts of the stories are there it seems to be missing key elements, this could be because it was told in third person and the narator is trying to get to the key points of the story with out getting long winded.

Oedipus the King

The myth of Oedipus is a very interesting myth. The main character in this story is not really a "good" guy. While he is not evil either it puts an interesting twist on the story. Of all of the hero formulas none of them seem to fit really well. They all struggle to live up to a story that does follow the typical myth pattern. Raglan's hero formula seems to fit best as some conditions are met and not all need be present for this formula to allow a passing grade. Even this formula does not seem to fit well either. That could be because in the case of Oedipus it is more play than typical story.

Dreams

I don’t dream very often, but one dream that I remember is that I am learning how to fly an airplane and every time I start to take off the engine dies. I had this dream for about a month straight each time a little different, but generally the same concepts. According to Carl Jung this dream is a reflection of something that could be going on with me that I hadn’t realized was actually happening. The airplane always dieing before take-off could be a symbol that something else in my life wasn’t working out the way that I had hoped.

The Mwindo Epic Analysis

The Mwindo epic follows Rank's steps very well. First, his mother suffers trials and is reduced to the lowest wife, which meets condition one. He is born of distinguished parents, his father is the king. He is offered to water in a manner, and is raised by a lowly village. He finishes the story of by meeting the last three steps and becoming king.

After reviewing both Rank's and Raglan's hero formulas and reading the Mwindo epic it is evident that Rank's formula is much more correlated with this story. While Raglan has a very sound approach, especially in the case of Greek and Roman mythology, it just does not seem to apply to this story. Rank's formula on the other hand follows almost exactly. All of the little details are met in Ranks formula, from the mother having trials having Mwindo, to being surrendered to water and returning for revenge.

"Praise-Blame"

Blame
~It tries to mold all myths to the same pattern.
~Some times the monomyth doesn’t apply to the whole story just parts of it.


Praise
~Generally fits most myths very well.
~Makes it very easy to analyze myths.
~Can make the more complicated myths easier to understand.

Microtheme Essay

The epic of Gilgamesh fits Cambell’s idea of monomyth in a very precise manner. The story actually fits the monomyth two fold, first there is the adventure of with Enkidu which has all three stages and secondly the adventure for eternity also has all three stages, making this a very interesting epic.
In the first section there is the adventure of Enkidu. The first stage, or the departure stage, begins in two fold. In the first section of the story it occurs when in several areas. First, Enkidu tries to convince Gilgamesh not engage Humbaba because he knows of the demons power, this fulfills the refusal of the quest. Secondly, Gilgamesh has second thoughts about his ability to overpower Humbaba, fulfilling the Supernatural aid section. Other key parts are met as well but these were two of the major ones. Also, in the second section of the story after Enkidu dies these examples are met again.
Stage two occurs in both sections of the story as well. In the first section it is included several times. But in the second section the prime examples are when Gilgamesh meets with Siduri and she gives him advice, this fulfills the Meeting with the God/Goddess. Another a prime example is when Gilgamesh learns of the flood filling the apothesis section.
Stage three, or the return stage happens in both sections as well. In the first section it occurs on their return from defeating the demon Humbaba. It also occurs in the last section when Gilgamesh returns from his quest for eternity.
Overall this story is a very good example of Joseph Campbell’s example of a monomyth. Several or all of the examples from each stage are represented throughout the story in both the first section and second section.

The Heroic Story of Gunner the Great

Gunner the Great
Once upon a time there was a prince and a princess that were living happily ever after in Bozeman, MT. One day they decided that something was missing in their perfect little lives, they needed a dog! After rescuing the puppy, from the awful pound, the prince and princess grew to deeply love him. After months together the princess set forth on a voyage with Gunner their new puppy. While on their journey the princess was attacked by a brutal GIANT. Although little and not quite yet full grown Gunner jumped in the middle, fearless, and saves the princess from the attack of the GIANT. Thus, Gunner proved his love and loyalty to the ones that had once rescued his own life.

(Robert a.k.a. the prince in the story laughed at my version of what happened to me and our dog Gunner that day. By telling the story to Robert I learned that it is key to put emphasis on vocalization, whenever I lapped into a monotone he seemed to be almost disinterested where as when I raised and changed vocal tones he much more enjoyed what I had to say. While I already essentially knew this, it was very interesting to see it first hand.)

The Birth of Finn MacCumhail

Finn MacCumhail is this person that has these “mortal-like” occurrences. He survives the fate of being killed immediately after he is born. Then Finn grows up to become this amazing fighter to save the kings dun, while at the same time releasing all the prisoners from the kings castle. Finn does all of these fantasy things that no one else thought was possible or no one else had ever accomplished. I think from Joseph Campbell’s point of view of this character is the guy that saves the day, which allows everyone to live happily ever after. Finn is the good guy in which most people look up to and try to become. Joseph Campbell probably imagined being like Finn as a young child.

Myth in Popular Culture

1. Movies
Beouwulf
Lord of Rings
Sword in the Stone
ect...

2. Video Games
Oblivion - Begin as a common individual that ends up saving the kingdom.
Assassins Creed - Relive memories of an ancient assassin in biblical times.

3. Holidays
St. Patrick's Day - is a celebration of St. Patrick driving all of the snakes out of Ireland.
Valentines Day - cupid is based off of a Greek myth.

Myth: The Way We Were or the Way We Are?

“A traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, esp. one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature. Stories or matter of this kind: realm of myth. Any invented story, idea, or concept: An imaginary or fictitious thing or person (Dictionary.com 2008).”

“Do you tend to think about myth as the way we were, or the way we are?” I personally think of myth as the way we were, but myth also allows us to have the ability to imagine the impossible. Myths are who we are as children, but it is also something that many of us outgrow within our own lifetimes. The main reason I think myth is the way we were is because we don’t hear of any new heroic or imaginative stories. As Bidney states in the article by Michael Sexson, “Myth is an outdated and inauthentic form of religious expression.” Myths “are” becoming outdated. They are a thing of the past that are being past down from generation to generation. If myth is the way that we are now, we realize what is fictional and also what is the truth.

myth. Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/myth (accessed: May 24, 2008).

Sexson, Michael W. “Myth: The Way We Were or the Way We Are?” chp. 3 Varieties of Religious Expression. Pg 34-45.