Tuesday, November 4th, 2014

Dear Mythology Kids,

onday, October 29th, 2012

Welcome to your Mosaic assignment....

Dear Mythology Kids,

If you missed class, we completed the following:

1. I introduced the mosaic assignment to each class today.

What is a mosaic? A piece of artwork that is comprised of many different pieces. Please see the examples of mosaics below.

Why were they so important to the ancient Greeks? They took the subjects from their mythology and literally cemented them into mosaic artwork.

Nemean Lion



Demeter

Medusa

I look forward to seeing the subjects you have chosen for your mosaics. For those of you that missed class on today (October 29,2012) we completed the following:

1. Introduction of your "Mosaic Assignment"

•Your mosaic must be at least 11 x 17 in size

•The subject may be any aspect associated with our study of Classical Mythology (gods, lesser gods, heroes, monsters, and specific myths and their characters)

•You need to be passionate about your selection.

•If you elect to draw the subject, extra-credit will be given

•If your mosaic is larger than the required size, extra-credit will be given

YOUR MOSAIC IS DUE THE LAST DAY OF THE TERM!

 

 

Creating your own “Inferno” MYTHOLOGY INTRODUCTION:  For this assignment, I am asking you to reflect on your own value system. It does not matter whether or not you believe in an actual place of  punishment, simply assume that such a place exists. What does matter is that you think long and hard about the nature of sin, and how certain evils should be punished. HISTORY: In Florence, Italy, around 1300, lived a man who began questioning his own value system. Dante Alighier was then 35 years old. What did he really believe? What seemed to him truly good, truly evil? He pondered, examined his conscience, and then pondered some more, and finally sat down and wrote the “Divine Comedy,” one of the finest poems in world literature.             The first part of the Divine Comedy is called “The Inferno.” Dante finds himself traveling through nine circles of hell, watching with horror the sinners assigned to each circle. It is a graded underworld, with the lesser sins punished near the top, and the greater ones punished at the bottom of the pit. As with most Europeans in the year 1300, Dante was a Roman Catholic, but his hell reflected his value system, not that of the church.  That is exactly what you are being asked to do for this assignment; create your own underworld, where you consider what is “good” and what is “evil, and assign appropriate punishments based on the sins.” As we discuss Dante’s hell, notice that the sinners are assigned symbolic punishments which appropriately match each crime, and that several aspects are connected to the Greek underworld. ASSIGNMENT: Living in the 21st century, you may disagree with Dante’s value system. You may not consider gluttony a sin. You may be unconcerned with anger or blasphemy against faith, but for your creation of hell you may want to include other sinners, such as those guilty of prejudice, of selling drugs to the young, or hypocrisy, even possibly leading nations to war, etc.             It is time to explore your value system. Who will occupy your first circle, your fifth, your seventh? What evil in your eyes is the worst? Think carefully and well, as you will also devise suitable punishments, just as Dante has done, and make relevant connections to Hades. 1.      You will develop an underworld with SEVEN sins. Please do not use the “seven deadly sins,” as those belong to non-denominational Christianity. Choose sins that reflect who you are as a person. 2.      Your underworld  needs  to be organized in a written and a visual format. The written format needs to be modeled after the following examples. Within your written response you must include the following: a. You need to identify the sin, b. Explain why you  have included it within your “Inferno.” c. Identify the punishment, with underlined text/bold, and include an explanation as to why it is symbolic of the crime, and this should be written in italicized type. d. Five references to Hades must be included within your underworld. Just as Dante  connected references to Hades within the “Inferno.” An explanation as to why you connected that part of the Greek underworld to your hell, must be included within your explanation. (see example #2) EXAMPLE #1 :   “Wesley’s Wells of Woes” Circle 1: Pessimists: The sinners at the top of my well are those that never seem happy; they are constantly saturnine. They moan and complain about tasks that are a part of life and simply must be completed. I have included them within my “well of woes,” because I feel they “infect” their “sin” upon other people without considering the effect.  Punishment:  These sinners will be required to make lemonade for eternity. This punishment fits the crime. The pessimists were unable to find anything positive about their existence; consequently, they will be required to take lemons, which are sour and bitter, as they chose to be while alive, into lemonade, which is sweet and refreshing. The paper cuts are symbolic of the many times they moans or were negative about living, now while they make lemonade, they will be reminded of their sour and painful attitudes. EXAMPLE #2” Circle 1: Complaining: The sin at the top of my inferno is that of complaining. I feel so frustrated with people who choose to moan about anything, just because they think a job is hard. Rather than finding the benefit from completing a responsibility, they waste energy complaining. They also have a tendency to “pollute” others with their “poison.” Punishment: My punishment comes from the fact that pessimists are like bacteria, and they cause decay among others. For every time they complained, a scratch will appear on their skin, which will in turn grow into a bacteria infested wound. The odor will increase, causing individuals to move away from them, and eventually they will realize that their complaining was like a wound. I have given this part of my underworld the Greek name of IXION, because his burnt flesh is so similar to those “infected with pessimism. He will constantly “reek of rape,” just as those who complain will smell of negativity, due to the rotting flesh. 3.      Your underworld needs to be TYPED, SINGLE SPACED, with double spacing between each explanation. You may use first person pronouns and passive voice for this assignment. Please focus on STRONG WORD CHOICES! 4.      Each punishment must symbolically match the sin/crime. You CANNOT punish the sin with the sin! In addition, please avoid sadistic punishments! 5.      The visual concept of your “inferno” is entirely up to you. Extra-credit will be assigned if a three-dimensional visual is created, and if the artwork included on the visual is ORIGINAL!  The following requirements are compulsory: a.       Each circle must be labeled as to the sin it represents. b.      Your art work, or that of others, must be included to illustrate either the sin or the punishment. c.       The sin and punishment must appear on the visual. The explanation as to why the punishment is symbolic is not required on the visual, but you are welcome to include it if you wish. Work days/_______________________________________________________ Due Date: _______________________________- (written portion and visual representation) Check-off List: _______ 1. Seven sins listed from least to worst in severity. ________2. Sins and why you characterize the action as such. ________3.  A punishment that is suitable for each crime. The punishment must be symbolic. Please no sadistic acts. The punishment for each sin must be written in bold type and underlined. ________4. Five connections to the Greek underworld, and an explanation as to WHY you felt they were appropriate to use for certain sins. ________5. Work is typed, single spaced, Times New Roman print, and double spaced between each explanation. ________6. Diagram portion of your underworld should contain a brief written explanation of each sin and the punishment you assigned to it. _________7. Images that you created, or borrowed from another individual, that illustrate the sin, punishment, or both. _________8. WORKS CITED page if you used illustrations from a book, magazine, or from the internet.
		Due Date for Underworld is Friday, November 14th!