Level I Review

1
Level I Review

• A Brief Review of Works and Themes

2
What Works Did You Read Last Year?

• Hatchet
• Garden of Eden
• Four Ages
• Persephone
• Orpheus
• Osiris

• Sylvester and the Magic Pebble
• Case of the Crushed Petunias
• Split Cherry Tree
• Deer in the Works
• The Giver

3
Hatchet

• Themes/big ideas?
• Brian goes back into the past--metaphorically
• Metaphor for hunter/gatherers
• Depicts the conflict between man and nature

4
Genesis 2-3

• Garden of Edensafety, perfect place
• Story a metaphor for human history from gatherers
  to agriculturists
• Ontogenetic metaphor
• Fruit represents human consciousnessour ability
  to see and know
• Life is a struggle

Adam and Eve, Lucas Cranach the Elder c. 1530s
5
Ovids Four Ages

• Golden Age
• Silver Age
• Bronze Age
• Iron Age
• Ovidianism
• Nostalgia
• Progress is regress
• Modern civilization is corrupt
• Romanticized myth of history

6
Persephone Myth

• Vegetative cycle metaphor
• Seasonal metaphor
• HadesWinter (death)
• Upper worldSpring/Summer
• Monomyth
• Loss of innocence/virginity
• Journey to Hades
• Test
• Return

7
Orpheus Myth

• You cannot stop or turn death around
• Death is inevitable and irreversible
• Monomyth
• Returns empty handed
• Tragedy of humanity

8
Osiris Myth

• Or possibly there is hope after one dies
• Forces of destruction (Seth)
• Forces of preservation/revitalization (Isis)
• Hopeful Monomyth
• Osiris returns

9
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble

• Sympathetic magic
• Think before you act
• What you want isnt really always what you need
• Your parents love you more than you know

10
Apollonian/Dionysian
11
The Dual Sensibilities

• Apollonian

• Dionysian

• The pleasure seeking, wild, irrational aspect of
  human nature
• Characterized by
• disorder
• drunkenness
• savagery
• limitlessness
• madness
• sexuality
• irrationality
• femininity
• wilderness

• The orderly, civil, and rational aspect of human
  nature
• Characterized by
• order
• sobriety
• harmony
• structure
• restraint
• rationality
• masculinity
• civilization

12
Case of the Crushed Petunias by Tennessee
Williams

• Apollonian/Dionysian
• Petuniassymbol for restrictions, safety, comfort
• Live, have fun, celebrate life
• Dont confine yourself by routines, schedules, or
  societal expectations

13
Split Cherry Tree by Jesse Stuart

• Progress is important but we must hold onto the
  values of the past
• We all have the capacity to learn and grow, to be
  better people

14
Deer in the Works by Kurt Vonnegut

• An Orpheus-like descent into hell
• Lou FlammerLucifer
• Worksprison, hell, corrupting and corroding
  place
• Ovidianism
• Selling your soul for a comfortable paycheck and
  benefits has drastic consequences
• the loss of individual freedom is replaced by
  corporate control
• Deernature, tainted by the works

15
The Giver by Lois Lowry

• There is no perfect world
• Social ills are cured but at a severe cost
• Choice and free will are what make us human
• without them we are machines
• Pain and challenges are necessary aspects of life
• Knowing about the past is crucial in making a
  better future
• Sameness would create monotony and boredom
• Diversity is a much richer reality

16
Journal 1Level 1 Theme

• Select one story from Level 1
• Write at least ½ page in which you explain its
  theme(s)
• Dont focus on plot explain what the story means
  on a deeper level
• OK to summarize what I said
• Point to at least one example from the story for
  support