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Comparing Myths from Across Cultures

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Comparing Myths from Across Cultures Comparing Myths From Across Cultures Medusa and The Legend of the No-Faced Doll A Paired Text Reading and Writing Activity for Grades 4-6 How to Use this resource: Terms of Use/Copyright This activity is meant to deepen student By purchasing and/or downloading this understanding of a reading passage, as well as electronic file, you agree to the terms of use getting students to practice the all-important stated below. For personal AND single- skill of comparing and contrasting two similar classroom use only. No part of this file may texts. Here, students are comparing two be posted online, copied, or sold without the myths/legends from across cultures. Students direct permission of the author. Violations are have a lot of fun with this, as the stories are subject to penalties. If you would like to share high interest level. this resource with friends, please go back to To print this entire packet for students, print TpT and purchase additional pages 3-19 back to back and stapled. licenses. Happy Teaching! -Dan Thanks to These Amazing Clip Artists for their Fonts, papers, and Clip art! Comparing Myths From Across Cultures Medusa and The Legend of the No-Faced Doll Name: Through this project you will be able to: RL.4.2. Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text; summarize the text. RL.4.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including those that allude to significant characters found in mytholo- gy (e.g., Herculean). RL.4.5. Explain major differences between po- ems, drama, and prose, and refer to the structur- al elements of poems (e.g., verse, rhythm, meter) and drama (e.g., casts of characters, settings, de- scriptions, dialogue, stage directions) when writing or speaking about a text. RL.4.9. Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures. What is a Myth or Legend? Throughout time, and in completely different cultures, stories have been told to give a lesson or a moral to the audience. Although these stories may have been told thousands of miles away from each other, they may be very simi- lar in nature. These stories sometimes have larger than life elements; ones that may seem too odd or crazy to believe. The stories may involve Gods, mythical creatures, and things that many today believe are merely impossible to have ever lived. These stories are told and remembered for entertainment, but at times can also have a deeper meaning, Sometimes these stories explain how something came to be, and at other times they simply help to build the character of the reader by leaving that reader with a clear message to take away from the story. One of the major elements of a legend or myth is to show a character’s hamartia. This Greek word roughly translates to, “a tragic flaw.” What was the main reason for the character’s downfall? Sometimes this re- fers to a major weakness that the main character had throughout the story. These stories are called myths or legends, and today you will read two stories from two very different cultures. You will find that they may have more in common than you initially realize. Your Task: Throughout this project, you will read two myths or legends. After close reading both of the texts, you will develop your vocabulary, compare and contrast each of the stories, as well as to answer questions about each story to deepen your understanding. You will then write an essay comparing the texts. In your essay, you will need to: • Include an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. • Discuss the theme of each of the stories, compar- ing and contrasting both texts’ themes. Make clear the main message or moral from the texts. • Compare the main characters from the texts. What was the main hamartia of each character? Did each of the main characters have a common hamartia? • Use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation throughout the writing process. • USE SPECIFIC INFORMATION FROM THE TEXT TO SUPPORT YOUR RESPONSES. The Tale of Medusa A Greek Myth Many years ago there was a beautiful women called Medusa. She lived in a place called Athens, Greece. She was very kind and she obeyed her Greek Gods and Goddesses, but there was one major issue. Every day Medusa boasted about herself. She consistently told everyone how beautiful she was. Medusa one day told the miller that her skin was more beautiful then fresh white snow. And on another day she babbled on and on to the cobbler that her hair was “brighter than the sun.” She also commented to the blacksmith's son that her eyes were “greener than Aegean sea,” and she boasted to the public that her “lips were more red than the reddest rose in all of the world.” When Medusa wasn't busy she would boast about herself while looking in a mirror. She thought she was the prettiest woman in the whole wide world. She admired herself far too much. On and on Medusa went about her beauty to anyone and everyone who stopped long enough to hear her. One day Medusa and her friends went to the Parthenon. It was Medusa's first time going to the Parthenon. The Parthenon was the biggest temple in Greece. In the Parthenon was the Goddess of wisdom and beauty, named Athena. There were statues of most of the Gods and Goddesses surrounding Medusa. All the people who went there obeyed Athena, all except Medusa. Medusa saw all of the statues and she whispered, "To the sculptor who created these, I say they should have been of Me, and not of the Gods and Goddesses." Every picture she saw, Medusa said that the person did a good job, but she would look better in the picture, as she was so delicate. When Medusa reached the altar she sighed happily and said, "This is a beautiful temple. It is a shame it is wasted on Athena, for I am much prettier than she is. Perhaps one day people will build an even grander temple to glorify my beauty." Then Medusa's friend grew pale. The priestesses heard what Medusa said and they gasped. The room grew silent, and it was at this point that everyone left the temple. It was at this point that everyone knew Athena would quickly become very angry at the wicked words that Medusa had just uttered. Before long the temple was empty of everyone except for Medusa, who was so busy gazing proudly at her reflection in the large bronze doors that she hadn't noticed the fast departure of everyone else. While Medusa was gazing, the figure changed. The figure changed into the goddess, Athena. "Vain and foolish girl," Athena shouted angrily, "You think you're a prettier girl than me? While other people are working, playing or learning, you just boast about yourself. Medusa, there is more to life than beauty alone you see. You are vain. I have seen and heard no greater vain in anyone from across this land than I have from you." Medusa tried to point out that her beauty was an inspiration to those around her and that she made their lives better by simply looking so lovely, but Athena silenced her with an angry wave. "Nonsense," screamed Athena. "One day beauty will fade away. But I will make it fade away now and all your loveliness will be gone forever." When Athena uttered those words, Medusa turned into a terrible monster. Her hair thickened into hissing snakes, her face turned to a green and grey color, and her eyes turned to yellow and red orbs. "Are you happy for what I have done? Now anyone who looks in your eyes will turn into stone and no one will be able to save them," snapped Athena. "Even you, Medusa, should you seek your reflection, will turn to rock the moment you see your face." Seeing herself transformed into such a repulsive creature, Medusa fled her home, never to return. Wandering about, abhorred, dreaded, and shunned by the rest of the world, she turned into a character worthy of her outer appearance. In her despair, she fled to Africa, where, while wandering restlessly from place to place, young snakes dropped from her hair; that is how, according to the ancient Greeks, Africa became a hotbed of venomous reptiles. With the curse of Athena upon her, she turned into stone whomever she gazed upon, till at last, after a life of nameless misery, deliverance came to her in the shape of death, at the hands of Perseus. But, this is another story for another time. Name: _________________ Answer the following questions based on the story of Medusa. Use text evidence to support your answers. 1. What lines from the text explain how Medusa felt about her appearance? Explain. ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ 2. Hubris is a Greek term which means, “Excessive Pride or Self-Confidence.” Would you describe Medusa as having hubris? Why or why not? ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ 3. What was the punishment Medusa was given? Why did she receive this punishment from Athena? Use text details to support your answer. ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ 4. How was the setting important to the major events which occurred throughout the story of Medusa? Explain. ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________ The Legend of the No-Faced Doll An Iroquois/Haudenosaunee Legend The Haudenosaunee people respect what they call the sustainers of life, the Three Sisters - Corn, Beans, and Squash.
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