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“Did You Hear About the New Student?!” … Meet the Gods of Park Middle School Myths are traditional stories invented by early people to explain the mysteries of the universe, such as creation, changing seasons, and the transition from day to night. Often these stories had characters of superhuman qualities, strengths, or talents. The Greeks are famous for their myths about their gods, goddesses, heroines, and heroes (who usually had very human flaws and imperfections). This made for interesting challenges and conflicts. In this project, you will select a Greek mythological character – and prepare a brief soliloquy designed to introduce your character – a new student at Park – to the class. Whenever there is a new student in our grade, the hallways are abuzz with excitement. You will get us excited about your character by putting together a soliloquy in which you gossip about the new addition to the class. (If you prefer, you can perform your soliloquy as your character instead.) A soliloquy is a dramatic monologue that gives the illusion of a series of unspoken reflections. In other words, you’ll be talking to yourself out loud about your character (while your classmates are “listening in” on your private reflections). Through your performance, you will share some basic information on your character – see below – as well as any special mythological story in which your character appears. Your monologue must also include the special term or phrase in the English language associated with your character. Be sure that your skit provides your classmates with an understanding of the meaning of the particular term or phrase. You should begin your paper with an introductory paragraph sharing basic facts about your character. Follow the paragraph with your soliloquy, which should address the following questions: What, if any, are the character’s superhuman qualities, talents, or abilities, and the character’s domain (area of influence)? Does your character possess any quirks or flaws? If so, what are they? In what, if any, interesting myths does your character play an important role? What phrase in the English language is derived from your character and how does the phrase relate to your character? As you know, the Greeks were known for their love of theater. To conclude the project, you will read your soliloquy before the class. Take some time to decide how best to present your information to the class. Remember the dramatic readings we listened to of The Odyssey. Have fun with this and be creative! Keep us on the edge of our seats! Use a prop, design a mask, or dress up for the part. Greek Mythological Characters Character Term/Phrase Achilles (the legendary Greek warrior at Troy – with one weakness…) Achilles heel Aphrodite (goddess of love) aphrodisiac Atlas (a Titan forced to hold the world on his shoulders) “He carries the weight of the world on his shoulders” Cassandra (could predict the future -- but no one believes her) a Cassandra Eros (god of love) erotic; “struck by Cupid’s arrow” Herakles (aka Hercules; hero renowned for his great strength) Herculean effort; Herculean strength Medusa (a female monster – she could turn you to stone) “If looks could kill” Midas (his wish came true: everything he touched turned to gold) “the Midas touch” Narcissus (a beautiful youth who pines away for love of his own reflection) narcissism; “He’s so full of himself” Oedipus (Greek king who unknowingly kills his father & marries his mother) Oedipus complex Oracle of Delphi (a priestess who rarely made sense) Delphic utterance Pandora (her box contained all the world’s evil and she opened the lid) “Opened up Pandora’s box” Prometheus (a Titan who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to humans) Promethean Sisyphus (king condemned eternally to roll a heavy rock up a hill) Sisyphian task Tantalus (a king condemned for engaging in human sacrifice) tantalize Review of Requirements: Soliloquy is typed and double-spaced with name and period in the top right-hand corner; Times New Roman, 12-point font A minimum of two sources for your research are documented in MLA format at end of the skit. Title includes character’s name Content = short introductory paragraph with your character’s biography, followed by a soliloquy that provides class with an understanding of the Greek character and how the English term or phrase is related to that character Intro and soliloquy is well-written (pay attention to assignment’s requirements, as well as to grammar and spelling) Dramatic performance of soliloquy before classmates