Introduction
Regardless of where a person comes from within the world or within time, the literature they write has an affect on our culture and lives. Mythology is what people used before we had technolgy and the solid foundations of Science to explain what we could not otherwise explain. IN thid webquest, you will research several websites for information and stories about three assignedmythology characters. Using these sources, you will alswer the following Essential Questions:
1. What can we learn from the literature of other coutries and cultures?
2. Has the literature from long ago affected us today? How?
Task
Your task for this project is to work with a group to research these characters and answer the essential questions listed in the introduction. As a class we will create a web based catalog featuring all of the major characters in Greek and Roman mythology. Your group's contribution will be a webpage that describes your assigned characters, the myths about them, and how your research and the stories answer the essential questions about the literature.
This final product involves using the web for research and creation of a webpage.
Process
- First you'll be assigned to a team of 3 students.
- In this group, you need to elect someone as an organizer, an editor, and a researcher.
- Once you've picked a role to play, you will browse the first section of websites listed to find general information about your assigned characters.
- Brainstorm ideas of what you might include in your explanation of the characters, their stories, and how they play into the essential questions.
- Brainstorm additional ideas of what you want your page to look like. The possibilities are unlimited, so use your imagination and creativity.
- Once you have your ideas in hand, begin researching further. Delve deeply into the first section of websites provided for you. Identify SPECIFIC details that connect the characters and stories to the essential question.
- Move on to the second section of websites. These sites provide information about how mythology connects to us and what we learn from myths.
- Identify a lesson and a connection for each of your characters and include this in your final analysis.
- Build the webpage. Include free picture that you find in your research (one for each character).
- Each character must have a description and one story told about them.
- Finally, you must include a summary of your findings and answer the two essential questions (be sure to use your job titles to complete this task and divide the work evenly among your group members).
Section one:
http://www.greekmythology.com/
http://greece.mrdonn.org/myths.html
http://www.theoi.com/Encyc_A.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/J002356F/myth.htm
Section two:
http://www.studymode.com/essays/The-Influence-Of-Ancient-Greek-Mythology-1414515.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_8240274_greek-mythology-changed-world.html
http://teacherweb.nixa.k12.mo.us/~zakhamby/Why.html
http://www.culturesync.net/three-modern-leadership-lessons-from-greek-mythology/
Evaluation
You will be evaluated on two levels: your work within the group, which will be garded by the members in the group, and an evaluation of the final product, which will be graded using a rubric.
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Beginning 1 |
Developing 2 |
Accomplished 3 |
Exemplary 4 |
Score |
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Essential questions completely answered with use of research
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The questions are answered with little thought or research |
The questions use valid reasoning or research, but not both |
The questions are answered with some validity and some references to the research |
The questions use valid reasoning with references to the research in the provided websites |
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Stories of each character derived from several websites
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The stories sounds like heresay and does not reference any research |
The stories seem researched but but little detail and few resources are mentioned |
The stories pay attention to some detail, but fail to refernece researhc |
The stories contain detailed descriptions of events and characters with the use of references to the research. |
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Creativity and professionalism of webpage
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The webpage is in black and white, does not use pictures, and is difficult to navigate |
The webpage does not make use of much color or pictures. The layout is a little confusing |
The webpage is somewhat creative but may not use much color, pictures, and may need work on the organization |
The webpage is very creative. It uses color and pictures with an organized layout. |
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Description of each character
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Description is vague and uninteresting. There is no use of research |
Description of characters lacks details and uses very little reference to research |
Description of each character helps explain the character, but perhaps not helping the reader see them. It includes references to several resources |
Description of each character helps the reader to understand their personality, appearance. It is detailed and includes references to reseach |
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Conclusion
Mythology os only one of the many literary genres that have helped to shape our thinking and has helped to connect us as human beings. You have compiled information about a group of characters from this genre that are referenced constantly. Understanding who they are and having a basic understanding of their stories will also help you connect to literature that references them.
Major literature in connection to this genre will include The Odyssey and The Tragedy of Oedipus Rex.