Week 7 (turn in report requested)

this week, you’re tasked with showing your involvement with and understanding of course content through analysis and creativity. In short, following the dearth of mythology that captures the essence of contemporary American culture, (a) create a metaphorical cosmogony, (b) metaphorical gods (at least two), and (c) at least one metaphorical interaction between those gods. What is metaphorical? Oh my — be sure to go back to Campbell in Times Square. Or Leeming as he describes “reading” a pantheon.

Where students in the past have messed up and failed — writing a general cosmogony. Please don’t do that. Go back through all the prep material. The goal here is to use what you’ve learned to create a cosmogony and gods that reflect American norms. You need to start with American mythology. 

Okay, I’m ready, you say. Length? Format? Um…

First, be specific. Be sure to be specific. Please, be specific. When you’re conceptualizing your Midterm response, don’t choose a generic “god of celebrity” who looks just like A$AP Rocky. Name your gods and come up with meaningful hierarchies and interactions, an intriguing story.

an essay, you’ll need at least a page for each of the three components, but please write no more than 5 pages. Alternatively, I’ve had students do podcasts, videos, digital presentations, and such. If you choose to work in another medium like these, please estimate to create appropriate and similar content. For instance, I would think an audio/podcast type Midterm would need to be at least 15 minutes. 

Good luck. Have fun!

Here is an example of a wildly creative Midterm from last semester. It was a podcast, and imagined that the Midterm prompt would be answered through a sort of morning-show podcast with two gods going back and forth about the news and nature of the US. I wish I could celebrate the student, but I also think it’s more important to be anonymized (as I promised).