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WESTERN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Languages

PROPOSED SYLLABUS FOR ENGLISH 312

Instructor : FML

Schedule : MWF / 1:00 2:00 pm / Rm 213 Consultation : MWF 4:00 5:00 pm

Course Title MYTHOLOGY AND FOLKLORE

Course Description ENG 312 is a survey course of world mythology and critical course

intended to investigate selected texts. A study of the anthology of

mythology will provide a broad appreciation of mythological themes

across cultures, while an explication of significant texts in their entirety

will allow for a deeper appreciation of the historical, aesthetic, and

literary contexts of the texts. The course will discuss themes such as

cosmogony, deities and heroes, etc. from mythologies of the Greeks,

Romans, Norse, African, MesoAmerican, Hindu, the Philippines, etc.

Course Prerequisite(s) ENG 6

Course Duration 54 hours / semester (3 hours / week for 18 weeks)

Units 3.0

Objectives At the end of the course, the student should be able to:

1. Know the definition and importance of myths

2. Identify the main mythology texts around the world

3. Identify the main gods, goddesses, and characters of mythology

4. Express a critical understanding and appreciation of world myths

Course Topics 1. Introduction to Mythology

a. Definition

b. Significance

2. Critical Frameworks to Mythology

a. Joseph Campbell (myth as metaphor)

b. Carl Jung (archetypes)

c. Bronislaw Malinowski (functionalism)

d. Claude Levi Strauss (structuralism)

e. Ferdinand de Saussure and Roland Barthes

3. Mythologies of the world

a. Cosmogony

i. Hebrew origin myths

ii. Babylonian origin myths

iii. Greek origin myths

iv. Norse Origin myths

v. African origin myths

vi. MesoAmerican origin myths

vii. Philippine (Visayas) origin myths

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viii. Chinese origin myths

ix. Other origin myths

b. The Great Flood

i. The Epic of Gilgamesh [Middle East]

ii. The Hebrew Flood [Middle East]

c. Heroes and Adventures

i. Iliad and Odyssey [Greek]

ii. Nibelungenlied [German]

iii. 300

iv. King Arthur [Anglo-Saxon]

MIDTERM EXAMINATIONS : 14 AUGUST 2013

d. Tricksters

i. Prometheus [Greek]

ii. Loki [Norse]

iii. Thousand and One Nights [Middle East]

iv. Raven [MesoAmerican]

v. Anansi and Olifat [African]

e. Birth and Death

i. The Book of the Dead [Egyptian]

ii. Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca [MesoAmerican]

iii. Philippine (Visayan) myths

f. Modern Mythologies and Folklores

i. Lord of the Rings [UK]

ii. Harry Potter [UK]

iii. Sandman (Neil Gaiman)

iv. Princess Mononoke (Japanese)

g. Apocalypse

i. Hebrew apocalypse

ii. Ragnarok [Norse]

PREFINAL EXAMINATIONS : 4 OCTOBER 2013

FINAL EXAMINATIONS : 11 OCTOBER 2013

Additional texts:

1. Twelve Labors of Hercules [Greek]

2. Jason and the Argonauts [Greek]

3. Pandoras Box [Greek] 4. Oedipus Rex [Greek]

5. Perseus [Greek]

6. Aeneid [Roman]

7. Beowulf [Anglo-Saxon]

8. The Myth of Orpheus [Greek]

9. The Lost City of Atlantis [Greek]

10. David (Michaelangelo; Donatello; Bernini)

11. Jason and the Argonauts (Chaffey 1963)

12. Oedipus the King (Saville 1968)

13. Jason Campbell and The Power of Myth (PBS 1988)

14. Troy (Petersen 2004)

15. Mirror Mask (McKean 2005)

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In-Class Activities 1. Lectures

2. Reports

3. Class discussion

4. Film screening

5. Quizzes

Notes 1. Tardiness and absences will not be tolerated. A student who incurs

at least 5 undocumented absences or 10 undocumented tardiness

will immediately receive a grade of 5.0 for the course.

2. Cheating is prohibited. A student who cheats on a quiz or

examination will immediately receive a grade of 0 for that quiz or

examination, and may receive a grade of 5.0 for the course.

3. Plagiarism is prohibited. Research on proper citation and

documentation systems. A student caught plagiarizing will

immediately receive a grade of 0 for that quiz or examination, and

may be grounds for a grade of 5.0 upon investigation.

4. Students are encouraged to prepare ahead of the lessons.

Everyone (not only the assigned reporters) is expected to know the

plot of the text to be discussed, and the class schedule will be used

mostly for analysis and discussion.

5. Students are encouraged to be creative and fun with their

assigned reports. Major reports may come in the form of an oration,

skit, shadow play, dance, puppet show, song and guitar number,

comic strip, radio program, short film, etc. Use your imagination.

Extra points will be given to creative and fun reports.

6. Reports should always be accompanied by handouts to be

distributed to the class. (Please refer to the attachment for the

proper Report Handout Template).

Main Textbooks /

References

Hamilton, Edith. 1998. Mythology. USA: Little, Brown, and Company

Philip, Neil. 2004. Mythology of the World. UK: Kingfisher

Rosenberg, Donna. 2001. World Mythology: An Anthology. OH:

McGraw-Hill Higher Education