MYTHS, FOLKTALES,

AND ARCHETYPES

Understanding how culture shapes our values.

WHAT IS A MYTH? A traditional story connected with the beliefs of a people, usually attempting to account for something in nature or history. A myth has LESS historical background than a LEGEND.

WHAT IS A LEGEND A story handed down from the past,

often associated with some period in the history of a people. A LEGEND differs from a MYTH in having SOME historical truth and often less of the supernatural.

7 FUNCTIONS OF A MYTH To explain the creation of the world/universe To explain the human condition

Why there is suffering and death, why people are flawed, and what happens to people after they die.

To explain natural phenomena lack of rain, floods, plagues, etc.

To explain the nature of gods and goddesses and how they interact with human beings

To explain meanings behind religious rituals, customs, and beliefs

To explain and record history To teach moral lessons

WHAT IS A FOLKTALE? A type of early literature passed orally

from generation to generation, and written down later. The authorship of folk literature is unknown.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MYTH AND FOLKTALE

Folktales are secular or nonreligious Folktales feature magic and gods and

goddesses but they are not the central figures in the story

Folktale heroes tend to be common, everyday folk who don’t have superpowers

CHARACTERIZATION The process by which an author reveals

a character’s personality There are five methods that use

INDIRECT characterization, and one method that uses DIRECT characterization

6 TYPES OF CHARACTERIZATION

By the views of other characters By recording what a character says

(Dialogue) By revelation of characters’ private

thoughts By showing the character’s actions By the description of their appearance By telling us DIRECTLY what the

character is like: kind, untrustworthy, etc.

POINT OF VIEW The narrative situation a writer uses to

present the actions and characters of a story. First person POV: Narrated by one of its’

characters. Third person POV: Narrated by a narrator who

does not participate in the action. OMNISCIENT POV: Able to see into the minds

of all the characters. LIMITED POV: Confined to a single character’s

perceptions. OBJECTIVE POV: Describing only what can be

seen like a newspaper reporter.