Agenda: 1) Finish Myths 2) Perseus and Medusa 3) Literature circle roles 4) Begin novel May 5, 2016

Pygmalion Pygmalion was a gifted sculptor from Cyprus who had no interest in the local women as he found them immoral and frivolous. Instead Pygmalion concentrated on his art until one day he ran across a large, flawless piece of ivory and decided to carve a beautiful woman from it. When he had finished the statue, Pygmalion found it so lovely and the image of his ideal woman that he clothed the figure and adorned her in jewels. He gave the statue a name: Galatea, sleeping love. He found himself obsessed with his ideal woman so he went to the temple of Aphrodite to ask forgiveness for all the years he had shunned her and beg for a wife who would be as perfect as his statue. Aphrodite was curious so she visited the studio of the sculptor while he was away and was charmed by his creation. Galatea was the image of herself. Being flattered, Aphrodite brought the statue to life. When returned Pygmalion to his home, he found Galatea alive, and humbled himself at her feet. Pygmalion and Galatea were wed, and Pygmalion never forgot to thank Aphrodite for the gift she had given him. He and Galatea brought gifts to her temple throughout their life and Aphrodite blessed them with happiness and love in return.

EROS AND PSYCHE One day on Mount Olympus, Aphrodite decided she had become fed up with the beauty of Psyche, the maiden. Psyche was very beautiful and was often complimented for her beauty. Aphrodite wanted to set her straight. So she called her son, Eros, to shoot one of his arrows, which poisoned immortal and mortal alike with love, at Psyche, while she was sleeping. "What is the point of shooting an arrow at her when she is asleep?" asked Eros. "When she wakes up," replied Aphrodite "I will be sure to supply her with someone like the castle dwarf, or maybe a donkey. Yes, that's a possibility." "That is a cruel trick," said Eros. "It is meant to be cruel. Now go and obey your mother," replied Aphrodite.

When Eros was above the sleeping Psyche, he took out an arrow and prepared to shoot it. But he accidentally poked himself with the arrow, and all of a sudden Psyche was the most valuable and wonderful thing the earth had ever created. He loved Psyche more than anyone or anything in the world. He flew back to Mount Olympus, leaving Psyche unaffected. Aphrodite was furious at Eros for not complying with her orders. The fight that followed was one of the worst Olympus, or for that matter, the world, had ever seen. While Eros was sulking, no one fell in love and Aphrodite began to wither. So eventually Aphrodite saw that Eros must have his way. "What is it you wish?" she asked him. "The girl," replied Eros. "You shall have her," said Aphrodite.

So Aphrodite had Zephyr, the west wind, come and bring Psyche to Eros      So Aphrodite had Zephyr, the west wind, come and bring Psyche to Eros.   But Eros could not be seen by Psyche for a little while after their marriage.   When Psyche's sisters visited her, they convinced Psyche that her invisible husband was a monster.  Psyche, curious, brought a candle into her husband's bedchamber and looked at him.  It was Eros, the god of love.  In her shock, Psyche let a drop of candle wax drip from the candle. Eros awoke with a start and became very angry with Psyche.  "Yes, I am love itself, and I cannot live where I am not believed."  Then Eros left.      But eventually Eros forgave Psyche and invited her back to live with him, and Psyche was made immortal upon Eros' request. Psyche is now the goddess of the soul, and that is where we get the prefix "pysch-", as in psycho, psychology, and psychiatrist.

Literature Circles In literature circles, small groups of students gather together to discuss a piece of literature in depth. The discussion is guided by students' response to what they have read. You may hear talk about events and characters in the book, the author's craft, or personal experiences related to the story. Literature circles provide a way for students to engage in critical thinking and reflection as they read, discuss, and respond to books. Collaboration is at the heart of this approach. Students reshape and add onto their understanding as they construct meaning with other readers. Finally, literature circles guide students to deeper understanding of what they read through structured discussion and extended written and artistic response.

Discussion Leader Your job is to develop a list of at least 10 questions that your group might want to discuss about this part of the book and direct the discussion by asking each member for their input based on their current role. Don't worry about the small details; your task is to help people talk over the "big ideas" in the reading and share their reactions. Usually the best discussion questions come from your own thoughts, feelings and concerns as you read, which you can list below, during or after your reading.

TO HELP YOU OUT… Reading for meaning is a collaborative process. As we discuss with others we deepen our own understanding of the story. Your job is to write down ten open-ended questions on a separate sheet of paper to lead your group in a discussion of what they have read. Sample of open-ended questions: 1. What might happen if…? 2. How is …. like ….? 3. Do you agree with… why or why not? 4. What feelings did you have when …? 5. What do you think is the most important moment in the story? 6. If the story were to continue, what do you think might happen next? Create your own interesting questions. Avoid factual, one right answer questions. Often those questions start with who, what, when, where and why.

Connector Connector: Your job is to connect the contents of the reading selection to current or past real world events and experiences. You will also connect the reading to other forms of literature, music, art and/or media. *** WRITE FOUR CONNECTIONS! You write down the content in the story you connect to and the page number. Then you write how you connect to the passage.

Illustrator Illustrator: Your job is to draw some kind of picture related to the reading. It can be a sketch, cartoon, diagram, flow chart or stick- figure scene. You can draw a picture of something that's discussed specifically in your book, or something that the reading reminded you of, or a picture that conveys any idea or feeling you got from the reading. Any kind of drawing or graphic is okay - you can even label things with words if that helps. Write the page number where you found the scene. Write a detailed paragraph about what is happening and why it is important.

Summarizer and vocabulary enricher Your job is to prepare a brief summary of the reading. Your group discussion will start with your 2-3 minute statement that covers the key points, main highlights, general idea and essence of today's reading assignment. Your job is to also look for a few important words in your reading. If you find words that are puzzling or unfamiliar, mark them down on this page while you are reading. Later, you can look them up in a dictionary and write down their definitions. You may also find words in the reading that are significant to the story. Mark these words too, and be ready to point them out to the group. When your circle meets, help members find and discuss the words. ***FIND AT LEAST 5 WORDS!***