Geller’s Sensational Sophomores Fall 2013

Your Task In an MLA-formatted essay of at least five paragraphs, you will be analyzing three archetypes (one from each broad category— character, image/symbol, and situation) that play a significant role in a book, movie, or video game of your choice.

Examples from each category CharacterSituation  Hero  Sage/mentor/wise old man  Threshold guardian  Villain  Monster  Damsel in distress  Rebel/cowboy  Sidekick  Childlike innocent  Task  Quest  Coming of Age  Loss of Innocence Image/Symbol  Numbers  Colors  Shapes  Animals  Light and dark  Elements

Introduction: Grab your reader’s attention!  Quote with explanation (QUOTES SHOULD STAND ALONE)  Vivid description  Surprising fact  Dramatic moment  Story/anecdote  NEVER say, “in this essay I am going to talk about…” or anything similar. Use third person and avoid self-reference.

Introduction  Define “archetype”  Brief plot summary; T.A.G.  For movies, use director’s name; for video games, use software company or developer  THESIS: The focus of your paper in one sentence. Should include the three archetypes to be analyzed and a very brief explanation of their importance.

Body Paragraphs  One for each archetype  CD: specific example that proves a particular character, image, or situation represents the archetype  CMs: Discuss how the example you provided fits the definition of the archetype.

Conclusion: SO WHAT?  Tie it all together  What can we learn from this?  Why does it matter?  Reworded thesis; use words and phrases like thus, therefore, in short, as one can see, it is obvious, then.  Why are archetypes so omnipresent in literature and media?  What does it tell us about our world, society, the human psyche, etc. that we share so many universal symbols across cultures and genres?

HOMEWORK: VERY IMPORTANT  Come prepared tomorrow with the following:  Know title, author/director/developer, and year of publication/release for your chosen novel/film/game.  Have three DIRECT QUOTES from your chosen text. If it from a book, include the page numbers. Ideally, these quotes should relate to the archetypes you identified today.  All of this should be written down or typed with the heading “Archetypes Prewriting Homework.”