Topic: Over the course of the term, we have explored a variety of approaches to myth, including three broad theoretical stances that seek to explain fundamentally why myth is what it is, and to give a method for the interpretation of myth that seeks to go to the core of what myth is about. These are:

• Freudian analysis
• Structuralist analysis
• Jungian analysis

This paper will be an opportunity for you to explore one of these theories in more depth. You will apply one of these theories to a myth, and then criticize your own application of the theory, so as to expose what is good and what is bad about the theoretical stance.

Method:

1. Select the theory that most interests you: (1) Freud, (2) Structuralism, (3) Jung.

2. Read the items that are placed on reserve for the theory you have selected. That is, read ONE of the following groups. ALL THESE TEXTS ARE ON RESERVE.

(1) Freud

• Lecture XXXI: Dissection of the Psychical personality, from his New Introductory Lectures.
• Lecture XXIII: The Paths to the Formation of Symptoms.
• Excerpt from The Interpretation of Dreams.
• Further reading: Wollheim, Sigmund Freud. (Good introductory text, for those who find Freud hard going.)

(2) Structuralism

• Lévi-Strauss, "The Structural Study of Myth," from Structural Anthropology.
• Kirk, "Lévi-Strauss and the Structuralist Approach," from Myth, its Meaning and Functions
• Further reading (OPTIONAL): Edmund Leach, Claude Lévi-Strauss. (Excellent introduction to structuralist interpretation.)

(3) Jung

• Storr, "Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious" from C. G. Jung.
• Jung, "The Psychology of the Child Archetype" from Essays on a Science of Mythology.
• Further reading (OPTIONAL):Jung et al., Man and his Symbols. (Good illustrative text by Jung and his disciples.)
• Further reading (OPTIONAL): Jung and Jungians on Myth: an introduction. (Introduction to Jungian psychology with specific reference to myth theory.)

3. Choose a myth, and apply the theory to the myth. DO NOT use Oedipus, or any other myth analyzed in your readings. You are to demonstrate that you understand HOW to apply the theory to a myth. This part of the paper should run 1-2 pages.

4. Now critique your application of the theory, and the theory itself. Does the theory make sense? What seem to be its limitations or flaws? What does the theory explain about myth, and does the explanation hold water? What did you find valid or invalid about the way your chosen myth is analyzed according to the theory? Did you find that you had to distort evidence in order to make the theory "work"? This part of the paper should also run 1-2 pages.

5. Add the usual comments & questions for your peer readers (draft only: excise for finished paper).

Reminder: read the paper over to a friend before submitting it.

Process: (1) First finished draft, (2) response from two peers, (3) revision. All by e-mail. No printouts. See process sheets for details.

Length: 3 pages. (That is, aim at 3 pages, but of course every paper has a beginning, middle, and end, and papers should write themselves to their own length. In any case, make the paper no less than 2, and try not to spill too much over 4.)

Deadlines: First finished draft due Nov. 24 (Monday), responses due Dec. 3 (Wednesday), final revision due Dec. 8 (Monday).