Taylor Davis

Dr. Bill Muth

Readings in the Content Areas – TEDU 562

21 April 2009

Text Set: Mythology for Ninth Grade English

Introduction:

My text set is based on a mythology unit intended for a ninth grade English class. The

point of this text set is to serve as an alternative to the textbook and traditional texts studied in

the classroom. I can remember briefly studying mythology as a student in high school. We read

Ovid’s The Metamorphoses in my class. I was not at all interested in reading this text as a ninth

grade student. I knew a little about the well-known and important Greco-Roman gods like Zeus

and Venus, but anything else I knew about Greek mythology stemmed from the inaccurate and

certainly intended-for-kids Disney movie on Hercules and the television show Xena: Warrior

Princess. Looking back, I can now say that my schema for mythology was not very large or well

constructed prior to beginning the reading of The Metamorphoses. The material included in this

collection of myths was dense, the stories typically did not connect to one another extremely

well, and, though I do not remember which translation we read, I know that the material was not

particularly easy to read. To make a long story short, let’s just say that I didn’t end up reading

the majority of Ovid’s The Metmorphoses until I got to college.

I did not read The Odyssey, The Illiad, or Beowulf in high school, but I do know people

who did. I did not see The Odyssey until I came to college, where I fell in love with it

immediately after reading it. I used The Odyssey as one of the traditional texts my text set is

based on – the other basis is The Metamorphoses. The Odyssey is not included in my text set

since it is frequently read in high schools. I would not replace the reading of this book in my

classroom. I do think that it is important to be exposed to texts considered to be “classics” in

schools, and I also feel that the story has the great potential to be enjoyable for all students when

read in an appropriate translation. Given this information, the books in my text set are designed

more or less to augment the reading of such “classic” texts, though a few could serve as suitable

replacements.

The texts included in this text set range in reading level from grade 5.3 to 11.3 according

to the Flesch-Kincaid grade level score. For some texts I feel that this score was very accurate,

but for others I feel that the readability score was lower than it should have been because of the

way the text was written (i.e. with many short sentences or long sentences per passages). It is

important to remember that The Flesch-Kincaid grade level score is very similar to the Fry

readability graph. The score from the Fry readability graph indicates that students are expected

to understand 65-75 percent of the material in the text, assuming that the score matches the grade

level on which they are reading (Richardson, Morgan, & Fleener, 2006, p. 144). Teachers are

expected to be able to work through difficult passages and vocabulary with students in the

classroom. My text set is designed for a ninth grade English class. I am anticipating that the

students in my classroom will have varying readability levels. For the purposes of this paper I

will say that many of my students are reading on grade level and that some are reading as low as

three grades below and some as high as three grades above.

In searching for alternative and augmenting texts to include in my text set, it was

important to me to incorporate some diversity and find myths from different cultures. Most

students focus on Greco-Roman mythology when studying mythology in high school, which is

fine. Greco-Roman mythology is certainly canonized and therefore important. Society will

expect students to be well versed in this version of mythology when they leave high school.

However, many mythologies, across many different cultures, share many similarities in

convention and in form—the books included in my text set depict some of those shared features.

The different cultural myths will also give readers a look into that particular culture. I am

imagining that my students are from diverse backgrounds, or at least open and eager to learning

about other cultures besides their own. Also included in this text set are more modern retellings

of traditional myths and books that incorporate elements of myths or mythical conventions. I

think that the more modern versions of the myths will be a refreshing and interesting break from

reading the more “mythological classics.”

The SOL connection for my text set follows the reading analysis focus for the ninth grade

English Reading SOL which states, At the ninth-grade level, students will apply knowledge of literary terms and forms to their reading and writing and to analyses of literature and other printed materials. They will be introduced to literary works from a variety of cultures and eras. Students will continue to develop their reading comprehension skills through utilizing strategies to identify formats, text structures, and main ideas. They will apply these skills across the content areas, including history and social science, science, and mathematics. (www.doe.virginia.org)

And also ninth grade English Reading SOL 9.3:

9.3 The student will read and analyze a variety of literature. a) Identify format, text structure, and main idea. b) Identify the characteristics that distinguish literary forms. c) Use literary terms in describing and analyzing selections. d) Explain the relationships between and among elements of literature: characters, plot, setting, tone, point of view, and theme. e) Explain the relationship between the author’s style and literary effect. f) Describe the use of images and sounds to elicit the reader’s emotions. g) Explain the influence of historical context on the form, style, and point of view of a written work. (www.doe.virginia.edu)

Books for Text Set (organized according to the PAR Lesson Framework):

I. Preparation Stage

1. “Illustrated Dictionary of Mythology” by Philip Wilkinson

The Illustrated Dictionary of Mythology by Philip Wilkinson is a great resource to begin a

study of mythology for high school students. The book contains sophisticated artwork and real

drawing/pictures of gods, goddesses, and other characters in mythology. The book is called a

“dictionary,” and it lives up to its name by defining a broad range of mythological figures in

small amount of space. The descriptions are concise, fairly short, and to the point. This book

also covers mythological figures from a variety of cultures including Western Asia, Ancient

Egypt, India, China and Japan, The Classical World, Northern and Eastern Europe, The

Americans, Africa, and Australia; though some cultures are given more attention than others.

This would be a book that I would have my students use to spark interests, gain background

information, clarify information, or expand knowledge in the classroom. It is also something

that I could have students use as a reference when studying mythology. Students can look up a

character or the basis of a particular culture’s mythology as an a overview before we begin

reading a myth or during reading when we come to a character who may not be properly

introduced within the story.

The readability of this book according to the Flesch-Kincaid grade level score is 11.3;

however, I feel that since the information contained in this books is written in a very brief

manner that it is accessible to high school level students. Also because the book focuses a lot on

illustrations, students who are struggling readers will be able to use the book to attain a better

understanding of what a culture envisioned their mythological gods and heroes to look like based

on descriptions in a text or given orally. Furthermore, the book would primarily be a classroom

resource, rather than a book taken home for independent reading. If students have questions or

need help when using this book as a reference, the teacher will be able to provide assistance. I

also think that this is a great classroom resource for students to use according to the Bader

Textbook Analysis Chart. The vocabulary is well controlled and new vocabulary (in the form of

character names) are written in bold letters, headings and subheadings are used, the book offers

pictures and illustrations that are clear and well labeled, and it also suggests additional page

numbers within the book to use for more information on a particular subject.

Reference:

Wilkinson, P. (1998). Illustrated dictionary or mythology: Heroes, heroines, gods, and

goddesses from around the world. New York: DK Publishing.

2. “The Creation” by James Weldon Johnson

The Creation is a poem written by the prominent African American author James Weldon

Johnson. The poem is part of Johnson’s larger series of Negro sermons known as God’s

Trombones, written in 1927. The Creation is based on the creation story in the Christian Bible of

how the world and man were created. It is an extremely vivid poem and, in my opinion, really

gives personality and depth to God’s character as the creator of the earth and of man—more so

than in the creation story in the book of Genesis, at least. This poem registers at a 5.3 reading

level according to the Flesch-Kincaid grade level score, which I think is fairly accurate for this

particular poem. The vocabulary is basic and while some words might solicit instructional

support from a 5th grade teacher such as ‘cypress,’ ‘cuddled,’ and ‘clustered,’ for a ninth grader

this poem should be easily understood. I think that The Creation is a great alternative to the

creation story in the Bible (note: this is the first version of the creation story in the Bible, the one

without the explicit creation of Eve). I would use this poem as a read-aloud for my students to

prepare them for studying creation myths (Richardson et. al, 2006, p. 127). Students could do

this poem as an echo or choral reading to practice oral reading for struggling reader in the class

since the poem is short. The imagery in the poem is best envisioned when read aloud with

feeling. This poem is a good introduction to creation myths. I feel that the biblical creation story

is one that most people are familiar with and since Johnson has God sit and think and ponder

about his loneliness I think that the connections between creation myths and what they say about

humanity could definitely lead to several points of discussion within the class.

Reference:

Johnson, J.W. (1931). The creation. In J. Johnson (Ed.), Book of American Negro poetry (pp.

117-120). San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

3. “In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World” by Virginia Hamilton

In the Beginning: Creation Stories from Around the World is a children’s book by

Virginia Hamilton that consists of 25 creation stories from different cultures around the globe.

The stories have been adapted and written for kids. The grade level for these stories based on the

Flesch-Kincaid grade level score is a 3.5, which would be extremely lower than the reading

levels of the students in my class. However, the first thing that attracted me to this book when I

was looking for texts to include in my text set was that it was diverse and focused on a variety of

different cultures – something that I had trouble finding at first. Moreover, the book focuses on

one single unifying topic: creation myths, as opposed to an anthology that covers several topics.

Despite the easiness of the reading for ninth grade students, this is still a source that I think I

would use in my classroom as a “warm up”, especially before delving into more complex Greek

mythology. I would have students read In the Beginning as a jig saw activity (Richardson et. al,

2006, p. 395). Because of the easiness of the reading, none of the students in my class should

have problems understanding the material. Several students in one group would be given the

same story to read, discuss the story in their group and be given time to ask questions and share

their thoughts, and then be mixed into other groups where they are the sole expert on their myth

in that group. In this way all of the myths in the book could be read and discussed in one class

period without having students read each myth themselves. Because each myth has the

opportunity to be read this will bring a wide range of creation myths and cultures into our

classroom. Once in heterogeneous groups, students could then fill out a jot chart, as a group, as

they discuss and educate their group members on their specific myth (Richardson et. al, 2006, p.

210). Students would be directed to look for commonalities within their myths – whether in

symbols, theme, plot, etc. In the Beginning while simplistic in nature could also be used by

students as a starting point for more individual and higher level research. These easy to read,

vivid stories could spark student interests in a particular culture or myth and lead students to find

more information or could be used as the starting point for a research project on cultural creation

myths. Hamilton includes a brief commentary note about the myth and the culture that it comes

from after each myth in the book. The only thing that I do have reservations about in using this

book in my classroom is that high school students might find the book too childish due to the

illustrations. I would probably make photocopies of the various texts in the book that I wanted

students to read and omit the illustrations.

Reference:

Hamilton, V. (1988). In the beginning: Creation stories from around the world. San Diego:

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers.

4. “The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers” by Joseph Campbell

Joseph Campbell’s The Power of Myth was first recorded as an interview between Bill

Moyers and Joseph Campbell and shown as a special for PBS. This book covers the material

shown in the interview and also material that was edited or cut out of the interview when shown

on television. Before his death Campbell was considered a preeminent scholar on mythology.

He has written several books and is an extremely credible source. The book is broken into eight

sections: (1) myth and the modern world; (2) the journey inward; (3) the first storytellers; (4)

sacrifice and bliss; (5) the hero’s adventure; (6) the gift of the goddess; (7) tales of love and

marriage; and (8) masks of eternity. The book follows the interview format and is written like

the transcript of a television show with both Moyers’ and Campbell’s names written out before

their comments.

According to the Flesch-Kincaid grade level score this book is at the 8.1 grade level. The

book is written like a conversation, but the material Campbell discusses is sophisticated and

should not be taken lightly or used independently for struggling students reading far below grade

level. The Power of Myth is material that I would use in class for instructional purposes. I feel

that some of the ideas and vocabulary that Campbell uses are best analyzed and discussed in a

classroom setting. I would not have students read the entire book. I would pick out sections

relevant to what we are studying at the time. I feel that the content matter is too mature and

covers too broad of a spectrum of information for students to read the entire book, especially

without the guidance of the teacher, and especially because this is only a unit on mythology not

an entire class. I would choose excerpts, or perhaps even whole chapters, for students to read.

The Power of Myth could be used both before reading a myth, during, and after. Campbell uses

specific myths to illustrate his points at times, but is also able to talk about a theme without

referencing a particular story. For this reason, I feel that Campbell’s interview could be used

before a myth as a more in-depth introduction to various themes since it would not give away the

specifics of a myth to be read by the students. This could be fun to use as a ReQuest activity

with the teacher, to be sure that students are retaining and comprehending the information

contained in the interview Richardson et. al, 2006, p. 58).

*Note: A dvd of the actual interview of The Power of Myth with Bill Moyers is also available. I

would not be opposed to showing a video like this to my students, but it is something that I

would probably using during the Assistance or Reflection stages of PAR.

Reference:

Campbell, J. (1988). The power of myth with Bill Moyers (B.A. Flowers, Ed.). New York:

Anchor Books

II. Assistance

5. “Heroes, Gods, and Monsters of the Greek Myths” by Bernard Evslin

Heroes, Gods, and Monsters of the Greek Myths by Bernard Evslin is comprised of easy to

read well-known versions of the Greek Myths. Included in this book are stories on all of the

major gods and some of the lesser but equally well-known deities, their origins, genealogy, and

major contributions like Zeus, Hera, Athene, Poseidon, Hades, Apollo, Demeter, and Hermes.

The book also includes the stories of non-gods like Prometheus, Pandora, and Orpheus among

others. Evslin rewrote these stories in his own words using the original Greek and Latin versions

as his models. The stories are individual and quite simple and easy to understand.

Because of the rather simplistic nature of this book and its individualistic nature in the stories

told, this is not a book that I would have my students read in class. According to the Flesch-

Kincaid Reading Scale the grade level for this book is 7.7. Most of my students would probably

be able to read this book independently; however I would not have the whole class read it. I

would also use it as a resource for students who are on a lower reading level and may need extra

help understanding the more traditional mythological material covered in class. I do think that

this would be a great book to supplement stories in something like Ovid’s “The Metamorphoses”

and I would recommend it to students who I felt needed that extra help. Because the stories

included in Evslin’s book are short, they would be good material to use for a reciprocal teaching

strategy, where students could predict, summarize, question, and clarify the material with the

help of the teacher (Richardson et. al, 2006, p. 57).

Reference:

Bernard, E. (1966). Heroes, gods, and monsters of the Greek myths. New York: Random House,

Inc.

6. “Bulfinch’s Mythology: The Age of Fable or Stories of Gods and Heroes” by Thomas

Bulfinch

Bulfinch’s Mythology covers a variety of Greco-Roman myths such as Orpheus and

Eurydice, Echo and Narcissus, Pygmalion, Cupid and Psyche, and many more. Thomas

Bulfinch, a bank teller by day, wrote these stories at night for personal pleasure pulling from a

variety of sources. Bulfinch’s Mythology was intended to be accessible to an American audience

and for a long time was a standard reference guide for readers of mythology.

I feel like a book like Bulfinch’s Mythology would be a perfect alternative or augmenter

to reading a text like Ovid’s The Metamorphoses. Bulfinch’s Mythology is set up similarly to

The Metamorphoses, being comprised of several individual stories on the great classical and

some less widely known Greco-Roman myths. In fact, Bulfinch pulled much of his material

from Ovid and also from Virgil. The stories are rewritten by Bulfinch, whose goal was to make

the mythology enjoyable for a large audience. Some of the tales included in the book do not

have Greek or Roman origins such as ‘The Death of Baldur’ and “The Druids,’ and some are not

retellings of myths—they are more or less summaries—like the section on ‘Beowulf.’ These

sections of the book are contained in the back and in my opinion seem a little out of place. The

reading level for this book is 8.2 according to the Flesch-Kincaid grade level score. It is just

below the grade level of my class, so I feel that it could be used as an appropriate source for the

entire class mainly as an alternative or augmenter to the traditional text. The text would be used

in an instructional setting as those reading below grade level might need instructional support

from the teacher. According to the Bader Textbook Analysis Chart Bulfinch’s Mythology would

be a good source to use with my students. The choice of vocabulary in my opinion is appropriate

for high school students and well controlled. Bulfinch does his best to make sure that the stories

are explained to the reader. The book is well organizes and has a lengthy and detailed table of

contents. If Bulfinch does not retell a story he offers a overview/summary for readers or in some

cases does both. The version of the book that I used for this text set was appropriate in size and

typeface, and also contained a few colorful illustrations.

Reference:

Bulfinch, T. (1948). Bulfinch’s mythology: The age of fable or stories of gods and heroes. New

York: Doubleday & Company, Inc.

7. “The World of Myth: An Anthology” by Davis Adams Leeming

The World of Myth: An Anthology discusses mythological material from many different

cultures. The book categorizes the many myths it includes into four distinct categories: (1)

cosmic myths—covering creation, the flood, the afterlife, and the apocalypse; (2) myths of the

gods; (3) hero myths; and (4) place an object myths. The book covers a wide range of cultures

including the well known Greek, Roman, and Judeo-Christian cultures, and also cultures less

focused on in American schools such as Egyptian, Indian, Aztec, Japanese, Mesopotamia, and

Celtic among others. For the most part Leeming offers a summary of a myth and highlights the

important aspects and ideas of that myth as they relate to the section the myth falls under in his

book. He then presents the actual translated text of the myth or the relevant sections of the myth

for the reader to read.

This is a book that I would use primarily in the classroom. According to the Flesch-

Kincaid grade level score the book registers at a 9.0 grade level, which would hopefully be

exactly on target for many of the students in my class. Leeming’s writing style is indeed easier

to read than many other scholars writing on similar subject matters. His commentary is

straightforward and to the point; however, the text from specific myths will certainly fall into

different reading levels because the writing styles vary incredibly from myth to myth. I would

use this book in the classroom for instructional purposes with my students rather than as

independent reading. I also would not have students read the entire book. I would choose

selections from the anthology based on what myths we are studying in the class, how other

cultural myths compare to those myths, and the interest of my students in the subject matter. I

would use this book in two ways: (1) for reading myths; and (2) for reading Leeming’s

commentary and criticism. Leeming points out a lot of commonalities between various myths

that fall under certain categories (i.e. hero myths). The World of Myth would be a great critical

source for students to use to aid in understanding the different themes explored by different

cultures in mythology and also for studying the criteria of certain genres of myths.

This book is not a textbook, per say, but using the Bader Textbook Analysis Chart this

book has some good qualities for use in the classroom as an alternative to a textbook, such as

well controlled vocabulary used by Leeming (many, not all, of the concepts are appropriate for

the grade level—there is a section on genitals in the section on place and object myths which is a

section that I would not use with my class), headings and subheadings are used fairly well

throughout the book which breaks up the material to make it more accessible to the reader. This

book would definitely be a supplemental source to the more traditional texts. It might be fun to

have students do a KWL when using excerpts from Leemings texts (Richardson et. al, 2006, p.

156). The students would have already read a variety of myths before I introduced Leeming into

the classroom. If we were talking about theme for instance, in regard to a hero myth like The

Odyssey, students could say what they already know about mythological heroes and the themes

explored in hero myths, then brainstorm what they want to know about theme before reading

Lemming. Hopefully Leeming would answer many of their questions and connect dots for

students to fill in and build on their schema about hero myths. They can then reflect on their

own ideas and on the ideas of Leeming and write down what they have learned from their

reading in comparison to what they already knew and what they wanted to learn.

Reference:

Leeming, D.A. (1990). The world of myth: An anthology. New York: Oxford University Press

8. “Chaka” by Thomas Mofolo; translated by Daniel P. Kunene

Chaka by Thomas Mofolo is the story of Chaka Zulu, the great African warrior and ruler.

Chaka Zulu (also spelled Shaka) is an actual historical figure, but the story written by Mofolo is

historical fiction. Based partly on fact, the life of Chaka becomes greatly mythologized—his

greatness as a warrior is destined from birth, animals play a large role in leading him to

important points in his destiny, and he must overcome many feats and obstacles to reach his

fortold level of greatness. Chaka follows many of the conventions of the classic hero myth and

would be a great comparison and augmenter to something like The Odyssey because it comes

from different traditions and a different part of the world—Southern Africa.

This book is a fairly easy read. The Flesch-Kincaid grade level score caps this book at a

7.5 reading level; however, because of the content matter I would say that the book is more

appropriately read in high school (i.e. the book talks a lot about the nature of war and its effects).

I think that this would be a really good book to have students read when comparing conventions

of myths and when introducing examples of myths from other cultures. I think that all students

will enjoy reading Chaka. The book was originally translated from Sesotho but the captivating

narrative style remains for all readers. I think that the subject matter and the writing style are

interesting enough to capture even those more reluctant readers. I also feel that Chaka would be

a welcome and fresh breath of air from the classic Greek mythology for students. I would use an

activity similar to a DR-TA (directed reading-thinking activity) when teaching this book to my

students (Richardson et. al, 2006, p. 197). I would most likely assign much of the reading to be

done for homework since it is on a lower reading level, but I would really like to have students

predict and prove while reading. I feel that the way Chaka is written lends itself well to

prediction from students, especially based on the prior knowledge they will already have about

hero myths, —there is a lot of foreshadowing throughout the book. I would probably have

students began to construct their DR-TA in class, as a class, and then have them finish it for

homework as they read the assigned pages out of class and find out whether their predictions

were right, that way more classroom time could be spent on discussion and comparison.

Students could then share their findings with the class during the next class period, which would

hopefully lead to more discussion in the class.

Reference:

Mofolo, T. (1981). Chaka. (D.P. Kunene, Trans.). Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publishers.

(Original work published in 1931).

9. “Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold” by C.S. Lewis

Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis is the retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche. C.S.

Lewis is famous for writing other fantastical works such as The Chronicles of Narnia series and

The Lord of the Rings trilogy. In Till We Have Faces Lewis tells the tale of Cupid and Psyche

from the perspective of Psyche’s older and jealous sister Orual. She recounts the story twice in

Till We Have Faces. Her second recounting and reflection ends with her death. The story is one

of love and jealousy. Lewis’ basis from the story and source material comes from the story of

Cupid and Psyche in The Golden Ass written by Apuleius.

I think that Till We Have Faces is a great augmenter novel or alternative to the translated

story. It would also be a greater augmenter and help further build schema to a novel like The

Metamorphoses by Ovid which deals with a lot of stories in which the gods are in pursuit of

various women. The reading level of this novel is 6.8 grade level according to the Flesch-

Kincaid grade level score. I am not sure how accurate this reading is however. There is a lot of

dialogue in the book, and more sentences are present in passages from the book because of the

way Lewis writes his dialogue, which may have lowered the sore. Nonetheless, I think that this

book is appropriate for high school students studying mythology. The subject matter is mature

and the way the story is told—with the sister retelling the story twice with different conclusions

each time—is complex enough in form for high school students rather than middle school level

students. This is a book that I would have students read in class because I feel that it will

probably produce a lot of questions and maybe even some confusion from students based on the

way it is told. I would probably have students do a lot of annotations when reading this book. I

also think that graphic organizers would be helpful after reading to get students to organize the

two versions of the story.

Reference:

Lewis, C.S. (1956). Till we have faces: A myth retold. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,

Publishers.

III. Reflection

10. “Binu and the Great Wall” by Su Tong; translated by Howard Goldblatt

Binu and the Great Wall is an adaptation of the Chinese myth of Meng Jiangnu and Fan

Quiliang. In Su Tong’s version of the story Meng is Binu, and her husband, Quiliang, one day

disappears and is forced to help build the Great Wall of China, a project of monumental feats.

Binu sets out on a quest to find her husband and a frog joins her as her companion. In the end, as

the myth goes, Binu finds her husband dead. Her powerful tears for her husband cause part of

the Great Wall of China to fall.

This book is on a 6.5 grade level according to the Flesch-Kincaid grade level score;

however, after skimming through sections of the short novel, I feel that some of the vocabulary

used would probably place this book on a higher reading level. Despite its calculated readability

Binu and the Great Wall is not a book written for children or preteens. It is part of The Myth

series from Canongate, which are a series of modern and contemporary retellings of myths from

various cultures and from various authors. This myth focuses specifically on the Chinese culture

and gives readers an insightful look at the life of a commoner living in China two thousand years

ago. The story is filled with mythological and magical elements. And the protagonist of this

story is a heroine, Binu, which is a change from the other stories of this text set. I am not sure

that I would use this book as reading for my entire class. I feel that it is a book that could be read

independently by students reading above ninth grade level for further reading on myths and also

to view a different cultural perspective on myths and follow the quest of a woman. One reason

that I am unsure about assigning this as a text for the entire class is that I am not sure that the

story moves fast enough and includes enough action to engage reluctant readers in the class and

also to interests many of the males in the class – the story of Binu and Quiliang is very much a

love story. I think that based on the reading level provided by the Flesch-Kincaid grade level

score that higher level readers would be able to handle reading Binu and the Great Wall on their

own. I think that it would offer an interesting perspective for those students interested in reading

more about mythology, especially from different cultures.

Reference:

“Tung, S. (2007). Binu and the great wall. (H. Goldblatt, Trans.). New York: Canongate Books,

Ltd. (Original work published in 2006).

11. “Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus” by Mary Shelley

Frankenstein is not at all a myth in the traditional sense of the term but the subtitle of the

novel (“the Modern Prometheus”) does lead to the mythological concept of creation.

Frankenstein is a gothic or horror novel about a scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who creates a

human life in the form of a monster. He is like Prometheus who in Greek mythology creates

human life, or like God or other creators, as he decides to take creation into his own hand.

Frankenstein realizes that he has made a terrible mistake and tries to destroy his creation but the

monster escapes and vows to take revenge on Frankenstein. The two pursue each other to the

north pole, where the story begins and ends.

This is an extra book in my text set. I included it because I thought that it would be a

great book for students to apply all of the knowledge that they gained from myths and apply it to

what Frankenstein says about creation and humanity. Frankenstein is a traditional text, but I

think as applied to myths it is pretty unconventional. This would also be a good transition book

from myths into another type of literature. The reading level for Frankenstein based on the

Flesch-Kincaid grade level score is 8.5. I would read this story with the entire class in class

because even though the readability is 8.5, I know that students would need help with vocabulary

and the concepts in the story. This book would be used for instructional purposes.

Reference:

Shelley, M. W. (2003). Frankenstein; or the modern Prometheus. New York: Pearson Education.

References

1. Richardson, J., Morgan, R, & Fleener, C. (2006). Reading to Learn in the Content Areas.

California: Thomson Wadsworth.

2. Virginia Department of Education. Standards of Learning Currently in Effect for Virginia

Public Schools. Retrieved April 20, 2009, from

http://www.doe.virginia.gov/go/Sols/home.shtml.