“Pop culture today is
obsessed with the battle between good and evil. Traditional folktales never
were. What changed?”
By: Catherine Nichols
Published: AEON, https://aeon.co/essays/why-is-pop-culture-obsessed-with-battles-between-good-and-evil
Level of Difficulty:
***
BEFORE YOU READ
·
The Fable, Folktale,
Myth, Legend: Differences and Examples
·
Sources
of Modern Fiction: Myths, Traditional Stories & Religious Works
NOW LISTEN AND
HIGHLIGHT OR MAKE NOTES
·
Click on the “Curio” icon on the left of your
screen to listen to the text and make notes. You can do this on the screen
using ‘Evernotes’ or with a hard copy of the text.
QUESTIONS
1.
The modern and historical depictions of Thor
indicate that there is a similarity / difference between the two periods
in that …
2.
The fact that Thor and Loki had personalities in
the Icelandic Edda proves that …
3.
Read the examples of classic children’s stories
in the text. What is the misconception concerning these stories?
4.
The sudden transformation which took place in
folktales was in response to ….
5.
The political vision that prompted the change in
folktales was basically a desire to show that…
6.
George Lucas’ Star Wars and J.R. R. Tolkien’s
works are provided as examples to prove that…
7.
What is the writer’s view of the ‘historic
shift’ described in the text? He considers it…
8.
What was the inherent danger for humankind of
the views of Von Herder and similar thinkers? Why?
9.
Read the accounts of the transformation of the
story of Robin Hood and King Arthur. Both stories are examples supporting the
idea that ………………had gained widespread acceptance.
10.
In what essential way do works like the Iliad
differ from their modern counterparts? There are two possible answers; try and
find both.
11.
What practice of Darth Vader is never seen in
classic folktales?
12.
Which sentence best expresses the main idea of
the paragraph beginning “Good guys, on the other hand, …”?
13.
In what way does Achilles differ from Luke
Skywalker according to the text? There is more than one possible answer.
14.
The main disadvantage of good guy/ bad guy
stories is that they ……(Two possible answers; find both)Why ?
15.
The fact that good guy/ bad guy stories promote
stability benefits society as a whole in that…
16.
What is the significance of the belief espoused
by modern fables that people on the other team are not like us and are bad?
17.
Which sentence(s) best expresses/express the
main idea of the whole text?
WRITING TASK
Use all the information you have acquired to write a
comparison of modern and ancient fables
THE GOOD GUY / BAD
GUY MYTH KEY AND TEACHERS’ NOTES
This text has a lot
going for it: for one thing, it is a completely original topic, for a second
thing it connects the comparison of old and modern fables to modern social and
political trends. As such, it is a riveting and insightful analysis.
1.
Difference / Good guys battle bad guys for the
moral future of society but in old folktales, no one fights for values
2.
They didn’t defend a consistent set of values
3.
That they are moralizing
4.
Modern nationalism
5.
Nations had more in common than divided them
6.
Novelists and filmmakers who base their work on
folklore also seem to focus on commonalities
7.
It is bizarre
8.
The explosive possibility for abuse? Because
‘the other’ is cast as a kind of moral monster
9.
The inherent morality of folktales
10.
The main characters don’t stand for some set of
human values or frailties / The identities of the main characters do not reside
in their values
11.
He has no loyalty and routinely punishes his own
12.
Forgiving characters their wicked deeds is an
emotional climax in many good guy/ bad guy stories.
13.
He would never welcome the roguish Han Solo on
side / he would never win because his army was composed of the rejects of the
Trojans
14.
End up discouraging any moral deliberation /
don’t possess any moral sophistication; because they rigidly categorize people
according to the values they symbolize, flattening all the deliberation and
imagination of ethical action into a single thumbs up or thumbs down
15.
They get people to sign for armies and fight in
wars with other nations.
16.
They make concentration camps possible
17.
We are rehearsing the idea that moral qualities
belong to categories of people rather than individuals. It is the Grimms’ and
Von Herder’s vision taken to its logical nationalistic conclusion that implies
that ‘categories of people should be locked up.
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