Ross+Milstead

__**Assignment #1 My Hero**__

According to Joseph Campbell's definition of a hero, one person whom I would identify as a hero would be Mohandas "Mahatma" Gandhi. Mohandas Gandhi, who is thought of as the father of the Indian independence movement, spent his life fighting to remove British control from India by non-violent means. Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 to a Hindu family in the merchant caste in western India. In 1888, he left India and went to London, England to study Indian law. When Gandhi was 24 he travelled to South Africa to work as a lawyer for Muslim Indian traders. There he discovered the racism against all people who were coloured, and he assisted South African Indians in opposing a bill which took away their right o vote. Though unsuccessful, he eventually played a major part in the South African Civilrights movement. He returned to India 1915, and joined the Indian National Congress, which he took leadership of in 1920. He used nonviolent methods to get Britian to withdraw from India, such as marching, fasting, and civil disobediance. During his protests, he and many of his followers were beaten, imprisoned, and some were even killed by British police and soldiers, but they did not fight back at all. This sparked outrage against the British around the world, and eventually, in 1947 the British government gave India its freedom. Unfortunately, Gandhi could not keep the muslims and hindus from fighting and this ended up with India breaking into the two seperate nations of India, and Pakistan. Gandhi was assasinated on January 30, 1948, but his philosophies have influenced many other people such as MLK, and he is recognized by the world as a true hero.



__**Assignment #2 The Golden Age**__

In my perfect world, there is no pollution, crime, or war. The world is united under an alliance consisting of all the world's nations, and there is no poverty, sickness, or evil. All the governments are democracies, and there are no corrupt politicians, racism, dictators, or discrimination of any kind. There is proper sanitation and medical treatment no matter where you live, and all people get a proper education. While every once in a while there could be a conflict, it could be quickly resolved. The earth yields just the right amount of crops to feed the whole world, thus nature is not any different that it was a thousand years ago. Forests have not been cut down, no air pollution fills the air, and the harmful effects of the industrial revolution on the atmosphere are not visible or in existence at all. There are no fences to sheild one neighbor from another, and their is no isolation from the rest of society. The people who inhabit the earth live in harmony, and all have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and many other rights. All people are treated equally, no matter what one's proffesion, ethnicity, and beliefs. The world is at peace. __**Assignment #3 The God Teacher**__

One gift I have recieved in this past year that qualifies as a two sided gift would be when Mrs Scott shortened the length of test. The day of the test had shortened class periods, so the majority of the class would not have been able to finish Mrs. Scotts average test length, and her normal length tests can be hard to finish when our schedule is normal. So Mrs Scott took pity on us, and shortened the test. However, when there are more questions on the test, each question doesn't count as much, so if you miss a couple of questions it won't do any real harm to the grade, and this applies vice versa. When there are fewer questions, if you miss a couple of questions it could have a bigger effect on the grade, for each question counts for more points. In the test's review, Ms. Koskick pointed out that Mrs. Scott's gift was, in fact, a two edged gift. In conclusion, the gift mentioned above could help my grade for the test, but could just as likely inflict hurt upon it, making it as much a two sided gift as Prometheus's gift of fire and the Crystal Rock's gift of discontent.

I agree...it can be as harmful as helpful, at times.

__**Assignment #4 The End of Childhood**__

One recent event in my life that illustrated a loss of innocence was the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. On December 14, 2012, a twenty year old man named Adam Lanza entered Sandy Hook Elementary by force, armed with two pistols and a rifle. He went on a shooting spree, killing six adults and twenty students before killing himself. I had heard about school shootings before, like Columbine, but I thought the previous ones were part of the craze over cults and brainwashing, and were a tragic but a shortlasting phase, persay. So when shooting sprees started erupting across the country, especially the one in Sandy Hook, I was shocked. Being a boy who has grown up in a big city like Atlanta, I had been exposed to more things than kids who grow up in small towns, I had seen more of human nature than some kids I know from small towns, sheilded from knowlede of human cruelty, so I thought I wasn't the kind of person one could call innocent. But now I know that one isn't aware of their innocence until they lose some of it. I do not believe that people should be ready for evil at all times, but the end of childhood begins with the awareness of evil. Though one should know that there is good as well as evil, and both coexist if there is to be a balance in life.



__**Assignment #5 The Cataracts of Heaven**__

Panic and desperation made a permanent home in their wicked, sinful souls, As they prayed to a fiery false gods, magnificent golden idols with burning eyes of coal. They'd told my father that the land would stay dry, they taunted us, told us not to be daft, But we carried on with building the Ark, and responded to their jokes with a simple laugh, We toiled in the sun for days on end, just I, known as Shem, my brothers Ham, Japeth, our servants, wives, our father, Noah. We were greatly ridiculed when we gathered two of each beast; birds, wolves, elephants, even snakes like the Boa, Much willpower it took, to ignore the pleas, the screams echoing through our walls, seeking forgiveness once the rains set in. Yet we knew this was the only way humanity could be cleansed of its bountiful wickedness and institutionalized sin. The waters rose fast and flooded the Earth, the chaos and destruction lasted 370 rainy, wet days and nights, Though all cracks were sealed from leaks, doubt leaked into vessel, and we wondered if God had put out humanity's light. But then we landed on a mountain top, the tides lowered, a rainbow appeared, a covenant was made, and we once again thrived. But shall we be remembered, humanity's last hope, ancestors of all life, my father Noah, my brothers, and I, when we have all died? __**Assignment #6: Changes**__

One Story that clearly illustrates the archetype of changes is the Greek myth of Narcissus. In the story, a mortal named Narcissus falls in love with his reflection when having a drink of water from a pond and is turned into a narcissus, a flower named after him. Narcissus is punished by Nemesis, the goddess of revenge, for his vanity and self absorbency by being changed into a flower. The narcissus flower reflects his nature, and it is drawn to water and leans toward it as it grows, as Narcissus was drawn to the pond which his face reflected off of. His metamorphosis into a flower caused his untimely demise in a strange fashion, and his fate was clearly one that he clearly deserved for ignoring poor Echo's pleas for his love. 1 __**Assignment #7: Changes pt 2**__

One significant, real life metamorphosis was the change in America's security, lifestyle, and society in the aftermath of the September 11th terrorist attack at the World Trade Center. The tragedy of 9-11 caused our country to undergo a rapid metamorphosis to a more secure, watchful, and alert nation with less privacy among its citizens, changing to the point of violating our nation's very own, widely celebrated amendments. While the government's actions were for the good of our country, their actions caused conflict. Many Islamic people, 99.9% of them innocent, are chosen to be thoroughly searched by airport police due to common post-9-11 suspicion of Middle Eastern people, and this subject has caused much hurt among Muslims and Middle Eastern people. Our country's attitude has become suspicious, wary, and racist; not as fanciful as the changes in MTMM, but quite a change none the less. __**Assignment #8: A Human Year**__

My favorite season is Spring. Spring is probably my favorite season of the year because it has such a contrast to the previous season, Winter, with its hibernating animals, skeletal trees with bare branches, dead plants, and icy roads. After a long season of cold and nights where it gets dark at 5:00, seeing all nature start anew is a welcome sight. Spring reflects its archetype in how it involves rebirth, starting over, and fertility. While Spring has few holidays, it still has Easter, and it is towards the end of the school year anyways, and you don't need holidays to get you of school during the summer. In conclusion, I prefer Spring to the other seasons because it is, in my opinion, the most beautiful and symbolic season of all.
 * __Assignment #9: Evaluation__**

The //Man the Mythmakers// unit has taught me many important lessons. Throughout the unit we read many different myths from many different cultures. Before reading this unit I had already been interested in mythology, though I read mythology solely because it was interesting to me, not comprehending all of the symbolism, archetypes, and morals of the myths we have read in class. I have learned that myths, however different the cultures from which they originate may be, all share similar archetypes, themes, and morals when they are analyzed. This unit and its stories express valuable lessons about life and the two edged gifts life bears, and for me, this unit has helped develop my views on nature, the supernatural aspects of life, and religion. As we read the stories we analyzed their themes, archetypes, and lessons, and in doing so we learned how these myths have helped historians to understand ancient cultures, to interpret their languages, to learn how they thought, to learn of their history, beliefs, laws. mythological stories reflect the culture from which they originate, as well as the feelings of the person who wrote the myth in question, thus revealing that no matter how much the times have changed, human nature has not changed.

I have also come to realize that all the archetypes and lessons present in //Mythmaker// can be applied to real life. The archetypes appear frequently in both complex ways as well as simple ways. The world is constantly changing, yet these archetypes will always apply to our lives, for though our lives change, one of the archetypes is //about// changing. The archetype of metamorphosis is present most of all, for the process of metamorphosis in nature, which inspired the questions people tried to explain by making myths, is still present today, such as the change from a caterpillar to a butterfly, from day to night, the physical changes of age, and the change from season to season (which funnily enough, is another archetype). The archetype of metamorphosis even applies to other archetypes, including the end of childhood archetype, which has the change from being naive to mature, from "green to gold", if you will. The end of childhood archetype is a part of our lives as well as the myths, and it is an experience we all undergo at one point or another. The golden age archetype is one that we know very well; the long to go back to the good old days, nostalgia, the desire to get closer to God, all these apply to the golden age archetype. There is also the belief that we once drifted so far from the goodness of the golden age, that God sent a flood to cleanse the Earth of wickedness and give humanity a second chance to go back to the golden age. As for which of these archetypes I value most, I find all the archetypes and the lessons that come with them of equal value. Though the same cannot be said for all the units covered through the course of this year, as this is, without a doubt the most important unit studied in this class.