Week at a glance Oct 12 - 16, 2009

Curriculum focus: identifies, interprets, and analyzes the use of symbols (1.3.K4i), compares and contrasts character traits (1.4.K7a), compares and contrasts themes across multiple stories ( 1.4.K7b), identifies and describes the protagonist (2.1.K1a), identifies and describes the antagonist (2.1.K1b), analyzes the contextual aspects of setting (historical, social, and cultural) and their impact and influence on characters and events in the story (11.2.1.K2), recognizes ways that literature from different cultures presents similar themes differently across genres (11.2.2.K1), and compares and contrasts works of literature that deal with similar topics and problems (2.2.K2).

This week we turn to a two week unit on mythology from China and Japan. We'll start with Chinese mythology. As usual with any region's mythology, we'll start with the creation story of the region and discover its major gods and heroes. China also has a unique and rich storytelling style as many of its stories are circular in structure, adding more details as they go along. China also has a rich magical tradition with heroic warriors in a story genre called wuxia. We will analyze the Chinese storytelling style and the wuxia tradition by watching and discussing the Oscar-nominated and award-winning movie Hero (2002)

• Mon: Chinese mythology - "The Creation of the Universe," "Yi the Archer and the Ten Suns," and "The Quest for the Sun," pgs 360 - 369 - read and discuss in class.
  
• Tues: Chinese mythology - the Chinese storytelling style and the wuxia tradition: begin watching and discussing Hero.
  
• Wed: Chinese mythology - the Chinese storytelling style and the wuxia tradition: continue watching and discussing Hero.
  
• Thurs: Chinese mythology - the Chinese storytelling style and the wuxia tradition: finish watching and discussing Hero. Hero study guide due by the end of the hour.
  
• Fri: End of the 1st quarter - No school