Archetypes•Learning Targets:•Students will be able to list common archetypes.•Students will be able to define archetype and write about its impact on a work of literature.

What are the similarities of these characters?

What are the similarities of these characters?

What are the similarities between these stories?

Group Discussion Questions1.Why do so many stories share a similar

plot?

2.Why do so many different characters in stories fit into a type like ‘sidekick’ or ‘hero’ or ‘evil villain’?

3.How does culture shape this?

Archetypes Theory Definition

Archetypes are universal (1) motifs, (2) character types, and (3) plots that appear in literature, movies, oral tradition, myths, etc. across all time and all* cultures.

Plot (Situation) Archetypes1. The Quest2. The Fall (from high to low standing)3. The Rebellion4. Loss of Innocence5. The Creation Story6. The Initiation7. The Task8. Nature vs. the Mechanical World9. Good vs. Evil10. Coming-of-Age11. The Unhealable Wound12. Death and Rebirth13. The Ritual 14. Cinderella (Rags-to-Riches)

Example: Cinderella (Rags to Riches)

Cinderella (Rags to Riches)

Cinderella (Rags to Riches) and Syncretism

Character Archetypes1. The Hero2. The Mentor3. The Sage4. The Sidekick5. The Friendly Beast6. Evil Incarnate (The Dark Lord)7. The Outcast8. The Fallen Hero9. The Damsel in Distress10.The Betrayer11.The Unfaithful Lover12.The Innocent One (pure soul)13.The Earth Mother

14.The Temptress15.The Reluctant Hero16.The Warrior17.The Star-Crossed Lovers18.The Bully19.The Mad-Scientist20.The Trickster21.The Initiates22.The Scapegoat23.The Wanderer

Archetypal Motifs1. Water: purification, cleansing, source of life and sustenance2. Fire3. Desert4. Sunrise5. Darkness6. Being Dirty7. Sun/ Stars/ Moon8. Dreams9. “Donning” of Armor 10.Colors:

Red: blood, anger, passion, violenceGold: greatness, value, wealthGreen: fertility, luxury, growthBlue: peace, serenity

Archetypes… So what?Talk with a neighbor and be ready to share:

Why might archetypes matter?

How can archetypes help us understand literature?

Archetypes… So what?• Archetypes appear in stories from all cultures across all of recorded history. Psychologist Carl Jung suggested that this means that there are certain universal thinking patterns and understandings that are common among all peoples. • Jung hypothesized that part of the human mind contained a collective unconscious shared by all members of the human species, a sort of universal, primal memory. This posits that the stories we tell and characters who inhabit them are biologically predetermined?• It is the universal part of the definition that is important

TaskWith a partner create a poster for your assigned archetype(s) that:

A.Label the archetype•Can be read from 10 feet away

B.Provide a descriptionC.List 3 common examplesD.Has a colorful drawing

•The MentorB. These individuals serve as teachers or counselors to the initiate archetype. Serve as role-models or motherly figures often. They teach by example the skills necessary to survive the journey or quest archetypes.C. Dumbledore, Gandalf the Grey, Ultima

•The FallB. This describes a descent from a higher to lower state of being, an experience which might involve defilement, moral corruption, or loss of innocence. This fall is often accompanied by a punishment, such as an expulsion from paradise.C. Adam & Eve, Oedipus in Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, Lear in Shakespeare’s King Lear

Motif: Being Dirty

Symbolizes: loss of innocence, poverty, loss