...United States is the land of the free and its society offers the possibility of rising up the social ladder as far as their efforts take them. Being "free" means being able to control your own life, the directions you might take, understanding and determining choices. There are several social forces that limit our freedom. The main force, being able to make a difference in your own life. Education has helped me achieve a lot in life. For example, being in school has taught me how difficult it can be living on my own. It is a secure way of ensuring a steady paying job in the future. This has given me insight to inequalities by others not having the same educational opportunities as me. In class we discussed something called the "Myth of Meritocracy". The "Myth of Meritocracy" is the idea that peoples success and failures are a result of "merit"- if you work hard enough you will succeed in whatever you attempt to accomplish. Many Americans have managed to become socially mobile. James Loewen, social mobility is "the movement from one social class to another- becoming more wide-spread in America". This meant that people had a better chance to move upward in society". The stress on upward mobility is...
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...People have asked who I am, and the role I play as a goddess up on Olympus, but really if it weren’t for me you’d probably wouldn’t have made it this far. Let me give you a clue: I am the goddess of the hearth, the sacrificial flame, the home and family gatherings, preparation of bread, etc. If you haven’t already guessed by now times up. I am Hestia, and you will usually find me around a campfire or a large festive gathering. My story wait, before we begin I need you to think about the moment when a couple has their first child and it becomes the greatest joy that they ever achieved. Now back to reality, after my mother Rhea gave birth to myself and five of my fellow siblings my father Cronos Lord of Time and the Universe took us from her and swallowed all six of us whole. Now you’re probably thinking...Dang that is a pretty intense way to be welcomed into the world, but unlike humans we gods have a full recollection of what happens to us immediately following birth. Your cannot comprehend what kind of unfathomable horrors are within an elder Titan’s stomach, so let’s just leave the rest to your imagination. The ensuing story after being eaten was so odd that it almost seemed fictional. In brief this is what happened next. My siblings and I are immortal, meaning we could have spent eons inside of that wacko’s stomach, but miraculously we didn’t. The way we escaped though extraordinary was extremely gross. Lord Zeus and technically my little brother got the jump on Cronos and...
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...Myth and Scripture resources for Biblical Study Susan ackerman, Old testament/hebrew Bible editor number 78 Myth and Scripture conteMporary perSpectiveS on religion, language, and iMagination Edited by dexter e. callender Jr. SBl press atlanta copyright © 2014 by SBl press all rights reserved. no part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by means of any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 copyright act or in writing from the publisher. requests for permission should be addressed in writing to the rights and permissions office, Society of Biblical literature, 825 houston Mill road, atlanta, ga 30329 uSa. library of congress cataloging-in-publication data Myth and scripture : contemporary perspectives on religion, language, and imagination / Dexter E. Callender, Jr., editor. p. cm. — (Society of Biblical literature resources for biblical study ; number 78) includes bibliographical references and index. iSBn 978-1-58983-961-8 (paper binding : alk. paper) — iSBn 978-1-58983-962-5 (electronic format) — iSBn 978-1-58983-963-2 (hardcover binding : alk. paper) 1. Myth in the Bible. 2. Bible. old testament—criticism, interpretation, etc. i. callender, dexter e., 1962– editor of compilation. ii. callender, dexter e., 1962– author. Myth and Scripture : dissonance and convergence.. BS520.5.M98 2014 220.6'8—dc23 2014002897...
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...Week 2 Notes: Cosmogonic myths pick up the action at a point just before the divine touch creates time and space. Before this critical moment, though there are often gods or a god preceding the world or the physical universe, the only thing that exists is the infinite potential of chaos. Not unlike the Genesis account of creation, most of the world’s creation myths begin with an eternal being sleeping within or hovering in contemplation above the infinite abyss of a primeval sea. These waters represent the “chaos” of a world without physical form, where no height, no depth, no breadth, no time, and no created beings exist. All is quiet; everything rests in a state of infinite potential. At the decisive moment, potential universes give way to the one in which we actually live. * Maclagan suggests, in Creation Myths: Man’s Introduction to the World, that Cosmogonic narratives are patterned after the following themes: (1)inner and outer; (2) horizontal and vertical; (3) something from nothing; (4) the conjugation of opposites; (5) world order and the order of worlds; (6) descent and ascent; (7) earth body and sacrifice; and (8) death, time, and the elements. In these various schemes, we see areas of overlap, which suggests that a finite number of motifs are at work in creation myths. * Weigle’s Creation and Procreation: Feminist Reflections on Mythologies of Cosmogony and Parturition presents the most nuanced typology of creation myths. Building upon Eliade and Long...
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...is not an emotion or feature that should be portrayed despite the over-sexualization of their bodies by the world. When the topics of male sexuality is brought up, the first thing that comes to a person’s mind is penis size, and the narratives that have been disseminated about penis size, specifically as it relates to race. Between Alex Tizon’s Its Colour ws Its Size: The twisted Myth of the Small Asian Penis, Wesley Morris’s article The Last Taboo: Why Pop Culture Can’t Deal with Black Male Sexuality,...
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...I have learned a lot about the concepts that involve social movements and collective action. The four that will be discussed are as follows: counter movements, myth of grassroots, emotions, and collective memories. Growing up my mother also told me that I will encounter people who will not agree with what I value and believe in. The same is true for many social movements. Many movements have opposing movements, this is called, counter movement. According to Staggenborg, a counter movement is defined as, “a set of opinions and beliefs in a population opposed to a social movement” (Staggenborg 2011:6). A counter movement is formed because a social movement has risen and the counter movement is trying to oppose the values, beliefs, and standards...
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...language as cosmogony, the diverse myth of creation varies drastically among many areas of the earth and during numerous periods throughout history (Leonard & McClure, 2004). The telling of such myths and stories gives insight to the culture and behavior of many societies. This information becomes religion for some and yet a way to pass down the history, heritage, and tradition of a civilization to another. The most common way to dissect and question a myth uses tools that would identify the nature of the story and outline the origin. The many distinct views in use to theorize and question mythoi are commonly the social, the psychological, the literary, the structural, and the political form of the myth. The areas in which to question commonly reference back to a toolkit that when brought into use in examination of a myth, the analysis is simple and questions cover many concerns. The debate of whether a myth is a story of imagination or holds any fact depends on if it comes from “a tale told by idiots,” or rather “sages, religious fundamentalists and agnostic theologians, idealists and cynics, racists and fascists,” or “philosophers and scholars” (Leonard & McClure, 2004, p. 5). Choosing to use social, psychological, and structural for the theoretical methods of inspection to breakdown and question the narrations of various myths of creation will show the function in their respective societies and cultures. The social aspect questions how the myth affects a group of people and...
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...Theories of Myth Stephanie Gonsalves University of Phoenix HUM/105 Liz Labby March 29, 2011 Theories of Myth Myth is defined as a sacred narrative. The word myth means story or word. According to M. Magoulick, What is myth, “myths articulate how characters undergo an ordered sequence of events. The term myth has come to refer to a certain genre or category of stories that share characteristics that make this genre distinctly different from other genres of oral narratives, such as legends and folktales. Many definitions of myth repeat similar general aspects of the genre and may be summarized thus: Myths are symbolic tales of the distant past (often primordial times) that concern cosmogony and cosmology (the origin and nature of the universe), maybe connected to belief systems or rituals, and may serve to direct social action and values” (Magoulick, 2000). A myth refers to stories that tell about the beginning of humans and the cosmos. In most cultures a myth is a strong belief. Some take it as a source of spiritual growth, while others don’t believe in myths at all. In most cultures the people see in myth the distinct character of their culture, while others only see patterns repeating. Some believe myths to be real and contemporary, while others think of it as far gone and over with. I believe myths to be a legend of ancestry that has both true and false facts to the narrative and in most cases myths are only believed to be true in a certain culture...
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...which people hold to be true. 2. What Religious Language is: Religious language is an outlet for emotion in special times of life. Religious language is the language of worship. It is performative, ‘I baptise you in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit’, and it is prescriptive (law making – i.e. honour your father and mother). However, none these uses of religious language is our focus. Our focus is how religious language might make truth claims about the reality of God and whether it can succeed in doing this. Philosophers have suggested many different ways in which this might be done. These include: |Via Negativa |Analogy |Symbol |Myth | Philosophers have made a distinction between cataphatic God-talk which involves reflection on the revealed names of God such as ‘good’, or ‘wise’,’...
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.... Comparing Gods and Goddesses HUM/105 June 15, 2011 Comparing Gods and Goddesses Myths are narrative stories that describe the creation of the world and how the first humans came into existence. According to Leonard and McClure (2004), human societies began as goddess-oriented and matrifocal (women-centered). Human societies evolved from primitive beginnings to a superior culture system of patriarchy (Leonard & McClure, 2004, p. 104). Although myths may differ from culture to culture, common elements and roles exist in each myth. In today’s society, myths and legends are fantasy-filled tales from ancient societies long gone. Therefore, Team A will describe the elements and functions of goddess myths, and compare two myths of the female divine from different cultures. Second, the team will describe the elements and functions of god myths, and compare two myths of the male divine from different cultures. Last, the team will summarize the elements and functions shared by both divines. According to the euhemerist Gimbutus, goddesses have three basic roles life, death, and regeneration (Leonard & McClure, 2004, p. 114). The goddesses of life are Mother Earth, nature, sea, and universe. These goddesses are nurturers and overseers of security and contentment, prosperity and growth, and creativity and artistry. The mother earth goddesses are creators of earth and universe, such as Gaia of the ancient Greeks, and Tellus of the Romans. These two Earth goddesses gave...
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...from myths in that they concern human beings rather than gods, and sometimes in that they have some sort of historical basis whereas myths do not; but these distinctions are difficult to maintain consistently Legend vs Myth: Myths are generally referred to as traditional stories occuring in a timeless past. They may involve supernatural elements and are beyond the frontiers of logic. Myths may also give a religious explanation. Myths have their chronology of events and cannot be related to present timelines. They may also be imaginary things. Legends, however, are stories about real people who are famous for doing something brave or extraordinary. Legends may be told upon topics of historical importance. It is not an explanation of something nor a symbolic narrative, they're based on an event. Examples of myths and legends It is a Greek myth that Prometheus stole fire from Zeus, the chief god, and gave it to humans so that they could keep themselves warm. To punish him, Zeus chained Prometheus to a rock where his liver was eaten by an eagle every day but grew again every night. There is nothing to prove it and we do not even have a time frame to show so it is a myth. A common contemporary myth is that a cat crossing the road in front of you brings bad luck. This is a myth as it not based on any solid evidence and is an unproven thing. Stories of heroes like Robin Hood and King Arthur are related to a certian time period and hence they are legends. Proof Myths are often...
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...there and not there, real and illusory-a ghost forever trailing behind which vanishes when we turn around.” This is the daunting challenge that historian’s face when attempting to accurately elucidate the past. In Paul Cohen’s book History in Three Keys: The Boxers as Event, Experience, and Myth he examines China’s nineteenth century Boxer Rebellions through three historical lenses in an effort to both show both the benefits and potential pitfalls of the tools available to a historian in practicing his craft. He contends that reconstruction, experience, and myth are all necessary when studying history; that one of these keys should not be favors to the exclusion of others. The first key or lens that Cohen examines is that of historical reconstruction or studying an event in itself. Cohen attempts to traverse the academic “No Man’s Land” in the hotly contested conflict between historians that contend “there is a fundamental difference between history and reality” due to the narrative nature of history in contrast to the chaos of reality and those others that assert that “narrative is/an essential part of the past reality historians seek to elucidate.” In other words, Cohen argues that narrative and realism both have an equal place in the study of history. Though he champions many of the methods of historical reconstruction, Cohen also warns against the pitfall of “[assuming] with excessive haste that the outcomes we know took place were preordained.” The cardinal sin of the historian...
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...Part 1 Richard Slotkin The notion of Regeneration through Violence is not new to the American cultural concept, nor is the intensive use of myth. Richard Slotkin’s book meticulously accounts how the use of violence has been integral to the construction of a distinctly American mythology. Slotkin argues, “In American mythology the founding fathers were not those 18TH-century gentlemen who composed a nation at Philadelphia. Rather, they were those who tore violently a nation from implacable and opulent wilderness”. As a result regeneration ultimately became the means of violence, and the myth of regeneration through violence became the structuring metaphor of the American experience. In describing the evolution of the myth of regeneration through violence, Slotkin describes North America as an empty, unoccupied wilderness where resources are rich and land is free for the taking, or if not exactly free, the land becomes the rightful spoil of war for those representing the interests of civilization and progress. The symbolic landscape of the frontier narrative is marked by boundaries and by the encounter of opposites; civilization and savagery, man and nature, whites and Indians, good and evil. These encounters are characterized in terms of conflictand violence as the protagonist struggles against the harsh environment, the unknown and potentially hostile Indians, and the savagery of the empty land. As Slotkin argues, European American encounters with the wilderness produced...
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...The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1352-2752.htm YouTube: an opportunity for consumer narrative analysis? Stefano Pace ` Universita Bocconi, Milano, Italy Abstract Purpose – The aim of the paper is to discuss a possible extension of narrative analysis to a new medium of expression of consumer behaviour, specifically YouTube. Design/methodology/approach – Marketing and consumer behaviour studies often apply narrative analysis to understand consumption. The consumer is a source of introspective narratives that are studied by scholars. However, consumption has a narrative nature in itself and consumers are also storytellers. YouTube is a new context in which subjects tell stories to an audience through self-made videos and re-edited TV programs. After defining the pros and cons of different approaches to the study of YouTube, narrative analysis is presented as a possible means of understanding YouTube. Findings – Some preliminary evidence is presented by discussing several YouTube videos. These indicate that YouTube content can be better understood as stories, rather than example of other approaches, such as visual analysis, media studies, videography, and others. Research limitations/implications – From the analysis conducted, preliminary managerial implications can be drawn. It seems unlikely that normal TV broadcasters will be substituted by YouTube videos. For the most part, YouTube content draws its sense and shared...
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...Mythology HUM/105 12/8/2015 Ricky Gonzales * * The word myth is used popularly to describe a fable or legend. However Merriam Webster’s definition of myth is closer to how it is used in academic context. Webster’s defines myth as a traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon. * * In my opinion a myth is a story, legend, narrative, or even a ritual that humans use to attempt to answer things they have yet to understand about the universe or help define our own human behavior. The ancient narratives that we associate with mythology are even today reborn in new retellings of the old stories in the form of movies and new books and other modern remakes. This is because we humans redefine ourselves as a whole, just as we redefine ourselves as individuals. If the entire world were to be decimated today, then hundreds of years from now stories about gods in strange armor flying great airships to distant lands might one day become myth if the understanding of the science of supersonic flight does not make it through the aftermath. * * * Myths address similar or universal themes because it is human nature to attempt to define and understand the world around us. The similarities are due to our innate desire to better understand ourselves. The similarities in creation myths are a great example of this phenomenon. Since all humans at some point...
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