Archetypes

1. Archetypes Be prepared to present your poster!

2. Jung and Archetypes • Collective unconscious: a very important idea in Jung’s theory of archetypes. • Collective: Everybody together, a whole group of people, a society, all of humanity. • Unconscious: Something that is in your mind, but you are not aware of it.

3. Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious • Jung believed that everybody has archetypes built into their brains. • He also believed that most of us don’t even know it. We just like stories without knowing why we like them. All humans, he said, are like this. • So, archetypes exist in the collective unconscious,parts of everyone’s brains that we don’t really think about.

4. Life of Pi has two narrators. Narrator A: Pi (who will be played by actor Suraj Sharma in the upcoming movie) Narrator B: Yann Martel

5. Instructions • You will be put into discussion groups. This is your new seating chart for this unit. • Since zoos are very important in Life of Pi, your group will select an animal to go by. No two groups can choose the same animal. • Draw the animal and write your names on the paper provided. Your new spot in the classroom is now your territory.

6. Life of Pi Discussion Groups C Block • 1. Peter, Tae Woo, Yoon • 2. Michael, Jinni, David • 3. So Yeon, Monica, Phil • 4. Kenny, Nick, Su In • 5. Min Sung, Nam Hee, Su Jee • 6. Hye Lin, Aerin, Sunglae • 7. Jeff, Stephen, Sophia • 8. Kathy and Jin

7. Yann Martel’s Life and Influences • In your discussion groups, read the summary of the novel. • Next, read about Yann Martel’s life. • On the back of your animal sheet, brainstorm a list of experiences in Yann Martel’s life that might have influenced Life of Pi. • Be prepared to explain your ideas to the class.

8. Story • “The work of a lifetime is to figure out what your story is. What story you’re going to tell of yourself, of your family, of your city, of your country, and ultimately, of your universe.” - Yann Martel • Discuss with your groups: How can archetypes help us tell stories? How can archetypes help us understand who we are? • Example: Ms. Sanders used to be a heroine on a quest to get through university. Now she is getting older and becoming a sage (hopefully she will never look like Yoda though).

9. Story • “The work of a lifetime is to figure out what your story is. What story you’re going to tell of yourself, of your family, of your city, of your country, and ultimately, of your universe.” - Yann Martel • If Yann Martel believes this is your life’s work, then what, in his opinion, is God’s role in this?

10. Joseph Campbell • Joseph Campbell was very influenced by Carl Jung. • He used Jung’s idea of archetypes to write a book called The Hero With A Thousand Faces (1949). • This book says that the story of every hero follows a similar pattern. • This story pattern is built into our brains just like archetypes are. Campbell called it the monomyth.

11. Story Pattern = Monomyth • Call to Adventure: the hero starts in an ordinary world and receives a call to enter a world of strange powers. • Road of Trials: The hero must face tasks and trials, either alone or with help. • Severe Challenge: The hero must survive a severe challenge, often with help from others. • The Great Gift: If the hero survives, he often achieves a great gift, or learns something important about himself or herself. • The Return: The hero goes back to the ordinary world. He or she uses the Great Gift to improve the world.

12. What are stories made of? • With your partner, brainstorm a list of literary elements that make up stories.

13. Souls and Sparks • Human beings are not merely made up of muscles, skin, bones, and tissues. • Humans have souls, and Yann Martel argues that stories have sparks of life.

14. Life of Pi p. vii “But it all adds up to nothing. In spite of the obvious, shining promise of it, there comes a moment when you realize that the whisper that has been pestering you all along from the back of your mind is speaking the flat, awful truth: it won’t work. An element is missing, that spark that brings to life a real story, regardless of whether the history or the food is right.”

15. What is fiction? Is it possible that Yann Martel wants to suggest that myths and stories bring us closer to God? And in turn, stories come from God? He makes a strong link between storytelling and religion.

16. What is fiction? • “That’s what fiction is about, isn’t it? The selective transforming of reality? The twisting of it to bring our its essence?” - Life of Pi, Author’s Note, page vi

17. “The Scream” by Edvard Munch An artist twists reality to bring out its essence?

18. “In a Western, capitalist, profit-driven society, art is irrelevant.” -Yann Martel If art doesn’t earn you any money, why do people do it? “If we, as citizens, do not support our artists, then we sacrifice our imagination on the altar of crude reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams.” - p. xi Artists twist “crude reality” into stories, and it is through telling stories that we know God.

19. Choose a Monomyth • Work in your discussion groups. • Choose a monomyth from the list on the Wikipedia page, or think of your own (check with Ms. Sanders first). • Go through the stages in the previous slide. Explain how your story fits the monomyth. • Write down every stage, along with an explanation of how your story fits that monomyth.

20. Today’s Important Vocabulary • Collective unconscious: a very important idea in Jung’s theory of archetypes. • Collective: Everybody together, a whole group of people, a society, all of humanity. • Unconscious: Something that is in your mind, but you are not aware of it. • Monomyth: The story pattern that exists in everyone’s brains without them really thinking about it.