Greek Gods and Goddesses Research Project



Greek Gods and Goddesses Research Project

Objective: to become the classroom experts on a particular Greek God or Goddess and become children’s storybook authors in the process.

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1) You are to research a Greek God/Goddess.

You will get to choose your god or goddess, but first come first serve. No duplicates.

2) You need to research your topic using the internet and come up with between TEN and FIFTEEN (MINIMUM) facts about that god/goddess.

3) You will then put together a children’s book explaining your god/goddess, using the TEN to FIFTEEN facts you found. Can you have more facts in the book than required? YES, and you should.

4) Your book must include:

a. at least FIVE FULL-COLORED illustrations (hand-drawn, down-loaded, or

copied and colored-in)

b. a dazzling COVER and creative TITLE with your name

5) This project is DUE and is worth 100 points.

6) Suggested FACTS to find and include:

• origin of god/goddess

• god/goddess of what?

• why did the Greeks believe in him/her?

• what myth is associated with the god/goddess?

• relatives…married to…children of…

• background information, natural phenomenon associated with

• anything interesting, out of the ordinary

CHILDREN’S BOOK

Your children’s book should be geared toward a sixth grade level student or younger. It should be neat, colorful and appealing to the eye. The facts should be very straight-forward, informative and interesting. Think about what kinds of things children would like to find out about Greek Mythology. Please be sure to spell-check and proofread your facts before making your final copy. Be creative and really impress me as children’s book authors! You may also use technology to draw or print pictures; just be sure they are appropriate and colorful. Also, please number your pages somehow either at the bottom or in one of the corners. (You also have the option of creating a solely online text).

On the pages where you have your facts, there should be (in the footnote) a MLA entry as it would appear in text. For example: “Fact discovered from a text” (Author last name, page number).

On the last page of the book, you must include a MLA Works Cited page.

Don’t forget your creative COVER with a catchy title and “author’s” name. You may also want to add the illustrator’s name, publishing company, copyright date, etc. to make it more “authentic.”

TWO PAGE MINIMUM RESEARCH PAPER

Your paper should be a minimum of full two pages in length, not including the Works Cited page. Thoroughly review the history and information surrounding your chosen god or goddess. All references must be properly attributed in the paper and on the Works Cited page. You must cite your sources within the paper by including the first part of the bibliography entry in parentheses and include a Works Cited page at the end listing all the sources you cite. A sample will be provided.

Requirement 1: Introduce your God/Goddess. Identify the parents of the God/Goddess. Give an introduction of their physical looks, powers and weaknesses.

Requirement 2: Describe in detail the weaknesses and powers of your God/Goddess. What types of animals or objects are special or sacred to your God/Goddess?

Requirement 3 and 4: Describe in detail the story/myth of your God/Goddess. Why is the story significant to understanding the ancient Greeks? Why do you feel this myth was created and what do you see as its purpose?

Requirement 5: What are the most interesting facts about your god/goddess? Feel free to add any other information that you find important or interesting about your god or goddess.

Works Cited—A list of the references (sources) you used in writing your paper, this part must contain a minimum of three sources, one of which must be a book source. Make sure to put the information in the proper MLA order (Use ) and alphabetize the list. Only the sources that you cited in your paper go on this list.

Research Process: Outline

It is time to turn it into an actual paper. How do you do that? Here are some tips. First, write an introduction to the paper. Think in general terms about your topic. Then, narrow it down to your thesis, the statement you are trying to prove. Study the following example over the topic, Zeus.

Humans have always been curious about his origins and the cycles of change that occur within life. Throughout history man has attempted to explain these concepts in a variety of ways. The ancient Greeks developed an intricate system of gods and goddesses to explain their origins and their situations in life. The gods ranged from lesser deities to one almighty force. The most powerful of these gods was Zeus.

Next, use the outline of your paper to help you write the body paragraphs. Following is a sample part of an outline and its corresponding body paragraph sentences.

A. Zeus’s birth

1. Parents

a. Cronus

b. Rhea

2. Trick

a. Rhea’s help

b. Etc….turns into:

The myth surrounding the birth of Zeus is one of the most fabled tales in all of Greek mythology. Legend has it that Zeus’ parents were Titans, powerful gods and goddesses who begat the Olympians (Francek 28). Zeus’ father was Cronus, a Titan famed for his jealousy and greed of his children and for swallowing most of them immediately after their births (“Greek Gods and Goddesses”). His mother was Rhea, also known as “mother of the Olympian gods” (Favis-Mortlock 159). Wanting to save at least one of her children, Rhea tricks Cronus to save her last born, Zeus (“Why Should We Worry about Zeus?”) With the help of the Titans Uranus and Gaea, Rhea gave her husband a rock to swallow instead (Protecting Her Family). –The paragraph would continue….

Intext citations are REQUIRED – you use the authors last name and page number, if there is no author, use the title of the article.

The Works Cited should be a separate page and will be the last page of your paper. Alphabetize your list. Here is an example:

Works Cited

"Greek Gods and Goddesses." Teacher's Domain. National Mythology Foundation. 25 Oct. 2009. Web. 22 Nov.

2010.

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Favis-Mortlock, Dave. “What Is Zeus?” Mythology International. May 2007. Web. 4 Nov. 2010.

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Francek, Mark. "Birth Myths." Teaching Greek Gods in the 21st Century. 02 July 2009. Carelton College and

Central Michigan University. Web. 25 Oct. 2010.

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Protecting Her Family. Association of Titan Mythology. 2009. Web. 23 Nov. 2010.

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“Why Should We Worry about Zeus?” Learning about Gods. 20 August 2003. Web. 15 Nov. 2010.

.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism “is the act of using someone else’s ideas or phrasing and representing those ideas or phrasing as one’s own, either on purpose or through carelessness” according to the Modern Language Association. Plagiarism comes from the Latin word plagiarius which means “kidnapper”.

Information that is gathered from any source which is not your own idea needs to give credit to the author of that work by citing that source. Changing one or two words of the information gathered and using it in your own paper would still be plagiarism. This information gathered also includes art work or graphics. Information that is common knowledge does not need to be cited. If a student gathers the same fact in three or more sources, it can go into the paper uncredited. (e.g. Lincoln freed the slaves.)

Plagiarism of any kind is considered academic dishonesty as you would be stating someone else’s work as your own. It is because of this that plagiarism will not be tolerated in any subject area by any student. ** Unintentional plagiarism is still cheating **

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TIMELINE:

April 18/19 – Research Article practice – MLA Citations, Romeo and Juliet after reading assignment

April 22/23 – Romeo and Juliet Test, Research MLA practice

April 24/25 – Choose god/goddess/costumes/Globe Theatre and begin research

April 26/29 – Go to library to research BOOK sources and illustrations

April 30/May 1 – Research and creation of book with illustrations

May 2/3 – Research and creation of book with illustrations

I. Intro

A. General idea

B. Thesis

II. Body

A. Topic 1

1. Subtopic

a. Detail

b. Detail

2. Subtopic

a. Detail

b. Detail

3. Subtopic

a. Detail

b. Detail

B. Topic 2 (repeat pattern)…

I

II. Conclusion

A. Restated thesis

B. Universal idea

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