a WebQuest for 9th Grade English

by Heidi Berrell

Introduction | Task | Resources | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion

Do you like funny movies? Sad movies? Adventure movies? Most people enjoy this kind of entertainment in one form or another, but how often do you think about the work behind the films? Movies like Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Titanic, and Never Been Kissed do not just write themselves. You are now a group of Hollywood screenwriters who have brilliant ideas for a modern adaptation loosely based on one of the adventures of Odysseus in The Odyssey. Screenwriters must do research, though, in order to write a fabulous, intelligent script. You have read The Odyssey, but if you need a little more familiarity with mythology you can go to An Introduction to Mythology. It is important to research, because as screenwriters you must understand more about the ancient Greek people and their world.

You, as screenwriters, will write a script for a modern Odyssey adventure. You will decide what your hero or heroine will be like and what the monster will be. You will develop the plot and the conclusion. This will not be a long epic poem like Homer's The Odyssey. It will be similar to one of the shorter adventures in the story. You will not do this until you have researched your different areas as the different roles, which will be discussed below. After you come together as experts in your area, you will write the screenplay for the "modern odyssey." You next task is to present it to the class. You may do this in one of several ways. You may either film your acting debuts on your own with a video camera, or you can act it out during class. If you need outside people for your adventure, you may use them; however, if they are members of your class, they will not receive extra credit or an extra grade for their own individual adventure. You could also make your characters out of clay, wood, pipe cleaners, etc. and film their actions as they act out your adventure. You could even put on a puppet show for the class. You may not draw a scene on a poster board and present the story in that way. The key thing that you should do is present your story in a clear, colorful, and entertaining manner.

As researchers, you will play one of two roles:

Myth Historian

Anthropologist

There are many resources you can use in your research on your area of expertise. You can also use books such as Edith Hamilton's Mythology and others. There are also thousands of web sites about mythology. The more specific web sites links can be found on the individual roles pages. The general ones are listed below for everyone's research:

Encyclopedia Mythica: This is an excellent site to refer to for definitions and explanations of unfamiliar terms and names in mythology.

Illustrated Mythology Encyclopedia: This is similar to the above site, except that it is illustrated and gives more explanation.

The Principal Gods Family Tree (From Edith Hamilton): This simply lets you know who's related between the various gods and goddesses.

Greek Map

Greek Mythology: This is a very general web site that gives general information on the gods and goddesses, myths, Trojan War, etc...

1. You will be assigned to a partner.
2. Read through the introduction together, so that you can gather an understanding of what you must do for this WebQuest.
3. Read the task. Remember that your ultimate goal is to write a screenplay for a modern version of an adventure loosely based on an adventure in The Odyssey. You will use the same elements that are found in the myths: gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines, monsters, and some sort of lesson. Your story however will be contemporary.
4. After reading the task, divide into roles. You may choose to be a myth historian or an anthropologist. See the above icons for more information on the duties of each.
5. After completing the individual tasks, you and your partner will come together again and each explain his or her complete tasks. The myth historian will have charts and an essay to share. The anthropologist will have a chart to share and instances to point to in certain myths that back up his or her chart.
6. Then, you will both put your brains togetherand write a modern tale. You must include the following: A hero or heroine, a monster of some sort, gods and goddesses, and a task to be accomplished.
7. You must then put your story into screenplay form. Be sure to include a list of characters, character descriptions, and setting descriptions at the beginning of your screenplay.
8. After you have written your screenplay and typed it, you must plan how to present it to the class. Again, you may act it out in the classroom, or you can act on videotape. You may put on a puppet show, or videotape puppets. The best grade will be achieved by presenting your screenplay with creativity and color. The more costumes and props, the better the grade!!!!
9. Make sure that you turn everything in to me, in your portfolios. This will include your individual tasks (ex. charts, essays, comparisons), the notes that you made in explaining the areas of your expertise, the prewriting that you did for your story, a final draft of your screenplay, and (if applicable, your videotape for the class.

You will be evaluated with a rubric that can be found by clicking below. You will be evaluated in four areas: grammar/mechanics, screenplay, group presentation, and individual tasks.

Rubric

You have now closed the curtain on a project that helped you to look at elements of mythology and the ancient Greek culture and apply them to form a contemporary screenplay. Maybe it will sell millions one day. Start thinking now about who would star in it... That could be another project.

Hopefully you have learned a lot from this project. Please take a moment to reply INDIVIDUALLY to the following questions on a separate piece of paper.

1. Did you enjoy this project? Why or why not?
2. What were your expectations going into this project?
3. Did you like the WebQuest format as a project?
4. If you were to do this over again, what would you change about your project?
5. What did you do for this project? What was your role and the aspects of the final project that you did?
6. What would you suggest as changes for this project?
7. Did you have any problems during the project that I should know about? (Remember that this is confidential.)

If you enjoyed this project and found that you have an interest in mythology, there are many, many more web sites covering this topic, as well as books. If you'd like to test your knowledge for fun, check out the mythology word search or mythology quiz here! Congratulations on doing a great job!!!!!