Friday, January 10, 2014

Black Ships Before Troy

Black Ships Before Troy is a translation of an ancient and legendary story that exemplifies the situational archetype of the "task" or the "journey".  The journey sends the hero in search of some truth or information necessary to restore justice or harmony to the kingdom.  The journey includes a series of trials the hero must face which include sometimes superhuman "tasks" or feats that must be accomplished in order to fulfill the ultimate goal.  It also has qualities of the "quest" in which the protagonist or hero must search for someone or some talisman, which when found and brought back, will restore blessings to a suffering land - suffering which is reflected in the hero's disability or weakness.  Examine where these archetypes are present in the novel, Black Ships Before Troy.  Focus on one scene that demonstrates these archetypes.  (Make sure it's an exciting and distinctive part of the story.)  Examine the necessary plot elements of the scene you are focusing on (character, setting, sequence of events, conflict, theme, etc) and rewrite this scene in a modern setting.  First Paragraph:  Launch your rewritten story into the first series of action.  In 5-6 sentences, describe what is happening as your adventure begins.  Use specific details and make sure it reflects the archetype I mentioned above.  Second Paragraph:  What's the next important event in this scene?  Describe in 5-6 sentences what is happeinging as your adventure continues.  Keep on thinking "modern version".  Third Paragraph: Wrap up your final sequence of events in 5-6 sentences.  Use great details to bring your modern version of a scene in Black Ships to an end. How does the archetypal situation end?  Be sure to post anonymously but sign your name.  Can't wait to read your creative versions of this story!

5 comments:

Chuck Norris said...

I don't have to follow rules

Anonymous said...

Adam grew restless, there was no sign of their opponent. He looked to his co-captain for advice, and Mike suggested that he should send a cabin-mate to the enemies home base across the river and field. he then could find the enemies flags, which would end the game of capture the flag. Adam agreed and chose Dan. Dan being aware of the dangers, requested a partner for his expedition, it was night after all. So Owen was added and the two boys set out into the dark trash-strewn field.

When Owen and Dan came to the river, they noticed a lone boy from the enemy team coming in the distance. Thinking on their feet Dan and Owen ducked down, and hidden by the river, waited for the stranger in the distance. That stranger, was a young boy named David, and wanting fame, told his team that he could find the other team's flags all by himself; just like Dan and Owen had wanted he walked strait into their trap. In no time they had David hanging over a putrid pit of trash, that was waiting to be burned the next day. Owen asked him where their flags where, and David who feared being dropped into the gunk, told them that the flags where in the Great Oak Tree. Then Dan and Owen dropped him in the pit even though he had answered the question, and headed towards the Great Oak Tree.

The only problem was that the Great Oak Tree was right next to the enemies base camp. So once they got to the camp, Dan picked up a rock and threw it at a boy, then yells "He did it," while he pointed at the boy beside him. with shock, anger, and not to mentation the darkness of night no one knew it was him. That one rock ultimately started a civil war throughout the camp, and allowed Owen to climb the tree, get the flags, and even walk triumphantly to home base, ending the game that day.
Joey Morrow

Anonymous said...

The whole team of spies were frantic. Their leader had been captured. Her name was Lilly and Lilly was captured by the spy agencie's enemy, the dark masks. The Dark Mask's had captured Lilly when she was out of the base in the rainforest(their headquarters). Now, the team of spies had decided they must go and rescue her. So they got their guns and gadgets and headed off into the dark and eery night.


The whole team of spies : Jacob, Anderson, Smith, Martha, and Kate snuck silently through the banana trees and small oases. BANG! A gunshot splits past Smith's right ear. Martha is quick to react and locates the shooter and uses her net gun to capture him so that they can interrigate the shooter. Kate and Jacob slowly eased closer on the shooter and aim there guns at him. Talk said Kate. " I am not part of the tribe that captured your leader, I swear! But i know where she is and i will show you if you please do not shoot me!", " Why did you try to shoot one of us then?" " I tried to shoot you because i thought you were Ulana", "Who the heck is Ulana?" "You dont wanna know". "Then show us."

So off went the team of spies with their new "friend" Yentru ( a common name from his tree tribe, the Wahne tribe). After about two hours of walking through swamps there was a very nervous remark,"OHHH MY-MY GOSH" said Anderson and everyone turned to look where he was looking. Sure enough, there was Lilly hanging 25 feet in the air in a cage made of leaves and logs. Lilly saw them and her eyes suddenly lit up with hope of rescue. But Lilly, highly trained and proffessional didn't say a word because she was surrounded by the Dark Masks. The team of spies all ducked down at once behind a wild berry bush. "OK, proceed plan 17" and everyone nodded in agreement and also decided that Yentru should stay back. All at once, Martha shot a bullet in the air to distract the Dark Masks, and while distracted, Jacob shot a rope up to Lillie's cage. Anderson, using his mad climbing skills, climbed a near-by tree and hopped onto her cage while Kate started taking out the dark masks with her tranquillizer gun. Anderson cut open Lillie's cage and they both grabbed on the the outside bars and used a very stong banana tree leaf to zip line down the rope to the others. Kate had already knocked out the dark masks but received a broken leg doing it, and everyone else just had a broken tooth or two. " Well, glad to be back in buissness" said Lilly.

Ashley Simon #19

Anonymous said...

A timid echo barreled through our teams tunnels. Matthew, our team leader, paced thoughtfully in front of us. The cool silvery walls trapped the remainder of my team underground and we’ve been relying on Matthew to make the plans of attack. Scattered across the room was my group, quietly stirring up plans individually. The taps of Matthew’s feet stop and I raise my eyes to see his face distraught in desperation.
“We need someone to investigate,” he declares. The men around me look up vigilantly and then around to each other. “We need, a…. a diversion, or someone to to venture to the Daunstone headquarters. The information that they posses is crucial for our region’s evolution.” I chew on the inside of my cheek. The war over this information has been going on for years now. Not many advancements have been made by the Daunstone, disregarding their possession of the files. Then again, our region has barely had any success. My thoughts cease as Matthew juts his arm out towards me. “You,” he says sternly. “Hogan, you are to set out and find those files. I am trusting your exceptional instinct to assist you through this journey.” My eyes widen and I can feel my heart pound against my chest. Matthew looks sympathetically into my eyes. “Gather your weapons.”

I pull on the icy rungs of the metal ladder leading out to the open. I breathe heavily, in rhythm with my partner Ryan. I chose him to assist me in this fatal mission. We step out of the entry tunnel and inhale the chilled, fresh air. In the distance a simple concrete building sits, glowing from technology protected, on the opposite sides of the walls. Quickly but carefully, Ryan and I meander over the border to their camp. He sticks out his rough arm to stop me and silently points over to the left of the clearing. A Daunstone soldier, tip-toeing towards our camp. Ryan starts towards him and I follow, eager to catch the idiot. He gasps as Ryan grabs him by the back of his armor and stares at us, shaking like a frightened dog. I point my gun at him as Ryan forces the pass codes and lock combinations out of him. With a plan in mind, the two of us and our new found captive travel to the front entrance. Time for the diversion. One of our back up weapons, a simple small pistol, is given to Jacob, our detainee. He wouldn’t dare shoot it, given that both Ryan and I have our machine guns pressed to his back. After slipping in to the first entrance, our plan begins to take action. At my command, Jacob fires at his fellow soldiers, killing three and injuring many more. He takes off runnig through his own camp. Those who aren’t shot run frantically to find him, now desperately regretting his betrayal. We have successfully set off a mini civil war.

With the Daunstone now in chaos, Ryan and I break into their highly protected file rooms. Tearing through folder after folder, I finally grab hold of the top secret, valuable information that will lead my nation to power. I call Ryan back and we charge through their head quarters, finding our way back out. Triumphantly, we race back across the border and return to our camp unharmed. Our team and leader grant us great praise and rewards. We have ended the war and came out winners.

Hannah Heil #8

Anonymous said...

We were finally here. As I looked around at Jessica, Bianca, Emily, Hayden, and Jamie, I felt a surge of pride.
"Torie!" Jessica said, snapping me out of my happiness "We need you to be thinking with us!"
As she said that, I realized that the others had gone into a sort of huddle, and I was the only one still standing there, so I jogged the 5 feet to where they were standing.
"We're trying to figure out how to get the door open," Bianca explained to me. She was the weapons master in our group. Jessica was the planner, I was technology, Emily was our assassin, and Hayden and Jamie had superhuman strength.
"Weneedtogetthatsignoverthereanduseittogetthedooropen," Jessica said so quickly that none of us could understand. "Sorry, we need to get that sign over there, and use it to get open the door."
Hayden and Jamie were already on their way over, and within 30 seconds (and with quite a lot of noise) the door was no longer in our way.
Now all we had to do was get past the security and take what we needed-a diamond good luck charm made in Ancient China. It was my turn. I stepped up expertly to the system and began to take it apart. We had one minute if we were lucky, but I had been training for this for as long as I could remember. It was disabled within fifteen seconds. We all rushed in and started searching, leaving destruction everywhere. Well, I guess when you're on a mission to steal something from the most powerful man in the world, you don't need to tread carefully in his house. Emily headed up the stairs, killing anyone and anything that she found in her path, and when she reached Demarest's bedroom, she killed him without a thought. Suddenly, the whole team heard a whistle, low, but strong, and we knew that Jess had found the safe. It was my turn once again, and my ears, trained to hear the soft clicks, found the combination easily. Emily grabbed the good luck charm quickly, and just like that, we were sprinting out the door and onto the street.
Bianca looked up "Thank goodness it's still dark out. Let's head back." We slowed down to a jog and started back to where we'd all lived together since we were five years old. Once we made it, Jess called a team meeting, even though the rest of us were off of our adrenaline rushes and now too tired to speak.
"Okay guys, good job. Em, you killed quietly, Hayden and Jamie-you got the door open quickly, and Torie, nice job with the safe and the security." She smiled expectantly at us. I was the first to catch on, "Thanks, J. You did really awesome with finding the safe and figuring out how to get it." We all stared each other down, but then we broke out laughing. It was so good to be with the people, the ones I had been with and would be with for the rest of my life.

-Cole Sias