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Unit 3, Part 3

Arachne

Unit 3, Part 3

(pages 405–413)

Unit 3, Part 3

Selection Menu

Before You Read

Reading the Selection

After You Read

Respond Through Writing

Unit 3, Part 3

Before You Read

For pages 405–413

In studying this text, you will focus on the following objectives:

Literary Study: Analyzing myth.

Reading: Analyzing plot.

Unit 3, Part 3

Meet Olivia E. Coolidge

Before You Read

Click the picture to learn about the author.

Author Search For more about Olivia E. Coolidge, go to glencoe.com and enter QuickPass code GL19756u3.

Unit 3, Part 3

Think of an activity that you enjoy doing and can do well. You might choose a sport, a hobby, or a subject in school.

Before You Read

Connect to the Myth

Partner Talk With a partner, talk about the activity. How does it feel to be very good at something? Explain.

Unit 3, Part 3

Before You Read

Build Background The word arachne means “spider” in Greek. Many words in the English language come from Greek. For example, spiders are arthropods, animals with jointed legs and segmented bodies. The word arthropod comes from the Greek words arthron, meaning “joint,” and pod, meaning “foot.” Arachnids are a group of animals that includes spiders, scorpions, ticks, and mites. Fear of spiders is called arachnophobia. The story of Arachne explains why spiders are named after her.

Unit 3, Part 3

Before You Read

obscure adj. not well-known (p. 407). Few people know about the obscure town of Seashell.

Click a vocabulary term to listen to the definition.

amid prep. in the middle of (p. 408). Maya found herself amid a crowd of strangers on the dance floor.

mortal adj. destined to die; human (p. 408). All things that live are mortal.

Unit 3, Part 3

Before You Read

obstinacy n. state of not giving in to argument, persuasion, or reason (p. 409). When Tom crossed his arms in obstinacy, we knew that he would not give up easily.

Click a vocabulary term to listen to the definition.

descendants n. people who have a common ancestor (p. 411). Rob and Tania discovered that they are descendants of a famous explorer.

Unit 3, Part 3

Before You Read

Set Purposes for Reading

As you read, ask yourself, what kind of personality traits does Arachne have?

Unit 3, Part 3

Before You Read

Set Purposes for Reading

A myth is a traditional story that deals with gods and goddesses, heroes, and supernatural forces. A myth might explain a belief, a custom, or a force of nature.

Myth

Unit 3, Part 3

Before You Read

Set Purposes for Reading

Myths are important because they tell readers about the beliefs and values of a group of people. Reading myths can help you understand different aspects of the world or of human nature.

As you read, ask yourself, what values does this myth teach?

Myth

Unit 3, Part 3

Before You Read

Set Purposes for Reading

A generalization is a broad statement that applies to many facts or situations. When you make generalizations about plot, you make broad statements based on the events in a story. For example, after reading a myth in which a god solves a problem on Earth, you might generalize that in myths, gods often interfere with life on Earth.

Make Generalizations About Plot

Unit 3, Part 3

Before You Read

Making generalizations about plot can help you identify the common traits of myths or other types of literature.

Set Purposes for Reading Make Generalizations About Plot

Unit 3, Part 3

Before You Read

To make generalizations about plot, think about:

• what happens in the myth

• other myths that have similar plots

• what all these plot elements may reveal about myths as a whole

Set Purposes for Reading Make Generalizations About Plot

Unit 3, Part 3

Before You Read

In order to think about the common traits of myths, you may find it helpful to use a graphic organizer like the one on the next slide.

Set Purposes for Reading Make Generalizations About Plot

Unit 3, Part 3

Before You Read

Set Purposes for Reading Make Generalizations About Plot

Unit 3, Part 3

Before You Read

Make Generalizations One day your friend tells you how much he loves his pet dog. On the television news that evening, you watch a story about how a dog saves its owner’s life. What generalization do you make about dogs?

Set Purposes for Reading Make Generalizations About Plot

Unit 3, Part 3

Before You Read

Unit 3, Part 3

Unit 3, Part 3

Read the excerpt highlighted in tan on page 407. What is one of Arachne’s character traits?

Answer: Arachne is a hard worker and a skillful weaver.

Reading the Selection

Unit 3, Part 3

Myth Read the excerpt highlighted in purple on page 407. What do people value in the culture from which this myth comes?

Answer: The people value beautiful handmade materials such as Arachne’s cloth.

Reading the Selection

Unit 3, Part 3

In ancient Greece, weaving was a task of all women, regardless of wealth or social position. Wealthy women would weave elaborate and decorative cloths, while poorer women wove the rough homespun for everyday clothing. Athena was the patron of weavers, and so her involvement in this myth is particularly significant.

Reading the Selection

Cultural History

Unit 3, Part 3

Reading the Selection

A distaff is a stick used for spinning, on which wool, flax, cotton, or other fibers are held. The fibers are drawn off the distaff and twisted into thread by hand onto a spindle.

Unit 3, Part 3

Read the excerpt highlighted in tan on page 408. What is Arachne’s character flaw?

Answer: Arachne’s character flaw is pride.

Reading the Selection

Unit 3, Part 3

Make Generalizations About Plot Read the excerpt highlighted in blue on page 408. What generalization can you make about conflicts in myths?

Answer: Conflict results when humans challenge the power of the gods.

Reading the Selection

Unit 3, Part 3

Make Generalizations About Plot Read the excerpt highlighted in blue on page 408. With whom does Arachne have a conflict?

Answer: the old woman

Reading the Selection

Unit 3, Part 3

Make Generalizations About Plot Read the excerpt highlighted in blue on page 408. What does Arachnedo to bring about the conflict?

Answer: She claims that she is a better weaver than Athene.

Reading the Selection

Unit 3, Part 3

Myth Read the excerpt highlighted in purple on page 409. Who might this old woman be?

Answer: She might be Athene.

Reading the Selection

Unit 3, Part 3

Myth Read the excerpt highlighted in purple on page 409. What other myths have you read that have characters in disguise? Why might you think the old woman is really Athene?

Answer: Possible answer: Gods sometimes disguise themselves as old people.

Reading the Selection

Unit 3, Part 3

Arachne would probably have woven her cloth on a vertical loom, the most common type of loom at the time. The most basic type consisted of threads hanging from the ceiling with weights attached at the bottom. The weaver would weave threads back and forth through the suspended threads, called weft threads.

Reading the Selection

Cultural History

Unit 3, Part 3

Answer: You may describe standing looms, backstrap looms, or other forms.

Reading the Selection

Cultural History Have you ever seen a loom? Describe what it looked like.

Unit 3, Part 3

Look at the painting on page 409. If you saw this painting without its title, how would you know that the woman in the painting is Arachne?

Answer: A clue to identifying the woman in the picture as Arachne is that she seems to be gracefully weaving a web in the air.

Reading the Selection

Unit 3, Part 3

Look at the painting on page 409. What features in the painting indicate that it does not represent someone in the modern world?

Answer: Arachne’s clothes and hair, the style of the architecture behind her

Reading the Selection

Unit 3, Part 3

Myth Read the excerpt highlighted in purple on page 410. What warning is Athene weaving into her design?

Answer: She is warning Arachne not to defy the gods.

Reading the Selection

Unit 3, Part 3

Reading the Selection

Look at the painting on page 410. Minerva was believed to be a Roman goddess similar to the Greek goddess Athene and Neptune, the Roman god of the sea. How does this painting convey the idea that Minerva is a goddess?

Answer: She is sitting on clouds and looks otherworldly

Unit 3, Part 3

Make Generalizations About Plot Read the excerpt highlighted in blue on page 411. What generalization can you make about who wins conflicts between mortals and gods?

Answer: Gods win such conflicts.

Reading the Selection

Unit 3, Part 3

Read the excerpt highlighted in tan on page 411. What does this myth teach about character traits?

Answer: It teaches that excessive pride and lack of humility before the gods are traits that will be punished.

Reading the Selection

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Reading the Selection

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Answer: Her father is a dyer of wool.

Respond and Think Critically

1. What is Arachne’s father’s profession? [Recall]

After You Read

Unit 3, Part 3

Respond and Think Critically

2. Summarize what happens in the myth. [Summarize]

After You Read

Answer: Arachne claims to be better at weaving than the goddess Athene. She challenges the goddess to a weaving contest. The goddess weaves a picture to warn Arachne, but Arachne weaves a picture that offends the goddess. Athene turns Arachne into a spider.

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Respond and Think Critically

3. What is the reason that Athene first appears as an old woman instead of as a goddess? [Infer]

After You Read

Answer: She tries to warn Arachne not to insult Athene.

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Respond and Think Critically

After You Read

4. What does Arachne’s design show? How is her design similar to Athene’s? [Compare]

Unit 3, Part 3

Respond and Think Critically

TIP: Comparing

After You Read

Here are some tips to help you answer question 4. Remember that when you compare, you tell how things are similar.

Unit 3, Part 3

Respond and Think Critically

•  Describe Arachne’s design.

•  Describe Athene’s design.

•  How are the designs similar?

•  How are the purposes of the designs similar?

After You Read

Unit 3, Part 3

Respond and Think Critically

After You Read

Answer: Arachne’s design shows how the gods trick mortals. They both show humans and gods interacting.

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Respond and Think Critically

After You Read

Answer: You might say that Athene would have shown more mercy.

5. If Arachne had not insulted Athene with her design, do you think Athene still would have turned Arachne into a spider? Explain your answer. [Analyze]

Unit 3, Part 3

Respond and Think Critically

After You Read

Answer: Arachne could have been more humble. She could have recognized that some of her skill and fame was due to her father’s influence and dyeing talents.

6. Think about the character traits that lead Arachne to her unfortunate fate. What changes could she have made to avoid her fate? [Conclude]

Unit 3, Part 3

Gods and Myths in Ancient Greece Mythology played an important role in the lives of the ancient Greeks. They prayed to the gods for protection and prosperity. Every city had at least one official god or goddess to worship. For example, Athene was the official goddess and protector of Athens.

After You Read

Unit 3, Part 3

Myths provided examples of how humans should behave. These stories were handed down from generation to generation as a means of communicating the values of an earlier culture. Greek sculptors created statues of gods and goddesses, and artists painted mythological scenes on vases, all to preserve their stories.

After You Read

Unit 3, Part 3

Group Activity Discuss the following questions with your classmates.

After You Read

Unit 3, Part 3

1. Are the characters in “Arachne” typical of characters you might expect to find in a myth? Explain.

After You Read

Answer: You might say that the characters are typical of a myth: the townspeople respect the gods, and Athene is shown as wise and respectable, a goddess worth worshipping as a protector

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2. Which scenes from “Arachne” might have appeared on an ancient Greek vase?

After You Read

Answer: You may say that the spinning competition scene or Arachne being turned into a spider might appear on an ancient Greek vase.

Unit 3, Part 3

1. A myth often expresses the customs and beliefs of a society. What does the myth of Arachne tell you about what the Greeks thought of spiders?

Myth

After You Read

Answer: You may say that the myth shows that the Greeks respected spiders as though they were great artists.

Unit 3, Part 3

2. What other myths have you read that explain a natural event?

Myth

After You Read

Answer: You may mention “The End of the World” or “How the Snake Got Poison.”

Unit 3, Part 3

As you learned on page 222, a society’s oral tradition is the stories, customs, and beliefs passed by word of mouth from one generation to the next. Oral literature was a way of recording the past, glorifying leaders, and teaching morals and traditions to young people.

After You Read

Review: Oral Tradition

Unit 3, Part 3

3. Why might parents have told the myth of Arachne to their children?

Review: Oral Tradition

After You Read

Answer: The myth warns children to respect their elders. It teaches that pride and arrogance may bring about unfortunate consequences.

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4. How does the myth of Arachne express the customs and beliefs of the ancient Greeks?

Review: Oral Tradition

After You Read

Answer: It passes along the cultural importance of cloth-making, respect for the gods, and distaste for pride and arrogance and eventually leads to a conflict with a god. The god wins, punishes the human, and teaches him or her a lesson.

Unit 3, Part 3

After You Read

5. Like many myths, this story involves a conflict between

A. a girl and her father.

B. gods and mortals.

C. two young school friends.

D. two brothers.

Make Generalizations About Plot

Unit 3, Part 3

After You Read

Synonyms/Antonyms: Identifying Identify whether each set of paired words has the same meaning or the opposite meaning. Then write a sentence using each vocabulary word or draw or find a picture that represents each word.

Unit 3, Part 3

After You Read

Example: obscure and unknown = same meaning Sentence: In Matt’s advanced computer-science course, he learned obscure information about how the Internet works.

Unit 3, Part 3

After You Read

1. obscure and unknown

Answer: same meaning Sentence: Answers will vary.

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After You Read

2. amid and among

Answer: same meaning Sentence: Answers will vary.

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After You Read

3. mortal and godlike

Answer: opposite meaning Sentence: Answers will vary.

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After You Read

4. obstinacy and flexibility

Answer: opposite meaning Sentence: Answers will vary.

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After You Read

5. descendants and ancestors

Answer: opposite meaning Sentence: Answers will vary.

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After You Read

Despite warnings, Arachne persisted in equating her weaving ability with that of the goddess Athene.

Unit 3, Part 3

After You Read

A main theme in this myth addresses the abilities of humans compared to the abilities of gods and goddesses. Using context clues, show your understanding of the word equating as used in the sentence above. Check your answer in a dictionary.

Unit 3, Part 3

After You Read

Selection Resources For Selection Quizzes, eFlashcards, and Reading-Writing Connection activities, go to glencoe.com and enter QuickPass code GL19756u3.

Answer: In this context, equating means “regarding or treating as comparable.

Unit 3, Part 3

After You Read

Unit 3, Part 3

Unit 3, Part 3

Respond Through Writing

Respond Through Writing Expository Essay

For page 414

In this assignment, you will focus on the following objectives:

Writing: Writing an expository essay. Analyzing cause-and-effect relationships.

Unit 3, Part 3

Respond Through Writing

Analyze Cause and Effect In “Arachne,” a stubborn young woman discovers that her skills are no match for an angry goddess. In a short essay, describe how the cause-and-effect relationships in the myth push the plot forward and support the theme.

Respond Through Writing Expository Essay

Unit 3, Part 3

Respond Through Writing

Understand the Task A cause is that which makes something happen. An effect is what happens as the result of the cause. They may control the plot and outcome of a story. Analyzing cause-and-effect relationships means exploring reasons and examining results.

Respond Through Writing Expository Essay

Unit 3, Part 3

Respond Through Writing

Prewrite Think of three cause-and-effect relationships in the myth. Then think about how each relationship affects the myth’s plot or theme.

Respond Through Writing Expository Essay

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Respond Through Writing

Keep track of your findings in a chart like the one below.

Respond Through Writing Expository Essay

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Respond Through Writing

Draft Before you begin, make an overall plan. For example, you may decide to write an introduction, a paragraph about how cause-and-effect relationships affect plot, a paragraph about how those relationships affect theme, and a conclusion.

Respond Through Writing Expository Essay

Unit 3, Part 3

Respond Through Writing

These sentence frames might help you introduce the body paragraphs of your essay: Cause-and-effect relationships push the plot forward because ________. Cause-and-effect relationships support the theme of the myth because ________.

Respond Through Writing Expository Essay

Unit 3, Part 3

Respond Through Writing

Revise After you write your first draft, read it to determine whether you have supported the main idea of each paragraph with strong examples. Revise as necessary so that your examples support your points.

Respond Through Writing Expository Essay

Unit 3, Part 3

Respond Through Writing

Edit and Proofread Proofread your paper, correcting any errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. See the Word Bank on the following slide for words you might use in your expository essay.

Respond Through Writing Expository Essay

Unit 3, Part 3

Respond Through Writing

Following are some useful words you might want to include in your essay. Check their meanings in a dictionary first to make sure you use them correctly.

acknowledge impact capabilities precede consequence

Respond Through Writing Expository Essay

Unit 3, Part 3

Respond Through Writing

Unit 3, Part 3

Unit 3, Part 3

Are you afraid of spiders?

Bellringer

Bellringer Transparency

Unit 3, Part 3

His statement wasn’t nice, but he said it nicely.

If you won’t comb your hair neatly, at least get a neat haircut.

Bellringer Transparency

Unit 3, Part 3

Didn’t anybody tell you that I was coming over?

I couldn’t call because I never found a phone anywhere.

You weren’t planning anything for tonight, were you?

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