Myth Into History, History Into Myth, Week 1: Reintroductions [Danger Shop, Thursday 1st Period]

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

When students arrived in the Danger Shop, they would find it set up to look like the interior of an old canvas tent -- not a pup tent, but the kind you would find at the base camp of an archaeological dig site from the late 1930s or early 1940s. Piles of crates lined the walls at varying degrees of dubious balance, and inexplicably a large Gatling gun (sans ammunition) stood on a tripod opposite the door. Next to the Gatling, behind a desk cluttered with artifacts and notes, sat Janice with her booted feet up on the desk, her fedora down over her eyes, and an unlit cigar clenched in her teeth.

"There you are," she said finally, once everyone was seated in the half circle of camp chairs at the center of the tent. "First things first. My name is Doctor Janice Covington, and the first person to call me Doc gets detention faster than I can crack a whip -- which, let me tell you, is pretty damned fast. I'm an archaeologist, in case you can't tell, and I'm here to teach you something about the myths and history of the ancient world. We'll be focusing mainly on Greece and Rome in this class, but some of the material will cover events in Gaul, the British Isles, Egypt, and even China. Come up at the end of class and pick up a packet with all the reading material you'll need for the semester. If you don't, you have no excuse."

She stood up and paced slowly around the tent, sizing up her students; God only knew how she managed to keep that cigar in her teeth and still speak fairly clearly around it. "Whatever you think you know about the ancient world? You're probably wrong. For centuries scholars have been missing a huge part of the puzzle. But thanks to my father's research, my partner Melinda Pappas and I have made a huge discovery that changes everything. Everything," she repeated, her toothy grin hinting at perhaps a slightly unbalanced psyche. She picked up a fragment of well-worn parchment and held it in both hands, almost reverently.

"This was the first piece my father found. The key to finding the last piece of the puzzle: the most important archaeological find of the century. Something that will revolutionize the way we look at the ancient world. It has the power to turn myth into history -- history into myth." The dramatic pause was, perhaps, a touch overdramatic. "This was the first fragment of the Xena Scrolls to be unearthed, and it tells the story of Xena's first encounter with her nemesis, the crazed warlord Callisto."

Janice handed the bit of parchment to the nearest student, along with a translation in Mel Pappas's impeccable hand. "It's only a virtual replica, but treat it with respect," she ordered.

Once the parchment had made its rounds, Janice tucked her thumbs into her belt and surveyed the class again before speaking. "So. We'll keep it pretty basic today. Who you are, when and where you're from, why you're in this class, and a brief rundown of what exactly you know so far about the myths and stories of this time period. After that, we've got a little activity to do."

Syllabus, Roster, and Class Info

[OOC: OCD is up. Have at!]

Comments

Sign In

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

Collapsey style, please. But not in the collapsing tomb way.

Re: Sign In

[bookyeve.livejournal.com]

Evelyn Carnahan

Talk, Take Notes, Etc.

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

Discuss the parchment. Talk about something entirely unrelated. Come to the conclusion that your teacher is entirely out of her mind.

It's not like she really thinks you're paying attention anyway.

Re: Talk, Take Notes, Etc.

[bookyeve.livejournal.com]

Evie was diligently taking notes, and studied the parchment very seriously and without a hint of mockery. She might have been looking at Dr. Covington a little uneasily-- and enviously-- but the parchment? Completely enthralled.

Re: Talk, Take Notes, Etc.

[dorky-broots.livejournal.com]

Broots frowned as he took notes, but he still typed away.

Re: Talk, Take Notes, Etc.

[twohalvesofaphd.livejournal.com]

Zack raised his hand. "Dr Covingtion, I don't think Principal Washburn would take kindly to you slandering a past student in class."

Re: Talk, Take Notes, Etc.

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe is taking notes... and the news about Callisto apparently being a crazed warlord didn't faze her...much.

Re: Talk, Take Notes, Etc.

[untouchableskin.livejournal.com]

Marie took notes and decided this class was going to be interesting.

Though she found it an odd coincidence that her former cheerleading coach had the same name as some crazy warlord.

Re: Talk, Take Notes, Etc.

[likethegun]

Sam was taking notes and possibly wearing a look of geekish glee at seeing everything around them. Callisto as a warlord? That wasn't hard to imagine at all.

Re: Talk, Take Notes, Etc.

[dbiers.livejournal.com]

The parchment? Weird.

The professor? Wee and weird.

D'anna? Wondered if there were any other open classes lacking in weird.

Re: Talk, Take Notes, Etc.

[l1ttle-billy.livejournal.com]

Billy took notes as he listened, and cast several uneasy glances at the gattling gun.

Re: Talk, Take Notes, Etc.

[notawitch.livejournal.com]

Will spent half of her time in class taking notes, and the other half wondering just how much practice it must have taken the teacher to learn how to talk properly around a cigar.

Introductions

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

Who are you? Why are you here? About how much knowledge do you have of ancient Greek and Roman myth and history?

Yes, Janice is taking exhaustive notes on everything you're saying. Don't ask why.

Re: Introductions

[bookyeve.livejournal.com]

"I, um, I'm Evelyn Carnahan," Evie said nervously. "I'm here because I want to-- I'm *going* to be an archaeologist. Egypt. I'm from Cairo, and London, 1916. So I know I have a great deal to catch up on, recent discoveries being made very recently and all." She took a deep breath. "I've read all the standard treatments of the Greek and Roman myths known through 1915, but I realize that new information means they've probably been re-examined since then. I understand Budge has been completely thrown out in some areas. And, and, um, I'm interested in the Library of Alexandria and Hamunaptra."

Re: Introductions

[dorky-broots.livejournal.com]

"Um, hi. My name is JC Broots, please call me Broots and not whatever name might happen to be on the roster. I'm from about twenty minutes away and from this year. I spent some time in Blue Cove, Deleware as well. I like computer and am here because I might have not always obeyed the law when playing with them." He grinned ruefully. "I'm in this class because I spent two years taking pretty much only math and science classes so now I need some history and English to actually apply to college."

Re: Introductions

[twohalvesofaphd.livejournal.com]

"My name is Zack Addy, I'm here because I want to be a forensic anthopologist, and this class counts towards that."

Re: Introductions

[grenfelzer.livejournal.com]

"I'm Carmela Rodriguez. I'm here because I like a good adventure. I don't know much about Greek or Roman myth though I have met an incarnation of Athena, sort of, though s/he was dressed as a cranky teenage celto-goth at the time but that's what I'm here for- to learn."

Re: Introductions

[untouchableskin.livejournal.com]

"I'm Marie D'Ancanto and I'm from present day Mississippi," she said. "I thought the class sounded interesting and I like history better than science. I don't really know much about ancient Greek or Roman myths though. Just the basics that I've learned in school."

Re: Introductions

[chasingsnitches.livejournal.com]

"I'm Cedric Diggory from England in 1999. I'm here so as to learn more about tis world and their history. I know very little. As for what I know, apparently this place is quite old and has a lot of history. Apologies but that's about all I do know."

Re: Introductions

[joxertehmighty.livejournal.com]

Joxer cleared his throat, having no idea what was about to hit him.

"I'm Joxer the Mighty, possibly also known as Joxer the Lion Hearted. I'm here because learning about my time back in Greece might help me be a better hero when I return there. A better one than that Xena person, even."

He was so doomed.

Re: Introductions

[janet_fraiser]

"My name is Janet Fraiser, I'm here because this is my senior year, I've put off most of my social science requirements for the end, and I took Classics all last year, so my knowledge of Greek and Roman history has expanded proportionately." She sighed. "If you start talking about aliens in the ancient world, can I drop the course? Please?"

Janet? So did not want to deal with another crazed archaeologist. One was plenty. Never, ever, ever let her drop this course. Bwah!

Re: Introductions

[bookwormwood.livejournal.com]

"I'm Matilda Wormwood. I'm here because I didn't fit in quite right were I used to go to school. And I've got an extensive knowledge of Greek and Roman history. I've read a lot of books about it."

Activity: Toss the (Fake) Baby!

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

"Relax," Janice said immediately, "it's not a real baby. It's just a doll, and a virtual one at that. Still, if you freak out about what you have to do with it, well . . . for crying out loud, people, it's made of rubber!"

She pushed a button on the Danger Shop remote and transformed the tent into what appeared to be a narrow antechamber in a palace and, inexplicably, a large pile of rubber playground balls. "This exercise is based on something from the latest translation that Mel sent me. Now, if we were being strictly accurate here, I'd have you fight off a room full of guards," Janice noted, and the tone in her voice clearly indicated that she thought it was stupid that she couldn't expect all the students to pull it off. "But since that's apparently not a reasonable expectation for you all, you just get to dodge all the balls I or your fellow students throw at you for seven seconds."

After a moment's pause, she grinned. "What does this have to do with the baby, or the baby-shaped object? Well, I expect you to toss it up in the air, dodge balls for seven seconds, and then catch it. Unharmed, or so the theory goes. Homework for next week is to think about this, and tell me if you think it's possible. If you don't, you're probably wrong. But I want to hear your reasons anyway."

Re: Activity: Toss the (Fake) Baby!

[bookyeve.livejournal.com]

Evie looked at the baby doll. She hugged it like it was her baby. Then she looked at the rubber balls.

Then she looked at Janice. Ah, there's the WTF? look she's been waiting for.

After Class: Talk to Janice

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

Go on, tell her you think she's crazy. She's used to it anyway, so you won't get detention for that unless you get cheeky about it.

Re: After Class: Talk to Janice

[twohalvesofaphd.livejournal.com]

And here was Zack sticking around after class. "Doctor Covington."

OOC

[drjcovington.livejournal.com]

Because you can't have spell OCD without O and C. Even if it means you have to smoosh the extra O to get the D.

The activity is a free-for-all; get as wacky as you want. No aiming for people's heads, though, and no throwing to hurt, or you will get detention. In which case, let me know if you want it.

Oh, and my availability info is in the class info post.

Re: OOC

[sensethevisions]

Phoebe will do the introductions and the activity after I get home from work this afternoon. :)