Who is the trickster?

End Goal

This Webquest is about recognizing the character traits of
literary tricksters and being able to implement these traits during a creative
writing assignment.

The Trickster

In mythology, and in the study of folklore and
religion, a trickster is a god, goddess, spirit, man, woman, or anthropomorphic
animal who plays tricks or otherwise disobeys normal rules and conventional
behavior.

Tricksters are archetypal, almost always male, characters who appear
in the myths of many different cultures. As their name suggests, tricksters
love to play tricks on other gods (and sometimes on humans and animals). Perhaps
the best definition of a trickster is the one given by Lewis Hyde: "trickster
is a boundary-crosser" (Hyde). By that, he means that the trickster
crosses both physical and social boundaries-- the trickster is often a traveler,
and he often breaks societal rules. Tricksters cross lines, breaking or
blurring connections and distinctions between "right and wrong, sacred and
profane, clean and dirty, male and female, young and old, living and dead"
(Hyde). The trickster often changes shape (turning into an animal, for example)
to cross between worlds. In his role as boundary-crosser, the trickster
sometimes becomes the messenger of the gods.

Story writing

At the end of this Webquest pupils are asked to write a 500 word essay in English to prove they have mastered English writing
skills. The text should be written in the past simple tense. This is considered
easier for second language learners.

According to the Dutch government, at the end of the HAVO pupils
should master the English language at A2/B1 level of the European Reference
Kader. Pupils at B1 level should be able to recognize and use past simple tense
correctly in written texts. Therefore, it is suggested that English teachers
should supply their pupils with enough opportunities to practice writing in this
tense before commencing with this Webquest. Please note, the practice they have
had will not greatly affect the outcome of this Webquest as the task is graded
holistically focusing on content more than on form.

Tips

Teachers are advised to try and complete the Webquest themselves
beforehand in order to experience what the task will demand of the pupils�
organizational skills. Remember to set out a start date and hand-in date
beforehand, and regularly check in with group process. Making an assignment
schedule is also advisable. This Webquest has an estimated completion time of 5
hours. Pupils should not be allowed to form their own groups because random
selection will challenge the pupils� operational skills even more.

- Estimated time for completion: 5 hours

- Advice on making teams: maximum 3-4 students per team

- For dyslectic pupils; implement school scoring system for
individual end product

- Choosing another character trait instead of 'tricksters'; YouTube
offers a lot of clips on literary characters (e.g.Casanovas, villains, mythical
figures

- The final assignment is a creative writing assignment, thus it is required that pupils have had practise with this form of writing, or it may be a good idea to implement a lesson on practising this skill. See this website for some excellent activities on teaching creative writing: http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/english/creative.htm  If a creative writing assignment is unsuitable for your pupils, invent a new final assignment in which pupils use their trickster knowledge.

Standards

1. Pupils learn how to use interactive media like Youtube and Zunal
2. Pupils develop English reading- listening � and writing skills
3. Pupils learn to recognise the recurring character traits of (literary) tricksters
4. Pupils can implement character traits of tricksters in a creative writing assignment
5. Pupils learn to work in a team

Credits

Resources needed to complete the tasks are linked in the process steps. These include:

� YouTube
� Zunal Webquest
� Excerpts from "Green Grass Running Water" by Thomas King
� Allmovies.com
� IMDB.com

Other

See works for more background information on tricksters

Erdoes, Richard, and Alfonso Ortiz, eds. American Indian Trickster Tales. New York: Penguin, 1998.
Hyde, Lewis. Trickster Makes This World: Mischief, Myth, and Art. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998.
Leeming, David Adams. The World of Myth: An Anthology. New York: Oxford UP, 1990.
Leeming, David Adams and Jake Page. God: Myths of the Male Divine. New York: Oxford UP, 1996.
Radin, Paul. The Trickster: A Study in American Indian Mythology. 2nd ed. New York: Schocken, 1972.