It was a battle of the literary archetypes at Tappan Zee High School on Monday! Twelfth grade English students participated in the second annual M-Archetype Madness Championship to prove what literary character best reflects one of the twelve literary archetypes.
“We were excited to host the event because it is a culmination of everything the seniors have learned in their English classes over the last four years. It is an opportunity for the students to gather, celebrate, and reflect on their literary journey together,” explained TZHS English teacher Laura Sorrese-Lefkow. Students worked together to create a multimedia presentation proving that their character exemplified a specific archetype—a set of traits or qualities in a character that are easily identifiable. The characters and archetypes that were presented included:
- Macbeth from “Macbeth”- The Tyrant
- Ralph from “Lord of the Flies”- The Hero
- Snowball from “Animal Farm”- The Hero
- Jay Gatsby from “The Great Gatsby”- The Lover
- Jack from “The Lord of the Flies”- The Bully
Each presentation included a theme song, pop culture comparisons including film adaptations of the book, character quotes to support each group’s thesis and mock social media accounts where they had to write posts as their character.
TZHS English teacher Susan Gleeson said, “Having the students research and find popular culture adaptations shows them how the literature transcends time periods, and all forms of media. When the students have to create social media profiles for the characters, they bring the character into 2023 which they find fun. There were some unique hashtags this year that made the audience gasp!”
After the final presentations, students and staff voted Macbeth as The Tyrant as the winner and the winning group was awarded the M-Archetype Madness Champion belt!
