In this first paper, your job is to take a favorite family story
and turn it into an epic. This story may be about you or another family member, but please
make sure that you are not embarrassing anybody in your choice of tale!
In order to make your story in to an epic, you are going to need to embellish it a bit. You may
need to make the setting larger or you may need to incorporate supernatural beings. For
instance, in order to make epic the story of me flushing my sister’s friend’s sparkler down the
toilet, I may throw it into an enchanted lake from which springs forth a fearsome water
monster, etc. In fact, I would like you to go beyond just setting and supernatural beings and
incorporate as many of the elements common to epic poems as you are able. (See list below)
Elements Common to Epic Poems:
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Narrative – you will be telling the tale in the 3rd person – that is you will be talking
about someone using he, she, or it, rather than using “I” and talking about yourselfwhat we call 1st person. So if the story is about you, you will need to tell it as if it were
about someone else.
Large setting
The hero reflects the virtues of the culture (in this case your family)
The action includes extraordinary or superhuman deeds (here is your opportunity to
finally have superpowers!)
The hero is challenged, mentally, physically and in terms of courage by adversaries both
natural and supernatural
Gods or supernatural beings take part in the action – either on behalf of or against the
hero
The ultimate goal is to entertain the audience (me in this case) and to inspire them to
the ideals that are important to the hero.
In addition to the elements of poetry, you should also try to mimic the style of an epic
poem. This will include the various construction elements of epic narration listed below:
Construction and stylistic elements of epic narration:
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Opens with a prayer for inspiration
Poem begins in medias res (fancy Latin term for in the middle of things – no “Once upon
a times” in epic poetry!)
Includes speeches by the main characters
The language is formal not conversational
Contains figurative language – epic similes
Uses epithets or formulas and repetition to help the poet remember the verses
The finished product should include the following:
• A short summary of the original story with no embellishment (e.g. Once when I
was about 3 years old I wanted to play with my sister’s friend’s sparkler but he
wouldn’t let me, so I grabbed it, took off running and flushed it down the toilet).
• An 800-1400 word, double-spaced, 12-point font epic rendition of the original
story that has been well-written and well-edited before submission.
Your grade on this paper will depend upon both your understanding and application of the
elements of epic poetry and narrative construction, and your use of proper vocabulary,
grammar, and punctuation.