For this discussion, respond to two of the five prompts below:

1. Regarding the “Myth Today” section of the text, discuss Barthes and his assessment of how
mythmaking happens at the institutional, cultural, social, and individual levels. How do these elements
function both individually and in conjunction? What is the value of myth-as-speech with respect to
these four discrete distinctions? Explain.
2. Select any two myths Barthes discussed in the “Mythologies” section of the text, and evaluate
his individual assessments from a contemporary perspective. What elements of these myths strike the
contemporary reader as significant, and why? Explain.
3. Barthes assessed elements of popular culture in Mythologies that fix his evaluation in a
specific place and time. While the time between the publication of his work and the present is
significant, there are noteworthy overlaps regarding his subject matter and a contemporary perspective.
Select any two individual myths that maintain a relative topicality, and explain how this continuity
exists.
4. Summarize the primary arguments in Paul De Man’s article “Roland Barthes and the Limits of
Structuralism” and in Marco Roth’s article assessment of Barthes and his influence. Is the overall
assessment of each positive, negative, or neutral?
5. How does Campbell’s position on the message of myth differ from Barthes’s? Select one
specific example, and discuss why this example matters to your larger understanding of myth.