Lévi-Strauss spent his academic career studying tribal cultures and myths, and Structural Anthropology became one of his key works. As is typical of narratologists, he went beyond the surface of myths to discover and describe their structures: for him, it was all about finding the underlying patterns that organize language and society.
Lévi-Strauss believed that social structures are based on binary oppositions, or pairs of opposites like male/female, old/young, strong/weak—you get the drift. Lévi-Strauss has since become a key name in narrative theory, his model of narrative emphasizing the role that binaries play in structuring texts.
Think about some of the books you've read or movies you've watched: can you recognize any binary oppositions that factor into their narratives?
Are these oppositions always portrayed as equal, or is there an imbalance? Is one side shown as better or worse than the other?