Studying Myths and Creating Myths
The experience of both creating a myth and studying a myth was interesting and fun. I am quite unfamiliar with myths. While I know the general idea of some popular myths, I have never read them. It was a fun experience to read and learn about myths and then to collaborate on a presentation about them. It expanded my knowledge of myths, including how they are created, the archetypes within them, the general framework, their purposes, and the role of culture in their existence. Studying myths certainly enhanced my experience of creating a myth. Since I had a better understanding of what a myth entails and its components, it was a bit easier to develop ideas for a myth. It made me think of the natural phenomena I encounter in my life and ponder on. I knew from the get-go that I did not want to employ a hero’s journey in my myth, as that framework did not resonate strongly with me. Hence, I ended up creating an origin myth that truly resonated with me.
What I learned from studying myths is the many ways to teach them to students in a digestible way that breaks down the major components of a myth, such as archetypes, frameworks, symbolism, and the cultural and historical contexts that influence a myth. This is all thanks to the fun collaborative experience of creating a presentation about a specific myth and to all the other beautiful presentations by my colleagues. Similar to the poetry experience, I believe that studying a myth first gave me much more insight into creating one myself. It is evident that the general overview of myths themselves and a study of specific ones can influence the ideas of creative writing, as it provides you with the information and tools to formulate one. This is a technique I will certainly implement in my future teaching career, as having the information will empower my students to confidently and creatively write their own.
Hi Natalie! This was my first time really reading and understanding myths as a whole. I have not encountered them very much in my education. Without learning this essential information about myths and getting a feel for how they are represented, I would have had a really hard time creating one myself! Now that we have created our own myths, it feels like it has tied the experience together. Learning to teach about myths has also enhanced this experience as now I feel like I have valuable experience that will be relevant in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteHi Natalie! As someone who was deeply entrenched in mythology as a kid, it is fun to see the perspective of someone who had not really encountered them before. Even before I fell in love with the Percy Jackson series, my grandpa would tell my brothers and I stories about the constellations like Orion the Hunter, Perseus, and Sagittarius (he was more into astronomy than astrology, though). I appreciate your outlook on myths as literature, looking at the major components as literary devices rather than the religious doctrine of those societies. Myths have lots of meaning not just in the plots that they tell, but in the ways they are told as well. The written accounts we study (like Ovid’s telling of Callisto) are only one person’s telling, and writing our own myths really helps to see what goes into the telling of such a story. These are so much more than normal stories because they tell us so much about the people who tell them, and I think that is why they are so important to include in our curricula.
ReplyDeleteHey Natalie! I like how you mentioned the many types that there is to break down a myth. Before we had to do this assignment, I thought the only way of breaking it down was by the basic plot analysis. I had no idea about archetypes and all of it. I remember your presentation and I loved how your group organized it. I was able to understand everything so easily and even enjoyed it along the way. I wasn't very aware how much historical context myths used. I mean of course i knew that there were myths that were passed down in certain cultures but I didn't know the value they held. I always thought they were just good stories to pass along a life lesson. However they are so much more powerful than just that and I'm glad I know much more. Also, loveee the pic that you put with this post.
ReplyDeleteHey Natalie, your blog was super interesting, as I am also not really familiar with myths, only knowing the very basic general idea of a myth and what it was. Studying them, seeing how each one revolved around their respective cultures, and realizing their purpose was all an experience I wasn’t familiar with. I agree that reading the myths first helped me on a deeper level to create mine, while also being able to understand myths better because of the myth I was creating. Through both of these different assignments, I feel like I’m going to be able to dissect the media I need to show my students much easier. Comparing it to poetry is a great example, because while they are both forms of media that I’m not too familiar with, reading about them and having a collaborative presentation with other people helps me feel at ease when I teach them later in the future. I checked out your myth, and it was amazing to see!
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