I really enjoyed creating the myth more than I enjoyed studying the other myths, but that's probably just because I like creative writing. I do, however, think the study of myths is incredibly important. In order to create a myth, one must first learn and grasp the basic story telling techniques of myths. I think it was crucial to study myths before we actually started writing them. In creating a myth, I learned a lot. I often found myself, going back and fourth between my own myth and the myths in the book in order to really create something unique. I think the creation of the myth website also enhances the original myth aspect. The website offers an added level of creativity that one can use to add to the myth.
I'll probably use myths in my teaching to show students the early uses of story telling and the oral traditions that they originated from. Studying myths is much different from creating myths however. The creation of myths can really only fit into a creative writing section of class, while the study of myth can be viewed from many standpoints, (historical, ect.) In the classroom, I would like to introduce the students to myths by showing them the various kinds of myths and letting them choose how they would like to look at them. I'd probably offer the students maybe an option of creating a short myth, then a short explanation of how it relates to the other myths. Then again, I'll probably just copy exactly what we did in this class, minus the website.
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I agree that the study of myth and creating a myth are two completely different things but they do end up complementing themselves. In a classroom you cannot do one without the other. I remember in several of my classes in middle school and high school when we studied mythology we would spend a couple of days studying different types of myths and then as a fun last assignment we would create our own myths either in a group or do our own personal ones. This is a good thing to use in the classroom, I think that most people like studying mythology, they a fun and interesting stories to read from different cultures from around the world. I had a great time studying mythology but I found it a little difficult creating my own myth. It took me a couple of days to finally figure out what type of myth I wanted to create and then start writing it down. This is a fun thing to do when teaching in middle school or in high school you can see how creative they can be.
Hi Greg! I totally agree with you that before you can write a myth, you have to study myths to understand what is required when writing one. I also agree that there is a difference in writing them, which you said goes under any creative writing subject, and studying them, whether through a historical aspect etc. I think that these points are different, but I feel that in a way they work together in a creation of a myth. You have to take into account the time period of your myth, and if creating a story in this time period, know really well the people and traditions of that time. They both are very different but in the end work hand in hand for one common purpose. I really like that you think it is important to teach mythology in the classroom. I think it is important for kids to study myths and see how certain myths shows characters or objects in a different light, different than our day to day interactions. It is also good to teach kids creation myths, because it will help spike their curiosity about objects and actions around them, and make them more aware of the how and why of things.
I agree with many of the things you said. I know it is very crucial to inform and grasp the basic knowledge before jumping into the creation of your own myth. I think it was a good idea for you to keep going back and forth trying to come up with a very good myth. The students should definetely be expossed to this kind of assignment. They are so caught up with the media that it wouldnt hurt for them to know and create their own story. I guess it was very fun to learn and to put in practice what we learned. I hope that your myth is fun and creative just like your poems were. I hope that your future students enjoy this assignement too.
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