Unlike with the creative writing that involved poetry, I experienced no anxiety or fear over this myth writing assignment. I think the fact that I worked with trickster myths, and learned that these could be as silly as a coyote stealing a dog's asshole, it dissolved the need to be profound and poignant which taints poetry writing for me.
When I sat down to write mine, I asked my boyfriend, "What should I do a myth on?" And he asked me to expand. "Well, I can do a creation myth, a male divine or female divine myth, a trickster myth, or a sacred places myth!" The fact that I had these jumping off points made the actual creating of my own so much easier, as they gave me a basic outline on where to take my myth. My boyfriend, ever helpful, said, "Do a sacred place myth." About what? "The merging of the 101 and the 405 freeway! It is hell on earth!"
Using his fantastic idea, and the information gained from the sections on sacred places from the book and from the group's presentation, the creating of my myth came much more easily than any poetry ever has or will. Having to take what I learned and apply it to my own myth actually made the information from the book real. The points of each myth were no longer was just words on a page, but tools I was actually able to use in my writing. For example, the group presentation who handled the sacred place myths described the bad luck that followed a family who removed stones from a sacred circle, so when I was creating mine I decided to make it the opposite - when a person removed a flower, it brought them good luck but left bad luck in its wake.
It is vital that when we teach we keep to this order - learning about myths, then creating, because the first supports the second so greatly. It was perfect to do the myth studying before the myth creating, as it allowed us to see the different aspects and points in the varying myth-types and then expound on those in our own writing. If the assignment had been, "Go create a myth!" before any knowledge had been gained, I'm sure I would have struggled with this as much as I did with the poetry!
When I sat down to write mine, I asked my boyfriend, "What should I do a myth on?" And he asked me to expand. "Well, I can do a creation myth, a male divine or female divine myth, a trickster myth, or a sacred places myth!" The fact that I had these jumping off points made the actual creating of my own so much easier, as they gave me a basic outline on where to take my myth. My boyfriend, ever helpful, said, "Do a sacred place myth." About what? "The merging of the 101 and the 405 freeway! It is hell on earth!"
Using his fantastic idea, and the information gained from the sections on sacred places from the book and from the group's presentation, the creating of my myth came much more easily than any poetry ever has or will. Having to take what I learned and apply it to my own myth actually made the information from the book real. The points of each myth were no longer was just words on a page, but tools I was actually able to use in my writing. For example, the group presentation who handled the sacred place myths described the bad luck that followed a family who removed stones from a sacred circle, so when I was creating mine I decided to make it the opposite - when a person removed a flower, it brought them good luck but left bad luck in its wake.
It is vital that when we teach we keep to this order - learning about myths, then creating, because the first supports the second so greatly. It was perfect to do the myth studying before the myth creating, as it allowed us to see the different aspects and points in the varying myth-types and then expound on those in our own writing. If the assignment had been, "Go create a myth!" before any knowledge had been gained, I'm sure I would have struggled with this as much as I did with the poetry!
5 comments:
"It is vital that when we teach we keep to this order - learning about myths, then creating, because the first supports the second so greatly."
I think that it is not completely necessary to keep this order. It could be very interesting to see what concepts people have of mythology just from the experiences they have of them in our modern world. TV, movies, and video games (Like Work of Warcraft, you nerd) for instance probably really shape kid's notions of mythology. It might be just as effective for students to begin by creating based on what they know and then supplementing that with the information from formal studies of mythology. peanutbuttapoop!
As always, Nick is fascinated by poop.
Myths were not originally invented purely to entertain- they were written to explain the mysterious, the weird, the unexplainable by normal means- and if any place on the planet is weird and unexplainable, it's the 101/405 interchange.
I didn't have any problem with it either. Myth writing is creativity in its extreme. Just think of a wild, but viable, explanation for something and go with it. I like your boyfriend. Knowing that all we have to do is include certain elements in the story to make it a specific kind of myth makes this assignment one of the easiest. I like to write poetry and even I enjoyed writing the myth more. I like how you took their tale about bad luck and turned it around. Sometimes it's better to do what is less expected to create a stronger effect (although deer sex may be taking it a bit too far:-). I agree with you about the ordering of the assignments. Someone else, in her blog, said that she would begin her lesson with the writing of a creation myth based on an object she'll bring into class. I don't see how students, especially young students, can be expected to produce something as complex as a myth without first studying the genre. I hate to think of how they'd struggle and what they'd produce.
Hey Mo,
I’m glad you had a good time and a stress-free experience with this assignment! Can’t say I felt that way too, but I’m glad you did. =)
I think you’re right about the fact that “It is vital that when we teach we keep to this order - learning about myths, then creating, because the first supports the second so greatly.” I completely agree with you. You are absolutely right. One goes hand in hand with the other, and it is important to have some knowledge of a genre before trying to create something in that domain. It is important to do this in our own classrooms one day.
Nick brought up an interesting point in his response to your post that it would be interesting to see what students would come up with without prior knowledge of myths. Although I can see and understand his point of view, my only concern would be those few poor kids who will be freaked out! If I was a middle or high school student and I had to create a myth without knowing anything about it, I would probably cry. So, I wouldn't do it in that order so as not to scare those kids to death.
Hi Maureen,
I think since your group got the fun myth to work on it gave you an easyness to work with your myth. During your groups presentation it looked like you all had such a great time learing and working with the myth. I had fun watching you all present it.
I can not say that I had an easy time writing mine because I started writing a story and kept writing a story with no super hero in it. I have changed it and I hope it makes the myth point. I have to say that I enjoyed the poetry section so far.
As for the students you should save your myth presentation and show it to them. They will quickly get interested and then hit them with the meaning of myths. They will leave with a good feel and understanding of myths. This will produce creative assignments :)
Have a good day,
Elizabeth
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