For this unit you will research mythology and folklore from other cultures. You will be required to bring in texts and share them with the class. In addition your project will require quite a bit of research. This doesn't mean you are necessarily using a lot of sources to make your point. In fact, what will you be doing is more closely aligned to real research. Think of it as exploring the possibilities of your topics. I want you to delve into this project. You might be surprised what you find.

Option One: Compare creation myths from various cultures. Discuss the differences and propose reasons for those differences. Do more than just compare and contrast. Dive in to the research. Imagine the purpose behind creation stories and build a claim around your research. Explore how these might be useful teaching tools. What kind of creation story would you write to describe how you became the person you are?

Option Two: Briefly describe one form of astronomical observations from an ancient society. You may choose any culture of any era, and describe the techniques they used to observe the stars and planets. Also address the issue of why the observations were made, how the observations were important to the people, and what the role of the astronomer/astrologer was in the society. What does this tell you about the people? How were myths generated from these observations? You might research sky myths across various cultures or you might revisie this paper into an exploration of sky myths.

Option Three: Trace a mythological character from the original myths, and variations to the way he/she/it is viewed today. In what different ways/forms as this character appeared? What do you think he/she/it has to "say" to contemporary culture? Find examples from television, movies etc. as variations and forms.

Option Four: Analyze and compare a current updated version of a myth or folktale to its original. You might look at a movie version of Aladdin, for example and compare it to the original myth. Or you might find two written versions of Cinderella and compare them. You can look at books or movies, video games or visual representations of the myth. You must make clear, however, how the myths are related. Don't make your readers stretch to find the comparison. You might argue that in the retelling or updating, some key elements of the story are lost and explain why the original myth resonates more with you. There are many ways to approach this option, see me if you have your own idea. No matter what you choose you want to consider the following questions: In what ways is one more powerful than the other? How does the updated version attempt to recreate the original myth or does it? Why do you think this is the case? Do you think the two texts you choose should be read/viewed together? How would you teach the myths in a classroom setting?

Isis was a great magician and is famous for the use of her magical skills. For example, she created the first cobra and used it's venomous bite to coerce Re into revealing his secret name. There are many myths, stories about Isis, which you might want to research and compare.

 

Psyche could not restrain her curiosity, and thinking besides that taking a tiny touch of the beauty contained in the box would show that she was clever and not a fool who lets go by such an splendid opportunity, she opened the box, but out crept not beauty but truly Stygian sleep, and falling to the ground, she lay like a corpse, the open box beside her.

Now Psyche would have slept for ever, had not Eros, now recovered from his sickness, come to her and awakened her, which was bound to happen. For there is no place for Love to dwell except in the Soul, who animates all things, and there is no meaning for the Soul to live and be awake except for the sake of Love. So Eros shut the cloud of sleep up again in the box and roused Psyche with the harmless prick of an arrow.