UnTextbook Brainstorming

I have always enjoyed reading--basically anything that I can get my hands on I enjoy. But I have always had a soft spot in my mind for fairytales and fables from different cultures. Don't get me wrong, I love the modern stuff. But there is just something so raw about myths and fables that have been passed down from generation to generation and have a direct connection to culture and its people.

So without further ado, here is my (short, probably subject to change) brainstorming list for this semester's units from the UnTextbook.

Image information: Illustration from The Walrus and the Carpenter found in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass. I chose this picture because it is directly linked to my favorite books and is one of the most interesting poems I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Source: Wikipedia

Myth-Folklore Unit: Alice in Wonderland

For as long as I can remember I have loved Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. So it would of course be my very first choice to cover in this class. I have always felt very connected to both the out there story line and the way that Carroll wrote the story. It has always felt more like poetry to me than anything else and I just love the flow it has. 

Myth-Folklore Unit: Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There

How could I chose to write about Alice in Wonderland and not follow up with Through the Looking Glass? I have always been obsessed with Carroll's poetry in this novel. His poem The Walrus and the Carpenter has been a staple for me for years. I even wrote an essay on it in high school. It would be so cool to write about this in a different manner specifically for this class. 

Myth-Folklore Unit: Adam and Eve

Who can say no to an origin of man story? I grew up hearing this story and I think it is so cool to compare it to the other origin stories from other religions and cultures and to find the similarities and differences as well as to speculate what those delineation imply about the society in which they are found. 

Myth-Folklore Unit: Bible Women

There is a lot of stories in the bible that most people never come across. While they are often not the most quoted and well-known stories, I think that this unit sounds really interesting as people barely ever talk about women from the bible in terms of their stories and their struggles in a male-centric world. Reading and understanding their part in the growth of the Christian faith and its subsequent influence on American society sounds very interesting. 

Myth-Folklore Unit: Buddha

I have always been obsessed with religion and how it differs from culture to culture. I have taken a lot of classes about religion and culture and Buddhism has consistently been one of the most interesting religions I have read about. The betterment of the self and by association the world is one of the most beautiful things religion has given to people, and Buddhism to me emulates that. 

Myth-Folklore Unit: Celtic Fairy Tales (1 or 2)

When I went to Ireland and Scotland this summer, I fell in love with the landscape, the people, and their stories. I bought probably 4 or 5 books that were all about the folklore there. This would just give me more opportunity to immerse myself in their culture.