Myth Making and Myth Reading

Learning about myths helps in the creation of myths. When I began to sit down and write my myth, I found that I was using some of the details and examples from researching sacred places and I was able to incorporate these into my myth. I think that learning about any topic before you take the plunge into creating your own work is a good idea.

One of the main differences between creation and study of myths is the use of imagination. Everything is laid out in front of you when you read a myth, whether it be about the male or female divine, or a creation myth. When you create your own myth, though, the possibilities are limitless. The thing I like most about myth making is the level of creativity that you have. You can write about the creation of a pen from the ink of an octopus, or how the moon came to be because a lonely woman wanted to see her great-grand children. The possibilities are limitless.

Learning about myths, as well as writing my own, has helped me to start to think about the ways in which I will be teaching, not only myth, but English in general. For example, I found that contemporary examples of ‘sacred places’, my myth topic, helped both me and my targeted audience in understanding the different types of sacred places that exist. Also, getting your students interested and invested in the subject through planned group work, and getting up to act out a scene can really help instill the important characteristics of what you want your students to learn.