Project Topic Brainstorm

1. For my “Favorite Places” post, I posted photos from recent trips to the Pacific Northwest. Ms. Gibbs suggested that I do a project on Native American Traditions of the Pacific NW, so I thought I would do some research on that. I was never able to take a Native American course at OU, and think that this is a good place to get to know a little about their culture. Katharine B. Judson collected myths and legends from the area, and you can access her book here: link. These stories include origin and creation tales such as The Origin of Daylight and How the Coyote Got His Cunning.

2. I saw that another student had done a project on Aesop’s foxes. I have been intrigued by the fables since I was little. I chose to research Aesop's wolves, because I have never had much sympathy for them. However, I thought it might be interesting to research their varying roles across the myths. The wolves are tricky, malicious, and many of them lie. Looking into the stereotypes surrounding these wolves seems like fun. I have read The Wolf and the Lamb in two of my previous French courses, and it was interesting to see how the wolf abused his power, and the parallels the fable drew to society. You can access this fable and 25 more here: link.

3. Upon browsing some of the past projects, I saw “Mermaids” listed, and thought that since I do not know much about water spirits, that this could be a fun project. I chose water spirit in Germany because there were a good number of tales to read. I read Lorelei, a woman punished for her scandalous ways, and also Holy Lake near Neuhoff, which explains how Holy Lake got its name. These tales were similar in length or a little longer to Aesop’s fables, and they serve varying purposes. Some teach morals while others are origin stories. You can access a few German water spirit tales here: link.

W. B. Yeats on Wikimedia

4. This is the project that I am most interested in, and I came upon the idea while browsing the storybooks. I am one of those people who as a child said, “Oh, my family came from Ireland generations ago.” I have always thought that I had some special connection to Ireland (although I don’t, in reality), and have wanted to go there. I also love literature and poetry and have wanted to read more of Irish poet W.B. Yeats' works. I have one book of his poetry, but would love more. Being able to read his works for this course might be an opportunity that I take advantage of. "In the Seven Woods" is a play and some poems on Irish mythological themes by Yeats. I read through the online edition, coming across the “Great Archer”, which I assume is a mythological character, and many themes in nature. This compilation was inspired by a dream of Yeats’, and he revised the work many times. You can access the full book here: link.