Week 2 Reading Overview

Choose from CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units for Weeks 3 and 4.

Week 3:  Adam and Eve

Week 4: Infancy Gospels

Choose from MIDDLE EASTERN and/or INDIAN units for Weeks 5 and 6.

Week 5: Life of the Buddha

Week 6: Arabian Nights

Choose from ASIAN and/or AFRICAN units for Weeks 7 and 9. [Week 8 is review week.]

Week 7: Tibetan Folk Tales

Week 9: The Monkey King Sun Wu Kung

Choose from NATIVE AMERICAN units for Weeks 10 and 11.

Week 10: Myths of the Cherokee

Week 11: Native America Marriage Tales

Choose from BRITISH and/or CELTIC units for Weeks 12 and 13.

Week 12: Robin Hood

Week 13: Canterbury Tales

Choose from EUROPEAN units for Weeks 14 and 15.

Week 14: Inferno

Week 15: Russian Folk Tales

    I am particularly excited about reading Dante since I've been meaning to read The Divine Comedy for sometime. I actually started once when I was twelve, but the combination of poetry and the subject matter made it too scary and intimidating for me to stick with. 

    Many of the stories I picked I have some familiarity with but want to know the stories in-depth. Others I have no touchstone for. I look forward to the flow of creativity from reading these tales and myths. Some of the stories I already have an idea for what I will write, but I'm not sure if they'll work in practice yet. We'll see.

(illustration by Otto Ubbelohde)

    I picked this image because it evokes fear in me in the same way I think many folktales were supposed to do for children. It also reminds me of this film called The Lighthouse. I didn't like the movie that much, but it stuck with me in a similar way to the creepy origins of all the Disney princess movies.