1 Stephanie Markham ELAN 7408/Dr. Smagorinsky Final Unit (Designed for 6 Weeks of Class) 10 December 2008 MythBusters: Exploring Mythology and Folklore from Around the World “It is history constructed in spurts, in sudden bursts of imaginative activity, and it takes the form of stories delivered in spoken Apache...it is history without authorities– all narrated place-worlds, provided they seem plausible, are considered equally valid–and the idea of compiling “definitive accounts” is rejected out of hand as unfeasible and undesirable...For the place-maker’s main objective is to speak the past into being, to summon it with words and give it dramatic form, to produce experience by forging ancestral worlds in which others can participate and readily lose themselves.”– From Wisdom Sits in Places by Keith H. Basso It is a Ninth Grade curricular requirement that students are introduced to mythology while also reading Homer’s Odyssey. This introduction usually follows the tradition of using this one text and sticking to only a Greek or Roman definition of mythology and studying Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. I would like to take this idea of teaching mythology and the Odyssey a step further by encouraging students to explore mythology from a global perspective. By using a variety of texts from different cultures and introducing students to different types of myths and areas of folklore from around the world, I hope that students will not only discover what makes these stories unique, but also what they have in common. This unit will not only concentrate on studying myths and stories from outside sources, but also the stories and experiences of the students themselves. By allowing students to create their own meaning from the texts and activities used in this unit, I plan to encourage what Peter Smagorinsky calls “exploratory talk.” This type of talk in the classroom “changes the purpose of discussion from transmitting official knowledge to constructing new knowledge” (11). For example, one of the first assignments that students will be given is a research project where they research myths from a particular part of the world before choosing one to share with the class.2 Some of these places of study will include Africa, Germany, Russia, Japan and America. After sharing what they have learned about these places and the myths that they have discovered, the class will discuss what each of these stories have in common. What was each tradition trying to accomplish by telling and re-telling these stories? Through this exploratory discussion the class will then come up with a working definition of a myth. I prefer letting students discover this knowledge for themselves rather than having me impose an official definition on them before they have had a chance to read any type of text. The definition that the class comes up to is also free to change throughout the unit as I introduce new texts, or the class learns about myths from other cultures and how they work within that culture. Another type of exploratory activity that I have planned for this unit will introduce students to modern day folklore and urban legends. One type of folklore that I will encourage the class to participate in is the telling of one’s most embarrassing moment. Whenever this topic comes up most people have a story that they can fall back on and use to contribute to the conversation. Many times people will use the same story in different situations as long as the conversation has shifted to the appropriate topic. The act of telling and re-telling this same embarrassing story is a way for someone to contribute to a type of oral tradition. I also think that Ninth Graders would have a wealth of knowledge about embarrassing moments that they could use in this story telling activity. Similarly, the topic of urban legends is also relevant to students at this time. In the atmosphere of high school alone, inside and outside of classrooms, students tell each other stories. Urban legends are bound to make their way into these stories and conversations among students. When dealing with the beliefs of other cultures, especially when discussing mythology,3 deities, and at times the creation of other beings, I realize that there may be objections from parents or other authorities. These people might fear that by teaching this unit I would in some way be promoting the idea of polytheism, or possibly undermining some of their traditional beliefs be they religious or philosophical. However, I will assure these parents or other authorities that we will be studying these texts and cultures from a completely literary standpoint. My goal of teaching this unit is in no way to proselytize these students into a particular way of thinking or method of believing in terms of a culture or religion. In fact, by including a wide array of materials and differing perspectives in this unit I know that I will not be teaching in favor of one world view. I am simply presenting ideas that already exist in the world to students through the lens of storytelling and allowing them to create their own meaning and knowledge from these texts through the discussions and activities that I have planned for this unit. Some people might ask why using texts from other cultures and time periods is relevant to students today. One reason is that “the material within them is worth engaging with because their themes are central to an understanding of a particular culture, whether national, local, or distant” (Smagorinsky 2008). For example, students may wonder why they still have to read the Odyssey– a text that has been around for thousands of years. To introduce this text I plan on playing a game called Six Degrees of Separation. The Odyssey is the story of a soldier’s return home after battle and the challenges that he faces along the way. To illustrate this idea of Six Degrees of Separation I plan on asking each student if he/she knows a person who knows someone, or that they themselves, are serving our country overseas. Doesn’t it make sense to think that these people we know today will also face challenges when they return from battle just4 as Odysseus did? There is also a great deal of literary significance in the texts that I plan to use in this unit, many of which are alluded to in other literary works that students will read throughout their educational careers. This unit