Topic Brainstorm

 

Topic 1: Greek Goddesses 

This is a more basic topic, but it's something I've loved learning about and reading since I was very young! I read all of the Percy Jackson books and others, so Greek Mythology was one of the reasons I signed up for this course. I know a lot about the main gods and goddesses and their stories, but I would like to know more about other less prominent goddesses and their surrounding mythology. For the story spinoff, I plan on making telling the goddesses' story in a high school setting, similar to a teen drama.  Some Greek Goddesses I have looked in to are Aphrodite, Athena, Gaia, and Pheme. 

Research: Greek Goddesses

Topic 2: European Fairy Tales

Fairy tales are something that most of us learned and read from a young age and are very familiar with. I have previous knowledge in some areas of fairy tales, but ones that are mostly European or German. Most of the fairy tales that we think about are the typical ones, but there is a lot more to discover than people realize, so I want to learn more about the less typical fairy tales. I want to potentially write about fairy tales because they're easy to recognize the plot and also have so many ways to retell them. For a story spinoff, I plan on taking the fairy tales and placing them on campus in Norman to retell the plot. 

Research: European Fairy Tales

Topic 3: Native American Animal Folklore 

Native American Folklore is a relatively obscure area of mythology. I did not know much about Native American Folklore until I took an Intro to Native American Studies course last fall. This is a topic that I'm interested in because I'm part Chickasaw! Native stories focus primarily on the earth and animals with religious spirits. One prominent animal figure is the coyote, and it represents the trickster and playing jokes. For a story spinoff, I plan on doing a 'Hotel for Dogs' theme but using the folklore figures from Native American culture. 

Research: Native American Folklore

Topic 4: Ghost Stories

Ghost stories are a lot of fun to tell around a campfire or late at night at a sleepover, but I didn't know that they were considered a branch of mythology! I'm not familiar with cultural or geographic-based ghost tales, so this one would be fun to learn more about. Through research, I found that ghost stories date back as early as the bible era. For a spinoff story, I plan on telling a story of a guy who travels around the world and if he encounters a location where a ghost legend is present, he gets sucked back in to the past and watches the story happen. This style will incorporate ghost stories from across the world.

Research: Ghost Story

Greek Goddess Aphrodite

Source: Times Literary Supplement