This is quite possibly the coolest thing I've ever seen, and I'm super excited to look at all of the options! It seems like this will be a wonderful class chock full of great stories. I'm ready to get started already! Hey, don't laugh at me, English Major here.
Weeks 2-3: I took nothing but classic mythology and Arthurian Romance one semester, so I'll probably read some Ovid since I haven't had the chance to read him yet. I've also heard a lot about Aesop's Tales and haven't gotten to read them either, so I'll probably choose one of those too. I've heard a lot of good things and I'm looking forward to finally getting my hands on them.
Weeks 4-5: This choice will be much harder, mainly because I've only read Arabian Nights and The Ramayana. I love mythology, and as a friend and I are basing some stuff in a book we're writing together off an Egyptian goddess I'll probably look into the Egyptian stuff. But there are also Persian fairy tales, which looks neat, and who can resist werewolves? Plus Khasi folktales looks neat, and the Twenty-Two Goblins just looks like an absolute blast! Ugh, I may have to go back and read some of these once the semester is over and I have a bit of a break.
Weeks 6-7: I'm not really sure which ones I want here. I've read a lot from each, though reading the Jamaican Anansi stories would be neat, just to see how they compare. And I love Japan, so I might look at that mythology just to see how different it is. Although, the Tibetan Folktales looks neat too.
Weeks 8-9: The Inuit stories would be really neat to read, and the hero-stories section will be a nice selection from a lot of different peoples. It's neat to see how the definition of a hero changes from culture to culture. I might chose the hero legends, or creation/origin stories (because those are ridiculously fascinating), or magic and monsters (because come on, they're super fun).Ugh, another one I'll really have to think about.
Weeks 11-12: Welsh and Celts - awesome! I love these cultures, and I've already spent a semester on Arthurian Romance. Although I will admit, Faerie Queene looks hilarious. Especially since I love the BBC show Merlin and will probably make comparisons to that characterization of Merlin in my head.
Weeks 13-14: Read Inferno already, it's The Aeneid copy and pasted with Christian values thrown in. I enjoyed Purgatorio much more. Likewise I've read a lot of Grimm tales. I might pick Andersen and the Decameron as they're also ones I've heard a lot about but not read yet. If it looks like a busy week, I'll do Heptameron instead of Andersen. Maybe Russian folktales, cuz I'm sure they'd be really cool. In Soviet Russia, folk say tales of you!
Oh my gosh: YOU MADE MY DAY with your comment here, Elizabeth! I am so glad you like how the Un-Textbook turned out. To be honest, when I started the summer I had no idea what exactly would happen... but I was so happy with the results, and I had the most fun EVER putting it together. And thank you for sketching out the semester - that is super-useful for me since I would like to work on the units that are of most interest to people. And for classical module, have you ever read Apuleius? Seriously, I think you would really like him - that's the Cupid and Psyche option, which is a tale inserted inside the BEST ANCIENT NOVEL EVER, The Golden Ass, Asinus Aureus (a.k.a. The Metamorphoses, but not Ovid's ... Apuleius's).
ReplyDeleteOh, and I see Britomar DID make your list. I really hope you will do that, and you can read some of the actual Spenser to see what you think of his poetry: he is amazing!
Anyway, this all sounds great, and I am really excited to see what you will make of all these stories - both figuratively and also what you will literally MAKE of them. I thought your Pretty Maid was fabulous!!!
Happy Friday, and thanks for getting started like this - I am really excited that the Un-Textbook is working its spell upon you. :-)