The first topic I am interested in is dragons. From How to Train Your Dragon to Game of Thrones, I love dragons of all shapes, sizes, ferocities, and roles. I've always been fascinated by their intelligence and strength. It's also very intruiging to me how they can equally be benevolent or monstrosity, depending on what region of the world they are coming from. What I know from them from my East Asian heritage, dragons were a sign of good fortune and would bestow blessings onto people, bringing rain and crops and whatnot. But Asian dragons often look a lot less intimidating than the ones from Europe; their bodies are long and slender and they don't have wings. I would like to learn more about how they originated and why different cultures have the beliefs they do about them. As a topic, I would want to write a story that has them as equals to humans in regards to intelligence. I liked the battle between Beowulf and his dragon, and a possible retelling might be through giving the dragon the abillity to communicate with the hero; two equals competing with a completely different skill set.
Greek mythology is another subject I'd be interested in exploring more. I think there is a lot of creativity to be had with the Sirens. They have been the inspiration for a lot of modern retellings, usually involving a beautiful woman having some seductive skill, enamoring men which eventually leads to their doom. I know that in traditional Greek mythology, they lure sailors to rocky shores which ends up sinking their ships. The mystery that surrounds them would be something to tackle in retelling. Not necessarily exposing their motivations and livelihood, but retelling in a way that humanizes their actions on some level.
I'm not sure why I am so fixated on having animals talk to/like humans, but I think it could also be really fun to do a retelling about tigers. They pop up often in stories as a dominator of other animals, but as stubborn creatures that only have one way of thinking. Because of this, many smaller, trickster animals have evaded them. I know that I want whatever I create to have a moral; those in power aren't necessarily the strongest, and those that are apprehended can overcome what oppresses them. I want to learn a deeper history of what humans find intimidating about tigers and how they react as a result.
Some of Aesop's Fables are the closest to what I invision my own storybook project would be. With the instances of severe racism that has been going around campus, I sincerely want to create something that addresses this in a folklorey way, a retelling that illustrates this issue in a different light that is easy to understand. A couple stories that I am inspired by are The Belly and the Limbs and The Mock-Bird. I love the simplicity and shortness of Aesop's Fables; each word carries its weight and the message is always explicit. I want to learn more about the writing style and how I can apply it to my own project. Again, humans and animals often communicate freely among one another; this allows for other differences to be spotlighted. Aesop's Fables are something I am leaning most heavily on at the moment.
Greek mythology is another subject I'd be interested in exploring more. I think there is a lot of creativity to be had with the Sirens. They have been the inspiration for a lot of modern retellings, usually involving a beautiful woman having some seductive skill, enamoring men which eventually leads to their doom. I know that in traditional Greek mythology, they lure sailors to rocky shores which ends up sinking their ships. The mystery that surrounds them would be something to tackle in retelling. Not necessarily exposing their motivations and livelihood, but retelling in a way that humanizes their actions on some level.
I'm not sure why I am so fixated on having animals talk to/like humans, but I think it could also be really fun to do a retelling about tigers. They pop up often in stories as a dominator of other animals, but as stubborn creatures that only have one way of thinking. Because of this, many smaller, trickster animals have evaded them. I know that I want whatever I create to have a moral; those in power aren't necessarily the strongest, and those that are apprehended can overcome what oppresses them. I want to learn a deeper history of what humans find intimidating about tigers and how they react as a result.
Some of Aesop's Fables are the closest to what I invision my own storybook project would be. With the instances of severe racism that has been going around campus, I sincerely want to create something that addresses this in a folklorey way, a retelling that illustrates this issue in a different light that is easy to understand. A couple stories that I am inspired by are The Belly and the Limbs and The Mock-Bird. I love the simplicity and shortness of Aesop's Fables; each word carries its weight and the message is always explicit. I want to learn more about the writing style and how I can apply it to my own project. Again, humans and animals often communicate freely among one another; this allows for other differences to be spotlighted. Aesop's Fables are something I am leaning most heavily on at the moment.
The Belly and the Limbs; source: Aesop's Books
Hi Moriah!
ReplyDeleteI love reading about people's ideas for projects and I think your idea for the Sirens is so interesting. That is one of my favorite stories in Greek mythology I find them so fascinating. I like the idea you ended up going with about tigers too. You are clearly very passionate about animals so it will be really great to read your project about them.