Project Topic Brainstorm

Guatemalan Legends: I'm considering this topic because I'm interested in Latin American culture, and I didn't see many other places in the reading curriculum to study it. I do not know much right now about Guatemalan legends, but I would like to learn some of the most popular ones. This general information page gives me ideas for places to start, like stories about La Llorona (the crier), El Sombreron, or the two Cadejos. I liked how the El Salvador Legends storybook told stories from the perspective of a grandfather, so if I did this topic I will probably tell relatively unrelated tales from the mouth of one storytelling figure.

Myths of Tibet: This topic interests me because of a children's book I used to read featuring some mythical creatures of Tibet. I never learned much about Tibetan history and culture beyond that book, so doing a project on it would be enlightening. The class unit on Tibetan tales would be a good place to start looking for stories. I think I want to focus on stories about one creature, such as the Yeti, or ghosts, or mountain gods. Taking inspiration from the book I read as a child, I might retell these stories as going along with a traveller's mementos or journal pages.

Arabian Nights: As an Arabic major, at one point I will take an entire class over these stories, though I haven't read any of them yet. It might be nice to have some background knowledge on the Arabian Nights before I attempt reading them in Arabic. I could use sources listed in the class unit on Arabian Nights to identify stories. When I retell these stories, I might stylistically include some lines of Arabic, or I might change the setting. If I do this topic, I might choose a specific character like Aladdin, a sultan, etc. to focus my project on.

Stories About Music: I think origin and creation stories are interesting, so it might be cool to compare and retell tales about the beginnings of music from different cultures. Like most people I thoroughly enjoy music, but I also chose this topic because it's intangible, so stories about it would be different than stories about the creation of the sun, moon, earth, etc. Before starting my research, I did not know any myths or folktales about the origins of music, but I would like to know some. This source lists some starting places for stories I could find to retell, including the origins of Egyptian temple and funeral chants, the role of Greek gods Apollo and Pan, or music as the gift of Odin. If I do this topic, I might use a "stories within a story" technique in some way to tie all the stories together in my storybook.

Image of the black cadejo, an evil dog who helps drunk people get home. Image is "el Cadejo" by hikaruga on Deviant Art.