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overview
Lesson 1 | Summary
Activity Pages
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lesson 1 | remaking myths
activity | myth making
Each of the artists featured in this lesson are visual storytellers
who re-imagine stories that they have gleaned throughout their lives.
This activity suggests several different ways to involve students
in writing their own myths based on personal experience and creative
interpretation of visual and literary sources.
View the different Artwork Survey slide shows for the artists featured
in this lesson (see links above). Have students choose one work
of art and write a myth to accompany it. Consider having students
use any of the following images: “Hoods
Red Rider #2” by Shahzia Sikander,
“The
Dead: Belphegor” by Matthew Ritchie,
“Bye
and Bye” by Trenton Doyle Hancock,
“King
Kong” by Kiki Smith, or “Untitled”
by Fred Wilson. Have students decide
whether the work of art they have chosen represents the beginning,
middle or end of the myth they will tell and then have them initiate
or continue the narrative to create a complete story.
Creation myths are common in many cultures. These stories explain
the beginnings of human existence from the specific perspective
of that culture. Often controversial, many creation myths can conflict
with or contradict the belief systems and religious ideas of other
cultures. Have students write a genesis myth about themselves. In
their myth, ask students to explain the circumstances of their birth,
how they got their name, and what secret abilities they have been
granted. Ask students to populate their story with characters that
carry symbolic meaning and imagine the physical and social environment
in which the story takes place. Have students create an accompanying
work of art that illustrates themselves as the protagonist of their
myth and an event that takes place within their story. Have students
present their creation myth to the rest of the class and compile
a book of myths and protagonists.
Have students examine the characters in the myths they have read,
whether Navajo, Yoruba, Greek, or Hindu. Ask students to visualize
the characters they encountered in those stories as contemporary
heroes or villains and describe how their clothing, weapons, or
powers might change. Have students imagine this myth taking place
in their neighborhood or school and have them write a revisionist
myth in contemporary times. Changes might include altering the moral
message or extrapolating a new story from one or two of the characters.
By contemporizing a traditional myth students will alter the moral
message or extrapolate a new story based on existing characters.
Some examples of contemporary literary revisions are Tom
Stoppard’s "Rosencrantz and
Guildenstern Are Dead," Suzan Lori-Parks’
"Top Dog / Under Dog," " and Barbara
Walker’s "Feminist Fairy Tales." |
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the next activity for this lesson
Retelling Stories
In this activity, students explore the mythological, biblical,
and historical sources that inspire Kiki Smith’s
work. Through discussion and journal entries, students reflect on
their own understanding of Smith’s re-telling of traditional
stories.
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