Learning about mythology has definitely been a process. When the subject of mythology is referred to, I initially think about Greek mythology. I suppose that this is due to the focus on Greek and Roman myths in junior high and high school. Although I was aware of world mythology, I was not really familiar with any other myths. Therefore, our group projects and presentations really widened my perspective and understanding of other types and forms of mythology.
My familiarity with Greek and Roman mythology definitely influenced the writing of my own myth, however. It felt most natural for me to somewhat imitate that type of style in my writing. It was hard to feel comfortable and branch out of that familiarity since world mythology outside of the Greek and Roman culture was so new to me. Having realized this, I believe that world mythology should be introduced much earlier throughout the secondary education system.
The exercise of actually writing a myth was, however, helpful in my understanding of the fundamental aspects of mythology. I think that the set up of our mythology section would be beneficial to students, for the most part, as well. If I were teaching mythology, I think that formal instruction would be necessary about the general types of myths (ie: creation, male and female divine, etc...) and then the projects on the various topics would reinforce ideas rather than teach them. Once the students had learned about the myths and had worked together to present a type of myth to the class, I think that writing their own myth would act as a wonderful culmination to the section.
