Essay Topics

Heroes. The word "hero" has a wide range of meanings in English. In the most neutral terms, a hero is someone who is able to successfully accomplish a difficult task. But many people expect more from a hero: they often assume a hero should be a positive role model, or that a hero should make great sacrifices for the benefit of other people. For other people, the test of a hero is the incredible obstacles that he has to overcome (that's what superheroes do!). What is your definition of a hero? Did you find any examples of a hero in this week's readings? 

Tricksters and Fools. One of the most popular figures in folklore and mythology around the world is the "trickster" character. The "fool" is a related character. Who are some of the tricksters and fools you saw in this week's readings? Are there characters who combine "trickster" and "fool" into a single character? What kinds of adventures do the tricksters and fools have? How do the other characters in the story interact with the tricksters and fools?  

Parents and Children / Brothers and Sisters. Many myths and folktales are about the relations between parents and their children, or between brothers, or brothers and sisters. What impression did you have of the parents (mothers, fathers) and siblings (brothers, sisters) from this week's readings? Do you think that these parent-child or sibling relationships were an important theme for the stories? Were there some specific family behaviors that were being promoted by the stories? Some specific family behaviors that were being discouraged?  

Gods and Goddesses. Many myths and folktales involve gods and goddesses as characters in the stories. What impression did you have of the gods and goddesses who appeared in this week's stories? How did the gods act? What kind of personalities did they have? How did they interact with the human characters? How did they interact with each other? Did you learn anything about the religious practices associated with these gods from the readings this week?  

The "Bad Guys." Most stories contain a "bad guy," an enemy who has to be defeated or an antagonist who has to be overcome. Who were the "bad guys" in this week's stories? What did these antagonists have in common? What made them act the way that they did? Were you ever sympathetic to the "bad guys"? What happened to the "bad guys" at the end of each story? How were the heroes/heroines able to escape from or defeat their opponents? Do any of the "bad guys" learn their lesson or turn out not to be so bad in the end?  

Women's Roles. Many storytelling traditions are male-oriented, with the female characters appearing in clearly subordinate roles. Sometimes the stories are explicitly misogynistic, treating women with contempt, suspicion or fear. In other storytelling traditions, women (or girls) emerge as the central characters, and they are represented in a more positive light. What did you think about the way women and girls were represented in the stories that you read this week?  

Recurring Motifs. Folktales and myths are built up of "motifs" - common elements of plot and character that can be used and re-used over and over again, combined and recombined in different ways in order to create variants on existing stories. Did you see some motifs that recurred more than once in this week's stories? Some character types that repeated over and over again? Events in the plots that were similar between one story and another? Other things that repeated from story to story? Discuss these recurring motifs, and explain how these motifs are useful in creating a story.  

Setting and Landscape. What impression did you have of the setting and the natural landscape for these stories? What details do you remember? Did the setting(s) play an important role in the stories? How were the events of the story related to the natural landscape(s)? Were the seasons or time of year important in any of the stories? The weather? Was the natural setting realistic, or was it a kind of fantasy setting?  

Crime and Justice. Was the motif of "crime" an important element in any of this week's stories? Who was the criminal and what kind of crime(s) were committed? Do the stories promote the idea of justice? Or do the stories promote the idea that life is unfair and that there is no justice, or that crime can be something glamorous? Who were the agents of justice in these stories? Who were the criminals? Was revenge also a motif in the stories? How do the motifs of crime and justice in this week's stories compare to the other stories you have read this semester?  

Sexual Conduct and Misconduct. What seem to have been the rules for sexual behavior based on the stories that you have read here? Do you see any consistencies in the way that sexual desire is depicted in these stories? Are the sexual desires of men basically like / unlike the sexual desires of women? Are women held to a different standard of conduct than men? What are the sexual taboos and how are they reinforced? Are there any points of comparison that you can make with the sexual norms and sexual taboos in our society today?  

Our Fears. Many myths and folktales are "scary" stories that play with things that we are afraid of. Did any of this week's stories qualify as "scary" stories? What are the fears that these stories used in their plots? What were the sources of fear in these stories? How did the characters in the story react to these frightening situations? Why do you think people like reading stories on topics that are frightening? Do these stories somehow calm our fears, or exploit them and make them worse?  

Magic and the Supernatural. Magic and supernatural elements are important for many mythological and folktale traditions. What examples of magic and supernatural elements did you see in this week's stories? What kinds of characters used magic? What did they use magic for? Were there supernatural characters or events in this week's stories? What role did these supernatural characters or events play in the plot of the stories? Would you say that magic and supernatural motifs were dominant elements in this week's readings?  

Wisdom. Is the "quest for wisdom" an important theme in this week's stories? Are any of the characters in the story especially curious about the world? What kind of knowledge do they want to acquire? How do they go about seeking knowledge? Do they succeed in this quest, or fail? Does this story of a quest for knowledge contain any message about education in general? Does this story provide a kind of example for us to imitate (or a negative example to avoid)?  

Tragedy and Pathos. Were any of the stories in this week's readings "tragic" stories? Did sad things happen in any of the stories? Give an example of a scene that you thought was tragic or sad. What were the specific elements in the story that made you respond to this sad scene in an emotional way? Which characters did you relate to most? Why do you think people enjoy reading stories that are sad? Why are we interested in stories that are tragic or stories that have unhappy endings?  

Comedy and Humor. What were some of the comic elements in this week's stories? Did you appreciate the humor in the stories? What are the characters and/or situations that were supposed to be humorous? Was the humor based on surprise? exaggeration? making fun of someone or something? Did any of the stories make you laugh out loud? Which story did you think was the most humorous? How does the kind of humor you found in these stories compare to the kind of humor found in television and movies today? Make sure you make specific references to at least three different stories in your essay.

Inspiration? Guidance? Model? Were there any characters in the stories of this unit who provided you with a kind of model to follow - either a positive model to imitate, or a negative model to avoid? Are there some incidents in the stories that give you insight into something that has happened in your own life or in the life of someone close to you? Are there values or qualities that you see in the characters that are values or qualities you would like to have more of in your own life? What valuable message or meaning did you find in this week's stories?  

Children's Stories. Do the stories you read this week seem like "children's stories"? In general, what kinds of stories do you think that children like? What kinds of stories are "good" for children to read? What aspects of this week's stories would be really appealing to children? Do you think the language is appropriate for children? Did you read any of these stories when you were a child? What can you remember about your experience of these stories from your childhood?  

Poetic Speech and Style. Some forms of folklore and mythology rely heavily on poetic speech or other distinctive, stylized speech: puns and other word-play; rhyme and other forms of repetition; hyperbole (exaggeration); riddles and other metaphorical language; magic spells and other ritual speech; etc. Was there a distinctive style of language used in this week's readings? What kinds of poetic speech were used? Was the style of speech an important element of the stories? Did the use of stylized language sometimes make the reading hard to understand? What were the clues you used to understand the meaning of difficult passages? 

General Assessment. Did you enjoy the readings? Did you have favorite stories? Least favorite stories? Is there background information you would have liked to have? Are there stories that need notes and additional information of some kind? Is there more information people need to know so that they can decide on whether or not this is a good unit for them? How does this reading choice fit into your overall goals for this class? What are the things you learned from this unit? How did it meet your expectations? How did it surprise you? Do you see any connections between this unit and other reading you have done for this class? Any thoughts you want to share about the reading unit would be very welcome!