Week Two Reading Overview

Tentative Reading Schedule:

Choose from CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units for Weeks 3 and 4.

Week 3: Cupid and Psyche

Week 4: Homer's Iliad

Choose from MIDDLE EASTERN and/or INDIAN units for Weeks 5 and 6.

Week 5: Tales of a Parrot

Week 6: Sindbad

Choose from ASIAN and/or AFRICAN units for Weeks 7 and 9. [Week 8 is review week.]

Week 7: Lang

Week 9: West Africa

Choose from NATIVE AMERICAN units for Weeks 10 and 11.

Week 10: Inuit

Week 11: Hiawatha

Choose from BRITISH and/or CELTIC units for Weeks 12 and 13.

Week 12: Celtic Tales

Week 13: More Celtic Tales

Choose from EUROPEAN units for Weeks 14 and 15.

Week 14: Kalevala

Week 15: La Fontaine

I am really looking forward to a lot of these readings, as mythology/folklore in general is quite interesting to me, so it's honestly difficult to pick out which of them are the most enticing to me. I am particularly looking forward to the Celtic Tales, as that is an area of folklore that I haven't had many encounters with, but I've always been really interested in Greek mythology as well, so the first couple of units will be exciting for me, too. Additionally, since I am a French major, Week 15's study of Jean de la Fontaine is of particular interest to me. Really, though, I could go on about why each of these is compelling to me in some way, so I suppose it's best to just leave it there.

If I were to add anything here, I would be interested in learning about what kind of lore is native to the islands of the Caribbean, specifically Haiti, as I have a vested interest there. However, since Haiti is comparatively a very young nation, I don't know the extent to which it has developed folklore, although I do know there is a very interesting blending of culture/religions/languages there due to the history surrounding their revolution. I imagine much of their lore is African-based, with trappings of French/Spanish culture, and then, of course, distinctly "Haitianized" to be unique to their culture; this is, of course, mostly conjecture.

Punch Magazine Political Cartoon based on La Fontaine's Fable "Le Loup et l'agneau"

A brief note about the image above: this is a political cartoon from the 1880's reflecting the desire of the French to subjugate Siam (now Thailand), and it is a play off of one of La Fontaine's fables which I happen to be familiar with - "The Wolf and the Lamb" - which deals with the idea of the strong and powerful oppressing the weak and vulnerable.