Project Topic Brainstorm

Sayona statue in Venezuela

Topic 1: Venezuelan Myths and Legends

As you now know from my introduction, I am from Venezuela, so something I am really interested in is writing about some of the indigenous myths and legends from my country and other Latin American countries. I do many traditional Venezuelan stories, such as El Silbon (The Whistler) and La Sayona, but I would love to learn more about them and write a project based on my own culture. That being said, I don't know whether this is possible because these legends are not covered in this course, and I do not have any specific books or legitimate websites to refer to. 

Topic 2: Latin American Indigenous Legends

Same idea as before, I am Latina so I would love to take this opportunity to do something about Latin America. Because Venezuelan legends are not as well documented as others I would like to explore some Incan and Aztec legends, as well as even some Mexican stories. Some of the possible sources could be The Mythology of All Races: Latin-American and The Myths of Mexico and Peru. I am indecisive as to whether I should focus on one particular indigenous civilization, or if I could combine them to explore several Latin American native cultures. 

Topic 3: Egyptian Myths

I have always had a fascination for Egyptian Gods but I have never had the time to truly dive in and learn properly about it. I think this would be a great opportunity to finally learn about Egyptian Myths, especially since I recently read the first book in The Kane Chronicles and it left me wanting more. I would be getting the stories from the Ancient Egypt Unit and Lewis Spence's book. I also got the whacky idea of mixing this with some biblical stories involving Egyptians, such as the story of Moses trying to free his people and the ten plagues. I think it might be interesting to have some Egyptian gods commenting on the biblical stories. 

Topic 4: Polynesian Mythology 

Book by Martha Beckwith

Ever since I watched Moana, which contrary to popular belief is not Hawaiian but rather from an unnamed/Polynesian island, I have been very intrigued by Polynesian culture. I think a storybook dedicated to several Polynesian myths would be a great way to learn about this beautiful culture. The sources I would use could include The Kumulipo, Polynesian Mythology, Hawaiian Mythology and The Ancient History of the Maori. An idea that I have is to write a sequel to Moana

or a spin-off story using some of these Polynesian myths.