MYTHOLOGY

PROJECT #1: WRITE YOUR

OWN CREATION MYTH
REQUIREMENTS
 Due date: Friday, 9 April
 Length: At least two pages (handwritten)

 Must include:
 A title
 An illustrated cover page
YOU WILL WRITE A CREATION MYTH
 Where did the world come from?
 How did the universe begin?
 What is the meaning of life?
 Who created the animals, the earth, the
humans?
 How did something come out of nothing?
ANSWERS THAT CREATION MYTHS
PROVIDE
 How evil and death entered the world.
 How and why a mate was created for the first human.
 What is the relationship between humans and other
forms of created life? Are humans above the cyclical
scheme of the natural world, or are they part of this
organic cycle?
 Is the created world static, or evolving or devolving?
 Was the world / universe created out of something or
nothing? What was this something? Was the original
material undifferentiated, chaotic, or something else?
RULES

1. Be creative
2. Be original
3. Be PG or safer
BACKGROUND
 A myth has been defined as " . . . a story embodying and
declaring a pattern of relationship between humanity,
other forms of life, and the environment" (R. J. Stewart).
As such, myths and creation accounts and stories help to
provide a unifying framework for the people who
believe, either literally or figuratively, in this shared
account. It is not a falsehood or an unscientific lie;
rather, it is a poetic and shared vision.
BACKGROUND (PART 2)
 Some of these mythic elements that derive from the Oral
Tradition are: 1) The use of repetition for emphasis and
ease of recall; 2) The use of poetic devices such as
alliteration, personification, metaphor and simile, and
symbolism; 3) A concern with numbers, often times
repeated; 4) The power of "The Word" (Logos) and the
subsequent use of concrete nouns to label important
elements (both human and non-human).