Sophia Liu, Period 2, 12/08/22

Modern Mythology 2023: Literacy & Learning

    To be honest, I was completely baffled when I saw that we had to read different versions of Cinderella for summer homework. I had thought to myself, “What more is there to learn from Cinderella?”  Reading fairy tales again at a college sophomore level class was the last thing that would’ve crossed my mind; however, I changed my mind once school started. I thought it was interesting how all of the versions of Cinderella can be viewed in different perspectives. The story of Lin Lan follows a girl named Beauty, who was seen as beautiful and kind at heart while her sister Pock Face was ugly both inside and out. Through a feminist perspective, the two extremes in both looks and personality in the characters suggests that women cannot have any other personality which is false. Additionally, the use of magic that changes the situation drastically is commonly seen in animals in many versions of Cinderella. I had never paid much attention to the animal aspect in fairy tales and now looking back, many stories such as Snow White and Sleeping Beauty all had animals as helpers in their respective stories. Moving on from the fairy tale unit, we explored Greek mythology. Although I was introduced to Greek mythology in elementary school, I’ve never gone in depth with it. This class was an opportunity to read texts that I would otherwise not have read, in particular, the Bible and later the Apocalypse. I appreciate the wide range of literature we read and discuss in detail during class that sometimes we run out of time.

    Greek Mythology was used for explaining natural phenomena and forces of nature back then. Of these stories, many involved gods and were used to explain the nature of humans and how the world came to be. Even today, as science has become way more advanced compared to Ancient Greece, the exact reason behind how the universe was created and how humans are the way we are is still largely unknown. Although the Big Bang and many other theories exist, it is still uncertain as to what happened at the beginning of the universe. Taking these principles in mind, I’ve cemented that trying new things and not getting it the first time is okay as many of these Greek mythology stories are all attempts to explain the unknown. No matter how the results turn out to be, even if I’m wrong, as long as I know I’ve tried, it's okay. Going back to the fairy tale unit, fairy tales tend to be passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth. Stories that taught lessons and were interesting became widespread and as silly as it may sound, I try to never give up on something, a lesson seen in three little pigs. Lastly, I try to not underestimate the topic at hand in any class as there can always be something new found in another insightful reading or discussion like Cinderella.