Reading Options

For week 2, I've chosen the Ovid I unit. I've always found stories about physical transformation interesting, plus I like that they can work on multiple levels, be used to convey just as much about the inside of a character as the outside. I clicked with the stories of this unit because of the humanity in the characters, and because I think a lot of them would work translate well to flexible reinterpretations and modern updates.

As for future units I'm interested in, here's a rundown of several that caught my eye.


KING ARTHUR

While I've always been a fan of Arthurian legend, one thing that appeals to me about this unit is the fact that it includes the time when Arthur was young and hadn't yet established himself as the king of legend. I like the idea of stripping this larger-than-life character down into a young guy just now getting his start, and I think that might be fun to potentially play around with in the future. Besides that, I'm always a fan of complicated sibling dynamics, and I think experimenting with a version of Arthur and Morgan might be a lot of fun.

RUSSIAN FOLKTALES

Witches and warlocks are always entertaining, but one of the main reasons I've chosen the Russian folktales is the array of supernatural creatures it offers. Partially because so many of my favorite books and television shows include twists on the supernatural, it's become one of the genres I love the most, and I think this unit has a lot of potential for inspiration and creative freedom.


WELSH FAIRY TALES (EMERSON)

One of the things I find most interesting about stories of fairies is all of the duality found in the different takes on them. My favorite interpretations involve the cold but cunning, almost trickster-like versions of fairies, unpredictably capricious in their dealings with humans. Also, the idea of fairies as exorcists is something I've never encountered until now, and I think it a lot of things could be done with it.


WELSH FAIRY TALES (THOMAS)

Though I've already selected the Emerson Welsh fairy tales, I was drawn to the Thomas version for different reasons. It includes a lot of the elements I mentioned earlier that I was interested in, and would be a good chance to combine some of them in different ways. The haunted lakes and different spells, though, are what ultimately convinced me I wanted to look deeper into this unit in the future. I think this unit has the makings for a very interesting story atmosphere, which is something I want to get better at crafting in my own writing.



Image Credit: "How Arthur Drew the Sword." 1902 illustration by H.J. Ford. Source: Project Gutenberg.