Project: Topic Brainstorm

Chinese Fairy Tales

I took interest into Chinese fairy tales because I am adopted from China and would like to gain new knowledge about the Chinese culture. I've always enjoyed stories from other countries and figured I should look into potential Chinese fairy tales. I like these fairy tales in particular because they include history and meaning behind the story they tell. While commonly known fairy tales end in a happy ending, these always do not, and I think that's why I find them interesting. Chinese fairy tales are more practical and not as predictable. I looked into China: How the River God's Wedding was Broken Off and found this story to be very interesting. Growing up you hear about certain cultures that pick your spouse and you wonder if this actually leads to true happiness, and in this particular story the tradition ended for the better. I look forward to reading and researching more Chinese fairy tales to learn the hidden meaning and gain more knowledge about the culture of China. I believe that I will be able to put a more modern twist on the classic fairy tales.

Classic Chinese Fairy Tale book: Wikimedia


European Unit

While I have no connection to Europe in any way, I decided to look into it's stories because I believe I am going to go with an adventure around the world theme. With this, I decided to look into Europe because it's right next to China. I chose to look into the European unit, and realized it was focused on Dante's Inferno. I remember reading parts of this book in high school, and found the story to be very interesting. Each chapter and level that was highlighted was well detailed and had a lot of information to offer. This specific unit was interesting to research about because it told the story of Dante and before, after, and during his journey through hell, which I found to be interesting. I read several readings that were in this unit, and found myself wanting to read more of them. I look forward to possibly rewriting and changing the stories of Dante and putting a different twist on his journey through "hell".

Tejas Legends

As a Texas girl, I figured why not look into classic Texas legends. With this idea of an adventure around the world, I could retell a classic story of Texas and have my story end there since Texas is my home away from home. I'm not exactly which approach or which stories I will decided to further look into, but I'm excited to look further into Texas legends. Maybe I will look more into the history of Texas and use this information to change the history of Texas. I'm not exactly sure what I will do with Texas legends, but as a Texas girl, I know I will learn and benefit from the stories that Texas has to offer.

Geographical view of Texas in modern time: Wikimedia


Russian Folktales

While I was adopted from China, two of my sisters were adopted from Russia. I thought it would be interesting to research and look into the classical Russian folktales. Since I'm not too familiar with anything Russian, it would enjoy looking into the history of Russia and all the information it has to offer. Plus with the idea of doing an adventure storybook, this would be a good place for the adventure to stop in and to retell a story. While the stories in the Russian Folktale unit are a little more dark and twisty, you could put a good spin on the information it has to offer. I'm not exactly sure on how I will change the stories or which stories I will look into in particular, but I read several Russian folktales and enjoyed what I read.

Soviet Union stamp that represents a classic folktale: Wikimedia