Bella Chen, PD8, 9/29/20, Day C

Bella Chen
09/29/20
Period 8
Modern Mythology

Write about your thoughts regarding the most current reading.

I’ll admit, when I applied to Modern Mythology, I didn’t expect to be covering fairy tales. I have never really given too much consideration to the stories I was told as a child, but over the course of these last few weeks, I have learned more about the significance of fairy tales and the complexity behind some of the classic tales of my childhood. Something I realized about the different renditions of Cinderella that we read over the summer and at the beginning of the year is that certain themes of the classic story I remember aren’t as permanent or central to the story as I previously thought. During the readings, I noticed that aspects of the story were constantly changing from the version that I grew up with. From Cinderella having a father or step mother, to even one version where Cinderella was a boy! It’s interesting seeing what themes change and what remains the same throughout the stories.

Reflect on any new information you have learned in English class by considering how that learning influences your critical perception.

In this English class I learned what folklore really means and how social media has contributed to the documentation of folklore today. Folklore has always been something I associated with wisdom, stories passed around campfires, and old traditions. And while this may have been what folklore was in the past, today folklore is jokes, memes, and opinions that pass through the world wide web. This has affected my critical perception by changing the way I think about the internet and social media. I may not be Aristotle dropping life-changing critical theories in Tumblr, but that doesn’t mean that the cat video I’m reposting at 3 in the morning isn’t a contribution to our society. It’s ironic because my friends and I are always joking that if a historian 100 years from now looks at us today, they could devote their whole lives to analysing memes. And in reality, they most likely will.

How is what you’re learning applied to any other classes/the world around you?

I feel like skills in critical thinking that I learn in English can be readily applied to history and, in my case, government and politics. To think critically is a massive skill and English class, no matter what selective class you choose, is constantly developing and promoting us to instinctively think about what we see around us and the truth and meaning behind it. Government and politics is constantly filled with half-truths, lies, misdirection, and murky information. Critical thinking is so important in this field there’s no wonder why social studies goes hand in hand with English class.