When I first chose to write about the topic of 'mythopoeia' for my Capstone project, I was definitely overwhelmed. It seemed like such a huge task, especially because a clear definition of even the term seemed impossible to nail down. But, I believe I have accomplished something great here - the first collection of so much information on mythopoeia.

 

This topic is one that I am both passionate and knowledgeable about. I have always loved reading, and my favorite books to get lost in are fantasy ones. I am fascinated by mythological creatures, and always amazed at an author’s ability to create whole mythologies within a novel. As an aspiring author myself, and as an English major, I understand the importance of mythopoeia in writing. My goal for this Capstone project was to explain why mythopoeia is important, and to showcase examples of great mythopoeic writings.

 

I have learned so much from this Capstone project that I hadn't known before. During my research on mythopoeia, I had to study the history of fantasy literature. I was so interested to find out how closely related/tied together creation myths, cultural myths, fairy tales, fantasy literature and sci-fi all are. They were virtually birthed from one another, and nearly in the order that I listed them. In my efforts to explain how some myths are recreated, I realized just how far back some of those myths go. It's so interesting to know that the same elements that make the books of today so exciting and fun to read are ideas that have been in existence since the era of the Greeks, and even farther back.