Healey Research Reading

I don’t think many students realize what cool things you can learn about while researching for well.... a research paper! This year, for my World Lit class, I have decided to study Irish Mythology. More importantly, though, the heroes within those tales. I was surprised about how interesting those stories were. I'm really not that into mythology, though I guess it just depends on the story itself. For example, I enjoyed Oedipus but I didn’t enjoy Gilgamesh. Actually, I’m not 100% sure either of those really counts as mythology. Oh well, those stories just tend to melt together into one genre for me. But, on reading the different Irish folktales the culture of Ireland really began to make more sense! Leprechauns and famous places in Ireland had real meaning. We look at hills in America to be nothing more than that, a hill! But in Ireland many hills have importance to the mythology of their culture. Many hills have been said to be the home of the Tuatha De Danaan, a magical race. Particularly, I enjoyed the story of Oisin in the Land of Youth. Everyone can relate to that story on a level because the Fountain of Youth or Eternal Youth is a common household theory. All mythological stories seem to have an element of immortality. It was also cool to see the significance that Oisin had on the future of these legends, a point that I make in my Research Essay. Overall, this experience was far more enjoyable than I had predicted!