This project's main research question is, "Does a fictional story's placement and message make it timeless?" Throughout this project, there are 10 selected fictional stories which create a collective answer to this question. I put together a map and a timeline which piece together the past to the present using current research and whatever can be found online regarding the books of my choice. Using COVE, I mapped out every main location across the 10 texts, with visuals depicting what the places look like, as well as the book cover for the mapped story. Along with those visuals and the map marker, I wrote a brief description of the story, as well as the timeless message you can analyze and critique from it. As for the timeline, I crafted a general timeline pooling all the stories into one spreadsheet with at least one pertinent piece of nonfictional data which undoubtedly relates the stories to real life. It is important to remember that the messages brought about via these fictional stories reflect the hardships and conflicts we have faced in the past, currently face, and hopefully conclude in our futures. This project's underlying goal is to prove the validity of the phrase, "art reflects life".
Despite when each story was published to the masses, each one has something important to offer which resonates with diverse audiences everywhere around the world. For example, the classic, Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo brings up the treatment and mistreatment towards people with physical disabilities, and by extension, people with cognitive disabilities. This story was published in 1482, yet centuries later, there is still a problem of poor classification of disabilities and incessant bullying towards those who live with them. On another important note, a story written by Miguel De Cervantes in the early 1600s called Don Quixote, is about two men who are unsatisfied with their current lives, and seek out fictional adventures in the hopes of gaining some sense of excitement or reason for living. Mental health and self-esteem are important things we often forget to acknowledge because we, as people, try to avoid appearing selfish or needy, so we stomach these emotions which hurt us in mysterious ways later. The messages we can pull from these stories are undoubtedly timeless, and it is reflected through the Overall Timeline I crafted which includes all 10 fictional stories as well as relevant, nonfictional, data which either precedes or succeeds the approximate date of each story's time. On this timeline, I included when marital laws, theft laws, immigration laws, disabilities research, psychological research, and more came into effect in American, European, and African history. Using the previous two stories as reference, disabilities research and education has vastly improved since 1482, but there are still exceptions to the success made towards acceptance and awareness. Only recently has mental health become a serious topic rather than a throw-away debate of whether or not conditions like depression and anxiety exist. Especially with regard to how men view "toughness", Don Quixote embodies how difficult it can be to find meaning and happiness when facing the struggles of being an adult in a dead-end job.
Another big question for this project is, "well who cares?" As a future educator, a question that is always asked by students is "when do we need to know this stuff in real life?" Admittedly, it is a frustratingly understandable question. Students will never really know when the things they learn about in school will apply to some aspect of their futures in some small or grand manner. This project helps prove that old books still hold value in today's world. Part of what makes English class important is not what you read on the pages, but what you read in between the lines. The messages on mental health and disabilities are just two in a million issues which are brought to life through characters and intricate storytelling. This project, in some small way, may hopefully illustrate the timelessness of these messages no matter when they were written. Using recent research and attaching it to "ancient" stories, I can bridge the past to the present in a couple clicks. Hopefully allowing students to better understand the relevance but also learn to make those connections between fictiona nd nonfiction so they can start to see how literature and the arts do reflect life.
From <https://editions.covecollective.org/node/20144/edit?destination=user/5418/course-activity>