In The Beginning Essay, Research Paper

Lit 2330-001

02/15/2000

Title:In The Beginning: Creation Stories From Around The World

Author:Virginia Hamilton

Grade:7th grade level

[Hamilton, In The Beginning, New York, Harcourt Brace & Company, Copyright 1988, 161 pgs., ISBN# 0-15-238740-4]

Where did we come from? Who was the first person on earth? Who created the universe? Children all around the world have asked these and many more questions. For thousands of years, people have made up stories in an attempt to answer these questions. In The Beginning, is a collection of twenty-five creation myth stories from cultures all around the world. One example, is an Eskimo myth that portrays the first man pushing his way out of a peapod. In a story from the Kono people of Guinea, death starts the world. A dramatic myth from China tells that the universe was originally in the shape of a hen?s egg – and from this burst the first being. The book has many different Gods and other characters that created the world in different ways. Plus, at the end of every story is a paragraph about where that story came from, what religion it came from, and also tells the meaning of the story or at least Virginia Hamilton?s opinion.

I like this book because I have a large imagination and it gives you a chance to take a large amount of non-sense and make sense of it. The book even challenged my imagination at times, which I believe is an essential part of reading for a seventh grader. But as intriguing as it was, from a Christian point of view, it was not only fascinating but also quite humorous. Through reading and learning about the many beliefs of people around the world, we can gain a better understanding of others while strengthening our own spirituality.