Writing a myth

Writing a myth is obviously different from studying myths, in that we are creating something new, as opposed to just looking at what someone else has done. It enhanced the studying of the myths by forcing us to put into practice what we'd learned. Reading about the elements necessary for a particular myth to fit into a given category or genre is dry and borderline boring. Using those elements in the writing of our own myths gives them color and purpose.
Myths are generally pretty interesting reading material. They get somewhat bizarre and take us to places we wouldn't normally go (and often don't want to go). Writing something like that allows for enormous creativity and can be quite therapeutic. I was quite angry when I wrote mine, so producing something as vile as the deer scene (those of you who read it know to what I refer) was a harmless way for me to vent that.
As far as using this for my future teaching career goes, I probably will. I think that, if the students are allowed to write their own myths and vent some of their craziness, they will be more open to studying existing myths and the craziness of others. Teenagers like to be gross (especially the boys) and they live to shock people. A lot of myths are both gross and shocking to modern-day readers. They'll probably get a kick out of studying a story that focuses on feces for a page and a half (a trickster tale I remember) or reading along as Zeus changes himself into a farm animal to seduce someone else's wife.