Magic

[Jeff Fitzgerald]

Hey guys. I'm a sophomore in high school and every grade has a "big" project they have to do. For me, it's the Sophomore Oral. Basically, it's a 12-15 minute oral presentation discussing a particular archetype of our choice and how it is portrayed in different cultures, how it is used in literature, etc. Well, I chose "magic" for my project. I basically have four main topics; shamanism/ritual magic, psychics/mediums, magic as entertainment/manipulation, and magic in literature.

I'm hoping to begin my presentation however with something much more basic and broad; What is magic and why are people interested and intrigued by it? And by "magic" I don't mean just sleight-of-hand manipulation, I'm talking about magic as an archetype. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any thing in books or other reference sources that have helped answer that question. So, I thought I'd ask here!

 

[Zeedub81]

You could say that people are interested in magic because it gives them an escape from reality and gives them the hope that the impossible can happen. They also like to wonder how you did that... Hopes this helps. Zeedub

 

[Chase]

Have you taken a look at Magic and Meaning by Burger and Neale? If you haven't read it, it's a must find for your project.
There's a lot of material there for you to mine.