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| Iphone sourced via Pixabay |
Friday, November 10, 2017
Tech Tip: Canvas Notifications
I have always had Canvas send me alerts to my phone as well as email. I have always really liked having the notifications on because my grades are really important to me and it is critical to stay as up to date as possible on all assignment notifications, messages from professors, and grade postings! Having notifications on has definitely made my life better!
Week 14 Reading Notes Part B: English Tales
The King o' the Cats
A woman and her cat are waiting for the husband to come home when he flings the door open. He starts ranting about how while he was digging a grave he fell asleep and when he woke up he saw 9 white cats carrying a coffin. He said they came closer and closer to him and the biggest cat in the front of the group said, "Tell Tom Tildrum that Tim Toldrum's dead." After saying this, their cat, Tom, starts swelling up and says, "What? Old Tom dead! then I'm the King o' the Cats!" The cat runs up the chimney and is never seen again.
This story in particular made me laugh really hard at just how ridiculous it was! If I were to redo this story, I would definitely make it someone's dream to try to justify how ridiculous it is. I would love to try writing a story that is just totally crazy and then it turns out it is just a dream!
Bibliography:
More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
A woman and her cat are waiting for the husband to come home when he flings the door open. He starts ranting about how while he was digging a grave he fell asleep and when he woke up he saw 9 white cats carrying a coffin. He said they came closer and closer to him and the biggest cat in the front of the group said, "Tell Tom Tildrum that Tim Toldrum's dead." After saying this, their cat, Tom, starts swelling up and says, "What? Old Tom dead! then I'm the King o' the Cats!" The cat runs up the chimney and is never seen again.
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| Tom, King o' the Cats! sourced via Wikipedia |
Bibliography:
More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
Week 14 Reading Notes Part A: English Tales
The Three Wishes
One day a woodsman went out to chop wood and his wife gave him supplies. He comes upon a great tree to chop but before he hits it a fairy begs him not to. To show it is grateful, the fairy tells him he will be granted three wishes, but quickly disappears. The man mostly thinks it isn't real, comes home, and when his wife says supper won't be ready for a while, he says he wishes for pudding and BAM pudding comes down the chimney. Then later the wife gets mad at him and screams that she wishes pudding were in his nose. It happens and they can't get it out so they have to use their final wish to get it out and they run out of wishes.
This is a classic example of being careful what you wish for! This story kinda made me mad, which is why I would like to change it! I want to write a story where someone that gets three wishes actually does it in a responsible manner! I don't think I have ever personally read a story where being granted three wishes turns out okay.
Bibliography:
More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
One day a woodsman went out to chop wood and his wife gave him supplies. He comes upon a great tree to chop but before he hits it a fairy begs him not to. To show it is grateful, the fairy tells him he will be granted three wishes, but quickly disappears. The man mostly thinks it isn't real, comes home, and when his wife says supper won't be ready for a while, he says he wishes for pudding and BAM pudding comes down the chimney. Then later the wife gets mad at him and screams that she wishes pudding were in his nose. It happens and they can't get it out so they have to use their final wish to get it out and they run out of wishes.
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| Fairy sourced via Pixabay |
Bibliography:
More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
Thursday, November 9, 2017
Week 13 Reading Extra Credit: Filipino Tales
The Wicked Woman's Reward
Once a king had five women, two of which he loved most because they could have children. He said whichever bears him a baby boy will be his wife. One bears a girl, the other a boy. The one that bears the girl is jealous and kills her own baby and steals the other woman's child. She replaces the child with a cat. When the king finds this, the woman who bore a boy is commanded to be drowned and she is killed. When the other woman presents him with the baby boy she stole, he marries and loves her dearly. Soon, the water the dead woman was drowned in started smelling sweet. Her body washes up and is growing sweet flowers. Anyone who tries taking the body is pecked at by birds. When the king hears of this, he goes to her body and feels remorse upon seeing her. The dead body leaps up, tells the king about the corrupt wife he married, and in his rage he throws his wife out a window and kills her. The king commands for the woman who actually bore the boy child to be buried among the noble dead. The child grows to be a wonderful prince and king.
I liked the weird plot twist of this story. It was strange to me the whole flowers growing on the dead body thing. I guess it was just a cool representation of how she was actually a good person. I personally would have added the detail that the other woman when dead starts to smell like manure or something of that degree. I would like to place this story into a more modern context! I feel like it would make for a very interesting story!
Bibliography:
Filipino Popular Tales by Dean S. Fansler
Once a king had five women, two of which he loved most because they could have children. He said whichever bears him a baby boy will be his wife. One bears a girl, the other a boy. The one that bears the girl is jealous and kills her own baby and steals the other woman's child. She replaces the child with a cat. When the king finds this, the woman who bore a boy is commanded to be drowned and she is killed. When the other woman presents him with the baby boy she stole, he marries and loves her dearly. Soon, the water the dead woman was drowned in started smelling sweet. Her body washes up and is growing sweet flowers. Anyone who tries taking the body is pecked at by birds. When the king hears of this, he goes to her body and feels remorse upon seeing her. The dead body leaps up, tells the king about the corrupt wife he married, and in his rage he throws his wife out a window and kills her. The king commands for the woman who actually bore the boy child to be buried among the noble dead. The child grows to be a wonderful prince and king.
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| Flowers in Water (body not included) sourced via Pixabay |
Bibliography:
Filipino Popular Tales by Dean S. Fansler
Week 13 Reading Notes Part B: Celtic Fairy Tales
A prince named Llewelyn had a dog named Gellert. One day the prince called all the dogs at his place and all came except Gellert. He goes on the hunt without him. When he comes back, Gellert's mouth has a bunch of blood on it, and the prince fears that his new baby might have gotten eater. He runs to the nursery to find the cradle filled with blood. In a panic, he looks everywhere but can't find the child. Convinced of wrongdoing, the prince kills Gellert. But in Gellert's final breaths, he hears his child crying under the cradle, alive, with a dead wolf next to him. He feels terrible. RIP Gellert.
This was SO SAD oh my god. I can't believe this horrible sad ending! I haven't written a sad story before and this story inspires me to do just that! I really liked it and it was well made even though it was terrible and sad!
Bibliography:
Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
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| Dead wolf sourced via Wikipedia |
This was SO SAD oh my god. I can't believe this horrible sad ending! I haven't written a sad story before and this story inspires me to do just that! I really liked it and it was well made even though it was terrible and sad!
Bibliography:
Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
Wednesday, November 8, 2017
Week 13 Reading Notes Part A: Celtic Fairy Tales
The Shepherd of Myddvai
A shepherd sees three maidens rise from a lake.
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| Lake sourced via Wikipedia |
I thought this story was odd and actually really funny in a way. It was a little twisted and manipulative that the maiden could be so heartless, but it was also really amusing. I would love to do this except in like a child romance way like in grade school where a fifth grader's girlfriend says something like he can't touch her hand but he keeps accidentally doing it or something.
Bibliography:
Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
Week 12 Story: The Man and the Newspaper
The Man and the Newspaper
One day a man was coming home from work when he notices his dog holding his newspaper. "Good boy!" The man said, as he tries to take the newspaper from the dog.
The dog says to him, "Not so fast! I am very hungry as you forgot to feed me this morning. Give me one of your chicks from the shed to eat and I will give you the paper."
The man goes to the shed to grab a chick, but the rooster attacks his hand when he goes to grab one. The man says to the rooster, "I need one of your chicks to give it to my dog so he will give me the paper. Out of me way!"
The rooster says to him, "Not so fast! We have been too cold this winter and have gotten close to death. Get us another blanket and you can have the runt of the flock."
The man goes inside to grab a blanket. He doesn't have any spares except for the one his cat usually sleeps on. The man goes to grab the blanket, when the cat plants its paw down on it and hisses in his face. The man says to the car, "I need this blanket so I can give it to the rooster, who will then give me a chick, which I will then take to the dog, who will then give me my newspaper. Get off of the blanket!"
The cat says to him, "Not so fast! I have been wanting a rat to hunt for a long time now. Find me some game and the blanket will be yours."
The man goes into his attic to find a rat and runs after one when he sees it. However, the rat runs into the hole and the man can't get him. The man yells at the rat, "I need you to please come to the downstairs and let my cat hunt you so he will give me his blanket, which I will take to the rooster, who will then give me a chick, which I will take to the dog, who will then give me my newspaper. Come down stairs. You just have to let him chase you!"
The rat says to him, "Not so fast! I have had too many brothers and sisters die from the mouse traps you have put all around the house. Disable them, give me the cheese, and i'll be bait for your cat."
The man goes to gather the cheese from the traps, but snaps his fingers in one of them and drops the cheese. The cheese falls downstairs and lands on the lap of the man's daughter. The man goes to his daughter sternly says, "Rita, you need to give me that cheese, so that I can give it to the rat, who will be bait for the cat, who will give me the blanket, which I will give to the rooster, who will give me a chick, which I will give to the dog, who will finally give me my newspaper!"
Rita thinks for a few moments, looks at him, smiling, and says, "Not so fast, Daddy! I am bored... Give me the newspaper and the cheese is all yours."
The end.
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| Running in an infinite loop Sourced via Pixabay |
The original followed the same theme of the story told here starting with a farmer who can't get a pig to hop a fence and ends up going through a huge sequence of requests from dogs and cows and even fire and water to get it to finally hop over. The biggest difference is I thought it would be really funny to make this story into an infinite loop at the end and have the father never get what he wanted. This story was a lot of fun to make and I really enjoyed reading it when I was done!
Bibliography:
English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
Week 12 Reading Notes Extra Credit:Pacific NW Native American
Woodrat and Rabbits
a woodrat lived with its mother and five rabbits lived near by. The woodrat starts a fight with one of the rabbits asking why it likes bitter leaves of cabbage over everything else. The rabbit doesn't want a quarrel, but accuses the rat of being a thief. They continue to argue until the rat catches the rabbit in a net and kills it with a stick. He then does the exact same thing to the other four rabbits until all are dead. The rat and its mom eat the rabbits and dance around a fire but they both accidentally catch fire and die. The end.
This story stood out to be because I realized it is one of the few stories I have ever read in this class where the bad guy wins. While the rat does eventually die, it successfully killed all the rabbits, which I feel most readers would rather the rat die than the rabbits. Now, this got me thinking of how strange it was to see the rat having such a good time after killing the rabbits. It just goes to show just how much perspective matters and how the bad guy always has his own story. I would love to write a story entirely given from the account of a bad guy and try to make the reader find sympathy and support for the bad guy even though they do bad things!
Bibliography:
Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest, especially of Washington and Oregon, by Katharine Berry Judson
a woodrat lived with its mother and five rabbits lived near by. The woodrat starts a fight with one of the rabbits asking why it likes bitter leaves of cabbage over everything else. The rabbit doesn't want a quarrel, but accuses the rat of being a thief. They continue to argue until the rat catches the rabbit in a net and kills it with a stick. He then does the exact same thing to the other four rabbits until all are dead. The rat and its mom eat the rabbits and dance around a fire but they both accidentally catch fire and die. The end.
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| Woodrat sourced via pixino |
Bibliography:
Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest, especially of Washington and Oregon, by Katharine Berry Judson
Week 12 Reading Notes Part B: English Fairy Tales
Fairy Ointment.
A nurse is woken in the middle of the night by a man who asks her to take care of his baby because his wise is too ill. They make it to their house and the woman gives the nurse ointment and tells her to put it on the baby's eyes as soon as he opens them. Curious to what it does, the nurse also puts the ointment on one of her eyes. When this happens, everything gets better. The nurse and the baby become more beautiful. The rest of the family was still quite ugly and usually up to no good. When the woman is better, the nurse asks to be taken home. The next day she goes to the market and notices the same man as before stealing things from everywhere and nobody seemed to notice. She walks up to talk to him and he freaks out that she can see her and realizes that she must have put the ointment on her own eyes. It turns out the ointment allows you to see pixies and the family were all pixies! The man smacks her on the side of the head and it blinds her. The end.
This story was really strange and interesting to me because of the seemingly "normal" way pixies were portrayed. It made me wonder how popular the pixy myth is in this culture! I would love to recreate this story keeping the same classical time period but with a different mythological creature that becomes seen!
Bibliography:
English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
A nurse is woken in the middle of the night by a man who asks her to take care of his baby because his wise is too ill. They make it to their house and the woman gives the nurse ointment and tells her to put it on the baby's eyes as soon as he opens them. Curious to what it does, the nurse also puts the ointment on one of her eyes. When this happens, everything gets better. The nurse and the baby become more beautiful. The rest of the family was still quite ugly and usually up to no good. When the woman is better, the nurse asks to be taken home. The next day she goes to the market and notices the same man as before stealing things from everywhere and nobody seemed to notice. She walks up to talk to him and he freaks out that she can see her and realizes that she must have put the ointment on her own eyes. It turns out the ointment allows you to see pixies and the family were all pixies! The man smacks her on the side of the head and it blinds her. The end.
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| Ointment sourced via Flickr |
Bibliography:
English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
Week 12 Reading Part A: English Fairy Tales
The Old Woman and Her Pig
Old woman finds money and buys a pig. The pig won't jump over a stile, so she tells a dog to bite him but the dog refuses. She then tells a stick to beat the dog but it also refuses. She finds fire and tells it to burn the stick but it refuses. This goes on and on until she tells a cat to kill a rat. The cat tells her it will kill the rat if she gets it some milk, so she goes to a cow, who then tells her he won't give milk unless she gives him hay. She gives him hay and the cow gives her milk and she gives the cat milk and the cat starts killing the mouse so the mouse eats rope and it has a chain reaction up until the dog bites the pig who then hops over the stile. The end.
I loved this story because of the crazy dynamic of it. I couldn't believe how long it went on for with the chain reaction! This was really interesting and I would love to redo this in a chain reaction that is different and more modern!
Bibliography:
English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
Old woman finds money and buys a pig. The pig won't jump over a stile, so she tells a dog to bite him but the dog refuses. She then tells a stick to beat the dog but it also refuses. She finds fire and tells it to burn the stick but it refuses. This goes on and on until she tells a cat to kill a rat. The cat tells her it will kill the rat if she gets it some milk, so she goes to a cow, who then tells her he won't give milk unless she gives him hay. She gives him hay and the cow gives her milk and she gives the cat milk and the cat starts killing the mouse so the mouse eats rope and it has a chain reaction up until the dog bites the pig who then hops over the stile. The end.
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Bibliography:
English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Week 11 Story: The Bear and the Bees
The Bear and the Bees
One day a bear is walking through the woods looking for honey. He travels long and far looking all through his usual forest but can't find any bee hives until he sees one at the top of a hill. He approaches the hive and doesn't hear any buzzing. Hoping they are either dead or sleeping, he sneaks up to the hive.
When he gets there, a bee flies out and shouts, "Halt!"
The bear replies, "Look, I am sure you have some honey to spare. Can you please give me some? I have traveled long and far looking for my fill today."
The bee shakes his head. "You will not be getting any honey here. If you try taking our honey you will surely die."
The bear laughs, "HA! You say I will be the one dead? Look how tiny and weak you are! Look how big I am! Surely if anyone dies here it will be you."
Suddenly, lightening strikes the tree and the smoke knocks out all the bees in the hive. Although shaken up, the bear regains his senses, cracks open the hive, and takes all the honey.
The bear retires to his lair with his honey and eats until he is fat. As he tastes the sweet nectar, he laughs about the bee's threats toward the bear's life.
"You think you can kill me for stealing your honey? HA! Look at the outcome now! The gods have spoken and knocked your entire hive unconscious for me to take your honey. Look who is laughing now!"
The bear, after stuffing himself with honey and getting it all over his face, falls into a deep sleep.
While asleep, the fleet of bees detect the smell of the honey coming from the bear's lair. They gather one by one outside of his home and wait until thousands of bees surround it. The bees all rush in at the same time and sting the bear hundreds of times. Other bees grab hold of the honey on his face and bring it back to their hive. The bear, after being attacked, lies dead in his lair. The bee wasn't lying when he said he would die.
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| Bear getting stung by bees sourced via Wikipedia |
Author's note:
In the original story, a coyote comes across the path of a snake. Both refuse to go around the other and the snake warns the coyote that if he steps across his path he will die. The coyote does it anyways and gets bit but doesn't feel it. He mocks the snake, goes to a lake, feels tired and dies. While I wanted to challenge myself to making a more short but sweet story like this one, I couldn't help myself but spice it up a bit. I loved the idea of making the characters a bear and bees and thought it would fit the theme of the story really well. I also found writing the ignorant dialogue for the bear very entertaining and fun!
Bibliography:
Great Plains: Coyote and Snake by Katharine Berry Judson
Week 11 Reading Extra Credit: Releasing the Buffalo
Long ago, people were playing games at their camp when a raven comes. They all watch him closely because they plan to follow where he goes for food. However he flies super high and only few can see him at all. They eventually find the raven again and he distributes meat to all of them. They ask him about the buffalo but he gives no answer. They change an Apache into a puppy and hide him in a bush. The ravens children get the puppy and don't want to let go of it. They decide to keep it believing it is just a puppy and not an Apache. The raven then goes to get some meat from the buffalo he has locked up and the puppy goes with. In the middle of the night, the puppy lets all the buffalo out to be free. The Raven notices and tries finding where the man is but he hides behind one of the old and slow buffalo that he doesn't pay attention to. The man goes back to his tribe and tells them he let the buffalo loose and they rejoice and feast. The raven and its children were left to eat the gross remains of dead buffalo.
I loved this story because it is filled with Indian culture and also really shows how they told stories about things such as why Ravens eat gross things. It is amazing the amount of detail put into a story that really just goes to explain something like that, but it is incredibly entertaining. If I were to make a story off of this I would put this one into a modern context but make it an explanation for something more modern and make it a little more exciting and obviously easier to read.
Bibliography:
Releasing the Buffalo by Pliny Earle Goddard
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| Raven eating dead remains sourced via Wikipedia |
I loved this story because it is filled with Indian culture and also really shows how they told stories about things such as why Ravens eat gross things. It is amazing the amount of detail put into a story that really just goes to explain something like that, but it is incredibly entertaining. If I were to make a story off of this I would put this one into a modern context but make it an explanation for something more modern and make it a little more exciting and obviously easier to read.
Bibliography:
Releasing the Buffalo by Pliny Earle Goddard
Week 11 Reading Notes Part B: The Coyote and the Snake
A coyote is walking through a field in a straight line when he comes to a snake that tells him to stop and go around him so that he won't step on him. They get into an argument and the snake tells him that if he steps on him he will kill him. The coyote does it anyways and he gets bit but doesn't feel it. After mocking the snake and calling him a liar because he hadn't died yet, he comes upon a lake and looks in the water and sees that he is fat which is surprising to him. He then realizes he is really tired and falls asleep and never wakes up. The snake wasn't lying.
Once again, this story really interested me because of its style. I imagine stories like these being ones that are told to children to teach them lessons about life. They are really simple and have a very specific point to them. I think I will try making a new story by writing something that is very geared toward teaching a child a lesson. And also make something more simple than I usually do because my stories are typically very complex.
Bibliography:
Great Plains: Coyote and Snake by Katharine Berry Judson
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| Snake biting Coyote sourced via Flickr |
Bibliography:
Great Plains: Coyote and Snake by Katharine Berry Judson
Week 11 Reading Notes Part A: The Eagle's Revenge
A hunter hears a noise and checks to see what it is. He finds an eagle eating a deer he shot so he shoots the eagle. The Chief orders for there to be an eagle dance because of the dead eagle and a person who seems to be from another tribe comes to the dance. There are rattlers at the dance and the person who seemed to be from another tribe starts telling stories. After each story, he would yell out, "hi," and one of the rattlers would die. This happens until all the rattlers are dead and everyone is very scared. The strange person disappears and people later find out that he was the brother of the eagle that was killed.
I thought this story really showed a unique style of story telling. I really liked how different it was and I would love to retell it. I think it would be really challenging to match the style because I have never written a story like this before, but if I could pull it off it would feel very rewarding and I feel like it would greatly enhance my writing abilities!
Bibliography:
Great Plains: The Eagle's Revenge by Katharine Berry Judson
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| Eagle sourced via Wikipedia |
Bibliography:
Great Plains: The Eagle's Revenge by Katharine Berry Judson
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Week 10 Story: Recess RIP
Recess RIP
There once was a young boy playing on the playground of his school. On the playground, there was a manhole leading to the sewers that all the teachers warned the students not to go near. The boy was always curious about the hole and what might be down there. Why would the teachers not want him down there? Is there a secret tunnel leading to a secret meeting room that the teachers use? Is there candy in this room? He was set on finding out, but could never get it open.
It is the fall, there are leaves everywhere. Big, beautiful golden leaves practically cover the entire playground. The children gather the leaves into many piles and jump into them carefree. However, the boy is fixated on the manhole. It has yellow tape around it and there are construction workers working on it. He watches as they leave on their lunch break and realizes this might be the only chance he has to find out what is in the hole. Leaves are clogging it up so much that he can't even see where the hole is. He waited until the teachers weren't looking, slid under the yellow tape, and instantly fell into the hole. He is so scared that he can't even scream. He hits the ground hard and it feels like he broke his leg. He then looked up and saw Pennywise the clown staring at him, holding a red balloon. He lets out a big yell when seeing him but it is no use, he is too deep in the hole for the teachers to hear him.
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| Pennywise the Clown sourced via Wikipedia |
The end.
Author's Note:
In the original story, a hunter travels to a family's house and is warned not to hunt on the north side of the land because of a deadly snake. The hunter's curiosity gets the best of him and he goes there anyways. When he finds the snake, he tries running away but the snake gets him anyways. He struggles to get away and finally does when he wafts his body odor in the snakes nose and it runs away. I wanted to keep the similar theme of curiosity nearly killing the cat but the cat getting away barely. I also wanted to get a little more creative and make the theme more modern. I also figured since Halloween is so close that I would make a story with a more spooky theme!
Bibliography:
The Hunter And The Uksu'hï by James Mooney
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
Week 10 Reading Part B: The Hunter And The Uksu'hï
The Hunter And The Uksu'hï
A man living in Georgia goes to visit relatives. After resting at their place, he went out to hunt. He was told to not go toward the north where there is a dangerous Uksu'hi snake living around an uprooted tree. If he went in the area, the snake would coil around him and crush him and drag him into a hole. Although he hears the warning, this only sparks his curiosity and he goes and finds the snake who is looking the opposite direction. He runs away, but the snake chases after him and catches up to him. The snake coils around him, crushing his arm and torso but leaving his other arm free. He tries clawing at the ground trying to get free but every time he does this the snake knocks him out with its horrible breath. He then remembers that the snake can't stand the stench of perspiration, so he covers his hand in armpit sweat and when the snake turns to knock him out again with its breath he shoves his hand in its face. The snake releases him and runs away and the hunter is safe.
This story was very interesting! I really wonder if you can actually make a snake like this let go of you if you shove your armpit sweat in its face. If i redid this story, I would put it in a much more modern context and keep the theme of someone doing what they shouldn't and getting in trouble. Then I would either be evil and make them die from their mistake or find an equally bizarre way to get them out of the situation they get themselves into.
Bibliography:
The Hunter And The Uksu'hï by James Mooney
A man living in Georgia goes to visit relatives. After resting at their place, he went out to hunt. He was told to not go toward the north where there is a dangerous Uksu'hi snake living around an uprooted tree. If he went in the area, the snake would coil around him and crush him and drag him into a hole. Although he hears the warning, this only sparks his curiosity and he goes and finds the snake who is looking the opposite direction. He runs away, but the snake chases after him and catches up to him. The snake coils around him, crushing his arm and torso but leaving his other arm free. He tries clawing at the ground trying to get free but every time he does this the snake knocks him out with its horrible breath. He then remembers that the snake can't stand the stench of perspiration, so he covers his hand in armpit sweat and when the snake turns to knock him out again with its breath he shoves his hand in its face. The snake releases him and runs away and the hunter is safe.
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| Coiled Snake sourced via Wikipedia |
This story was very interesting! I really wonder if you can actually make a snake like this let go of you if you shove your armpit sweat in its face. If i redid this story, I would put it in a much more modern context and keep the theme of someone doing what they shouldn't and getting in trouble. Then I would either be evil and make them die from their mistake or find an equally bizarre way to get them out of the situation they get themselves into.
Bibliography:
The Hunter And The Uksu'hï by James Mooney
Week 10 Reading Notes Part A: Tobacco and Strawberries
How They Brought Back the Tobacco
Origin of Strawberries
Cherokee: Tobacco and Strawberries by James Mooney
In the beginning of the world, there is a single tobacco plant that everyone took from until geese steal it. Everyone's health deteriorates and one lady is about to die because she doesn't have her tobacco. Many animals offered to help but every one that did got killed by the geese. Finally, a hummingbird, who everyone thinks would be too small and weak, proves his abilities to get the plant by flying to a plant in a field and back without anyone even noticing. He manages to steal the tobacco and seeds and saves the dying woman and the day is saved.
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| Tobacco Plant sourced via Wikipedia |
Origin of Strawberries
The first man and woman are created and live in peace for a while, but eventually they start to fight and the woman goes off to the sun land. The man follows behind her feeling sorrowful but the woman never looks back. The sun then asks the man if he is still angry with her, to which he says no. He is then asked if he would like her back and he eagerly says yes. So, the sun forms a patch of the finest huckleberries and blackberries in front of the woman but she refuses to even look at either of these. New plants were continually put in front of her until the red berries, the strawberries, caught her eye. She stops to gather and eat them and is reminded of the good times she had with her husband. She gathers more berries and comes back to them and they are happy again.
I really liked these stories because I love origin stories. They really say a lot about culture and since I am part Muscogee Creek Indian I really like learning about how my ancestors thought. I am leaning toward the tobacco story because I really liked the underdog feeling it gave and I feel like I could really take the opportunity to expand on such a short story.
Bibliography:
Friday, October 20, 2017
Week 9 Story: Ethylene Glycol Poisoning
Ethylene Glycol Poisoning
By Connor Dugan
There once were two competing scientists, one a creationist, and one an atheist. They regularly argued about the origins of life and the age of the earth and universe. Sadly, the creationist had very little evidence other than his beliefs in God, whereas the atheist had many scientific theories and proofs to challenge and contradict the creationist beliefs. One day, the creationist came up with a devious plan to get rid of his competition once and for all. He came running up to the atheist as he was researching protein folding. Lying, he exclaimed to him that God had come to him to tell him that the atheist was right about the universe, that it really is billions of years old, and that God wants him to come up to heaven and be high right hand scientist to work on a new universe. The atheist, as cunning as he is, acted incredibly surprised and excited. He exclaimed, "none before have I believed in a god until you reveal to me that he has indeed brought you to the truth! Let us celebrate before my departure to the great glory of heaven!" They went to the atheist's log cabin. The atheist questioned why the creationist, now having seen God, wouldn't like to come with him on his journey to the heavens. The creationist pondered this question for some time and realized how joyous it would be to walk up to the gates of heaven to watch the atheist get rejected and sent to hell. "You know what," said the creationist, "I think that would actually be a great idea. Let's go there together!" The two scientists go to the atheist's lab where there sits a large container of ethylene glycol. They both drink enough of the sweet, thick nectar to die, and to celebrate the atheist breaks out a bottle of grain ethanol that he distilled for himself. The creationist, however, refuses to drink it because it would be a sin to drink such a high concentration of alcohol and be drunk. The ethylene glycol kills the creationist because he doesn't drink the ethanol. The atheist lives because the ethanol competes with ethylene glycol for alcohol dehydrogenase, the first enzyme in the metabolic degradation pathway, stopping it from producing deadly glycolic acid and oxalic acid. The end.
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| Ethanol sourced via Wikipedia |
Author's note:
In the original story, a king has a painter and carpenter. The painter tells the king that god told him that his father wanted him to send up the carpenter to build a temple by burning him. The carpenter digs a tunnel to escape when the fire is lit, comes back later, and tells the king that the temple was great and that it needs to be painted now and they burn the painter and he doesn't escape and actually thinks that the carpenter burned and came back to life. I really liked the original story, but wanted to make it much more modern and scientific. I also have been seeing a lot of stuff with creation scientists and their work is unacceptable. This story was produced with the motivation of being upset from the persistent and ridiculous "scientific" claims from the creationist movement. With the technology and infinite amount of information at our hands today, thinking that the universe and earth are ~6,000 years old is equal to saying the earth is flat and there is no such thing as an atom. Luckily, we live in a world where the scientific community has incredible power and will not put up with such nonsense. Those who bring forth information to the scientific community without reputable and reproducible evidence of their claims will be laughed at. I am all for philosophy, I am a very philosophical person myself, but keep it away from science. I kept the general theme of god supposedly telling a message and the person who tries tricking the other gets outsmarted by their victim. I also find ethylene glycol poisoning really interesting and wanted to incorporate it.
Bibliography:
Tibetan Folk Tales: The Wise Carpenter by A.L. Shelton
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
Week 9 Reading Notes Part B: The Golden Squash
The Golden Squash
There were two old men living in the mountains, one was kind at heart and the other was greedy. The king old man had a bird land in his garden with a broken wing. He nurtures it back to health, lets it free, and it comes back with a seed that it says will do him well. He grows the seed and it produces a gigantic squash. He god five men to help him carry it to his house, but when he tries to eat it he finds that it is made of pure gold and because of this he is now rich. He uses his wealth to help the sick and poor. The greedy neighbor, envious of the kind man, gets a bow and shoots a bird's leg when it is near his garden. He then nurtures it back to health pretending it is out of the kindness of his heart, and when the bird gets better it brings him a seed that bears a squash of similar size. He gets five men to carry it to his house just like the kind old man, but when he opens it, a scary old man jumps out of it. He tells him he has been sent from the king to weigh him, grabs him by the neck, weighs him, and says, "You are far too light and no use at all," and proceeds to cut his head off. The end.
I liked this story, not just because of the message it bears, but also because of the absolutely crazy ending it has. It inspires me not just to write about this message that many people from the modern era need to hear about the bad things about greed, but also to write something that stuns the reader like I was. It was a strange, but good feeling to think the squash was going to have spiders or be rotten or something, but ends up having a man jump out of it and cut his head off because he doesn't weigh much!
Bibliography:
Tibetan Folk Tales: The Golden Squash by A.L. Shelton
There were two old men living in the mountains, one was kind at heart and the other was greedy. The king old man had a bird land in his garden with a broken wing. He nurtures it back to health, lets it free, and it comes back with a seed that it says will do him well. He grows the seed and it produces a gigantic squash. He god five men to help him carry it to his house, but when he tries to eat it he finds that it is made of pure gold and because of this he is now rich. He uses his wealth to help the sick and poor. The greedy neighbor, envious of the kind man, gets a bow and shoots a bird's leg when it is near his garden. He then nurtures it back to health pretending it is out of the kindness of his heart, and when the bird gets better it brings him a seed that bears a squash of similar size. He gets five men to carry it to his house just like the kind old man, but when he opens it, a scary old man jumps out of it. He tells him he has been sent from the king to weigh him, grabs him by the neck, weighs him, and says, "You are far too light and no use at all," and proceeds to cut his head off. The end.
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| Large Squash sourced via Wikipedia |
Bibliography:
Tibetan Folk Tales: The Golden Squash by A.L. Shelton
Week 9 Reading Notes Part A: The Wise Carpenter
The Wise Carpenter
The new king has two men under him, a painter and a carpenter, both the masters of their crafts. The painter tells the king that he had a spiritual encounter where the king's dead dad demanded a message to be delivered to the new king demanding him to send up the best carpenter he has. The king tells the carpenter he will be sent there, and the painter tells the king that if he wants him sent there, he would need to be set on fire along with all his tools and he'll ride the smoke to heaven. The king tells him that he has seven days to prepare for his departure. The carpenter, knowing the painter just wanted him gone, gets his wife to help him dig a place from where he is to be burned to his home so he can escape. The village builds a fort around him, set it on fire, and he escapes through the tunnel. He waits three months, then comes to the king with a letter from his supposed dead father, telling him the carpenter did a great job and should be given many riches, and that the temple he built was amazing, but that it needed to be painted by the finest painter he has. The king commanded for the painter to be sent to heaven the same way, and the carpenter tells them to play music so it would drown out his screams and he dies. The end.
I thought this story was really funny! I love it when a person is being screwed over by their enemy, and they are able to turn it back around on them. I wanted to do this story in a more modern context for people in a comedic way since I haven't done much comedy in my stories.
Bibliography
Tibetan Folk Tales: The Wise Carpenter by A.L. Shelton
The new king has two men under him, a painter and a carpenter, both the masters of their crafts. The painter tells the king that he had a spiritual encounter where the king's dead dad demanded a message to be delivered to the new king demanding him to send up the best carpenter he has. The king tells the carpenter he will be sent there, and the painter tells the king that if he wants him sent there, he would need to be set on fire along with all his tools and he'll ride the smoke to heaven. The king tells him that he has seven days to prepare for his departure. The carpenter, knowing the painter just wanted him gone, gets his wife to help him dig a place from where he is to be burned to his home so he can escape. The village builds a fort around him, set it on fire, and he escapes through the tunnel. He waits three months, then comes to the king with a letter from his supposed dead father, telling him the carpenter did a great job and should be given many riches, and that the temple he built was amazing, but that it needed to be painted by the finest painter he has. The king commanded for the painter to be sent to heaven the same way, and the carpenter tells them to play music so it would drown out his screams and he dies. The end.
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| Big Fire sourced via Wikipedia |
I thought this story was really funny! I love it when a person is being screwed over by their enemy, and they are able to turn it back around on them. I wanted to do this story in a more modern context for people in a comedic way since I haven't done much comedy in my stories.
Bibliography
Tibetan Folk Tales: The Wise Carpenter by A.L. Shelton
Tuesday, October 10, 2017
Week 8 Progress
I definitely feel like I have progressed in my reading and writing abilities since the beginning of the semester. It all just comes a lot more naturally to me now. I can type quite a bit faster now, I can read faster, and I am a lot better at giving other people advice from the comments and feedback I leave! So far, I have most enjoyed the storybook! I really like working on a single concept for a long time so it is a large and grand project that I can be proud of. While I enjoy making small short stories as well, the big projects are just more satisfying to work on and finish because of their significance. I do some extra credit, usually wikipedia trails and tech tips.
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| Motivational caption sourced via Flickr |
Week 8 Comments and Feedback
Surprisingly, I have actually been getting really good feedback from the class. While there are still comments that don't offer much feedback, I have gotten more help and motivation from the comments and feedback than I thought I would. While I love the motivation from the positive comments, constructive criticism is definitely the most productive form of feedback for me.
I definitely like gibing feedback to others. I have frequently found by reading other people's work mistakes that I know I make myself and it is a good reinforcement for me to do better in my writings.
There really isn't much that makes me happier in this class than when I find someone that has similar to my writing or unique writing styles and also people that have similar interest in science. It is really cool. Even though this is an online class, I feel like I know some people better on here than I ever would in a regular lecture. I definitely feel like my original introduction post could be a little more on the fun side of me rather than what I tell the average person I meet (we all put on a mask for society) but I feel like I did a good job still.
I might try spicing my blog's graphics up a little when I find myself with free time. You can never make a blog look too good! :)
I feel like this feedback cat pic resonated with me the best because the best feedback for me is telling me what I did wrong. Not only does this give me the chance to fix it, but it also allows me to learn what i'm doing wrong and I will be less likely to do those mistakes in the future! But of course, like everyone else, I do love being told how well I did too!
I definitely like gibing feedback to others. I have frequently found by reading other people's work mistakes that I know I make myself and it is a good reinforcement for me to do better in my writings.
There really isn't much that makes me happier in this class than when I find someone that has similar to my writing or unique writing styles and also people that have similar interest in science. It is really cool. Even though this is an online class, I feel like I know some people better on here than I ever would in a regular lecture. I definitely feel like my original introduction post could be a little more on the fun side of me rather than what I tell the average person I meet (we all put on a mask for society) but I feel like I did a good job still.
I might try spicing my blog's graphics up a little when I find myself with free time. You can never make a blog look too good! :)
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| Feedback Cat sourced via cheezburger |
Week 8 Reading and Writing
Personally, I love the reading and writing assignments. I love getting creative and writing short stories. My favorite reading so far has probably been Adam and Eve. This is because while I have always been quite aware of the beliefs within Christianity, I had never actually read the story and it was quite entertaining! The reading notes definitely help me, especially if it is a long story, because it allows me to more easily isolate the important factors such as characters and major events and meanings behind the story that allow me to develop a new story easier. I really love the storybook I am making. I knew I was going to do something unique, but was worried about if I would be able to come up with a project that made me happy to work on, and I think I did a really good job. I think my greatest accomplishments have been developing my grammar skills, developing my story telling and creativity skills, and picture sourcing skills.
I love this image because of the complexity of it and the way it shows the different levels of hell, how they become less and less populated but darker and scarier, and eventually lead to the worst of the worst, Satan himself and the other traitors.
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| Dante's Inferno found on Wikipedia |
I feel like I have been getting a little off schedule and it isn't a good feeling. Looking forward I think I need to spend more time on this class during a week I don't have as much going on so I can get ahead again.
Thursday, October 5, 2017
Week 7 Story: Story of Sand
Story of Sand
By Connor Dugan
Once upon a time on a beach in Florida there was a child building a sand castle. The child was building the biggest castle he had ever made and was concentrating very hard, getting sand all over himself. When he was done and ran to get his father, the father said to the boy that he'd better wash off in the ocean.
When the boy asked why, the father ranted to him about how much he hated the sand, and how he can't stand how much it gets everywhere. However the child, looking puzzled, looked up at him and said, "But daddy, sand is what makes the beach so fun! Imagine a beach with no sand, it wouldn't be very fun!".
The father shook his head, no son, you don't understand. Maybe we can talk about this when you are older. The father packed up everything, frustrated that the son didn't understand the consequences of sand on a beach and got himself and the boy in the car.
"Son, I know of a perfect beach, the sand there was so fine that it has all molded together and it doesn't get everywhere. I'll show you how much better it is"
After arriving to the new beach, the father gets out and smiles. He smells the air and thinks back to all the great memories he had here. He looks at the tan, milky in texture beach. "Now THIS is a beach!" he exclaims.
The kid tells him that he's just going to stay in the car, he won't be able to make a sand castle out of that sand.
Determined to prove the child wrong, the father runs out to the beach full speed. "Look son! Look how much fun i'm having! Don't you want to ha.."
He takes a step into tanner than usual sand, and sinks right through. He is sloped, half buried in quicksand. He thrashes around trying to pull himself out but it is no use. He isn't getting out alone.
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| Quicksand sign sourced via Wikipedia |
"HELP!" he screams.
The son is in the car playing video games, when he hears his fathers cries for help. He rushes over with a stick to try to pull him out but his hands keep on slipping. The son then gets a wonderful idea. He runs to the car and collects the sand on the floor mats. He gives it to his dad to put on his hands and he is able to grip the stick and is pulled out.
"Oh my god I almost died... you saved me! Thank you so much."
"Don't thank me Dad, thank the sand!", the son said with a smile.
The father laughs and agrees that they will go to the sand beach from now on and that sand really isn't all that bad after all.
The End.
Author's note:
In the original story, a king is told by his daughter that she loves him as much as salt and water and he takes offense to this and wants her killed. The other daughters convince the executioner to spare her while still making the father think she is dead. The daughter is found by a wizard and is arranged to get married to a son of the king. At the wedding, the wizard had commanded the groom to not give the king water or salt. When this happens, the king can't eat, and when he is revealed that the bride is the daughter he tried to have killed he feels ashamed, hugs her, and tells her she was right about salt and water.
I wanted to make this story much better while keeping the message and I feel like I did a good job!
Bibliography:
Water and Salt by Thomas Frederick Crain
Week 7 Reading (Extra Credit): Italian Tales
Water and Salt
A king asks his three daughters how much they love him. Two give satisfactory answers, but the third said she loves him as much as water and salt. He immediately orders an execution, but the other sisters get the executioner to swap her life for a dog's and they smear her clothes in blood and bring it to the king. The daughter that was supposed to be dead is found in the woods by a magician and the king's son falls in love with her. The magician tells the son that to marry her the son must kill him the day before the marriage, invite three kings, and order the servants to pass water and salt to all guests except the king. The day before the wedding they killed the magician and quartered him, and put a quarter in each of four rooms, and sprinkled his blood in all the rooms and on the stairway, and the blood and flesh became gold and precious stones. At the banquet after the wedding the daughter supposed to be dead was sitting by the king and he isn't eating because he doesn't feel well but the real reason is because he wasn't given salt for his meat or water to drink. The girl reveals to him that she is his daughter and they rejoice.
I thought this story was strange, but liked that the king learned from his child. I want to redo this story in a modern day situation where a kid says something that a parent thinks is really silly but then turns out to be very true!
Bibliography:
Water and Salt by Thomas Frederick Crain
A king asks his three daughters how much they love him. Two give satisfactory answers, but the third said she loves him as much as water and salt. He immediately orders an execution, but the other sisters get the executioner to swap her life for a dog's and they smear her clothes in blood and bring it to the king. The daughter that was supposed to be dead is found in the woods by a magician and the king's son falls in love with her. The magician tells the son that to marry her the son must kill him the day before the marriage, invite three kings, and order the servants to pass water and salt to all guests except the king. The day before the wedding they killed the magician and quartered him, and put a quarter in each of four rooms, and sprinkled his blood in all the rooms and on the stairway, and the blood and flesh became gold and precious stones. At the banquet after the wedding the daughter supposed to be dead was sitting by the king and he isn't eating because he doesn't feel well but the real reason is because he wasn't given salt for his meat or water to drink. The girl reveals to him that she is his daughter and they rejoice.
I thought this story was strange, but liked that the king learned from his child. I want to redo this story in a modern day situation where a kid says something that a parent thinks is really silly but then turns out to be very true!
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| Father and Son Playing sourced via Pixabay |
Water and Salt by Thomas Frederick Crain
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Week 6 Story: Kill the King
Kill the King
by Connor Dugan
One day, the king of a town was observing his people. He dressed in a disguise so nobody would recognize him and came upon a psychic. The psychic told the king, not knowing who he was, he could tell him his future. The king agreed, but told him that he had no money, so he gave him his necklace that was priceless. The king told him that he would come back later to give him the actual cost of the psychic session and retrieve the necklace he held as collateral. The psychic then told him that he would die within 9 days.
Appalled, the king retreated to his home and demanded to see a servant. The king was in denial and believed the psychic was not really able to tell the future. He was going to put him to the test. The king told the servant to go to the psychic with the intent to steal the necklace and see if the psychic is able to tell the future of the necklace being stolen. If the servant failed, his head would be cut off, but if he succeeded the psychic's head would be cut off for lying about being able to tell the future. The next day, the servant approached the psychic and asked to tell him his fortune. The psychic took a long pause and told him that he would kill a man within 8 days. The servant, not realizing what this meant, proceeded to think all of it was false and stole the necklace from him.
The king was pleased at the retrieval of the necklace, and the next day went to the psychic to claim his property. The psychic told the king that he couldn't find the necklace, and outraged, the king told the psychic that he had one week to foretell where the necklace is or his head would be taken. The psychic obliged, and for 6 days he meditated and prayed.
The 7th day came and the king held a ceremony, inviting the whole town to see the psychic be proven as phony. The psychic approached the king on the stage in front of the massive crowd.
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| Large Crowd sourced via Flickr |
The king screamed, "Psychic! You speak to the world that you have powers beyond this world, yet can't find the necklace I gave you when your life depends on it!? What say you to this ridiculousness?"
The psychic replied, "Liar."
Outraged, the king grabbed the psychic and pulled him in, ready to slug him in the face. "What did you say to me you low life phony?"
The psychic screamed to the crowd, "This man is not the powerful one you see. He is a fake, and I can prove it. I make a bet that if I can prove that you cheated me that your head might replace mine's fate."
The king laughed hysterically. "Oh really? Alright then you have a deal! You prove me a cheat and I you may have my head. But since you dared to accuse me of such ridiculous claims, when you are wrong I will have your whole family slaughtered!
The psychic looked at the crowd and announced "The necklace was stolen! It is in the left shoe of the king's servant!"
The king let out another burst of laughter. "You really think I would be so sloppy as to do that even if I did try to cheat you? Why that necklace would be countries away from here if I did that. Servant, show them he lies!"
The servant was ghost white. He looked at the king with eyes of despair. "Sir... I don't think I want to do that... My foot will get cold.."
"Nonsense!" said the king. "Take the shoe off! That is an order!"
"But sir.."
The king finally realized what was going on. "Oh.. I see." he turned to the crowd and announced "This is ridiculous. Why must my servant obey the commands to a liar? Must we really do this?"
The crowd screamed "Have him take his shoe off so we might slaughter him and his family!"
The king, sweating bullets, approached the servant. "Take it off."
The servant took his right shoe and turns it over.
"See!? he lies!!"
"Take off your left shoe like he asked!" the crowd screamed.
When he does this, the necklace falls out.
"TRAITORS!" screamed the crowd.
In tears, the servant told the crowd "The king told me he would have my head if I didn't steal the necklace! Let him pay for the crimes, not the psychic for he has proven his worth!"
The crowd restrained the king, put him on the chopping block, and the servant cut off the head of the king. The town rejoiced, and the psychic's prophesies were all fulfilled.
The end.
Author's Note
In the original story, a king goes to a bakery, sees the owner is praying, and decides he wanted to test to see how loyal the owner is to god. He dresses in a disguise and gives the owner a ring for some bread as collateral. The king asks a servant to get the ring from him, he succeeds, gives the ring to the king, and the king tells the baker if he doesn't find the ring he will kill him. The king drops the ring in a river, a fish eats it, the baker owner buys the fish and finds the ring, and everyone lives happily ever after. I didn't like how manipulative the king was in this story, so I did it in a different setting, changed the plot a bit, and made him die!
Bibliography:
The Praying Baker translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer
Saturday, September 23, 2017
Week 6 Reading Notes: Ancient Egypt Part B
The Praying Baker
A king dresses up as a beggar and approaches a bakery. He sees the owner praying to god and decides that he is going to test his commitment to his prayers. If he fails the test he will be put to death and if he succeeds he will be given honor. He then gives the man his ring that is worth a bunch of money as collateral for some bread and commands a Wizar to try to get the man to give the ring away. He tells the Wizar that if he succeeds he will be given a reward but if not his head will be cut off. The Wizar's messengers go to the bakery to test their scale they use for flour, and while they are distracted they steal the ring and it is given back to the king. The king calls in the baker and tells him to give back the ring but when he can't return it the king tells him he has 10 days to get the ring back. The king then drinks from a river, the ring falls off, a fish eats it, and a fisher gets the fish and starts to try to sell it. The baker buys the fish not knowing of the ring being in the stomach, finds it, gives it to the king, and everyone rejoices.
I really liked this story! I like the twists and turns it makes. The part that I didn't like, however, was the sadistic mind of the king doing everything in the story. If I redid this, I would make it so that the king ends up getting his head cut off and I would challenge myself to make a similar sequence of events with entirely different context.
Bibliography
The Praying Baker translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer
A king dresses up as a beggar and approaches a bakery. He sees the owner praying to god and decides that he is going to test his commitment to his prayers. If he fails the test he will be put to death and if he succeeds he will be given honor. He then gives the man his ring that is worth a bunch of money as collateral for some bread and commands a Wizar to try to get the man to give the ring away. He tells the Wizar that if he succeeds he will be given a reward but if not his head will be cut off. The Wizar's messengers go to the bakery to test their scale they use for flour, and while they are distracted they steal the ring and it is given back to the king. The king calls in the baker and tells him to give back the ring but when he can't return it the king tells him he has 10 days to get the ring back. The king then drinks from a river, the ring falls off, a fish eats it, and a fisher gets the fish and starts to try to sell it. The baker buys the fish not knowing of the ring being in the stomach, finds it, gives it to the king, and everyone rejoices.
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| Ring sourced via Wikipedia |
I really liked this story! I like the twists and turns it makes. The part that I didn't like, however, was the sadistic mind of the king doing everything in the story. If I redid this, I would make it so that the king ends up getting his head cut off and I would challenge myself to make a similar sequence of events with entirely different context.
Bibliography
The Praying Baker translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer
Friday, September 22, 2017
Week 6 Reading Notes: Ancient Egypt Part A
The Wolf and the Goat
A mother goat with four children tells the children that she is going out to get grass. She tells them that when someone knocks at the door and says they are their mother, to look at the hand of the person and if it is black it is the wolf whereas if it is red it is the mother. The wolf hears the conversation, paints his hand red, and takes three of the children. The mom finds out, goes to the wolf's house. She challenges him to a fight and before hand they go to the dentist and have their teeth/horns sharpened. The goat brings a good gift and gets them sharpened but the wolf tries to rip the dentist off so he pulls all the wolf's teeth out and replaces it with fakes. The goat challenges him to drink a bunch of water and jump across a river, and when the wolf does the goat pierces his stomach and kills him. She gets her kids back and live happily ever after.
I thought this story was strange because nothing ever comes of the wolf getting his teeth replaced with fakes. The story would be much better if it ended with him trying to bite the goat but it doesn't do anything. I would certainly change that in my story I write and I would also make the being human instead of animals.
Bibliography
The Wolf and the Goat: translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer
A mother goat with four children tells the children that she is going out to get grass. She tells them that when someone knocks at the door and says they are their mother, to look at the hand of the person and if it is black it is the wolf whereas if it is red it is the mother. The wolf hears the conversation, paints his hand red, and takes three of the children. The mom finds out, goes to the wolf's house. She challenges him to a fight and before hand they go to the dentist and have their teeth/horns sharpened. The goat brings a good gift and gets them sharpened but the wolf tries to rip the dentist off so he pulls all the wolf's teeth out and replaces it with fakes. The goat challenges him to drink a bunch of water and jump across a river, and when the wolf does the goat pierces his stomach and kills him. She gets her kids back and live happily ever after.
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| Wolf sourced via Pixabay |
I thought this story was strange because nothing ever comes of the wolf getting his teeth replaced with fakes. The story would be much better if it ended with him trying to bite the goat but it doesn't do anything. I would certainly change that in my story I write and I would also make the being human instead of animals.
Bibliography
The Wolf and the Goat: translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Week 5 Reading Diary: Dante's Inferno Part A
Dante's Inferno Part A
Dante gets lost in the woods and comes across dangerous animals. Dante meets Virgil who he begs to save him from the animals. Virgil tells him to come with him on a journey through hell so he may see those who have not reached the glory of God and he obeys. First he is shown the spirits that were turned away from heaven but not allowed entrance to hell. The next is Limbo, where spirits that were good but not baptized stay. Next, poets, celebrities, heroes, and heroines. So far these spirits don't really get tortured and more just regret that they don't see glories of heaven. He is then shown Minos, who condemns the sinners for their sins to the proper place in hell which they belong and the level for carnal sinners. The next is for gluttony where Cerberus, a great worm, resides and tortures the souls of the level. The next is for greed and this level is more populated than the others. The next is for the wrathful, and lastly we have the heretics.
This was a lot to take in. Dante's inferno is a challenging read and there is a vast amount of information. I think it will be really cool to condense it and spice it up for the modern reader.
Bibliography
Dante's Inferno translated by Tony Kline
Dante gets lost in the woods and comes across dangerous animals. Dante meets Virgil who he begs to save him from the animals. Virgil tells him to come with him on a journey through hell so he may see those who have not reached the glory of God and he obeys. First he is shown the spirits that were turned away from heaven but not allowed entrance to hell. The next is Limbo, where spirits that were good but not baptized stay. Next, poets, celebrities, heroes, and heroines. So far these spirits don't really get tortured and more just regret that they don't see glories of heaven. He is then shown Minos, who condemns the sinners for their sins to the proper place in hell which they belong and the level for carnal sinners. The next is for gluttony where Cerberus, a great worm, resides and tortures the souls of the level. The next is for greed and this level is more populated than the others. The next is for the wrathful, and lastly we have the heretics.
This was a lot to take in. Dante's inferno is a challenging read and there is a vast amount of information. I think it will be really cool to condense it and spice it up for the modern reader.
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| Levels of hell sourced via Wikipedia |
Bibliography
Dante's Inferno translated by Tony Kline
Sunday, September 17, 2017
Week 5 Story: What is Fear?
What is Fear?
A young boy named Todd was playing with his action figures on a peaceful Sunday morning in the kitchen next to his mother. He loved playing with his toys and began to have a battle between a dragon and soldier. They fought a fearsome battle on the kitchen table, leaped onto the toaster where the soldier almost fell in, raced across the counter and were headed for the stove.
Todd's mother screamed "STOP!" As his hand got dangerously close to a pot of boiling water. She yanked the boy away from the stove and looked at his sternly
"What were you thinking Todd!? You scared me so much you could have seriously gotten hurt! Don't ever do that to me again!"
"I'm sorry mom.. but you said I scared you? What do you mean?"
"It comes from Fear, Todd. It is a feeling you get when something scares you."
Todd grew in excitement. "I wanna feel fear!! I'm gonna go find it mom you just wait and maybe I'll understand you better!"
And before his mother could continue her lecture he burst outside. She ran after him on his way out and screamed "Todd I swear if you get in trouble or hurt you will have NO CONFUSION as to what fear is!"
Todd ran off to the woods next to his neighborhood playground. A group of his enemies from school were hanging around there and called him over.
"Well look what the cat dragged in boys! Todd, come over here buddy! We decided you can be in our group if you do our challenge!"
Todd raced over. Although he didn't like them, he knew being in their group would make him much cooler in school. He asked them what the challenge was.
"You see that dog house over there? Well, our ball went directly into it and there is a big scary pit bull that lives there. If you can get it back for us you're in." One of them said with a devious grin.
"Okay!" Todd said, as he casually jogged over to the house.
He got to the house and walked right up to the house with zero hesitation. He glanced inside to see the pit bull sleeping, curled around the ball the boys set him out to retrieve. As he reached for the ball, the pit bull's eyes shot wide open and he started to growl intensely, showing his big strong teeth. The boy smiled at the dog, pet him on the head, and the pit bull calmed down significantly and let the boy have the ball.
Todd came back to the group of boys and their jaws hit the floor. "Did he not try to rip your arm off?" The boys asked. "No, he was really nice once you pet him!" Todd replied. "Were you not scared that whole time!?" They asked. "There's that word again!" Todd said, "What is up with people and being 'scared'? I don't get the point of it what is it anyways?"
The leader of the group, Carson, approached Todd. "Okay Toddy boy, listen up. That task was too easy. You don't get in the group unless I say so. The only way you are getting in this group is if you do the ultimate challenge, my challenge... Steal a fidget spinner."
"PSHHH piece of cake! Except my mom always told me to not steal anything.."
"Well what is more important? Being in our group or being a little mama's boy?"
"Alright, alright i'll do it."
Todd walked up to the store. "Surely this is how I will find fear." He thought to himself. He entered the store and the clerk was busy stocking shelves. The fidget spinners were behind the counter by the cigarettes. Todd crawled behind the counter and slowly reached up to get the spinner.. After wiggling it around from its hanger, he set it free. "GOT IT!" he whispered to himself. He turned to go out the door, but realized something. He still wasn't scared. He sat and contemplated.. What could possibly make him find fear? After all, that is what this whole journey was about. He then got an idea.. "Maybe if I get a pack of cigarettes too i'll find fear and be extra cool!" he thought. And without a second thought he reached up for a pack and got his hand snagged by the clerk.
"GOTCHYA!!" The clerk exclaimed.
He was caught. He looked out the window of the store to see the group of boys mocking him and sticking their tongues out.
The police arrived, gave Todd a lecture, and proceeded to load him up in the back of the car and drive him to his parent's house. "Young man, you are starting to walk down a dark road full of pain and suffering. What will your mom say when we tell her what you did?"
That's when the world came crashing down on Todd "NO you guys please don't tell my mom she will kill me!"
"Sorry bud, but you aren't getting out of this one. I don't care how scared you are of your punishment, you are going to get what you deserve from this I hope you learned your lesson!"
Todd's face looked shocked.. He gave a second to think of what just happened and realized.. He was scared. His legs trembled, his eyes were wide, his heart beat faster, his palms were sweaty. It wasn't a good thing at all. He found fear. And he didn't want to find it ever again.
When he got to his mother, he ran up to her in tears, bawled his eyes out at her waist, and told her how sorry he was and that he now realized what she meant.
While he got some serious punishment for stealing, he had learned his lesson and promised himself to never do something that would make him feel that terrible sense of fear and sadness ever again.
The end.
Author's Note:
In the original story, a young boy's mother tells him she is scared and he sets out to find out what fear is. He comes across all sorts of things that should scare him but he seems relatively fearless. After many adventures, he ends up being told to open up a soup dish and a bird flies out of it which surprises him. He discovers what fear is from this and lives happily ever after. This story was ridiculous and really weird, so I decided to redo it and I made it much better. Mine is much easier to follow and is certainly something that modern day children could relate with much easier. It is easier to follow and just makes a lot more sense as a story.
Bibliography
Fear by Ignacz Kunos
A young boy named Todd was playing with his action figures on a peaceful Sunday morning in the kitchen next to his mother. He loved playing with his toys and began to have a battle between a dragon and soldier. They fought a fearsome battle on the kitchen table, leaped onto the toaster where the soldier almost fell in, raced across the counter and were headed for the stove.
Todd's mother screamed "STOP!" As his hand got dangerously close to a pot of boiling water. She yanked the boy away from the stove and looked at his sternly
"What were you thinking Todd!? You scared me so much you could have seriously gotten hurt! Don't ever do that to me again!"
"I'm sorry mom.. but you said I scared you? What do you mean?"
"It comes from Fear, Todd. It is a feeling you get when something scares you."
Todd grew in excitement. "I wanna feel fear!! I'm gonna go find it mom you just wait and maybe I'll understand you better!"
And before his mother could continue her lecture he burst outside. She ran after him on his way out and screamed "Todd I swear if you get in trouble or hurt you will have NO CONFUSION as to what fear is!"
Todd ran off to the woods next to his neighborhood playground. A group of his enemies from school were hanging around there and called him over.
"Well look what the cat dragged in boys! Todd, come over here buddy! We decided you can be in our group if you do our challenge!"
Todd raced over. Although he didn't like them, he knew being in their group would make him much cooler in school. He asked them what the challenge was.
"You see that dog house over there? Well, our ball went directly into it and there is a big scary pit bull that lives there. If you can get it back for us you're in." One of them said with a devious grin.
"Okay!" Todd said, as he casually jogged over to the house.
He got to the house and walked right up to the house with zero hesitation. He glanced inside to see the pit bull sleeping, curled around the ball the boys set him out to retrieve. As he reached for the ball, the pit bull's eyes shot wide open and he started to growl intensely, showing his big strong teeth. The boy smiled at the dog, pet him on the head, and the pit bull calmed down significantly and let the boy have the ball.
Todd came back to the group of boys and their jaws hit the floor. "Did he not try to rip your arm off?" The boys asked. "No, he was really nice once you pet him!" Todd replied. "Were you not scared that whole time!?" They asked. "There's that word again!" Todd said, "What is up with people and being 'scared'? I don't get the point of it what is it anyways?"
The leader of the group, Carson, approached Todd. "Okay Toddy boy, listen up. That task was too easy. You don't get in the group unless I say so. The only way you are getting in this group is if you do the ultimate challenge, my challenge... Steal a fidget spinner."
 |
| Trouble sourced via Pixabay |
"PSHHH piece of cake! Except my mom always told me to not steal anything.."
"Well what is more important? Being in our group or being a little mama's boy?"
"Alright, alright i'll do it."
Todd walked up to the store. "Surely this is how I will find fear." He thought to himself. He entered the store and the clerk was busy stocking shelves. The fidget spinners were behind the counter by the cigarettes. Todd crawled behind the counter and slowly reached up to get the spinner.. After wiggling it around from its hanger, he set it free. "GOT IT!" he whispered to himself. He turned to go out the door, but realized something. He still wasn't scared. He sat and contemplated.. What could possibly make him find fear? After all, that is what this whole journey was about. He then got an idea.. "Maybe if I get a pack of cigarettes too i'll find fear and be extra cool!" he thought. And without a second thought he reached up for a pack and got his hand snagged by the clerk.
"GOTCHYA!!" The clerk exclaimed.
He was caught. He looked out the window of the store to see the group of boys mocking him and sticking their tongues out.
The police arrived, gave Todd a lecture, and proceeded to load him up in the back of the car and drive him to his parent's house. "Young man, you are starting to walk down a dark road full of pain and suffering. What will your mom say when we tell her what you did?"
That's when the world came crashing down on Todd "NO you guys please don't tell my mom she will kill me!"
"Sorry bud, but you aren't getting out of this one. I don't care how scared you are of your punishment, you are going to get what you deserve from this I hope you learned your lesson!"
Todd's face looked shocked.. He gave a second to think of what just happened and realized.. He was scared. His legs trembled, his eyes were wide, his heart beat faster, his palms were sweaty. It wasn't a good thing at all. He found fear. And he didn't want to find it ever again.
When he got to his mother, he ran up to her in tears, bawled his eyes out at her waist, and told her how sorry he was and that he now realized what she meant.
While he got some serious punishment for stealing, he had learned his lesson and promised himself to never do something that would make him feel that terrible sense of fear and sadness ever again.
The end.
Author's Note:
In the original story, a young boy's mother tells him she is scared and he sets out to find out what fear is. He comes across all sorts of things that should scare him but he seems relatively fearless. After many adventures, he ends up being told to open up a soup dish and a bird flies out of it which surprises him. He discovers what fear is from this and lives happily ever after. This story was ridiculous and really weird, so I decided to redo it and I made it much better. Mine is much easier to follow and is certainly something that modern day children could relate with much easier. It is easier to follow and just makes a lot more sense as a story.
Bibliography
Fear by Ignacz Kunos
Thursday, September 14, 2017
Reading Notes: Turkish Fairy Tales Part B
The Soothsayer
The story begins with a man who is a worker in the fields of industry and his wife who is about to take a bath. The wife and another woman who were about to take the bath see a crowd of people excited for the chief soothsayer's wife coming to their establishment. The wife of the man, jealous of the soothsayer's wife, tells her husband he must become a soothsayer of she will leave him. He doesn't want to lose her, gets advice from a friend to talk to a woman who also takes baths, and she devises a plan where he dresses up as a hodja ( a person who can find lost items ). They wait by the bath, and when the soothsayer's wife comes by, the lady steals her ring secretly, hides it, and tells the man of its location. When the wife panics that it is lost, he amazes her and the crowd by seeming to magically know exactly where it is and he is seen as a soothsayer by everyone. However, the wife loses it again and her husband calls in the fake hodja and tells him he has until tomorrow morning to know where it is or his head will be cut off. It turns out that a servant stole the ring and she sneaks in to tell the fake hodja that she stole it and he tells her to make a goose swallow it and break his neck. The next day, the fake hodja amazes everyone that he knows exactly where it is, and he is promoted and becomes successful.
I chose this story because while it was good, I would like to change the ending. I would redo the story in a very similar fashion and in the same time period but change the setting. The man will instead get himself into trouble that he is not able to get out of when he has the jewel/ring be hidden in a bucket of flower in a storage room, but in morning a new shipment of flower comes in and he has no idea and gets killed. It would serve as a purpose of teaching not to lie or you will end up in a situation you can't get out of.
Bibliography
The Soothsayer by Ignacz Kunos
The story begins with a man who is a worker in the fields of industry and his wife who is about to take a bath. The wife and another woman who were about to take the bath see a crowd of people excited for the chief soothsayer's wife coming to their establishment. The wife of the man, jealous of the soothsayer's wife, tells her husband he must become a soothsayer of she will leave him. He doesn't want to lose her, gets advice from a friend to talk to a woman who also takes baths, and she devises a plan where he dresses up as a hodja ( a person who can find lost items ). They wait by the bath, and when the soothsayer's wife comes by, the lady steals her ring secretly, hides it, and tells the man of its location. When the wife panics that it is lost, he amazes her and the crowd by seeming to magically know exactly where it is and he is seen as a soothsayer by everyone. However, the wife loses it again and her husband calls in the fake hodja and tells him he has until tomorrow morning to know where it is or his head will be cut off. It turns out that a servant stole the ring and she sneaks in to tell the fake hodja that she stole it and he tells her to make a goose swallow it and break his neck. The next day, the fake hodja amazes everyone that he knows exactly where it is, and he is promoted and becomes successful.
I chose this story because while it was good, I would like to change the ending. I would redo the story in a very similar fashion and in the same time period but change the setting. The man will instead get himself into trouble that he is not able to get out of when he has the jewel/ring be hidden in a bucket of flower in a storage room, but in morning a new shipment of flower comes in and he has no idea and gets killed. It would serve as a purpose of teaching not to lie or you will end up in a situation you can't get out of.
 |
| Biggest Liar Sign sourced via Flickr |
Bibliography
The Soothsayer by Ignacz Kunos
Reading Notes: Turkish Fairy Tales Part A
Fear
A young boy is with his mom who has fear, likely that someone might break in. The child asks what fear is, but her explanation of it doesn't suffice so he sets out on a journey to find it. He comes across robbers, the living dead, abusive maids, and a Daughter of the Sea but nothing seems to scare him. Along, the way, the abusive maid drops a bracelet, he picks it up, and a Jew tries to claim it. He takes it to court but neither can prove possession over it. He finds three transforming pigeons/maids that talk about how they are impressed with his lack of fear and how they were the manifestations of all the bad things he had encountered so far and give him a second bracelet which he uses to win over the first bracelet from the judge. The town's king dies and a crowd of people tell the boy that when a pigeon is released, whoever's head it lands on they will be pronounced the new king. The pigeon lands on the boy's head, but he doesn't accept. They release a second pigeon and it also lands on his head but he once again rejects the throne, saying he not looks to be a king but find fear. The same thing happens a third time and while he resists, the widow of the king says he is the new king and tells him whoever is king one day will be the next a corpse. They make a casket for the boy, he sleeps in it, then burns it when he wakes up. The king's corpse is carried by slaves but it turns out he is not actually dead and to celebrate a live sparrow is put in the soup dish for supper. The boy is commanded to lift the dish of the soup, the sparrow flies out, he is shocked, the former widow tells him he experienced fear, and they live happily ever after.
I have to admit, this story was awful. Usually you are supposed to choose a story that you liked, but I chose this because I wanted to clean it up a lot. I think I will take this story, have it be in modern times, and have the kid not be scared by anything except the fury of his mother when he disobeys her and the moral of the story will be to not disrespect your mom because if there is one thing in this world that is to be feared it is a mother's fury.
Bibliography
Fear by Ignacz Kunos
A young boy is with his mom who has fear, likely that someone might break in. The child asks what fear is, but her explanation of it doesn't suffice so he sets out on a journey to find it. He comes across robbers, the living dead, abusive maids, and a Daughter of the Sea but nothing seems to scare him. Along, the way, the abusive maid drops a bracelet, he picks it up, and a Jew tries to claim it. He takes it to court but neither can prove possession over it. He finds three transforming pigeons/maids that talk about how they are impressed with his lack of fear and how they were the manifestations of all the bad things he had encountered so far and give him a second bracelet which he uses to win over the first bracelet from the judge. The town's king dies and a crowd of people tell the boy that when a pigeon is released, whoever's head it lands on they will be pronounced the new king. The pigeon lands on the boy's head, but he doesn't accept. They release a second pigeon and it also lands on his head but he once again rejects the throne, saying he not looks to be a king but find fear. The same thing happens a third time and while he resists, the widow of the king says he is the new king and tells him whoever is king one day will be the next a corpse. They make a casket for the boy, he sleeps in it, then burns it when he wakes up. The king's corpse is carried by slaves but it turns out he is not actually dead and to celebrate a live sparrow is put in the soup dish for supper. The boy is commanded to lift the dish of the soup, the sparrow flies out, he is shocked, the former widow tells him he experienced fear, and they live happily ever after.
I have to admit, this story was awful. Usually you are supposed to choose a story that you liked, but I chose this because I wanted to clean it up a lot. I think I will take this story, have it be in modern times, and have the kid not be scared by anything except the fury of his mother when he disobeys her and the moral of the story will be to not disrespect your mom because if there is one thing in this world that is to be feared it is a mother's fury.
 |
| Mom Power sourced via Pixabay |
Bibliography
Fear by Ignacz Kunos
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