Myth-Folklore

For this week's reading, I chose to take notes on the Native American Marriage Tales unit by Stith Thompson . One of the most prevalent themes throughout these stories are the uses of metamorphosis and personification. The characters are animals a majority of the time. There are also humans that transform into animals. And, there are other plants and animals that have been brought to life through dialogue. It is interesting to me that these stories give their characters these innate abilities to communicate with each other, no matter what species you are. A good example of this was in the story, Splinter-Foot-Girl, which was my favorite. I thought it was interesting how the Splinter-Foot-Girl came about through the leg of her father because he ran through the thorns. Something else that I find common amongst stories is how the tree is like a protector, this reminded me of the grandmother-willow tree in Pocahontas. In this story, the tree was also wise, which I believe is a comm

This week, I am reading the American Indian Fairy Tales collected and published by Henry Schoolcraft . I am going to discuss a few aspects of the stories, mainly focusing on the one I found to be my favorite. (This is a wigwam, similar to what Sha-won-dasee stayed in) The first thing about this unit that struck me as interesting was how there are a few stories being told by Iagoo, the Story-Teller  . In my opinion, this was a unique way to begin a story. The first story that Iagoo tells is Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind . I enjoyed this story because of the use of personification. This was always one of my favorite writing styles as a kid. In this story, Ka-bib-on-okka was the North Wind and Sha-won-dasee was the South Wind. Towards the end, Ka-bib-on-okka and Sha-won-dasee get into a wrestling match. What I love so much about personification is that it is obvious the North and South winds do not wrestle around on the ground, like two humans; however, using personification

AN OUTLAW was hitting every village throughout Western Africa, terrorizing and robbing any civilian that crossed her way. The leopard was one of the most cunning creatures that roamed Africa. Map of Africa The leopard, the outlaw's name was Ingwe (eeng-weh) , was a beautiful large cat with a silky golden coat with black spots and paws the size of a four-inch mango! Ingwe could outrun any human or animal, she could take down anyone or anything with one swipe of her paw; However, there was one secret to the leopard's success in remaining free, she was blessed with the ability to rearrange, add, or subtract her spots (generally manipulate them however she pleased), making her impossible to recognize.  As time went on, Ingwe began to get comfortable and found a place to live in a forest nearby a village. Whenever she became hungry or thirsty, she would go out and search for a pore sole to steal from, otherwise, she would make them her meal. Her victims would always

For the second half of Barker's West African Folktales , I wanted to try to stick with one note-taking strategy because I usually just write whatever comes to mind, which is sort of a mix of note-taking strategies. The strategy that I would like to focus on is Hollywood casting. Until now, I have not used this strategy before, but there is a first for everything! The story Farmer Mybrow and the Fairies  seemed the easiest to start off with. So, with that, the first character is Farmer Mybrow. I could picture Samuel L. Jackson  to play as the farmer from this story. I chose Jackson not only because he is one of my favorite Hollywood actors, but because some of the roles that he has played in movies seem, to me, to be similar to how I imagine Farmer Mybrow. Samuel L. Jackson is a strong actor that I believe would bring out the best in Farmer Mybrow, i.e., Jackson has an astonishing ability to portray emotions and I can imagine that Farmer Mybrow was flooded with emotion after fig

For this week, I chose to do a reading from the African unit. The stories that I picked are from the West African Folktalkes by William H. Barker . This is from the story, Thunder and Anansi One of the main themes to these stories has to do with a recurring character. This character is Anansi, a spider, who is a trickster. The fact that there was a trickster is the main reason in deciding to pick these readings. Throughout these stories, the trickster, Anansi, is always up to some mischievous act(s), most of the time he is trying to configure how to twist the scenario into something that is beneficial to him. The story that I found the most interesting was Anansi and Nothing . This story was similar to the Aesop fables because there was not necessarily a lesson at the end of the story, but there was an explanation for something that happens in reality. The explanation was, "...if you find a child crying and ask the cause, you will often be told he is 'crying for nothi

Looking back, I do not feel that I have done my best work, although I am proud of the work that I have done. I know that I need to step it up moving forward. The thing I am most proud of, so far, is my semester project. I have put a lot of effort into the website and story creation. I would have to say that working on the project is one of my favorite assignments each week, but I do not always do a story, which I also enjoy. My schedule has been hectic since the beginning of the semester so I cannot say that I have a good weekly routine. Actually, my routine has gotten worse as the semester has progressed, i.e., I am doing most of the assignments last minute or not at all. Also, I have not done any of the extra-credit opportunities (I think I have only done one...), which is a BIG mistake. However, when I am working on my assignments, I get really into it and I think I have created some pretty enjoyable stories and a kickass website! Looking forward, I want to change my work ethic. I

1. Feedback In: The feedback that I have been getting has been great so far! I have a mixture of praise and critical feedback, which are both very much appreciated. I think the critical feedback comments are the most useful because it forces me to re-evaluate my work. Whether I agree with making a change or not, I always believe in evaluating the feedback because it always gives me a broader perspective. 2. Feedback Out:  I would say that I have been giving some decent feedback, although I will be the first to admit that I am not the best at it. I always try to put my critical feedback with some positive feedback because I do not want to come off as being harsh, but it is also important to comment on the good quality of one's work. There always perfections and imperfections to be noticed. I have most definitely encountered some stories that have inspired some of my writing, e.g. my Jerry Springer story idea came from the student who did Odysseus on Ellen. 3. Blog Comments: I th

(Haunted House) Woo-hoo! We are halfway finished with this Fall semester; it's October which means it's almost Halloween (I am dressing up as Plankton and my boyfriend is going to be Mr. Krabs, what are you going to be?) and the weather is cooling down! I can only hope that we get a snowy winter!  Anyways, I have been having a stressful semester so far and it seems like it is only getting worse, time goes by way too quick! I am, however, enjoying this class a lot. I like how it is set up via the announcement website, blogs, quizzes, projects, etc. The reading and writing assignments are going decently well. I am a little behind which is daunting. I am happy with the layout and design of my Blog page, but I do need to add more stories to it, I have plenty of reading notes though. I am also pleased with my website, although I think I would like to add a little more to it, e.g. moving graphics, choose-your-own-path selections, etc. I have created a couple of good stories

The next section of the Japanese Fairy Tales  by Ozaki consisted of: The Goblin of Adachigahara; The Ogre of Rashomon; and, The Story of Princess Hase. The first story, The Goblin of Adachingahara was one of the creepier stories that I have read this semester. I am a huge fan of horror, psychological thrillers, etc., so this is right up my ally. I liked the beginning of this story because it introduced the myth of the Goblin that lives in the woods disguised as a gentle old woman. This story is truly horrific because the goblin/old lady is a cannibal and she lures travelers into her cottage. This reminds me of  Hansel and Gretel , just no candy. I also liked how the Buddhist priest's fear gradually progressed over time, until he finally trusted his gut to get out of the goblin's cottage. The story is suspenseful from start to finish. The word choice and sentence structure in this paragraph was one of the most suspenseful moments: (I've underlined the specific words that

These Japanese Fairy Tales  were retold by Yei Theodora Ozaki . The first story was My Lord Bag of Rice . This story was about a brave warrior who met the Dragon King on the bridge. The Dragon King needed his help killing the giant centipede and, when he did, the Dragon King gave him five presents, a large bronze bell, bag of rice, roll of silk, cooking pot, and a bell. I was confused because the ending talks about all but one of the presents, the bell (not the 'large bronze bell'). Although I was a little confused at the end, I feel like the story progressed well, it was interesting to listen and read along to (audio books are the bomb-dot-com!). The next story was The Adventures of Kintaro, The Golden Boy . Kintaro was a strong boy, abnormally strong. When his father died he was taken to live in the mountains by his mother. This story was unique because Kintaro had extreme strength and later he developed the ability to communicate with and befriend animals. I think it wou