Myth-Folklore

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 alway...

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...

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...