Reading Diary: Week 14- Russian Fairytales

Russian Fairytales Unit

Witch Girl

I think it is interesting that Death is perceived as a female. In most stories I have read from other cultures, Death is male. I have to say, I was a little confused at first as to why the Cossack kept the arm. However, as the events played out, I realized how smart of a move that was. He had his way of identifying "Death" (the witch) and a way to prove he was right by showing the arm to the people. 

The Fox Physician

That poor old man! At first this story reminded me of Jack and the Beanstalk. That cabbage sounds HUGE! I was expecting a giant or something to come into the story. However, we get the devious fox. I think it is really interesting that in most cultures the fox is a trickster. We even teach that to our children today. I mean we have Swiper the fox in the television show "Dora the Explorer." Swiper is always trying to trick Dora and Boots by swiping their things. It's really interesting that it has still carried on into new stories that we tell our children today. 

Two Corpses  

This was a very action packed little story. I could see it play out perfectly in my head. I felt so bad for the soldier though. I am sure he has seen many things in his service, he probably felt like he was back on the battlefield in this little scare. I wonder why the cocks always make the corpses go away? That is not something I am very familiar with, but it seems to happen a lot in these Russian stories. I also didn't think that living corpses could be in churches? I am obviously wrong on that though, it sounds like both of the corpses were in the church.

Storytelling Week 13: Little Devils

Peter and James were two rotten little boys.

When they were about ten years old, they liked to cause as much ruckus as possible. They liked to pick on girls, play pranks, and have sword fights. Basically, they were your typical preteen boy.

One day they were especially awful. They put a tack on their teacher's seat, pointy end up. As you can imagine, it wasn't the best moment for the kids or for the teacher. As punishment, the school gave them detention. However, at home, their fates had yet to be determined.

When they got home, they were sent straight to their room with no dinner. Before long they could hear their parent's voices as they decided what to do with them.

"What are we going to do with the little devils?" their mom said. "They are going to be spoiled if we do not do something about them soon."

"I know sweetheart." their father said. "I just do not see how it can be avoided at this point."

"What if we just ate them?" their mom said.

"I don't know if we really need the extra calories. Besides wouldn't they be kind of chewy?" their father said.

"Are you saying I am fat??" their mom said.

"Not at all sweetie. Please do not put words in my mouth." their father said. "It would just break the strict diet we are on."

"Okay." said the mom. "Let's eat them tomorrow when we can adjust the calories for the rest of the day."

"That sounds perfect! I cannot wait to eat them!" replied their father.

James and Peter looked at each other in horror.

"You don't really think they are going to eat us do you??" asked James.

"I don't know if I want to be around to find out." replied Peter. "I mean we have been "little devils" lately. I guess we must have pushed it too far when we pranked Mrs. Travister."

"I think I will just beg them in the morning for another chance." said James. "I mean we are their kids. They are supposed to love and care for us, not eat us!"

"Okay." Peter said. "While you try to make peace with our cannibalistic parents, I will go hide in the shed. If you are going to die, scream really loudly and I will try to come get you so we can run away together. Agreed?"

"Agreed." James replied.

The next morning, James and Peter's parents came into their room to wake them up for school. They found James crying and Peter no where to be seen.

"What in the world is going on?!" asked their father. "Where is Peter? Why are you crying?"

"Mother and Father," James said, "please forgive us and please do not eat us!"

"Honey! What are you talking about??" asked their mother in alarm.

"We heard you talking last night." replied James. "You said you were going to eat the "little devils" today. I know me and Peter have been really bad lately, but give us another chance! We will be good little boys! We are your kids please do not eat us!"

"O honey," replied their mother, "we were not talking about you! We were trying to decide what to do with all the deviled eggs your grandma made for us. We didn't want them to go to waste so we are eating all of them today! I am so sorry you thought we would eat you! You haven't been the nicest boys lately, but we know you will get better. You are both ten year old boys! You will hopefully get out of this stage."

Deviled Eggs by Marshall Astor via Wiki Commons

"If not," replied the father, "maybe we will eat you." The mother cast a stern look at the father so he replied, "Just kidding of course. We love you boys. Now go get Peter, it is time for you guys to go to school."

Author's Note: I based my story off of the Monks and the Butcher from the Heptameron unit. In this story, the butcher and his wife refer to their pigs as Cordeliers (which is what the monks are) and the monks overhear of how they are planning on killing the bigger one in the morning. In panic the monks try to flee and the bigger one doesn't end up being able to run away, so he hides in the pig sty. In the morning, the butcher finds the monk in the pig sty terrified of being eaten and they all realized the big misunderstanding. I tried to keep my storyline very close to the original. I just reinvented it to fit a modern day scenario.

Reading Diary Week 13: The Heptameron

The Heptameron of Margaret: Queen of Navarre Unit

Lady from Milan

I really liked this story. The french gentleman was kind of a stalker though. I definitely understand why the widow faked being sick to avoid his gaze, even if his gaze was full of passion. I have to say he was beyond obsessive. I can't believe he pursued her for three years without her really giving him any attention. Well I am glad to hear that the creepy relationship wasn't one sided. She was attracted to him the whole time. Way to lead a guy on for three years.

Virgin With Child

I had a feeling the whole time that it was the brother. That is disgusting. I cannot believe that he went through those extremes to try to hide it. I think it is awful that they burned the girl as well. She might have had no say in the matter. However, I am glad they waited until the child was born. It does make me wonder what happened to the poor kid. Did it get adopted? Get a nice home? Or was it in an orphanage its whole life? Treated differently because of how it was conceived.

The Monks and the Butcher

This is my favorite story so far this unit! It is just so funny!! It reminds me of the game "telephone" I used to play when I was younger. You would say something to the person next to you and by the time the last person heard it, it was a completely different comment! Eavesdropping can be very dangerous, as the monks learned, this is a really great story to teach that lesson. 

Woman on her Death Bed

How dare he try to mess with one of his servants right next to his dying wife!!! That is appalling. I am glad she was still alive and had enough strength in her to get onto them! I sure hope that if I die first my husband will mourn me a little longer than this guy did. 

Storytelling Week 12: Queen's Croquet Invitational

"Hello folks! This is Bill the Lizard."

"And I am the White Rabbit! Thanks for joining us today on Wonderland Sports! Today is quite a day in the history of Wonderland. It is the Queen's 10th Croquet Invitational. Can you believe it has been ten years already Bill?"

"No I can't Rabbit! It really must've flown by for you! You are always having to run around because you are always late!"

"Ha ha! Ain't that the truth Bill? You try having twenty kids at home and see if you are ever on time."

"I would need a Mrs. first! Anyway, we have quite a group of people playing in today's tournament. Who all is in the line up Rabbit?"

"We have got the King and Queen of course, most of the royal court has made it as well. Jack unfortunately will not be able to make it, he is off on some vacation with a dancing flower. I guess it is our loss but his gain! There is also a new contestant on the scene, her name is Alice. She was only invited to this an hour ago. It will be interesting to see what she can do. I bet she has never played a game of croquet quite like this!"

"I am sure your are right Rabbit! I mean honestly who else plays the game like this? As far as I know this is the only tournament that plays in the unique conditions. It just makes it more special. For those of you that have seen one of the Queen's tournaments, you know exactly what I mean. For those who are watching this for the first time, you are in for quite a treat! Instead of a mallet they use a flamingo. Yes you did hear correctly, flamingos. It is an extra challenge for the contestants. They have to find a way to straighten out the flamingo and have enough control over it to hit their hedgehog. Yet again, you are not crazy. They use a hedgehog as their ball. As you can imagine that makes the task even harder. I have seen competitors hit their hedge hogs perfectly, gain about five yards, then their hedgehog decides it wants to run in the opposite direction for ten yards."

Flamingo via Deviantart 

"The real question, Bill, is who is going to win this year? The Queen invented the game, so we can expect her to be a front runner in the competition. I wonder if she will score more points than the amount of people she will behead in the tournament."

"I am sure that will be a close call Rabbit! Queen, if you are watching this, we do not mean any of this to be disrespectful in anyway. Please let me keep my head, my neck has grown quite attached to it!"

"Ha ha good one Bill! In all seriousness, we do wish the Queen the best of luck in her tournament today."

Author's Note: I chose to write my story based off of the Queen's Croquet-Ground from the Alice in Wonderland unit. I thought it would be nice to write about the game itself from a sports commentator point of view.

Bibliography: Queen's Croquet-Ground from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll (1865).

Reading Diary Week 12: Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland Unit

Mad Tea Party

Why is a raven like a writing desk? I would surely like to know! I really liked the story of the mad tea party. It was similar to what I was expecting, but more. There were more riddles and stories, but there was no unbirthday parties. I found that slightly unfortunate. I really liked how they talked about time and the crazy watch that only tells what year it is. I wish there was more description to how these characters looked because all I can really picture is the disney versions. 

Queen's Croquet Ground

Painting the roses red! I like how it said the queen couldn't tell who the gardeners were because they were all on their bellies and everyones backs look the same. I honestly had not thought of it. I wonder what the queen's deal is with beheading? That is her favorite punishment and she seems to do it a lot. I love how the queen is portrayed. You can feel the power she has over everyone. I loved the part where they are arguing over whether or not you can behead the Cheshire Cat. Considering it is only a floating head, I would have to agree with the executioner- you cannot chop of a head without a body to detach it from.

Who Stole the Tarts?

When I read -""Write that down," the King said to the jury, and the jury eagerly wrote down all three dates on their slates, and then they added them up and reduced the answer to shillings and pence." - all I could think about was how that sounded like a word problem in math. I really hated word problems. 

Essay for Week 11: A Knight's Tale

Armored Knight Mounted on Cloaked Horse by Paul Mercuri(1861) via Wiki Commons 

I absolutely loved the King Arthur Unit! The stories of King Arthur and his knights have always intrigued me. When I was younger, specifically in middle school, I remember grabbing any book in the library with a knight on it just so I could read more about this time where knights went on quests, beautiful princesses, and even magic. My brother and I were also really obsessed with the BBC TV series Merlin. I even took a course last fall that was called Arthurian Legends and Literature. As you can tell I absolutely love the stories of Arthur and his knights, so it is only natural that I chose this unit to read this week.

From what I have experienced, there is a lot of variation with the stories of Arthur. Sometimes Merlin is a character, sometimes he isn't. Sometimes there is a Morgan Le Fey, sometimes she is referred as Morgana. The knights of the round table also vary. Personally my favorite knight is Gawain, but that is just my opinion. I really liked that Merlin was in these stories. Merlin was not in the original stories of Arthur, he was added into the story much later. However, I like the magician and was pleased to see him. I felt so bad for him when he died in The Passing of Merlin. Merlin knew his own death, but was distracted by his girlfriend, Vivien, who led him to his death. That young girl just did not have the patience for the old man. One story I did not really like was The Questing Beast. I mean I liked it, I just did not like part of it. I would hate to know my own fate. I would be trying to avoid my death at all costs. I almost feel like it would take away a lot of the quality of like because you are so worried about dying. We are all going to die in our own time, whenever God has planned for us, so there is no need to worry about the inevitable. 

Storytelling Week 11: Cheating Death

Hello my name is sticker by Eviatar Bach via Wiki Commons

"Hi everyone, my name is Arthur."

"Hello Arthur."

I really hate these meetings. They are supposed to help me, tell my problems to other people who can relate. But no one can really understand me.

"The start of my insanity began when my mentor told me the future. You might think that sounds cool, but it is definitely not. You see my mentor, Merlin, told me how I am supposed to die. I want to change it at all costs."

One of the group members, Robin, raises his hand and asks, "How are you supposed to die?"

Our leader hastens to respond, "Arthur, you do not have to respond! Robin, Arthur will tell us when he is ready."

I shake my head, "Nah, it's okay. I am supposed to die in a battle."

"Well that's easy," Robin says, "just don't fight in battles."

"Easier said than done," I reply, "I am king of my country. I have to lead the battles and protect my people. However, I have been doing everything I can to keep the peace. I made treaties, sent gifts, the whole shebang. It just sucks that no matter what I do I cannot change it. I just wish Merlin would have kept his trap shut."

"Are you sure that Merlin is a reliable source?" the group leader asks. "I mean he might not be all there, if you know what I mean."

Chuckling I respond, "No he definitely is not crazy. I mean he was strange, but his predictions always came true. I mean sometimes he tried to predict the weather. That was always off. He said it was too unpredictable to always get it right. Other than that he was pretty spot on with his predictions of the future. Merlin once told me how he would die. He said he would be buried alive. This actually came true. His legitimately crazy girlfriend was the one who did it. Merlin had this romantic date all planned out and he went into a cave for a little bit to look for something. While he was in there, his girlfriend caused the cave to collapse. I always knew she was trouble. She was a quarter of his age. Obviously she had some sort of twisted reason to be with him. Maybe it was his fame or money? regardless it did not seem to be enough for her."

"Okay.. So Merlin is all knowing. Or was all knowing?" the group leader's face was all red as she continued, "I am sorry Arthur, I can only imagine how difficult all of this is on you."

"Ya," I reply, "At least I will die a heroic death. I guess the only way to move forward is to accept that it is going to happen."

Author's Note: I loosely based this off of The Questing Beast from the King Arthur unit. I decided to write my story based off of the prediction Merlin says near the end of the story about how Arthur is going to die. I know if I were him I would freak out with this news. Therefore, I decided that it would be cool to have him try to discuss his problems with a group of people. Really the only stuff I kept from the original story is how Arthur is supposed to die and how Merlin did die.

Bibliography: The Questing Beast from the King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang (1902)

Reading Diary Week 11: King Arthur

King Arthur Unit

The Drawing of the Sword

This first story really sets the tone for what the rest of the unit will be like. There is so much variation on the legend of Arthur that I was not sure what to expect. In this story, Merlin is present, that is not always the case. I also like that they had the sword in the stone as part of the story. Yet again, with all of the variation, sometimes it is told differently. This story reminded me a lot of the disney movie, except Sir Kay and the Father were really nice in this story. 

The Questing Beast

I honestly think that knowing how you are going to die helps lead to your downfall. If I was Arthur I would be like, "WHY DID YOU TELL ME THIS??" I do not want to know how I am supposed to die because I can see myself getting paranoid and doing everything I can to avoid it instead of living my life to the fullest. I am afraid that is exactly what this Arthur is going to do. 

King Arthur and Morgan Le Fay

I always have preferred the name Morgana to Morgan Le Fay. It always sounded more menacing to me to match her wickedness. Yet again, because the stories vary, I wasn't sure that Morgan would be evil. Sometimes she is actually kind. Given the title of this story, "How Morgan Le Fay Tried to Kill King Arthur," I decided she is most likely evil in these stories. 

The Quest of the Holy Graal

This was very different to all of the other stories in this unit. It was really just informative. It gave some background of the holy graal and that is about it. All the rest have been actual stories. 

Essay for Week 10: Once upon a time...

Apache Bride via Wiki Commons

This week I read the last half of the American Indian Fairytales unit. I really liked what I was able to read of this unit and wish I would have had the time to read the entire unit. I liked that it was very different from the Native American Marriage Tales. In the Marriage tales, it was a lot about relationships, but it also had a weird thing of having part human/part animal creatures. In almost ever tale someone fell in love with one of those creatures. Since there were so many of those in the week before, I assumed that there would be a lot in this unit as well. I was pleasantly surprised that there were no weird part human/part animal creatures in the stories I read for this week. One thing that I liked about last week, and was not in this week was in the notes. In the marriage unit, I was told what tribe each story was from. In this unit, I was not given that luxury. I know that there are a lot of different tribes, and I don't see them all telling the same stories. I would have appreciated the ability to know so that I can associate each story to that tribe. I could also get a better understanding of what is important to each tribe based off of the values they teach their children through their fairytales. I really liked that this unit was a lot different than the other Native American unit I read last week. It let me see a different style of stories that they would share. This definitely had a childlike appeal to it, which could be why I liked it so much. The length of the stories and the pace of them made it really easy to read. Overall, I really liked this unit.

Storytelling Week 10: Evergreen

"Emily! Where has that child gone off to? Emily get out of that forest right now! It is not safe! Besides, it is time for your play date with Rob."

I laugh to myself while hiding behind a tree. My mom was starting to get really pushy about spending time with Rob. She thinks that we will grow up to be married. I am twelve. I just want to hang out and have fun. Not to mention boys are super gross.

"Fine. Don't come out let the fairies eat you!" My mother hollered. "Dinner will be at seven-thirty if you are still interested Em. Be home before dark."

I cannot believe she is letting me stay out here! I jump for joy and run off to explore the forest. I come across a grove of pine trees and look around. The trees are old and rather large. If me and Rob put our hands around the tree and tried to hold hands, we wouldn't be able to even touch each others fingers. I turn around and see a strange boy. Stranger than most boys I mean. He was dressed in leaves from the forest, he had a headdress made of branches, and his eyes were as green as the pine trees. After a couple moments I realize I have been staring at the boy. I compose myself and say, "Hello. My name is Emily." His green eyes pierce my own as he replies, "My name is Evergreen."

I had to control myself from laughing. Evergreen? What kind of a name is that? However, as I look at him, the name seems to fit him. Definitely doesn't look like a "Craig" or a "Drew." He smiles and says "Wanna see something?" Evergreen takes me to a clearing and tells me to look up. There were so many lights. At first I thought it was the stars, then I realized it was a bunch of fairies. They were lighting up the sky as they flew from place to place. Evergreen had taken me to the home of the fairies. Before I could process everything, he grabs me by the waist and flew to a nearby home. I definitely had not seen any wings when I first saw him. I do not necessarily want to know where they came from either. We spent the rest of the evening in his house playing different games. Fairies play a lot of the same games we do, but they like a lot of nature themed games. For instance, a game of memory was not pictures. They had different bowls covering different types of plants and you had to be able to identify them in order to get a match. Before I knew it, I had to leave for dinner.

Abstract Colorful Universe by TTDesign via Flickr

I arrive at home just in time. My mom says, "Em, are you okay? You were out later than I thought you would be. I was about to send a search party!" I nod my head and assure her that I am fine. Am I though? I feel like I have been in a dream. The home of the fairies was so beautiful. I will have to go back tomorrow to see if it was all real.

Author's Note: This story was based off of the Fairy Bride story from the American Indian Fairytale unit. In the beginning of the story, it says that Neen-i-zu's (my Emily) mother was very concerned that she was spending so much time wandering off by herself. I thought I would take that part and expand upon it. I wanted to know exactly what Neen-i-zu had been doing, so I created a place where she would go spend time with the fairies. I chose for her to meet Evergreen because she marries him at the end of the story. I thought it would be cute if they were childhood friends.

Bibliography: The Fairy Bride from American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned with illustrations by John Rae (1921).

Reading Diary Week 10- American Indian Fairytales

American Indian Fairytales

I only read the second half of this unit.

The Boy Who Snared the Sun

I am curious as to what exactly a Iagoo is. Is it a tribe storyteller? I had no idea that in Native American lore the Coyote gave the people fire. I don't usually think of them as heroic or significant. They are just scavengers. What is a Mastoden? Sounds huge! It is really weird to think of a dormouse being as big as a mountain. He must have been gnawing on the trap to free the sun for a while for him to shrink to the size of a normal mouse. 

How the Summer Came

So a wild goose brings the summer in Native American lore? I really like the idea of the Summer world. It sounds fantastic. I loved the phrase "that the sky was not only the roof of our own world, but also was the floor of a beautiful world beyond." To me, that was just really great writing. A storm that covered the whole earth with water? Are the Native Americans familiar with the story of noah?

The Fairy Bride

I like how the fairies in this story are described as mischievous. Sometimes they are really nice, but I like the stories where they are a little devious. I can definitely understand Neen-i-zu's concern about height. I am not the tallest girl and am one of the shortest amongst my friends. I dated a guy that was over a foot taller than me and that was always a little strange to me. I am glad that Neen-i-zu found someone that she liked rather than marrying someone her mother wanted. 

Essay for Week 9: Gobble Gobble!!

This week I read the Native American Marriage Tales. I thought that it was okay. I know that a lot of the Native American stories involve animals and nature, however, I was not expecting all of the partially animal/partially human characters. Almost every story had one of them! I also don't really understand how someone can fall in love with an animal. Not my favorite part of the stories. However, I felt really bad for how they were treated. For instance, in The Dog-Husband, the parents and the rest of the town kill the dog the girl was in love with, and tried to kill her by leaving her in a house to be burned to a crisp. All because she loved the dog/man and was pregnant with his child. I guess it doesn't really fit the image of the ideal family. I also really liked the Girl and the Turkeys story. It definitely had a Cinderella vibe going on. I liked that the turkeys were almost like the fairy godmother character. It seemed very fitting that they would try to do something to help make her life a little better since she had taken care of them for so long. I think I liked that better than the fairy godmother that had never even met Cinderella. It made the act seem more loving and meaningful. This unit was not really my favorite, however I think it was a good choice. The stories, although I thought it was a little strange, really let me grasp a little bit of the Native American cultures. It was really nice that I got to read stories from multiple tribes. I got a chance to compare and contrast all of the different tribes. Overall, it was an okay unit to read, but I got a lot out of it.

Male North American Turkey via Wiki Commons

Storytelling Week 9: Puppy Love

Golden Retriever Puppies via  Flickr

I fell in love with Spot. 

I know what you are thinking. "Ew that is a dog!," but Spot was a shapeshifter. He was a dog in the day, but changed into a man at night. We had been friends ever since we were kids. My parents always hated him, they thought less of him because of his physical appearance. As we grew older, we grew closer, and I fell in love with him. I use the word fall very heavily. I didn't chose this like you do not choose to trip and fall. It just happened. I had no control over what I was feeling. Anyway, when I turned sixteen, I became pregnant. When my parents found out they about died. They disowned me and kicked me out. They said, "Do not come back, if you dare to try, we will kill you." So I went from town to town looking for a job. Eventually I got one in a small diner and settled in. While working in the diner, I saw Spot on the television. I turned up the volume to hear that he was murdered a couple days earlier by one of my relatives. Apparently, they had heard about the new life that was inside of me. I was completely distraught. How was I going to take care of this child if everyone is rejecting it's parents? They had even gone to the lengths of killing the father. I packed my stuff up that night and ran. I haven't looked back since. I gave birth to triplets. Rose, Tyler, and Spot Jr. They are my sunshine on a rainy day. I love them so much! However, they take after their dad. They were all born puppies. I didn't even know that they could change into humans until I caught them by surprise one afternoon when they were around five years old! I told them that they are to never be in their canine form again. They are to remain human. So they did as they were told and now they have each become important members of the city. Rose grew up to be a teacher. She is the sweetest thing and she loves every child she works with. Tyler became a doctor. He works with the elderly and does his best to improve their quality of life. Spot Jr. became the town mayer. He keeps this town in order and is the best mayer this town has ever seen. Although my children did not start off with the greatest lives, I did my best to provide for them. I have to say I think I did a pretty good job! I am so proud of my babies! 

Author's Note: I kept my story pretty similar to the original story. I had the girl tell the story and changed the fact that her parents tried to actually kill her and were the ones to kill the dog-husband. Also in the end of the original, the boys become chiefs of the people and hunt food (whales) for their citizens. I thought that I would include the sister and would give all of them more modern occupations.

Bibliography: Dog-Husband from Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929). From the North American Marriage Tales Unit.

Reading Diary: Native American Marriage Unit

Native American Marriage Unit

The Fox-Woman

I think this story was pretty interesting. My biggest question is: Why did the fox think that she was the hunter's wife? She performed all of the wife's duties without the hunter ever knowing who she was. I felt pretty bad for her when the hunter questioned her musty smell. I don't think the hunter really told her she had to leave, but if it bothered you so much I guess that puts a damper on the relationship. I would have just given her some soap to see if it solved the issue. 

The Woman Stolen by Killer Whales

This story was very short and sweet. I was really surprised that the shark was the good guy in this story. They usually seem so menacing that they are given an antagonist role in most stories. He was really clever in creating the smoke underwater (don't get me started on how that would work) to create a distraction to give the man his wife. The shark seemed like a very chivalrous and selfless guy. I really hope that the shark won the fight against the killer whales and came out of the fight unharmed.

The Dog-Husband

All of the partially animal and partially human creatures are kind of weird to me. It is even weirder that all of these people are falling for animals without realizing that they are part human. If those pups/kids could be human whenever they wanted, why would they hide it from their mother? How would they hide it from their mother? I can never get away with anything. My mom always knows. It would be pretty intense hiding something like that for years.

The Youth Who Joined the Deer

I was not expecting a hunter and a deer to get married. That just wasn't something that made since to me. However, I guess they have nothing to fear if they just need their bones back in the water to become alive again. If this is what establishes a great relationship between deer and hunter, perhaps I should tell my dad and my brothers. They hunt deer, and this might just help them be more successful in their hunting trips.

The Girl and the Turkeys

I can definitely see the Cinderella vibe in this story. There may not be an evil stepmother or even evil stepsisters, but there are a lot of turkeys. None of them are evil, they are her friends. They are the "fairy godmother" character in this story to help make their Cinderella's dreams come true. She just cannot forget her turkey friends. Unfortunately she did forget her turkey friends. She lost all of the turkeys and became the poor girl in rags for the rest of the story. Not as happy as Cinderella's ending.

 

Reading Diary: Assessment

Overall, I believe that my Reading Diaries have been very good this semester. After reading the instructions again, I realized that it took me a couple weeks to get everything right. The main thing I forgot was to include a link to the unit index page. I did not start doing that until week four. I have no idea why I started doing it either because I definitely had not seen that on the instructions page. I think my length for the Reading Diaries is quite appropriate. I write after I read each story in the unit. This way everything is fresh on my mind and I remember exactly what I thought or how I felt during each part of the story so I can record it. Some of my descriptions are shorter and some are longer, it really just depends on the story. Usually you can tell if I really liked a story or really did not like a story based off of the length. The description is always longer if I like or dislike it because I have a lot to say about the story. If I am in between, it is always shorter. I also think I did a great job on my reading diaries because when I look back at the earlier units, I can remember the stories that I wrote about. Reading quickly about what I thought when originally reading the story helps me remember the story. If I talked about how I really did not like something, I remember not liking it, then I remember why and what the story is all about. This is a lot better than what I do in most of my other classes. I am not usually very great at reading the textbook and when I do I cannot remember it that well. I do a lot better with looking up answers to a study guide and prepare for exams that way. Perhaps if I took notes like this while reading it would help?

Week 7 Essay: Thunder

Lightening by C.Clark via Wikipedia Commons

This week I read the Nigerian Folk Stories unit. It honestly was not my favorite unit I have read so far. It didn't keep my attention as well as some of the other units did. I thought it was really interesting that a lot of the stories involved someone getting punished. Whenever there was a problem, no matter how small, they always went to the king to have him fix their problems. I think a lot of the stories would have ended up better if they would have solved their problems themselves. However, this idea might be a lot from their culture and different customs they have. I am not familiar with the Nigerian culture, so I cannot disagree with these stories' problem solving methods. One of my favorite stories in this unit was The Story of Lightening and the Thunder. I thought it was really interesting that they had Thunder and Lightening as a mother and son relationship. Every time Lightening would do something wrong, the Thunder (mom) would get onto him. I have heard many different reasons as to why there is thunder. One is that God is bowling in heaven and when he gets a strike there is thunder. Another is that God is moving around the furniture. The mother and son idea is so unique that I am sure I will think of that the next time there is a thunderstorm. I really liked all of the stories in this unit about the animals, however, I liked the variations that they had that were completely different. For instance, the story of Lightening and Thunder and the Sun and Moon. They were both completely different than any of the other stories and I really appreciated the change. Overall, I thought this unit was okay. It was different than most others I have read, but it definitely is not my favorite unit I have read so far.

Week 7 Storytelling: A Mert Love Affair

Once upon a time, in the land of Mert, there was a man named Carl. Actually he wasn't a man, Carl was a strange creature with fins on his sides and a tail. Did I mention that he was also green? Anyway, he had a best friend named Russell. Russell was a foot taller than Carl with tan fur and polka dots all over him.

Russell had a beautiful wife named Ellie. Ellie had flawless skin with purple eyes and golden hair complementing her blue skin tone. One day, Russell and Ellie got into a huge fight. Carl went over to comfort Russell, but instead found Ellie. She was so distraught. Being a gentleman, and a good friend, Carl went to comfort Ellie since Russell was no where to be found. One thing led to another and before they knew it they made love to one another.

The next day Carl felt absolutely awful. How could he do this to his best friend? He mustered up the courage to tell Russell that very afternoon, but as he was leaving, Ellie teleported into his room. Jumping with surprise he asked Ellie what was wrong. She replied, "I know last night was a bad idea. I just cannot handle all of the fighting between me and Russell." Ellie then began to sob. Carl looked at Ellie and could not help but feel a little tug on his heart. Whether he liked it or not, he was starting to have feelings for his best friend's wife. Instead of going to tell Russell what was going on, he shut the door and went to console Ellie.

Three months later, Carl and Ellie are still at it. Loving each other in secret. Finding a spare moment in their hectic lives so they could to be together, even for a second. Carl was definitely in love with Ellie, but she was still married to his best friend. Finally, it came to a point where Carl couldn't take it anymore. He and Ellie agreed that they needed to tell Russell. So they went to Russell and told him about their affair. At first Russell thought it was a joke, but after a while he realized that they were telling them the truth. Enraged and betrayed by the two people he loved most, Russell stormed out to seek out the Mert wizard, Jonah.

Wizard and Owl by Andy via Flickr

In Mert the one with the power is ruler. Jonah was the most power wizard in the land so he ruled. Russell stormed into his palace and explained how his best friend and his wife betrayed him. So Jonah sent for Carl and Ellie. Once they got there Jonah determined a proper sentence for their actions. "For your inability to be faithful to your best friend, Carl, you are banished from Mert. If you or any of your descendants are found in Mert, the punishment is death. For your inability to be faithful to your husband, Ellie, I am sentencing you and your husband to therapy. You must stay with your husband because that is what you vowed when you married him. That is my final ruling." Immediately Carl and Ellie started yelling at the harshness of wizard's decision, but the guards were already coming to take Carl away. They give each other one final kiss and that was the end of it. Carl and Ellie never saw each other again. Carl lived in the outskirts of Mert living off of the land for the rest of his days. Ellie went to therapy with Russell twice a week for the rest of her life. I am happy to say that Russell and Ellie did fix most of their problems with therapy, but it was never quite the same after the affair.

Author's note: This story is based off of Why the Fish Lives in the Water from the Nigeria unit. It is very closely related to the original plot line. However, I just used aliens instead of a leopard and a fish. One of the big things I changed was at the end. In the original story, the king (my wizard) only punished the fish (my Carl). I thought that the woman should be punished as well because she also took a part in the act. I still didn't punish her as much and gave her a happier ending than Carl so that you still get the sense of how unfair it all is.

Bibliography: Why the Fish Lives in the Water from Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910).

Reading Diary: Nigerian Folktales

Nigerian Folk Stories

Of the Pretty Stranger Who Killed the King

This sounds exactly like one of the laos folklore stories that I read last week! There is a king that everyone hates so they get a witch to kill him. She turns into a beautiful woman so the king will want to marry her and then she kills him in his sleep. No one suspects the beautiful woman. One thing that is different in this story is that the city gets invaded afterwards and because their leader is dead they lose. 

Why the Fish Lives in the Water

Poor leopard! Betrayed by his best friend! I think that it is interesting that when there is a problem in these stories, they report it to the king. I guess that is part of the culture here. I would like to know how the fish got to move around on the land. Did it used to have legs?  

Why the Sun and Moon Live in the Sky

I liked this story because it was different from the others so far. No one did anything bad and was punished for what they did. The sun and moon are in the sky because there is no room for them in the place they built the water. They were just trying to be good friends!

The Thunder and the Lightening

I never thought of thunder and lightening being a mom and her son. I think it is pretty creative that when lightening burns something the mom (thunder) get on to him very loudly. Now that I have heard that story I can relate it to reality. I might think of this instead of God bowling in heaven as the cause of the thunder and lightening. 

Why Dead People are Buried

Do people in Nigeria not like dogs? Apparently because of this story dogs are disliked and not trusted as messengers. It is a shame that the dog got so carried away with the bone that it forgot to tell the people the true message of the creator. I also wonder if this creator is the God of the christians or if it is a different deity altogether.

How the Tortoise overcame the Elephant and Hippo

I am starting to see, in Nigerian folktales, the tortoise seems to be the most cunning creature. Their fox character if you will. I am kind of disappointed that no one discovered how the Tortoise outsmarted the Hippo and the Elephant. I guess if you are cunning enough, you can fool just about anyone and everyone.

Typing Game Tech Tip

My favorite typing game is Type for Your Life. In this game you type to get your little guy to the next level so he does not fall. I will not lie, when it gets to space I start freaking out a little. I noticed I liked the games that you typed full words or sentences better than I liked the ones that just had you type a couple letters at a time. I think great typing ability is almost a required skill in today's high tech world. Therefore, this is definitely an area that I could always strive to improve.

YouTube Tech Tip

Kid Snippets: "Math Class" (Imagined by Kids)

Storytelling Week 6: That One Woman

Lights, Camera, Action by Kreative Essence Motion Pictures via Wikimedia Commons

"Welcome everyone to your favorite TV show That One Woman!"

"I am your host Dale Sky and today we follow our One Woman, Martha, where she finally picks a man. You see folks for the past eight weeks Martha has been getting to know these seven guys. All of them are super hot, wealthy, and sweet, but they do not know about the other guys! They all think that Martha is in love with them. Last week, Martha did not get only one but seven proposals! Isn't that something?? Without knowing about the other men they all proposed in the same week. We ended the show with Martha telling each man that she will marry them if they build her a rocking chair to rock their future children to sleep."

"Let's see what is happening now!"

(goes to camera with one of the men going to the department store)

"I am so excited for me and Martha to get married!" said Brody " I will build her an extravagant chair and whittle little farm animals into it so that our children, boy or girl, can be rocked to sleep in her beautiful arms!" He checked his pockets and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper that read "shopping list" and attempted to straighten it out. "Okay first on the list is: wood!" Brody went over to the wood to a strange sight. There were six men all fighting over the last piece of wood. Brody rushed over to calm the fight, "Woah guys break it up! What's all this about?" One guy looked like he was about to cry and says, "I proposed to my girlfriend and she said she would marry me if I built her a rocking chair, but there is one piece of wood and everyone else seems to think they need it more than I do." Brody, looking like he was just slapped in the face, replies "I am in a very similar situation my friend." Then one after another all the other guys in the group say that they are also doing the same thing. Then Brody asks the question they are all dying to know the answer to, "Is your girlfriend Martha?" Slowly every single man nods his head yes.

(commercial break)

"You know what?" says Brody, "This is not okay. Not okay at all. She should not be allowed to treat us like this!"  The first man that spoke no longer looked sad, he looked very, very mad. He responds to Brody with a crazy look in his eyes, "I say we give her a taste of her own medicine. Make her pay for what she has put us through." A lot of the other men give a rugged yell in agreement.

So they created a plan to make her feel the same pain they did. Or so they thought. Martha was in the security room watching this whole scene unfold on the security tapes.

Brody went up to Martha and says "Hey babe!" with a hug and a smile hoping that Martha wouldn't suspect a thing. He then grabs her and puts her in a choke hold. Martha screams "What are you doing Brody!?" Then all the other men come out and circle around them. One man brings out a chair and Brody sets Martha down in it. "So you found out my secret."says Martha, bowing her head in shame. Brody, clearly the leader of the group, approaches Martha. "What you did to us was vile Martha. So we need an answer. Which one of us will it be?" asks Brody with a steel voice. Martha replies, "Can I talk to you guys separately? I feel like I owe each of you an explanation."  So they each went in to see Martha and she told each of them "You are the one I really love. The others were mean to me so I didn't know how to tell them no. Can you please defend me so we can run off together and get married?" Each of them said that they would.

After they all talked Martha said goodbye and ran home. The men, not knowing they were being deceived again, broke out in a huge fight. This ended badly putting each of them into the hospital. Only later did they discover that Martha had tricked them yet again. Meanwhile, Martha moved to a different city and laughed to herself on how easy it is to manipulate men.

(goes back to Dale Sky)

"Well that was a very unexpected turn! I would hate to be on the other side of that! Martha really had no mercy for those men. Tune in next week to meet our new One Woman Betty. Goodnight everybody!"

Author's Note: This story is based off of The One Woman from the Folktales of Laos. I kept the same idea of the story of the woman outsmarting the man but made my own version of it. Unfortunately I was not able to finish out the original storyline and have the woman kill off the men and then trick another man into burying all of them for her and him killing another man in all of the confusion.

Bibliography: "The One Woman" from "Laos Folk-lore" by Katherine Neville Fleeson (1899).

Essay for Week 6: Polly Want a Cracker?

Ara Macao via Wikimedia Commons

The Laos Unit was a pretty good read this week. I love all the separate stories. They were really all so different from one another. One was explaining why there were huge rocks in a plain, another explained why there was a man in the moon, and yet another explained why parrots only repeat what people say and do not say what is on their minds. I think that the diversity of stories of this unit is why I liked it so much. Every story was just so different. My favorite story was most definitely The Fortunes of a Lazy Beggar. Starting off this story I was not sure if it would be one I would like. Then I was able to relate to the beggar with his laziness. His is of course more extreme than my own, however, I definitely have those days where I would be perfectly content to stay in bed and do nothing all day. I could not believe that the chow's daughter ended up marrying him, but I was really impressed when he started working. I could not believe how vain the daughter was. She did not like the man until he looked great. Then she was fine with everything. Looks are not everything. With time they fade. When that is gone, what kind of a marriage will you have? My least favorite story of this unit was by far The Fortunes of Ai Powlo. That kid was creepy. I can not believe that anyone could be that evil to your own parents. To make your parents believe that their other half is dead is just wrong. Ai did many terrible things to a lot of people. I also thought it was creepy weird that when he died his skull would laugh and mock. As you can tell, I am not an Ai Powlo fan.

Reading Diary Week 6: Laos

Laos Unit

Enchanted Mountain

I really enjoyed this little story. The imagery is amazing and it seems truly beautiful. I like that you have to stumble upon this place and that you cannot find it if you search for it. However, what I really love about this story is the ending. I love that it says that the grown ups have to see to believe, but the children do not have to. They believe in the beautiful place on the mountain without ever seeing it. 

The Mountain Spirits and Stone Mortars

I really like that this story is to explain why there are huge random rocks in the Plain of Jars in Laos. I think the people in this story were pretty smart. I have read other stories where the offend the sprits or gods and it does not turn out well for them. It was a lot better to just pay the dues the spirits wanted and to not use the mortars than if they had offended the spirits. I would not like to experience that kind of wrath and I guess they did not either.

Why the Elephant's Lip Droops

I have to say, based off this story, I am terribly happy that the elephant's lip droops. Originally I thought this was going to be kind of like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, however, it took some twists I was not expecting. I was not expecting the girls finding the garden to be a positive thing. Their curiosity saved them which is something I am not used to seeing in these stories. I think it is interesting that the cannibal woman cursed the elephants lips to look like garments. Does she have special powers? Also, what happens after she cursed the elephant? Do the girls escape? Or does the cannibal woman get them?

Parrot and Minor Bird

I feel so bad for the saos bird. It only spoke the truth and was later punished for all eternity because of it. It is so sad that they could corrupt the bird and make the saos bird feel an obligation to warn the parrot and the minor bird. Because of man, the parrot and minor bird now feel like they have to repeat what we teach them and nothing else in order to protect themselves.

One Woman

I love the quote at the beginning of the story. I am sad to say that I do know a few girls who are pretty crafty and might give Chum Paw a run for her money. I do not quite understand why she would not just pick a guy to be with. I also despise girls that play boys.  It is not a good thing to do. I do not know anyone that fooled seven guys at once though. That had to be difficult. I hate that not only did she kill those men, but she had the neighbor kill another man who had nothing to do with the story. The neighbor thought that the woman's husband kept coming back to life so he buried and burned the bodies of her suitors. Then a poor charcoal man was killed because the neighbor thought it was Chum Paw's husband. Meanwhile, Chum Paw is living in her newfound riches.

The Boys Who Were Not Appreciated

These poor boys! I would gladly take them in! I am so glad they found that magic grass not only to cure them but to cure the chow's daughter. This made the older brother able to marry the daughter and for them to live richly. I am really proud that the boys were generous with what they had gained and wanted to share it with their parents even though they were abandoned as children. It's good for the parents that the widow had them cut into the wood to find their gold. Only when they were given riches did those parents learn to appreciate their children.

The Fortunes of a Lazy Beggar

This was a really good story. I have to say sometimes I have my lazy days. My brothers like to accuse me of being one of the laziest people they know, but they are full of it and are just being annoying brothers. Anyway, the laziness of that beggar was flat out ridiculous. I could not believe that he ended up marrying the chow's daughter. It was a good thing for him though because for the first time he started working. His wife and father in law did not love him though until he became a beautiful man. How vain is that? I really love the point that he makes that he is just as lazy as he was before. However, when you are rich and do not work you are not treated the same as you are if you are poor and do not work.

Storytelling for Week 5: The Bus

There once was a man, a very rich man. His name was Mark and he had everything. Literally. He owned the best house in the state, a job everyone wanted, and so much money he would not have to work for thirty years and still live extravagantly. However, the thing he kept closest to his heart was his beautiful wife, Mary. Mary was the most beautiful woman in the world. Her eyes reflected her own soul. They were pure, trusting and happy. Her hair was black as night and her skin was as fair as a porcelain doll. Until one day she disappeared. 

Mark was completely distraught. He could not believe that she was gone. He went into his house and refused to come out. After a full week his best friend, Michael, went to talk to him. He said that instead of moping around his house he should man up and go out and look for his wife. So that was what Mark did. He sold everything he had and gave away all of his money and went to search for his wife. 

A homeless man sleeping in a parking lot by Franco Folini via Wikimedia Commons

A year later Mark was no closer to finding his wife. He found himself in a busy town and resorted to begging on the street. One day a nice woman came and gave him a sandwich and he went to cross the main street to go sit at his favorite bench to eat his dinner.

Meanwhile, there was a bus that was going to a museum down the street. There was a passenger that was crazed and drunk. With an insane look in his eyes he went to the bus driver with a gun in hand and told him to drive and not stop unless he told him to. So the bus driver with not only his life but everyone's life in that bus in mind, did as he was told. As he was speeding down main street the driver noticed a man that did not look either way as he was crossing the street. He was too involved in eating his sandwich. The driver tried to avoid the man, but it was too late. The bus hit Mark and killed him. 

Later in court, they tried to determine who exactly was responsible for the death of Mark. Was it the crazy man on the bus? Was it the bus driver? Or was it the lady who gave Mark the sandwich? After much deliberation, the jury decided that it was Mark's fault. He lacked to look both ways before crossing the street. However, they did all agree that the crazy man on the bus deserved punishment, but not for murder. 

Author's Note: This story is based off of The Snake's Poison riddle from the Twenty-Two Goblins unit. I really liked this story and I liked the answer to the riddle. In the riddle a man dies because he ate food that had snake's poison in it. The question was who killed the man? The lady who gave him the food? The eagle that was killing the snake? Or the snake who, while dying, got some of it's venom into the man's food? The answer was the man himself because he was not paying attention. So I stayed pretty close to the original storyline. 

Bibliography: "The Snake's Poison" from the "Twenty-Two Goblins" translated by Arthur W. Ryder (1917)

Essay for Week 5: How About a Riddle?

Kobold by JNL via Wikimedia Commons

I absolutely loved the Twenty-Two Goblins unit! It was a really great read! I like to try to solve puzzles and this was a lot of different riddles I had never heard before. One of my favorite things throughout this unit was the similes and metaphors. In the Introduction there is great metaphor, "A brave man's heart is harder than a diamond, and nothing makes it tremble." I thought that was beautiful writing. It is saying that nothing can frighten a brave man. One of my favorite stories in this unit was The Snake's Venom. I really liked the king's answer to the goblins riddle. There really was no one to blame for the Brahman's murder than the Brahman himself. The women was just trying to feed him, the hawk was just doing it's job, and the snake was dying and had no control of his actions.  The Brahman was not paying attention to what he was eating so he truly could not blame anyone for his untimely death than himself. One thing I did not like about this unit is we never figure out what exactly happened to the Brahman's wife. She just disappears and you never hear about her again. My guess is that she did end up dying. My least favorite story from this unit would probably be The Old Hermit. I do not like that the hermit took the body of the dead boy that everyone loved. I thought that was really inconsiderate to the family that was in mourning because he basically said "hey I am alive, now I have got to go." I mean if that was one of my family members I would be in complete shock and at first not believe what I was seeing. Then I would probably start crying and hug him and never let him go. Him taking that body also sounds very invasive and selfish. He only took that body so he could be young again and continue learning magic. He should have just let nature take its course and when God was ready for him, He would take him away.

Reading Diary Week 5 - Twenty-Two Goblins

Twenty-two Goblins

Introduction

I wonder why there are gems inside of the fruit the monk gives the king? I liked that the monk's name is Patience. I definitely feel like there is some significant meaning with that name. I was really confused when the goblin was in the dead body. Originally I did not realize that there was a dead body. I just assumed that what the king thought was a dead body was actually a goblin. Nope. I was definitely wrong. The goblin was just inside of the dead body. 

Three Lovers

I definitely would have not guessed the correct answer for this riddle. First of all, I think what all the brothers did after Coral's death was weird. Making a hut on her ashes and begging for food is obsessive and scary. Dipping her bones in a river is also a bit strange. Honestly becoming a monk was not too bad, but seemed a little extreme. When the monk brought her to life, I was a little confused. I thought monks were like nuns and could not marry. So I didn't think that marrying Coral would be an option for him when she came back to life. I was kind of shocked to hear that the answer to the riddle was the brother that built a hut on her ashes. Like I said before, I think that is scary obsessive. However, I couldn't have come up with a better answer.

Brave, Wise, Clever

I think it is interesting that yet again there are three lovers fighting over the love of one girl. I thought the kings response to the riddle was very interesting and I agreed with it. In this story, the Brave man deserves the girl because the other two only assisted in helping the Brave man save her. 

Three Delicate Wives

This goblin really likes to do things in threes. Is delicacy a trait of beauty in this culture? If so then these women must be gorgeous. I am actually pretty proud of myself because I answered this riddle before I read it! The most delicate wife is the one that got bruises from a sound because she was not touched by anything and still got hurt. Both of the other wives were still delicate but they were at least touched by something to give them their injury.

Snake's Poison

I am kind of sad that we never find out what happened to his wife. I think it is interesting that the answer to the riddle is that the man himself is to blame for his death. However, I guess that makes sense. You can't blame the snake because it was dying and had no control. Cannot blame the hawk because it was just doing what it is supposed to do. You most certainly cannot blame the sweet lady that gave the man the food to begin with. There was no malice toward the man in any of their hearts.

The General's Wife

This story briefly reminded me of the story of David and Bathsheba from the Bible. David was also attracted to the wife of his general. However, he did take advantage of Bathsheba. The king in this story would rather die than not be virtuous. I also agree that the king deserved Passion more than the general. The general was just willing to hand over his wife to the king. Obviously he did not care for his wife very much. 

Conclusion

First of all I completely respect the king for going back to get the goblin every time he ran off. That is real dedication. I am also kind of surprised that the monk was evil the whole time. I am glad that the goblin respected the king after all of those riddles and told him the monks plans. I also thought it was weird that what the king wanted was for the whole world to know the riddles the goblin shared with him.  

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Essay for Week 4: A Rich Voyage

Sinbad by Rene Bull (1898) via Wiki Commons

This week I was only able to read half of the Sinbad Unit. I really liked what I was able to read though! I did something different this week and actually listened to the story from Librivox and read along in another tab. I thought it was a really nice change and it really helped me stay focused on the reading. However, there is a difference in the story from the untextbook and what they were reading. The Librivox recording had extra about a guy named Hinbad that was hearing these stories from Sinbad itself. I personally liked that little extra part of the story and think it would be cool to add that to the untextbook. My favorite story was the Fifth Voyage. I thought it was pretty funny when Sinbad was attacked by the old man that turned out to be the "old man in the sea." However, I felt kind of bad for the mommy and daddy roc and definitely understood why they destroyed the ship. I probably would have done the same in their situation. I also did not know what a roc was, that might be a helpful thing to put in the notes. Apparently it is an enormous bird of prey that is in different cultures myths. If I had to choose a least favorite story this unit it would be the Seventh and Last Voyage. I really did not like that he killed an elephant and just buried it afterward. Elephants are huge and if you are going to kill them I feel like you should be using every single part of them, otherwise it is a waste. This unit met my expectations by being about Sinbad and his crazy adventures he went through, but I did not realize that Sinbad became extremely wealthy from all of these life threatening voyages. That might explain why he kept going on voyages even though he had terrible luck with shipwrecks.

Storytelling for Week 4: The Katherine

This has been the worst vacation of my life.

I started planning this trip like a year ago. A cruise with dream destinations and once in a lifetime excursions. I arrived at the dock and the sight nearly took my breath away. There she was, The Katherine. I had never seen a more majestic ship! She truly had no equal seen by man. I reached my room and soon after we departed on our journey.

Kalamitsi Beach in Greece by Ggia via wiki commons

We spent all afternoon at sea. I played mini golf, watched them make an ice sculpture, and ate half of the all you can eat buffet. Just as I was eating what seemed to be my forty-second chocolate chip cookie, the captain announced, "Good afternoon we are now entering the legendary bermuda triangle!" I run up to the top deck to look around and take a selfie so I can post about it on my blog when I return. After I take my selfie, I look around and enjoy the view. It is amazing how all you can see on every side! I can definitely understand why people used to think the world was flat. Right after I finish that thought, I suddenly see an island close by. I swear that it wasn't there five minutes ago.  The closer we get to the island, the slower the boat becomes. By the time we are within one hundred yards of the island our boat comes to a complete halt. The captain comes on the speaker again, "Hey folks, we are having a few issues, but we are going to fix it. In the mean time, we are going to lower the life boats and have you guys over on the island and we will get you when we are done! I am so sorry for the inconvenience, but you get more beach time this way!"

I change back into my swimsuit really quick and get on a boat. This water is beautiful. It must be fifty feet deep and yet I could probably count the pebbles on the ocean floor. The sand on the beach was white as snow. There is a hiking trail close to the beach so I decide that I would go look around the island. After I had been walking for about thirty minutes I hear a banging noise. There are a bunch of kids hitting this rock. It made this ringing sound, almost like a bell. Suddenly, the rock broke. There was a dead bird inside. The wind picked up and the sky darkened. One of the young girls screams and points at the sky. Above me there were two enormous birds the size of small house that could only be this dead bird’s parents. We all beeline it back to the shore and yell at everyone to get on the boats and head back to the cruise ship. We can hear the birds cries as we get on the ship. The ship starts to move but the birds have already reached us. They are each carrying rocks the size of a car. One throws theirs at us and it misses the ship by inches. The other, however, had better aim and hit the ship in the side. The Katherine was going down and going down fast. We all run back to the lifeboats and manage to return to the island unscathed. So now we are all stranded on an island in the middle of no where, hiding so that the birds will not find us.

Needless to say, I will definitely be asking for a refund when we get rescued.

Authors note: My story is based off the Fifth Voyage of the Sinbad Unit. In this story Sinbad goes on another voyage and land on an unknown island. The merchants he was traveling with decided to destroy a roc's (huge bird) egg and eat the baby bird. The parents of the bird get really mad and throw rocks at the ship and destroy it leaving the ship completely wrecked and abandoning them on the island. As you can see, I pretty much stayed with the plot of the original story. I just put the story in my own terms by making the ship a cruise ship.

Bibliography: "The Fifth Voyage" from "The Arabian Nights' Entertainment" by Andrew Lang (1898) Web source: Untextbook

Week 4: Reading Diary- Sinbad

Sinbad Unit

Fifth Voyage 

I am really enjoying Sinbad's adventures this far! However, I do not really know what a roc is. I am assuming it is some type of huge bird. When the rocs threw the blocks of stone, I immediately thought of the huge fight scene in the Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe (movie). During the fight scene there are these griffons that throw things at the opposing side so I imagined that part to be a lot like that movie. I also love that they are smart enough to make the monkey's do all of the hard work. As the story says there would have been no way for them to actually get the coconuts if they did not get the monkeys to help. 

Sixth Voyage

Sinbad must really love to go on his voyages. I mean he just keeps getting shipwrecked and still keeps going out there every time! That is called dedication and having a passion for something. Also guess what? He did end up in another ship wreck. I love the little pep talk the captain gives to everyone. "we may as well begin to dig your graves at once." I think it is really cool that the king of the island was so impressed with Sinbad's stories that they were written in gold and put in the king's archive. I am however confused as to why it is so important that the Prince is really as rich as he claimed. Especially because after Sinbad tells the king he talks about how wise the Prince is and not about his riches.

Seventh Voyage

It sounded like the journey there was pretty smooth and on the way back it got a little rough. When Sinbad kills the elephant it kind of made me mad that they just built a trench to bury the elephant with. They are such huge and magnificent creatures! Just burying the elephant seemed very wasteful. I became much happier when Sinbad created the idea to use the tusks that are already in the elephant's burying ground. This way it will save more elephants from being killed. I like that Hinbad agrees that Sinbad has suffered and he spends his money well, so therefore he truly deserves what he has. I agree with that statement because if you are not going to use your money responsibly than it could be gone in the blink of an eye. Seeing that Sinbad has taken care of it for so long must mean that he deserves it. 

Essay for Week 3: Not Your Average Bible Story

Cat Meets Dog (1865) authored by Laura Valentine published by Scibner, Welford and Co. via Wikimedia Commons

I really liked the Jewish Fairy Tales Unit. One of my favorite stories this unit was The Quarrel of the Cat and Dog. I was surprised that this story existed because up to this point every fairy tale in the unit was loosely based on traditional bible stories or linked to a story in some way. I am very much a dog person. Actually, I hate cats. So I was not surprised when the cat was the one to ruin the relationship between the two best friends. Another of my favorite stories this unit was The Higgledy-Piggledy Palace. First things first, I love the title of this story. It is so goofy and you know that something crazy is going to happen. I could just imagine the confusion on the pharaoh's face as something that he cannot see is beating him for trying to touch Sarah. The poor pharaoh must have been thinking that he was losing his mind! One of my least favorite stories was the The Fairy Frog. I just could not really get into this story. I don't think that I could spend all my money on a box with a frog in it. Even if it was my parents dying wish. I also don't understand how they kept feeding it and spent all of their money on the frog when they were starving. Honestly, I probably would have cooked me up a giant frog's legs. Things only got weirder when the giant frog started talking and giving the people all of these weird gifts and abilities for taking care of it. One thing that surprised me in this unit was the unicorns. When I think of unicorns I think of something about the size of a horse with a horn on its head and is usually white as snow. In the Jewish Fairy Tales, the unicorns were huge. In one story they were as large as a mountain. Definitely not the typical unicorn you read about and see in movies.

Storytelling for Week 3: Best Work Day of the Century

Dear Diary,

Today was one of the best days I have had at work in a really long time!

This morning I was running so late I had to skip breakfast. I flew to work as fast as I could and made it right on time! I get to my office and the big boss was waiting for me. I mumbled a quick excuse as to why I wasn't there sooner and he brushed it off like he had bigger issues than my rushed arrival. God said, "I have an important job for you on earth Gabe." I almost literally started jumping up and down. It had been so long since I had gotten a field job! I kept my cool though, I didn't want God to think I wasn't capable for the job. Straightening up I ask, "What would you like from me sir?" God looked at me and with a sad smile said, "Sarah and Abraham have been taken to the pharaoh. He would like to make Sarah his queen. We cannot let this happen. We must not forsake them. Do whatever it takes to make the pharaoh release Sarah and Abraham." He turns toward the door and pauses, "Good luck Gabe. I believe in you!" then he exits without another word. I am not going to lie. After God left I did a little victory dance in the office.

I packed up everything I would need for the journey as fast as I could. As an after thought, I decided to bring with me my staff. I do not know why, but it felt right. I then stretch my wings. Safety first right? How awful would it be to pull a muscle when flying down to earth? I go to the launch pad and make it to earth in record time.

Once I get there I see Sarah. She is so brave as she stands up to the pharaoh and attempts to keep him away from her. I make myself so that only Sarah can see me so that I might bring her a bit of comfort. She looks at me in shock so the pharaoh turned around and saw nothing. He attempts to touch her and I did the first thing that came to my mind. I grabbed my staff and hit him with it. The pharaoh's face was priceless. He came back to his senses and tried to touch Sarah again. So I hit him again. For a third time the pharaoh attempted to touch Sarah and this time I just put my staff on his arm. He could not move it! The look of terror on his face as he asked Sarah to go was fantastic. However, the pharaoh still had Sarah and Abraham in his home. I recalled that my orders were to make sure that both Sarah and Abraham were released and that has yet to happen. I decided I would just keep bothering the pharaoh. I made him trip on things, run into walls, I even hit him a few more times until finally the pharaoh decided that he was sick because of Sarah and Abraham and had them leave. After making sure Sarah and Abraham made it out okay and were safe on their journey, I flew back home just in time for dinner.

I would love to have more jobs like that one. Definitely the highlight of the century so far!

-Gabe

Angel by Michelangelo from Wikimedia Commons 

Author's Note: My story is based off of the Jewish Fairy Tale The Higgledy-Piggledy Palace. In this story Abraham puts his wife, Sarah, into a box because she is so beautiful. He was afraid of the attention she brought to them. She was found by some egyptians who brought her to the pharaoh for her beauty. The pharaoh was so taken by her that he offered to make her his queen. Meanwhile, Abraham posed as Sarah's brother in fear of the pharaoh killing him. The pharaoh makes advances toward Sarah and then is beaten by this invisible figure until he releases Sarah and Abraham. I decided to write my story from the invisible figure's point of view because I felt like if I had that job I would be having so much fun teaching that jerk a lesson or two.

Bibliography: "The Higgledy-Piggledy Palace" from Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919). Web Source: Untextbook