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).