Week Thirteen: Storytelling

One day Henny Penny was minding her own business out in her yard gardening. Now, Henny Penny wasn't the brightest young hen in the village, but she had a good heart. While she was clucking to herself and planting new flowers for spring she felt something smack her in the head. She looked up towards the sky in amazement. Oh, no! She thought. The sky must be falling! Alarmed she immediately ran to go tell the King.

She ran so quickly she ran right into Cocky-locky. "Oh I'm sorry, Cocky-locky! I was just running to tell the King that the sky is falling," Henny Penny said. Cocky-locky became alarmed. "May I come with you?" he asked, "Of course!" Henny Penny replied. So the two of them set off to warn the King.

Not long after they set off they ran into Ducky-daddles. "Where are you doing so fast?" Ducky-daddles asked. "We are going to warn the King that the sky is falling!" replied Cocky-locky. "Oh, is it okay if I come with you as well? I would like to help," Ducky-daddles said. Cocky-locky and Henny Penny nodded and so Ducky-daddles followed them.

As they went along they ran into Turkey-lurkey. "Where are all of you going?" Turkey-lurkey asked. He was curious and bored. "We are going to tell the King that the sky is falling! Would you like to come with?" Ducky-daddles asked. "Why yes, I would love to!" Turkey-lurkey replied.

They went along and came upon Goosey-poosey. Goose-poosey asked them where they were going and asked to join. So together, Henny Penny, Cocky-locky, Ducky-daddles, Turkey-lurkey and Goosey-poosey set off to find the King.

Eventually they came upon Foxy-woxy. "Where is everyone going?" Foxy-loxy asked. "Well, we are going to find the King to tell him that the sky is falling," Henny Penny replied. Seeing his chance, Foxy-loxy created a plan to trick them all.

"But this is the wrong way to the King!" Foxy-loxy exclaimed, "Here, let me show you a shortcut." Foxy-loxy started in the direction of his cave. It was dark and narrow, with only room for one animal at a time to enter. "I will go first and then you can follow one by one," Foxy-loxy said.
Henny Penny
Feeling suspicious, Turkey-lurkey thought for a moment. I hope this isn't a trap… Foxy-loxy is known to be a trickster. Then he had an idea. Using a rope he died his ankle to Ducky-daddles' then to Goose-poosey's then to Cocky-locky's and finally to Henny Penny's.

"This way," he whispered, "If Foxy-loxy tries to pull anything I can pull my ankle and you can pull me out. We are all in this together." Everyone else nodded as Turkey-lurkey ventured into the cave.

Just as they suspected, when Turkey-lurkey had gotten safely inside, Foxy-loxy tried to take a bite of him. Turkey-lurkey goobled loudly and the rest took his cue. Using their combined strength they pulled Turkey-lurkey out of the cave safely and ran away before Foxy-loxy could figure out what happened.

(Source by John D. Batten)

Author's Note. I kept most of this story the same as the original, except for the ending. In the original ending Foxy-loxy gets to eat all of the animals except Henny Penny. I didn't like that ending very much, so I thought I would have the animals be more resourceful and clever. The fox has tricked almost all the animals in the stories I read so I thought it would be better if the animals could get back at him.

Bibliography. Henny Penny in English Fairytales Unit by Joseph Jacobs (1890).

Week Thirteen: Essay

Tricksters and Fools

I noticed in this unit that many of the fools are foxes. Foxes are known for being sly, clever and tricksters. I think this is really apparent in this series of stories. For example in Johnny-Cake, a cake rolls (not sure how…) and outruns a series of characters. As he comes upon each character he brags about how he has outrun a father, mother, son, two well diggers, two ditch diggers and a bear. When Johnny Cake comes upon a fox he yells out his same taunt, saying he's outrun all these other people and the fox replies that he couldn't hear Johnny Cake properly. As Johnny Cake gets closer and closer, repeating his phrase, the fox finally eats him up.

(Source by John D. Batten)

In Henny-Penny, the hen, goose, duck, rooster and turkey are all tricked by the fox. They are all trying to see the king to warn him that the sky is falling. When the fox hears of their mission he promises to lead them to the king. He says that he has a shortcut through his cave. Each animal is tricked by the fox and killed, with only the hen surviving. I think both of these stories really tell a lot about how foxes are seen in many cultures. Known for being cunning and sly, in many stories I've read they trick and fool other characters.

In general, the tricksters use their tricks to eat other characters. The other characters, or the "fools" are easily convinced and gullible. They follow the fox's instruction and influence quickly, making it almost too easy for the fox to trick them. You'd think that after all these stories the animals might learn from their mistakes!

Bibliography. English Fairytales Unit by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890).

Week Thirteen: Reading Diary

Part A: I read English Fairytale Units (1) this week. I enjoyed it and found the stories interesting. One in Part A that was particularly interesting was Mouse and Mouser. In the story, a cat and a mouse share a dialogue about how the mouse finds a silver sixpence and uses it to go to the market and buy a pudding (which is actually meat). In the story the mouse leaves the pudding in the window to cool and in the end the cat pounces on the mouse to eat him. I thought it was really interesting because of the writing style it was written in. It's a lot like a rhyme they chant back and force, reusing the term "good body, good body." It really gave a different style and overall feel to the story.

Part B: I really enjoyed reading Henny Penny in this section. The story is about a bunch of animals (with goofy names) that all go to tell the king that the sky is falling. A hen, rooster, turkey, goose and duck all fall trap to the fox, who convinces them that there is a shortcut to the king through his cave. When the rooster, turkey, goose and duck enter he quickly kills them. The hen escapes only because the rooster calls out after only being injured but not killed. I vaguely remember reading this story as a child.

Week Twelve: Storytelling

Tom had always lived in his brother's shadow. Being the second born cat to a king and queen cat, Tom was always compared to his brother Tim. Tim was the older, bigger cat. He was in line to become king soon and everyone loved him. First in school, athletic and popular, Tim was the perfect child. Their parents fawned over Tim, destined to take the cat crown and carry on their father's legacy.

Tommy on the other hand was the opposite. Not a bad cat, but not as perfectly rounded as Tim. Tom loved his brother, obviously, but was secretly very jealous of all his status and position. When their father died, Tim became King of all the Cats. And Tom was still nothing. Bitter and jealous, Tom ran away a week later. He found a nice home in the woods and a older couple to take care of him. He caught mice in their barn and napped on their rug by the fire. At his nice home he was no longer "Tim's kid brother," here he was a beloved part of the family.

He spent many years with the older couple. During this time he never went back to his home or checked on his family members. Sometimes he'd hear some news: Tim got married, visited a neighboring cat society, blah blah. Tom never told any cats he met that he was Tim's brother. He didn't want to be in Tim's shadow any more.

One day, as Tom was falling asleep on the warm rug after having a delicious can of Fancy Feast and a dish of milk, his owner barged in. He was sweaty like he had just gone for a run and was frantically yelling Tom's name. Why is he calling for me? Tommy wondered. He doesn't know my real name.

The older woman calmed her husband and asked him what in the world was going on. As Tommy's master retold the story, Tommy was in shock. Apparently, his master was at a graveyard and had witnessed a traditional cat death processional. Nine black cats with white spots on their chests, like Tommy, were carrying a cat coffin to a new grave. They came and stared at the old man and then one stepped forward and told him to tell Tommy that Tim is dead.

By the time his master had gotten through the story, Tommy knew what it meant. He kept meowing as he got more and more excited. Tim had gotten married but he had never had kittens. That meant that Tommy was now the King of the Cats! He could barely believe it! He meowed loudly and then rushed out the door, never looking back.

Author's Note. This story is based off of The King o' The Cats. I kept most of the original plot line and the same story theme. The only thing I changed was the point of view. The original was told from a third person point of view, focusing on the human couple. The husband walks in and retells the story and when he finishes their cat, Tommy, runs away saying he will be king. I took that idea but told the story from the cat's point of view. I thought it would make an interesting twist.

Bibliography. The King o' The Cats by John D. Batten (1894) English Fairytales Unit (2). Picture Source.

Week Twelve: Essay

First Memories of Writing

I remember when I started first grade and started to learn cursive, we always used "inventive spelling." This meant that if we didn't know how to spell something we had to write it the way we thought it should be spelled first. It taught us to sound out the word and piece together words based on our previous knowledge. Of course, I didn't always get it right. What I found most frustrating at the time was that fact that I didn't get an eraser on the end of my pencil. We had creative writing portion of school and we always had to use our "inventive spelling" without any erasers. I remember being frustrated by this and that I couldn't change what I wrote down after I wrote it. They wanted us to mark it out but still be able to draw on our changes if we wanted. I understand the idea, but when I was in second grade I didn't like the way it looked on my paper. I couldn't understand why I couldn't just erase my mistakes and re write them.

Even before that, I remember we used to retell what we learned and other stories to a teacher who would write down our ideas for us. We got to do the drawings, but the writing was physically done by someone else. That was when I was really small, maybe in kindergarden. As I moved up, we wrote down our own stories. I've read some of them and it's pretty funny to see the way I wrote and the way I spelled when I was younger.

When we learned cursive we had an outline to follow that showed us where all the letters were supposed to go, like the image below. For a long time I just had to write in cursive and even today many of my letters are still connected and curly like cursive is. I actually enjoyed cursive once I got the hang of it. It was a little difficult, but I liked it when I learned. These are my first memories of writing.

(Source)

Week Twelve

Part A: I read the More English Fairytales unit. I really enjoyed the stories, they were sometimes silly and sometimes serious, but had interesting plot lines. I didn't really recognize any of them from my childhood either. I vaguely know of Pied Piper, but I didn't remember what exactly happened. In the  unit story The Pied Piper, a town is filled with rats and a man with a pipe comes and says if he gets paid he will get rid of all of the rats. For fifty pounds, he plays his pipe and leads all the rats into the ocean where they drown. The mayor then refuses to pay and he plays his pipe again, this time enticing the children. From my understanding, I think the children followed the Pied Piper into the woods and they were never seen again. A pretty sad ending. In the first part, I also thought The Three Wishes was interesting. A man goes into the forest to cut down a tree and a fairy pleads that he spare the tree. Because he listened, she granted him three wishes. In the end he wishes for black pudding, his wife wishes the pudding was on his nose (not sure why) and then he finally wishes for the pudding to get off his nose. In the end, they stayed just as they were with the exception of some nice pudding.

Part B: I really enjoyed reading The King o' the Cats. The story was about a man who comes home to his cat and his wife and tells the strange events he encountered that evening. He said he witnessed a cat death processional. He said that the cats spoke to him and told him to find his cat and tell him that Tim Toldrum had died. His cat, apparently Tom Toldrum, said he was the King of the Cats and scurried off.

Week Eleven: Storytelling

Amanda was 17 and bored. It was the summer after her junior year in high school and while all her friends were camp counselors or snow cone operators she had no job and no plans. Her parents spent their days at work and she sat by the pool in the backyard imagining her day away. All she wanted was some excitement and adventure. She wanted something different and new.

One day, after hours by herself, she thought she was half dreaming when she thought she saw a cat scamper across her yard. Now this was no ordinary cat. He looked like he was wearing a long yellow coat, complete with gold buttons and a red collar. He was hurrying through the yard, his tail moving high above grass. Squinting and looking closely at him, Amanda swore that she saw him check a pocket watch from his coat. But in a flash he disappeared through a hole in the ground and he was gone.

Curious, Amanda stood up and inspected where the cat had disappeared. She bent over and stuck her head near the hole in the ground, peering into the darkness. Then she fell over, tumbling into the hole and into a large tunnel that seemed to never end. It was dark and long and Amanda fell further and further. She wondered where in the world she was going and how she got there. There is a tunnel beneath my backyard? Maybe it's sewage? Oh that would be gross… She thought to herself as the tunnel kept going.

Finally she fell with a heavy thump on the ground of a dark room. Around her were several doors of all shapes, sizes and colors. She stood up, brushed herself off and tried all the doors. To her disappointment they were all locked. Even more confused, she looked again to the center of the room only to see a glass table (which she was sure hadn't been there before). She carefully walked to the table and found a large golden key. She excitedly tried the key on every door in the room but found it didn't fit any of the key holes. Hmmm… She thought. How interesting. Then she noticed a curtain near one of the doors and beneath it another door, much smaller than the rest.

The door was blue and about a foot and a half high. Bending over she found that the key fit into the door perfectly. She slowly opened the door and inside it, to her delight, was a beautiful garden. Full of flowers, mushrooms, green grass and clear blue sky, she tried desperately to get through the door. But it was too small. She couldn't fit herself no matter how hard she tried.

She turned again to the room and this time noticed a small bottle on the glass table (that was definitely not there before). After drinking the contents she felt herself shrink impossibly small. She looked up to see the now giant glass table above her and realized that the golden key to the small door was still sitting on the table while she sat on the ground.

(Disney Alice in Wonderland Clipart page 1 - Disney Clipart Galore (clipped to polyvore.com))

She began to cry, but after she started again she noticed a small box with a piece of cake inside. With a sign that read, "eat me," she ate the cake and found herself grow taller and taller with every moment. Soon she was nearly nine feet tall and she towered above the glass table. This time she picked up the golden key and returned to the small door, determined to get through this time.

However, now that she was tall she still couldn't get through the door. Sitting down she began to cry again. Her tears, now giant because of her size, filled the room and pooled like a pond in the room. As it filled the water carried her, and her sadness, through the tiny door and into the beautiful garden.

Author's Note. This is based off of Down the Rabbit-Hole from the Alice in Wonderland unit. I changed the characters to a more modern setting, but kept the original plot almost exactly the same. I thought it might be more realistic for her to see a cat in her backyard and liked the idea of it being some high schooler that is bored during the summer (because I know I used to be). The tunnel, the rooms and everything else that happens follows pretty much the original story.

Bibliography. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland unit by Lewis Carroll (1865).

Week Eleven: Essay

Alice in Wonderland: Role of Other Characters

One of the more interesting stories within the Alice in Wonderland unit was the Advice from a Caterpillar story. In the story, Alice is lost and happens upon a caterpillar smoking a hookah (age appropriate?) who questions her, "Who are YOU?" She is confused and said she doesn't remember who she is or what was going on because she had been so many sizes within a short period of time. He confuses her further by his questions and mysterious, vague phrases. He made her angry and frustrated because he was confusing and made zero sense.

In my opinion, the conversation itself was completely random and deviated completely from the original question. In the middle of the conversation he tells an even more random story about an old man and a younger man asking him questions. Honestly, I wasn't sure what the point of the story was because it just abruptly ends and the story reverts back to Alice and the caterpillar.

All of the animals she encounters are strange in their own ways. By the end Alice is pretty confused by where she is and what she was doing there. I think that Alice herself is pretty strange and unusual, but that may be from being in the strange world she falls into. Or a result of the animals she encounters. She meets a pigeon and the conversation changes morphs even more. As I was reading it was actually hard to follow along because the plot doesn't seem to follow any direction. I'm not sure what the point of talking to the caterpillar and the pigeon was. I think that maybe the characters give a view into the different lifestyle and world that is present in Alice in Wonderland. Overall, I think the characters, however strange or unusual, are important in portraying the weird world that makes up her experiences. It builds the world and characters that carry on throughout the rest of the unit.

(Illustrated by Sir John Tenniel)

Week Eleven: Reading Diary

Part A: This week I read Alice in Wonderland unit. It was really fun and entertaining to read. I have seen the Disney version many many years ago so I don't really remember much. This unit was interesting because it was very similar to what I remember of the movie and it really struck me how weird the plot is. Basically, Alice is a young girl who is bored and then follows a rabbit down a rabbit hole. The rabbit had a watch and a waistcoat, which struck her as odd. She followed the tunnel down the rabbit hole and came upon a room. There, by magically growing and shrinking with food or drinks she fits into a small door that leads to a garden. This is the basis of Down the Rabbit Hole parts one through three. After reading all the other children's fairytales, what strikes me about these stories is the lack of defined moral or even real plot. The story just goes in all different directions and doesn't have an end theme. What is the point of the story telling? Is it all supposed to mean something?

Part B: The most interesting part of this section for me was Who Stole The Tarts? story. It just seemed so random and confusing. I don't exactly remember if the movie follows the storyline, but I do vaguely remember the characters. The events that happened seemed so strange. The witnesses were all unique in their own ways. The Hatter wore a hat he sold and got so nervous he got on the ground and begged. Random descriptions of jurors and other members attending were injected into the story and I'm not sure what the point was. The Duchess snuck out and then Alice was called up. The whole chain of events was really pretty strange to me.

Week Ten: Storytelling

"Have a good day at school, sweetie!" his mother yelled out the window as her car drove out of the school circle drive. Timothy smiled in response but in reality he wished he was still sitting in the car with his mom.

It was the first day of third grade and Timothy's backpack filled with books, school supplies and lunch money. He swung the straps onto his back as he ran to catch up with his friends. As they waited for the bell to ring the group of boy sat on the ground to catch up. Most of them spent part of their summer at a camp and told stories of kayaking, campfires and picking on girls.

Suddenly, a shadow passed over them. Timothy turned around and his stomach dropped. Fifth grader, Aaron Crawley towered over them. He was big for his age and wasn't afraid to speak his mind. He was the student every teacher dreaded having because he didn't pay attention, follow the rules or have any manners.

"Hey, little boys," he growled, "Hope you like the sight of dirt in your face because you'll be seeing a lot of it this year!" He cackled at his own joke with two of his fifth grade friends.

Timothy and his friends quickly stood up and walked away. Nobody wanted to mess with Aaron. Days passed and it got worse and worse to be around Aaron. He took lunch money, pushed people into lockers and made jokes about everyone. Timothy was sick and tired of putting up with it and he had an idea.

(Picture Source)

One day, while Aaron was skipping class to sleep on a bench in the hallway Timothy crept quietly with a cup of warm water. He carefully placed Aaron's hand into the warm cup of water. Everyone knows what happens when you place someone's hand in warm water while they're sleeping. He then took the cup and ran away so Aaron wouldn't see him.

When Aaron woke up and realized what happened he was extremely embarrassed. Being 11, he knew he was much too old to pee in his sleep and everyone who got out of class saw him on the bench. The whispers started and they turned into laughs. People pointed and talked behind their hands as he shamefully walked down the hall. He had to finish the entire school day before he could go home and change.

From that day on Aaron left the third graders alone. He ended up transferring schools while Timothy was treated as a hero among his classmates. Timothy was glad to teach Aaron a lesson.

Bibliography. Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind from American Indian Fairytales by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae (1921).

Author's Note. This story was loosely based on Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind. I changed pretty much everything except the theme of standing up to a bully. In the original, the North Wind bullies a group of people while they're fishing so all the fishermen decide to go home. One stays and proves that the North Wind can't hurt him. He fights the North Wind and eventually the North Wind runs away. I changed everything to be about some boys and bully to keep the same general idea. In then end I wanted the bully to leave, just like the North Wind, so I had him transfer. Even though in the end Timothy bullies the bully, he deserved it.

Week Ten: Essay

Children's Stories

What I think was the most interesting part of this collection of stories was that there was no overarching moral or lesson. Many of the children's fairytales or folktales I've read have clear lines of right and wrong. All the "bad" characters are punished while the "good" ones live happily ever after. I think this has to do with the content of these stories as well. Not all of them featured people as main characters or they weren't based around the theme of good and evil.

For example, in Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind, the two main characters (a man and the wind) fight over what seems to be territory. The North Wind wishes to scare off the man and make it cold everywhere and the man defeats him through heat and warmth. I wouldn't say the Wind was necessarily evil, but the South (or warm) Wind was more pleasant. Additionally, in The Boy Who Snared The Sun, the young boy kills birds and is a bit stubborn, but is not reprimanded. The Sun is freed, but the boy doesn't get any punishment for lassoing the Sun. This is interesting, because when many stories are told to children they hold a moral to somehow scare the children into being good or inspire them to be good. All the likable characters get their dreams and wishes, while the mean-spirited ones end up dead or with nothing.

(Source)

However, these set of stories are far less gruesome than some I've read. I think in terms of content, they are appropriate for children's stories. The animation of animals, inanimate objects and other magical creatures is more child-friendly. Not every story is centered around a young woman getting married, as many fairytales are, so I think that aspect is good. Personally, I think children's fairytales should be fun and entertaining to hear. I don't necessarily thing they all need a moral or overarching theme, but if they do it should be encouraging and warm. Young minds are easily shaped by all sorts of experiences, so it's important to be careful with everything a child is exposed to.

Week Ten: Reading Diary

Part A: I read American Indian Fairytales. What I noticed about this reading unit is that many of the stories started out though storytelling. A wise, old member was sharing his wisdom and knowledge through stories with younger children. In the stories, he is always referred to as Iagoo. He starts with Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind, which tells the story of how the North Wind was scared away. In the story, the Diver, Shin-ge-bis, scares away the North Wind with heat. The North Wind can't harm him inside his wigwam because of the heat (he melted) or outside, because he grew weak from body heat. In the end, the North Wind goes far away and now only yells, "Whoo!" at night. I thought this was interesting, because the story gives inanimate objects a personality and large part. It's common in fairytales to give animals or even magical creatures full personas, but the wind? It was something I hadn't seen before in my other units. In The Child of The Evening Star, characters lose youth and gain it, sisters and their husbands get turned into birds and then drawfs, and the main characters live among the stars. The story is pretty long, but basically, out of 10 sisters only the modest, shy and honest sister gets the handsome husband who is actually the son of the Evening Star. The others are turned into birds and eventually into drawfs.

Part B: Another thing I noticed about this unit was that there were no morals. In general, not all of the bad or good characters were punished for their actions. Most of them just discussed how today's phenomenons came about. For example, The Boy Who Snared The Son told the story of a young boy and girl who lived in a much different time. Back when animals out populated humans and humans didn't eat animals, the boy used a bow and arrow to kill birds for a coat. As punishment, the Sun shrank the coat, so the boy sought revenge. He lassoed the Sun and only the Dormouse could eat away the lasso, but in the process burned half his body. In the end, the Sun was free and the boy faced no reprecussions. The Dormouse however, was reduced to the size of a moose today.

Week Eight: Reading Diary

When doing the weekly reading diaries I've created a pretty good routine. I read through the entire reading unit and take notes on each story. In the beginning I was probably spending way too much time taking notes. It was taking me a few hours just to get through this single assignment and writing the reading diary was the easiest part. Taking notes was really helpful for me, because then I could refer to those notes when I was writing not only my reading diary but also my essay and my storytelling posts. However, as the semester went on, I became more and more pressed for time. I found that shorter notes still served the same purpose and I wasn't spending hours trying to get through a single unit. Now, I can write a few bulleted points about the plot and still remember what the story was about. I usually do the reading post, essay and storytelling post all in one sitting. That way, the stories are fresh on my mind and I can get it all done in one day. It makes me feel better to have most of my week done in this class early, because I work, have other classes and other commitments that take up most of my time.

In general, I would say I remember almost everything I've read in this class. I think that's because we have so many assignments over each unit. I have to write about what I liked or didn't in the unit, draw connections and then create my own story from one in the original unit. All of these posts mean that I can remember many of the stories I read throughout this course.

I noticed that throughout my reading diaries I pretty much talk about similar topics. Since I focused mainly on folktales and fairytales from each culture, I could draw connections and overarching themes between them. I discussed my favorite stories, what shocked me, what I noticed and what differed between them. I also noticed that sometimes my reading diaries and my essays overlapped. I would briefly talk about something in my reading diary and then discuss it further in my essay. I think that's my high school writing coming into play. I have never just said, "I like this because..." or "I don't like this because..." since I was expected to analyze why I thought these things or why they were important. I think this training shows through as I talk about each week's unit. I focus a lot on the big picture, which is a produce of the International Baccalaureate Program.

Week Nine Storytelling: The Coming Of Men

"Tell us again, mommy! Tell us again!" the children chanted. They were all tucked into bed, ready for sleep and not sleepy at all. So mother sat down and told them again about how the earth was made and stars were put in the sky...

"Long, long ago," she started, folding her hands in her lap. She closed her eyes briefly, as if to remember how the coming of men began.

(Source)

"The earth fell from the sky. And from it hills, stones, valleys and lakes formed. The earth was created from the sky, forming the rocks and dirt we stand on today. After the earth was formed, man came from the earth. The ground beneath you and the plants around you made you. Children came as well. Mothers and fathers, boys and girls, all came from the earth," mother looked around at the children, eyes wide and listening intently.

She continued, "I do not know how man and woman found each other, but they did. Women sewed for children's clothing and men worked the earth. Because back then, there was no light or sun, only darkness. So everyone ate what could be grown from the soil." At this some of the children wrinkled their noses at the idea of not eating meat and only vegetables.

"Eventually there were many men and they wished to have dogs. So man went out and stomped on the ground, shaking a dog leash and so there came a dog from the earth. Since there was no death then, the population grew and grew. There was no light either and only inside their homes did they burn water as a source of light."

"Because there were too many men there came a mighty flood that wiped out much of the population.  Stricken with grief, one old, wise woman said, 'Let us be without light and thus without death as well,' but another, more wise woman said, 'Better to have light and also have death.' So with her words came both."

"And with death came the sun, moon and stars. Man could travel and hunt and no longer needed to just live off the earth. Because of light it is said that when men die they become shining stars and brightly light the night's sky."

By the end of her tale the children were asleep, content with the idea of someday becoming a star. Mother smiled to herself, quietly tucking the children in and closing the door.

Author's Note. This story is based on The Coming of Men from Eskimo Folktales. The original is almost exactly like mine except it is just the story being told, there is no storyteller or audience. I made it into like a children's story that one would hear at bedtime, but kept the original plot. I really enjoyed reading this story and loved the ending so I kept that part.

Bibliography. The Coming of Men from Eskimo Folktales by Knud Rasmussen (1921).

Week Nine Essay: First Memories of Reading

My first memories of reading are probably pretty cliche. My mom used to read Harry Potter to me when I was younger, so I grew up loving the series. I fell in love with the storyline and the characters and as I got older, so did they. So naturally, I went to every book and movie premiere, appropriately dressed, and cried every time a character died (Dobby, why).

That wasn't the only series I grew up with though. I also read all of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books.. And there are a lot. I loved that series. I loved the idea of growing up in the midwest during that time period when there weren't that many people. I got lost in her adventures and sense of excitement whenever they moved. I wanted to live in a log cabin so badly and make my own maple syrup candy poured on snow (which I actually did at home). I wanted to grow up in the town by the Silver Shores and meet Almanzo... The list goes on and on.

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I think through my experiences of my mom reading to me and finally reading by myself, I found I have always loved reading. You can get lost in books and really live in different places, time periods and through the eyes of someone else. I have always read for pleasure, even through school, and enjoy doing that more than watching TV. I want to read all the classics, including all the books you're supposed to read in high school. I loved To Kill A Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby. In high school I read Love In The Time of Cholera and Crime and Punishment among others. I read many Jane Austen novels and am currently reading Anna Karenina.

I also enjoy some of the more recently published books. From the popular series The Hunger Games and Divergent to others like The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Gone Girl. As for genres, I don't have a preference. I love historical fiction though, and have enjoyed reading books by Philipa Gregory, who writes about King Henry VIII and his seven wives. Through her books I have a window into history and how events played out there. I love reading about English court and Henry's long tyrannic reign. I also like the post apocalyptic style that many of the popular series feature, because I think they pose interesting questions about the human nature and that of society. I find it fascinating to read into the idea that if everything we knew fell, how would people in power design society next and why.

Week Nine: Reading Diary

Part A: I noticed a few things as I read through this unit. First, some of the names are insanely difficult to pronounce. This may be a minor detail, but with names like Nukunguasik and Qalaganguase, it really made me wonder about Alaskan traditions with names. I also noticed there were dog sleds involved in many of the stories. Obviously, as a cultural tradition, this is a mode of transportation. However, it does make an interesting comparison to other stories features horses or wagons. Finally, I noticed that a lot of the stories ended pretty graphically. Evil or bad characters faced gruesome deaths, having their bodies ripped to pieces or eaten by ghosts. Gross.

Along with the other stories I've read (Japanese, Tibetan), the Eskimo Folktales also featured morals and themes of good and evil. It revealed how characters were punished for lying or killing someone, implying good and bad morals. Additionally, some of the folktales sought to explain common phenomena, like why inlanders fear dogs (The Giant Dog) or how when men die they go up and become stars (The Coming Of Men).

Part B: The second set of stories featured more morals and themes of good and evil. In Papik, Who Killed His Wife's Brother, Papik is punished for killing his wife's brother because he was jealous. In the end, the wife comes back as a monster to devour Papik and teaches him a lesson about killing a good fellow. In The Wife Who Lied, a wife lies about being mistreated by her husband and starts a war between the two tribes. As a lesson, the other tribe comes back for revenge and ends up cutting off both of her arms for lying. And finally, in Pâtussorssuaq, Who Killed His Uncle, Patussorssuaq killed his uncle because he wanted his uncle's wife. His uncle's soul came to him in a fox and bit him, punishing him for killing.

Week Seven Storytelling: How The Fox Fell Victim to His Own Deceit

Once upon a time there were three friends. They grew up together and had many happy memories as children. In their eyes, they saw each other as chosen siblings. They hung out every day, shared everything and were constantly at each other's houses.

However, as they grew older, one of the friends, Taylor, grew increasingly jealous of Elizabeth. Sarah was starting to think that her mother liked Elizabeth more and that they were too close. She let this idea fester and grew more and more angry as time went on.

One day, Taylor's mom got very ill. She was dying and as her dying wish, she told the three friends to always treat each other as siblings and to never fight. Each vowed that they would follow that. After she died they were sad, but promised stay friends no matter what. Taylor secretly thought this was her chance. She plotted to end the friendship and bring Elizabeth down for good.

Sarah went to the third friend, Samantha, and filled her ears with lies.

"Elizabeth comes to me and talks bad about you all the time!" Taylor said, "She thinks you're annoying and needy. She told me she's tired of hanging out with you."

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Hurt and sad, Samantha stopped talking to Elizabeth. She grew increasingly angry by her and couldn't believe that one of her closest childhood friends would say something like that about her.

The next day, Taylor went up to Elizabeth and told her all kinds of lies about Samantha as well.

"Samantha won't stop talking about how much she hates you, Elizabeth," she said, "She doesn't want to be your friend anymore."

Elizabeth was confused and angry, why would Samantha say something like that? They had grown up together, did everything together and always treated each other like sisters. Both Elizabeth and Samantha went along believing the other disliked her. They stopped hanging out and didn't speak much. Taylor was happy, hoping they would fight and end the friendship all together. That way Taylor could get rid of Elizabeth without lifting a finger.

One day, Elizabeth went up to Samantha timidly and said, "Why do you hate me? We've always been sisters and I've been nothing but caring and nice."

"I never hated you! Taylor told me you hated me and didn't want to be my friend anymore!" Samantha exclaimed. Having learned the truth, they planned to teach Taylor a lesson.

The next day Samantha found Taylor and set the plan into action. She sat on the couch next to her and as they watched TV, Samantha guided the conversation Elizabeth.

"She is so annoying," Samantha started, "What did Elizabeth say about me again?" Excited that her plan was working, Taylor started in a long list of cruel things that were completely fabricated. At that moment, Elizabeth walked in, hearing everything.

At that moment, Taylor was stuck. She was lying about Elizabeth to Samantha and Elizabeth had just walked in. Trapped in her web of lies, Elizabeth and Samantha told Taylor they knew about her manipulation and plan. They soon stopped hanging out with her and found more honest friends.

Author's Note. This story is based on How The Fox Fell Victim To His Own Deceit. In the original, basically the same thing happened except with a fox, a wolf and a cow. I changed it to people and altered the ending slightly because in the original they kill the fox in the end… And I thought that was a bit graphic for three girls. I made the girls' names those of my roommates, which was fun to do. But other than that the moral and plot stayed the same.

Bibliography. How The Fox Fell Victim To His Own Deceit from Tibetan Folktales by A.L. Shelton (1925).

Week Seven: Comparisons Essay

This week I read Japanese Fairy Tales and because I'm trying to get ahead (I have some crazy upcoming weeks), I already did next week's over Tibetan Folktales. Since I read them so close to together, I noticed many similarities and differences between them that I wanted to discuss here. They are both cultural fairytales, featuring magic powers, talking animals and lessons learned.

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In Japanese Fairy Tales, many of the stories featured good and evil characters, each punished or rewarded for their good or bad deeds. The Envious Neighbor is punished for his devilish ways and using his neighbor's good fortune to further his own riches. And many stories featured the Japanese racoon dog, a Tanuki, and his pack of tricks and manipulations. These stories gave insight into this Japanese animal and parts of their culture that seeped into the stories.

In the The Tibetan Folktales, the stories also had similar themes and characters. Animals and humans existed together, talking and being friends or enemies. Characters were also punished for their bad intentions and rewarded for their honesty. In The Ingratitude of Man, a man helped another man, fox, rat and snake from a cliff and in return they all helped him except the man. In the end, the ingratitude of man got him arrested and imprisoned.

While all of the stories had obvious similarities among them: themes and morals of good and evil and actions punishment and reward. What differed is what interested me. While all of the Tibetan Folktales had proverbs at the beginning, they also featured a prominent sense of god or higher spiritual being. In The Violinist they open the door to hell and push the wicked king in themselves. Also in The Man and the Monkeys, after the man betrays the monkeys that helped him, the Monkey god interfered and kills the man. These signs of god and religious beliefs are present in the Tibetan Folktales, while they don't exist in the Japanese Fairy Tales. The Japanese Fairy Tales may have the same morals, but don't mention once the existence of a god that is pulling the strings above. The concept of good and evil is punished and focused on man and the earthly world, instead of guided by another being. I think this is really interesting to see within the stories. It makes me wonder about the religious views that Japan has culturally and historically had, and if these views affect their customs or traditions. Just from these stories, I would conclude that they don't, at least not as much as they do in the Tibetan tradition.

I think it's also intriguing to note that, even without these religious concepts and aspects, the Japanese fairy tales are still very similar to the Tibetan ones. Both have the same concept of good and evil, bad and good, and punishment and reward. Does that lead to the notion that these are inherently human (or animal) feelings and not originating from a religious base? Maybe some morals begin there, but it argues that even those without religious aren't without moral code. Just a few thoughts.

Overall, I enjoyed both units and thought they had a lot of interesting things to say about their respective cultures.

Week Seven: Reading Diary

Part A: This Tibetan Folktales unit was very interesting and entertaining to read. At the top of each story was a Tibetan proverb, but that sometimes didn't make as much sense by itself, but aided in the stories overall theme and moral. These morals were of truth, honesty and friendship. Constant themes throughout these stories included good and evil, punishing tricksters and rewarding honest people. These stories reminded me a lot of the Japanese fairytales and Aesop's fables. All had similar ideas and concepts of how truth and good intentions were at the core of all good people or animals. In The Cony Who Got Into Bad Company, the Cony and the Rat stole from an honest Lama and in the end, they were punished and made to be a fool. The overall moral was that you are who you hang out with and your reputation can be stained because of their actions. I enjoyed reading How the Fox Fell a Victim to His Own Deceit, which told the story of a fox who tried to pit a cow and a tiger against each other, only to have them both find out and attack him instead. This idea of dishonesty and evil intentions is present in many of the stories. It was rather funny in Covetousness, as three robbers plotted to poison four other robbers with food and the four other robbers plotted to poison the three with water. In the end they all died because of their plots.

Part B: These stories followed the same ideas and plots as the first party. All had magical animals or gods that helped the honest win and the evil lose. In The Golden Squash, a good neighbor rescued a hurt bird and in return received a magical seed that grew a gold squash. The jealous neighbor injured another bird in hopes of receiving the same treatment, instead his seed grew an evil pumpkin with a man inside and he ended up dying for his dishonesty. Additionally, in The Man and the Monkeys, a monkey saved the man from drowning and in return the man got annoyed by the monkeys' noise and shook the trees killing all the monkeys. The Monkey god was unhappy and turned himself into a snake, killing the man.

All of these stories featured heavy themes of right and wrong, ending in a lot of deaths and killings to bring justice to the situation. Aside from the beginning proverb that set the setting of the story, most of the stories started with "Long, long ago..." or "Once upon a time…" which I thought was really interesting. It's a classic start and every single one followed that pattern. I think these folktales are close to a lot of Aesop's fables and stories.

Week Six: Storytelling

There once were two travelers, one from Chicago and one from Austin.

Both loved to travel the country and take pictures. Each had an extensive collection of photos, ranging from historic landmarks to beautiful landscapes. They were both very proud of their collection, showing anyone who would stop the beautiful prints. Although these two travelers had a lot in common they didn't know about each other.

One day, the traveler from Chicago, named John, decided he would go to Austin. He wanted to see what everyone loved about the city and went on his way down to Texas. The other traveler, Adam, that day decided he wanted to see Chicago. He wanted to see the Windy City and all of the great landmarks he'd seen on TV. He set out heading north for Illinois.

Now the trip from Chicago to Austin is very long and both travelers grew tired from their journey. Both stopped about halfway, which happened to be in Tulsa, OK. John rented a hotel room and headed downtown to relax at a local pub, called McNellies. He ordered a burger and a beer and looked forward to not traveling through the night. While Adam, also stopped in Tulsa and headed to McNellies for a late dinner. Having nowhere else to sit, he asked to join John at the table. After they introduced themselves, they found they had a lot in common. Both talked of the splendors of their respective city and spoke excitedly of visiting the new city.

They ended up spending a few days in Tulsa getting to know each other: going out to eat pizza at Andolini's, see a Driller's baseball game and exploring some of Tulsa's little dessert shops on Brookside. After a few days of just relaxing and exploring, John and Adam had become good friends.

"I wish I could just see what Chicago was like so I'd know if I should continue on my journey!" exclaimed John on the third day. He was missing home and liked not having to constantly travel. Adam agreed, saying surely there must be a way to know if it was worth all his trouble. All of a sudden, Adam had an idea.

"Well you have pictures of Chicago and I have pictures of Austin, why don't we just switch and see?" Adam said. John, delighted, said that was a great idea and reached for his precious packet of polaroids. At the moment, as both John and Adam had pulled out their pictures, a giant Oklahoma wind gust blew and pushed all of the pictures out of their hands.

Frantically, both travelers ran after the pictures as they fluttered away. John grabbed whatever he saw and Adam did the same, so in the end both ended up with each other's pictures by accident. After they recovered the photos they made their trade.

But Adam, seeing what he thought were John's pictures of Chicago, but were really his own of Austin, declared, "Well Chicago looks exactly like Austin! It is not worth it for me to travel all that way to see the same things."

While John, looking at what he thought were Adam's photos of Austin, but were really his own of Chicago, agreed, "You're right. Austin looks exactly like my home in Chicago. I will just head home then."

They parted ways as friends and each headed to their perspective home, holding each other's pictures.

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Author's Note. This story is based on The Two Frogs in the Japanese Fairy Tales unit. The original story is about two frogs that want to travel to each other's city and meet in the middle. They want to know whether they should continue on their journey or just go home, so they stand on each other's backs and look for the city they want to see. However, frog's eyes are on the back of their head, so when they did that they ended up only seeing their own city. Thinking that their destination was the same as their home they both returned home and didn't continue. I changed it to humans who carry pictures and with the wind they accidentally pick up each other's photos. It makes them think that their destination looks exactly like their home. A little unrealistic, I know, but I wanted to interpret in a different way but keep the original moral and plot. Plus, I'm from Tulsa so I incorporated actual places they could have visited.

Bibliography. The Two Frogs in the Japanese Fairy Tales unit by Andrew Lang (1901).

Week Six Essay: Assessing The Unit

I really enjoyed the Japanese Fairytales unit! I had so much fun reading and learning through these stories. They were entertaining and interesting, plus none were so extensively long that I got bogged down in the length. The morals and themes of good and evil were very prevalent, but like I mentioned in my reading diary, none of the stories referenced a God or higher being as the justice-maker. Magical powers, talking animals and underwater worlds were just completely normal and not due to any type of established religion or religious views. Evil characters were punished just because they were evil and mean, not because some higher power punished them. I thought was interesting, especially after reading Bible Women and reading other fairytales that focused a lot on that religious aspect.

Additionally, I liked learning more about how the Japanese culture was worked into the stories. I learned about a Tanuki, which is a Japanese raccoon dog (picture below). The character was usually a trickster and greedy, he was always making bad things happen to good people. In most of the stories the Tanuki was punished for his actions.

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I also noticed how graphic some of the stories got. In The Slaying Of The Tanuki, he tricks a husband into eating his own wife! And in The Crab And The Monkey, the monkey beats the crab almost to death. The evil characters are pretty brutal with their jokes and many sell out their own family or spouses, like in How The Wicked Tanuki Was Punished and The Sparrow With The Split Tongue. In many of the other culture fairytales the evil characters aren't always direct family or spouses, so it's interesting that the bad characters come from so close.

I really enjoyed reading this unit and had the opportunity to see the Japanese culture through the lens of the stories. I learned about a new animal and got to see how the evil and good themes are represented in the stories.

Week Six Reading Diary: Japanese Fairy Tales

Part A: I really enjoyed reading these fairy tales. They were entertaining and fun to read. Like many fairy tales I've read, many "good" characters are rewarded for their loyalty, kindness and generosity. While "evil" characters are usually punished, which leads to the morals and overall general themes of good, bad and justice. For example, in The Envious Neighbour, the owners of the magical dog are rewarded for their actions, while the jealous neighbor ends up dying because of his evil habits. Additionally, The Sparrow With The Split Tongue features an evil, greedy wife that is mean to her husband eventually pays for her greediness with her life. Along with the themes of good and evil, there were many magical and animated characters. Many of the animals weren't really animals, but what I thought was interesting after reading other culture fairy tales, was that none of the fairy tales referenced God or a higher being for their magical properties. Many of the ones I've read previously, site a spirit or being related to a God. There characters are simply magical because they have that power. It definitely shows some differences in the cultures and their views.

Part B: I noticed many of the stories featured evil characters that were Tanukis. I wasn't sure what kind of animal this was, I had to look it up. It's a Japanese raccoon dog, which is about as weird as it sounds. Apparently, the Tanuki is supposed to be mischievous and a master of disguise. This is revealed in all of the stories in the second part of the Japanese Fairy Tales. In How The Wicked Tanuki Was Punished and The Slaying Of The Tanuki, the Tanuki tricks many of the characters. It was pretty graphic one of the stories (leading a husband to accidentally eat his own wife!), and each time the Tanuki died or was punished because of his actions.

Week Five Storytelling: The Liver

There was a young girl, named Alex, who wanted a pair of shoes very badly. She knew they would look perfect with her new dress and every day asked her mother for money to buy them. Her mother, not having a ton of money, and wanting to make sure her daughter worked for it, told her she would give her money for the shoes if she first got her a dozen apples to eat. Satisfied, Alex went to the local market to buy apples.

"Please, let me have a dozen apples for my mother so she can give me money to buy some shoes," she pleaded to the apple farmer.

"Fair enough, you can have a dozen apples if you give me a large basket to put my apples in." So Alex set off to a basket weaver to ask for a basket.

"Basket weaver, please weave me a basket so I can give it to the apple farmer so he will give me a dozen apples for my mother and she will give me money for the shoes." The basket weaver thought for a minute and replied, "You can have your basket when you bring me some twine."

Alex went next to a yarn maker, in search of twine. "Can I have some twine to give to the basket weaver, who will give me a basket to give to the apple farmer, who will give me a dozen apples to give to my mother, who will give me money to buy some shoes?"

"I will give you twine, if you will give me a handmade blanket made of yarn." So next, Alex went to the sewing shop down the street and asked for their finest made blanket to give to the yarn maker, who would give her some twine to give to the basket weaver, who would give her a basket to give to the apple farmer, who would give her a dozen apples to give to her mother.

The sewing shop owner said, "I will give you this blanket when you return with a belt of fabric." Alex now went to a fabric store and asked for a belt of fabric to give to the sewing shop owner, who would give her a blanket to give to the yarn maker, who would give her twine to give to the basket weaver, who would give her a basket to give to the apple farmer, who would give her a dozen apples to give to her mother.

The fabric store owner heard her plea and replied, "You can have the fabric, if you bring me back some buttons." So Alex, now tired, set off to find some buttons. She met a small child in the street carrying a small bag of buttons he found from his travels. She pleaded, "Please can I have that bag of buttons to give to the fabric store, who will give me some fabric to give to the sewing shop, who will give me a blanket to give to the yarn maker, who will give me some twine to give to the basket weaver, who will give me a basket to give to the apple farmer, who will give me a dozen apples for my mother, who will buy me some shoes."

The young boy agreed, "I will give you these buttons for some ice cream." Alex, who had a few dollars agreed and bought the boy an ice cream cone. She then gave the buttons to the fabric store, the fabric to the sewing shop, the blanket to the yarn maker, the twine to the basket weaver, the basket to the apple farmer and the apples to her mother. The next day Alex's mother gave her some money and she went out and bought her the shoes.

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Author's Note. This story is based off of The Liver, which tells a similar story of a young girl trying to get liver back for her mother to eat. It gets really long and complicated towards the end, which is something I wanted to maintain in my story. I changed it to a pair of shoes and made the other people she encountered anything I could think of, but the original theme and plot remains the same.

Bibliography. "The Liver" from Turkish Fairytales by Ignacz Kunos (1913).

Week Five Essay: Role of Women in The Turkish Fairytales

I think what's most interesting to me is how similar the plots in the stories are. Even though there were around 17 different tales, many had similar plots and characters. Most started with a son, or poor man, who runs across a beautiful fish, bird or other animal. The animal then turns into a beautiful maiden (either immediately or eventually) and the King wishes to marry or take the maiden for himself. The King then puts impossible tasks before the young man, who finds help from his magical animal-maiden and completes them. In The Fish-Peri, he has to build a beautiful palace, a crystal bridge, hold a huge feast and find a talking infant. All of these he finds and helps him win back his beautiful maiden, who he promptly marries. In The Crown-Peri, the young man must win back his fish-maiden by bringing in ivory trunks and the bird's fairy-Queen owner. After satisfying the King he gets to marry the bid, who has turned into a woman. The Wizard-Dervish details the story of a young man who finds himself captured by a Dervish and three doves (who, naturally, are women). One dove-woman in particular helps him choose a wife (her) and escape the Dervish's beatings.

These themes are present in many of the stories in this unit and give insight into how the Turkish cultural values and history. The female always acts as an advice-giver. helping the man through his troubles. I'm not exactly sure why she doesn't start in human form, always as an animal, but maybe it contributes to the magical theme of the tales. Maybe, the male characters need to get to know the female characters (as animals) first to get the help they need, before they marry them. I found these stories interesting and entertaining to read. The magical and mythical aspects made the stories more dynamic, however, I noticed that many did not have an overall theme or moral at the end, like some fairytales do.

Week Five: Reading Diary Turkish Fairytales

Part A: This unit was really interesting and entertaining to read. It was full of mythical talking creatures, changing shape and magical events. In Fear, a young boy is looking for what it's like to feel fear. Through his journey, he encounters three pigeons, who transform into maidens and help him  become a Shah and finally feel fear. The The Fish-Peri, a fisherman caught a beautiful fish, who turned out to be a maiden and helped him complete impossible tasks assigned by Pardishah like building a palace, a crystal bridge, a talking infant and a huge feast. The Crown-Peri is similar in that a woman helps him complete impossible tasks and ends with him getting married and being rewarded. In the end of most of these stories, the male main character marries a princess and lives happily ever after. The female characters usually start out as animals and the male characters think they are beautiful, they usually transform and help the main character and in reward they get to marry each other. This timeline is constant through most of the stories.

Part B: Some of these stories had similar plots as the ones in Part A. However, some got even more strange. Kunterbunt seemed be to the most random set of events and circumstances, it was hard to follow and then at the end it was actually just a dream. Other complicated plot lines included The Wizard and his Pupil, where towards the end each transformed into many things and tried to catch each other, changing so many times resulting in the pupil killing his teacher. The Liver was another that grew more and more complicated as the story went on. In an effort to get back the liver a stork stole from her, the maiden had to get barely from a farmer for the stork, incense from a merchant for the farmer, shoes from a shoemaker for the merchant, leather from a tanner for the shoemaker, an ox for the tanner, straw for the ox and a kiss from a peasant for the ox. Whew, what a long set of tasks for just a liver!

URL Shortener Tech Tip

This tool is very handy when an article has a lot of links. It makes it a lot easier to include all my sources and resources. Sometimes links are just incredible long and include random symbols. This link wasn't too long but it looks a lot better when it is shortened.


Shortened link: goo.gl/jUr2CW


Original link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persephone#Abduction_myth

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Week Four Storytelling: How Sun, Moon and Wind Went Out To Dinner

There once were three brothers, who grew up as all boys do; running outside, playing tricks and tracking mud in the house. They grew up with a loving mom who always served their favorite meals and sometimes, if they were good, ice cream for dessert. The boys' names from oldest to youngest were Charles, Adam and Tyler, respectively. Charles, being born first, was confident and brave, holding much of the family responsibility. He was serious and calm. Adam, the middle child, was the opposite. Reckless, loud and sometimes a bit crazy, he disliked chores and rules. However, being only two years a part, Charles and Adam were pretty close. Even with their differences they agreed on most things and grew up playing together often.

Tyler was the youngest. Four years younger than Adam, he was shy and quiet. He stayed close to his mom and was always obeying her rules and requests. As the three grew up, they became more selfish as young people often are. They thought less of home and their mother and more of their own futures, hopes and dreams. Charles met a girl and moved away to school, Adam wanted to join the military, but Tyler, unsure of his future stayed at home. He grew worried about their mother, as her health deteriorated and she had trouble going up and down stairs. He called on his brothers to help, but they never came home to see her. As she grew older she called upon a dinner with her three sons to divide her belongings in a will.

That same night, however, the brothers were all invited to a fancy dinner. Tyler wanted to stay and eat with their mother, but Charles and Adam convinced him to come along. The dinner included many important public figures, had a live band and a wonderful caterer. Charles and Adam ate plenty at dinner, drinking lots of beer and having a good time. They completely forgot about their mother's will and her failing health. Tyler, on the other hand, felt guilty about leaving his mother and ate less, saving part of the meal to take home. He hid some in a tupperware container in his jacket and barely talked to anyone all night. When the night was over they all headed back to see their mother.

When they returned, they found their mother in bed and very sick. Tyler, quickly heated up the food and fed her dinner in bed. She revealed that she had been sick for a while and would probably die soon. After this news, the brothers felt guilty about blowing off that night's dinner. Their mother realized that only Tyler thought of her during dinner, and was there for her during her recent sickness.

For their selfish actions, the mother turned Charles into a sun, making him unbearable hot and bright during the days. She said people would curse him for his heat and not look straight at him. She turned Adam into the Wind, a blistering hot wind that killed plants and swirled sand around, making people miserable and unhappy. She then turned to Tyler, who had graciously brought her dinner, and she tuned him into the moon. He would be calm, cool and beautiful, and everyone would be grateful for his presence at night.

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Author's Note. This story is based on "How Sun, Moon and Wind Went Out To Dinner." The original story is much like this one, but they started out as the sun, moon and the wind. After the sun and wind didn't think of their mother at dinner, they were cursed with these characteristics, while the moon became cool and beautiful at night. I turned the original into a story about three brothers, but kept the same lesson throughout.

Bibliography. "How Sun, Moon and Wind Went Out To Dinner" from Indian Fairy Tales (1912). Source.

Week Four Essay: Future of Written Media

I'm excited about what's coming next for media. Since I'm in public relations, I see a lot of where the industry is going and how people will communicate in the future. What amazes, interests and intrigues me specifically, is social media. Aside from normal daily use, I've had experience using many platforms for business purposes. Learning about target audience, reach and how to attract visitors has been exciting and interesting for me as a student and young professional. Using social media for personal reasons is much different from business use, and it has made me more aware of how businesses are implementing social media plans to reach their marketing goals.

What I think is most exciting is the platforms themselves. I've seen so much creativity and innovation from brands on Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram. Who knew brands like Taco Bell and Urban Outfitters had Snapchats, and successfully reach their target audience through detailed stories and audience engagement on this platform? I think what is so cool about social media is the parameters that confine each post. If you only had 140 characters to reach your audience, foster engagement and get your message across, what would you say? It forces PR professionals and creatives to get to the point, be selective with language and really understand their audience. It's exciting to be challenged like this, and I'm really interested in the direction that social media is taking public relations.

(Source. Just a sample of the types of things they promote on Snapchat. They also have voting competitions and other engagement opportunities.)

I always feel so nerdy, but I love when brands interact with each other on Snapchat, especially some of my favorite brands. Behind each Twitter account is some creative team, working to carve out a personality online. They have to be engaging, funny and original, and this really shines through when they interact with each other. I think it's exciting to see -- almost like two of your good friends becoming friends.

I don't know if social media will always be around, but I think that communication and media is going in this direction. We can't go back from it now, and even if Facebook isn't here in 20 years, something will replace it and it will be shorter, more interactive and more engaging. These platforms are hard, because there's so much clutter to fight through, but also an excellent opportunity to directly reach readers. I think the future of media is going towards digital, and I hope to be there helping businesses connect with their audiences.

Reading Diary Week Four: Indian Fairy Tales

Part A: I really enjoyed reading these fairy tales, they were entertaining, easy to read and sometimes humorous. Each had its own moral or ending theme that either taught the characters a lesson or served justice to those who were wrongly treated. The Broken Pot reminded me a lot of The Girl and Her Bucket, both characters dreamed of all the riches they would have soon and got so excited about the future that they spilled their goods now. They "counted their chickens before they hatched" as the saying goes and ruined any chance of getting their wishes.

The Tiger, The Brahman and The Jackal was an interesting story of how stubbornnes and being gullible. The Jackal pretended to not understand the situation, and the lion was so desperate to be right, that he caged himself and lost the prospect of eating the Brahman. He was foolish and stubborn in his ways, costing him dinner.

Part B: My favorite fairy tale in this part was Why The Fish Laughed. It reminded me of the generational gap that is present even today. The young man uses sayings that the older man doesn't understand, and while the older man thinks he's crazy, his daughter understands perfectly what he's trying to say. I think it's funny how this is something that we can see today, we are used to slang and jargon that maybe our grandparents don't understand.

I also enjoyed How Sun, Moon and Wind Went Out To Dinner, which was a story about three siblings and only the moon thought of the mother. The sun and the wind only went to enjoy themselves and were therefore punished by their mom, as star. The sun was cursed with being hot all the time and the wind with being hot and killing plant life. The moon, on the other hand, brought food back to mom and was favored, always being cool and beautiful at night. Many of these stories had lessons like these, which made them enjoyable to read.

Week Three Storytelling: Jewish Fairy Tales

Olive, the kitten, was used to getting what she wanted. She walked with her tail high in the hair and her fur always perfectly in place. Because of her sometimes snooty attitude, Olive didn't have any friends. But this suited her just fine. She was young, curious and sneaky, loving to play pranks and tricks on other animals.

She did have one loyal friend though, and he was a dog named Ranger. Ranger was older, more experienced with Olive's schemes, but didn't always learn from them. He loved to chase after Olive, or any animal that ran away from him, and was always smiling. Good-natured, but gullible, Ranger and Olive had a delicate friendship.

One winter was especially difficult, and Olive, who was already naturally sassy, became even more surly when she was hungry. One day she couldn't take it anymore, she told Ranger that their friendship had to end so they could each survive. She made Ranger promise that they would never again cross paths and must live forever a part. Both agreed and went on their way.

Ranger was hurt but didn't want to fight, so he moped away. Olive shrugged him off, and promptly went to a nearby house to the comforts of a warm fire and plenty of mice. She pawed at the door of the old wood home and was let in, greeted with a warm dish of milk and a soft carpet. By day she caught mice in an old barn and at night curled up in the chair by fireplace. Content and satisfied, Olive went to sleep every night with a full stomach.

Ranger, on the other hand, had more problems. Reduced to wandering the forests and surrounded fields for food, many nights he was starving and in search of shelter. He happened upon sheep, who allowed him to share their shelter if he warned them of wolves. Loyal and obedient, Ranger successfully scared off a pack of wolves in the night.

As Ranger continued on his journey he happened upon a wood house in the forest. Delirious, starving and desperate he went to the door to beg for food. He was let in and given a bowl of food, then he promptly fell asleep. During the night he heard a ruckus, went outside and drove away another pack of wolves. His time in the wilderness alone had harden him, given him grey hairs and made him more intimidating. When he returned the owner had awaken to the noise and thanked Ranger for his service, saying he could stay as long as he wanted as a watch dog.

When Olive awoke she was surprised to see Ranger there as well. Angered by his break of agreement, she refused to speak to him. Ranger remained bashful and timid around her, never wanting to cross her path. Olive tried many times to make Ranger leave, playing tricks and planning schemes, but the homeowner wouldn't kick him out. Frustrated, Olive resolved to just ignoring his presence and hissing whenever he came near.

(Source)

To this day, the dog and the cat don't get along in the same household, with the dog carefully avoiding the cat's path and the cat swiping paws whenever a dog is near.

Author's Note. This story is based on The Quarrel Of The Cat And The Dog from The Jewish Fairy Tales. The plot is almost the same, I just added more detail names to the characters. I liked the ending moral that this is show dogs and cats interact to this day, so I kept that idea when I retold the story. I think anyone that has a cat or a dog can relate to how they act together.

Bibliography. The Quarrel Of The Cat And The Dog from The Jewish Fairy Tales by Gertrude Landa (1919).