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

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: 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 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: 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: 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 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: 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!

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 Reading Diary: Jewish Fairy Tales

This week I read Jewish Fairy Tales. Below are my thoughts.

Part A: I enjoyed reading some of these stories, especially when they gave reasoning for phenomenons today. For example, The Giant Of The Flood revealed one story in Noah's Ark and explained why there are not Ogs today. The Og disobeyed his initial promise to Noah, and therefore the giant perished and why there aren't any now. I also enjoyed reading about what he did with the grapes that were made into wine. Sacrificing certain animals, according to the story, created certain characteristics whenever people drink wine. So now, if people drink too much, they are silly like monkeys and beasts like pigs, and if they only drink a little they are shy like sheep. I think those kind of stories are very interesting and entertaining to read.

I also enjoyed The Quarrel Of The Cat And The Dog, because of the way it showed off each animal's personalities. The cat is sassy, defensive and selfish (and anyone who owns a cat knows this is true) while the dog is honest, forgiving and caring. I liked this story because of how the animals were portrayed and how they has affected their relationship today. I thought it was a cute and accurate way to describe each of their personalities.

I thought The Beggar King was an interesting story as well. I think these themes of humility, empathy and kindness relate back to leadership skills that I've learned about in school. To be a good leader, one must also be a follower. I've learned that leaders shouldn't ask any of their followers to do anything they themselves wouldn't do, and I think through this experience the king has learned a lot more about his subjects and their lives. Sometimes rulers are too distanced from those they oversee, which gives a disproportioned idea of what life is like. This story was interesting to read because I could see the evolution of the king and how he reacted to his situation.

Part B: What I found most interesting about this second set of stories was all the elements of magic present in each story. In King For Three Days, he consults a holy man that can see into the future and predict how he will end his battle. In Higgledy-Piggledy Palace, a spirit saves Sarah from the king all because of and Abraham's prayer. Rabbi's Bogey Man ventures even further into the supernatural when he creates a Frankenstein-like character to do this chores. It makes me wonder where the story of Frankenstein came from and if any of the plot has roots in one of these stories.

I also noticed many talking animals, who turn out to be fairies or Prophets. In The Fairy Frog, the frog ends up being the fairy son of Adam and showers the couple with riches, knowledge and food. Many of these stories have these supernatural elements which reward the characters for doing good deeds or obeying.

(Fairy Frog)

Overall, I enjoyed these stories more than my last section. They are more "fun" and a much easier read. I think they hold lessons about character, which are meant to be passed on to those who read them.

Week Two Reading Diary: Bible Women

Part A: I found the first series of the Bible Women very interesting to read. Many of the stories, while focusing on women, seemed more to surround marriage or relations with men. While I know this is common in history, it is still fascinating to see how self-worth, pride and honor are based on marriage and giving birth to sons. I noticed that in Leah Rachel was punished for her favor by being barren, which seemed to be the end all curse for this time period.

What was most interesting to me was that while these stories focused on women in the Bible, most stories started out with or spoke mostly to the male characters. The texts kept to a few topics, namely marriage, children and the happiness of their husbands.

I was intrigued by Delilah's story, which was the only story that didn't include marriage or children. As she attempted to trick her husband to show her his weakness, she continually believed his lies. I was also curious about why she would continuously believe what he said every day if it always turned out to be untrue? Additionally, why she would go through with cutting his hair, if it would weaken him on purpose so that he could be sent to prison? I think it might go against the role of a wife to betray her husband in this way.

Part B: The second half of these stories showed women in a different light in the Bible. Aside from common themes of marriage, children and following God, the stories outline more complicated situations. It was interesting to see a woman in The Witch of Endor is not a wife or daughter. Her role is to consult the king in his matters and show him the ghost of Samuel. I think these stories show a little bit more of power and influence for women than the previous section. In Herodias, she demands the head of John the Baptist of the king, and he obliges. Also in Esther, she pleads for the king's mercy and for the execution of Haman, which is granted. Throughout these stories women are portrayed with a bit more credibility than just wives and child bearers.

My favorite story was Susannah's, which showed how she kept her honor and word and in return found justice. It also showed more of the woman's side of the story, something that many of the previous stories don't show. I liked reading how the angel raised questions to the trial and helped the king see that the elders were lying.

Overall, I found these stories to be an interesting look into the values and circumstances during this time. It was cool to see the role of women in famous and lesser known stories. However, being stories from the Bible, sometimes I found the language difficult to read and understand. The blurbs at the top were very helpful when I was confused or trying to decipher what exactly happened.