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.

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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).

Week Three Essay: Writing Experience

In high school I completed the International Baccalaureate Program, which focused on overarching themes throughout the school year and taught us how to analyze, think and question things we learned in each class. Similar to AP, but in my opinion more difficult, it was less about memorizing facts and dates, and more about exploring the whys and hows of history, english, social studies and math. Our testing was all purely essay as well, with the exception of sciences and math, which featured some short answer in addition to multiple choice.

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For instance, my senior IBHL english class focused on the theme of love. Every book we read had this theme and throughout our time we wrote plenty of essays analyzing the colors, characters, motifs, etc. All of this culminated in a end-of-the-year test that was part written part oral, where we basically had an hour to write an analysis of a book passage and explain it to our teacher. Through this course, and my other IB classes, I learned a lot about writing essays about literature. I learned how to recognize and analyze elements within a novel, connect these themes to other stories and create well-written and lengthy essays in a short amount of time.

With the exception of college credit, none of this helped me when I came to OU.

Not to discredit my high school, I thought the IB program was a great opportunity. I got the best teachers, had classes with the best students and learned a lot of skills I use today. But, my writing has definitely changed since then.

I remember my first journalism writing class; Writing for Mass Media. I had to throw out everything I'd learned in an English class (namely, Oxford commas), and relearn how to use punctuation, when to use abbreviations and how to properly list states. It was a huge change for me and that class was not only difficult, but a huge learning experience. I hated that class while I was in it, but now I am thankful I learned AP style and know basic rules that I am now expected to know. I like the way I write now better anyway. Less fluff, more information. At least that's the journalistic way.

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I enjoy being able to read a newspaper or magazine and see the same rules and concepts put into play there. They write and follow the same rules as I do and they are  "in the real world." I think the essay writing I did in high school served me well and taught me many things. The IB program challenged me to think harder, delve deeper and question more often than I would have, but college has taught me a more practical, applicable style of writing that I use today.

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.