Reading Part B

I finished up LibriVox section of the Grimm Tales. I enjoyed this unit overall. I was familiar with several stories, thanks to Disney, so it was interesting to see where they started and ended up. 

The Queen Bee

• Three sons and a king. The youngest son (Simpleton) continually mocked. 
• Simpleton prevented his brothers from hurting ants and ducks and a beehive. 
• They find a castle with an old man inside. 
• The old man gave them tasks to do and if the succeeded, they would free the castle. 
• The two oldest failed, but the ants, ducks and bees helped the youngest complete the tasks. 
• The queen bee helped the prince figure out which princess was the youngest.
• They married the princesses and freed the castle. 

Caption: The youngest by the end of this story. Obtained from giphy.com

The Twelve Hunstman 

• A prince was engaged to a maiden, but his father told him to marry a princess instead. 
• The maiden gathered twelve women who looked like her, dressed them all as huntsmen and rode into the king's court. 
• They were put to the test by a lion and passed all the tests. 
• The main maiden was able to win back the prince.

The Fox and the Horse

• A man kicked a very old horse out of his stable. 
• He told the horse if he wanted to stay to fetch him a lion
• The horse told this to a fox who told the horse to play dead
• The fox went to a lion and told him about a dead horse he could eat 
• The fox brought the lion to the horse and tied the lion's legs together and tied him to the horse. 
• The horse pulled the lion very fast to his master. 
• He got to stay in the stable. 

All of these seemed like possible stories to re-envision. 

bibliography: Grimm (LibriVox)

Reading Notes Part A

This week I decided to read The Brothers Grimm (LibriVox) Tales. I am familiar with the Grimm Brothers stories and how they usually go about writing their stories. I am aware they tend to write in a darker tone, so it was somewhat of a surprise when a lot of these stories ended on a rather happy note.

Princess and the Frog

I'm familiar with the Disney movie, so I was curious about how they compared. I liked how the story was built. It kept me on my toes, and I love how it ended. 

Rapunzel 

My all-time favorite Disney princess. I liked how Disney kept the integrity of the story for the most part. I also feel like this story could easily be reinvented in several different ways so I will keep it in mind. 

The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean

I haven't heard of this story before, and it was very intriguing to me. It seemed unlike other Grimm stories I've read before, but it was cool how the tailor sewed up a bean. 

The Mouse, The Bird, and The Sausage

Another Grimm story I haven't heard of. It wasn't my favorite. It was kind of dull, but it sad how the bird drowned. 

Overall, 
I enjoyed all the stories. I really like Rapunzel, but I might just be impartial to it. I liked the style of writing the Grimm brothers use. It is poetic but still understandable and flowed easily. 

Caption: Rapunzel:) obtained from giphy.com 

Bibliography: Grimm Brothers unit

Reading Part B

I finished up the Nursery Rhymes, and I am still slightly confused by this Unit overall. I thought some were cute, and some didn't make much sense. They were short and some I have actually read before. Like the one, Pussy-cat where have you been? I think I will need to do some background research on specific rhymes to fully understand the context of what is meant to be said, and produce a better story. I like the rhymes in reading part A because I felt they were a little easier to follow. Overall, I think that the rhymes in reading part b do leave a lot of room for creative freedom in a story. 

Caption: the pussy-cat returning from London. Obtained from flickr.com

Bibliography:  The Nursery Rhyme Book edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897).

Reading Part A

For this week's reading, I decided to read Nursery Rhymes: Tales. To start, I enjoyed this section. I liked the length of the tales. They were more digestible than the Celtic Tales. However, there were quite a few I found difficult to follow. I did like how any one of them could give me a good base for a story this week. They are short and vague, so would allow a lot of creative freedom. I have chosen a few of my favorite rhymes I might want to construct a story around. 

Nursery Rhymes: Tales 

The Lion and The Unicorn: The lion and unicorn fought for the crown. The lion won. The townspeople gave them bread and sent them out of town. 
There was a Crooked Man: There was a crooked man who found a sixpence and got a cat and lived in a crooked house. 

Caption: Phoebe knew a crooked man. Obtained from twitter.com

Three Wisemen of Gotham: Three wise men set sail in a small boat and it sunk. 

Nursery Rhymes: Paradoxes

Children slid on ice in the summer. The ice cracked (or melted) and all the children drowned. It was the parents' fault for not keeping them safe. 

Bibliography: The Nursery Rhyme Book edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897).

Reading B Celtic Fairy Tales

I finished up Celtic Fairy Tales tonight. Overall, I enjoyed these stories. I am of Irish descent, so these stories really struck a chord with me. One of the stories in this unit that really stuck out to me was Brewery of Eggshells. A woman had twins who lacked in growth. She followed some old man's advice and threw them into the lake. Turns out they were goblins and were reclaimed by the goblins in the lake. Another one that stuck out to me was Andrew Coffey. Andrew was a quiet man and traveling with his horse. The two got lost and came across a cabin. While at the cabin he could he someone calling his name, and he found a man who had been lost for many years. Overall, I liked how these stories were told and they were easier to follow. I liked the strangeness of these stories. They kept me more interested. 

 

Caption: Celtic Symbol obtained from Pinterest

Bibliography: Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892). 

Reading Notes Part A

This week I decided to read about Celtic Fairy Tales. As someone of strong Irish descent, these immediately jumped out at me. There were a couple that appealed to me a little bit more than others. The first one was The Field of Boliauns. This one captured the story of how Tom was tricked by a Leprechaun, which I thought was pretty funny. The other story that caught my attention was The Shepard of Myddvai. The story of a married couple with a certain condition. The man could not strike the woman more than three times, or she would leave him. He broke this rule and she left him and immediately left him. Overall, I liked all the stories in the unit, but they were slightly hard to follow. 

 

Caption: The Luck of the Irish giphy.com

Bibliography: Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892).

Reading Notes B

I finished up part B of the Eskimo Tales. I enjoyed this unit. I feel like it exposed me to a group I know little about. It was an eye-opening journey going through these stories. Here are a few that stuck out to me. 

The Wife Who Lied. A grotesque story about a woman pitting two tribes against each other. She ultimately pays the price when her tribe is taken over and the new tribe chooses to cut off her arms and kill. 

Papik, Who Killed His Wife's Brother. Papik hunted with his wife's brother, and Papik would always come home empty handed, while his brother-in-law would return with big animals. He became enraged and killed his brother-in-law and as a consequence, he was attacked by a vengeful spirit. 

Atdlarneq, The Great Glutton. Atdlarneq went out hunting one day and stumble upon a house with three women in it. They greeted him with open arms, but they said their master would be home soon and he needed to hide. As he hid they fed him food, even when he was full. After nearly dying, he left and never returned. I thought this story was interesting and similar to Hansel and Gretel. 

Caption: Bart is the Great Glutton. Obtained from pinterest.com 

Bibliography: Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921).

Week 11 Reading Notes A

This week I decided to indulge in the Eskimo Tales for my reading. Overall, I enjoyed Part A. I thought the structure of some of the stories was a little funny. In The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son it ends with "Here the story ends," which I found interesting. There were a few stories that stuck out to me. The first one being The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son. It was about a woman who had been given a bear-cub, and she took it home and raised it as her own. As it grew older, it became more aggressive and killed a man. The woman decided to let it free to be with its own kind. I felt this story could be applied to a lot of modern situations of loving something and being forced to set it free. 

Another story that stood out to me was Nukúnguasik, who Escaped from the Tupilak. A twisted story of a brother killing another brother and eating him. I don't think I can translate this to another plot line, but I would like to give it a try. I might explore it this week. I just thought it was twisted and disturbing. It was definitely noteworthy. 

Caption: Brother Bear. Obtained from giphy.com

Bibliography:  Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921).

 

Week 10 Reading Notes Part B

I finished up the Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest where we explored more about why things are the way they are through the use of the coyote. We learned how the rattlesnake learned to bite after being taken advantage of. In the story of the Coyote's Eyes we learn how he desired a brighter eye color and through a rather gruesome method, he achieved yellow eyes. In How the Bluebird Got Its Color, it was discovered that the bluebird achieved its color through singing in a lake. These were the stories I enjoyed the most. I love reading different interpretations of how the universe and the world came to be. It will be fun to explore these storylines this week.

Bibliography: Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katharine Berry Judson (1912).

Caption: Bluebirds (or roadrunners) and Coyotes obtained from giphy.com

Reading notes Part A: Week 10

This week I decided to focus on the California and the Old Southwest stories. I liked the idea of reading a unit involving regions I have been to and have stories I might have heard before. I enjoyed how this unit focused a lot on the creation of the world a lot, and it has some biblical aspects in it. In the Legend of the Flood covered a flood that wiped out the planet sparing one coyote. He gathered and planted feathers and they sprouted into trees. Coyotes were a consistent theme throughout the unit, and there may have been a deeper meaning to that. However, I am deliriously tired right now, so as far as I am concerned this coyote brought fire into the world and man and everything else.

Caption: the coyote carrying out God's assignments. Obtained from giphy.com

Bibliography: Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katharine Berry Judson (1912).

Reading notes part A

This week I read Tibetan Folk Tales (PART A). There were various stories, but there were a couple that jumped out at me that I feel could contain a good storyline for this week's assignment. 

Caption: How I imagine the tiger felt obtained from tenor.com

• How the Fox Fell Victim to His Own Deceit: Tiger and her baby cub are living in a cave, and the mother goes out one day and asks a baby fox to be her cub's friend. She provides all the food and shelter for this fox and in exchange, he is the cub's playmate. Soon after, the mother tiger brings home another playmate for the cub (a calf), which makes the fox incredibly jealous. The mother tells the cub and the calf that they are brothers and not to believe anyone who says otherwise. The fox begins stirring rumors between the two out of jealousy. The two figure out what the fox has done and attack and kill him. 
• I like how these stories are relatively simple to read, and I feel they can be rather timeless with their messages. 
• The Ingratitude of Man: There once was a man, a snake, a crow and a rat were walking in a narrow dark pass along a deep chasm. The road gave out and they fell into the chasm. A traveler help rescued them one-by-one. They all promised to repay him one day, but he only believed the man would. However, the crow stole a string of jewels from the queen for the traveler. The traveler showed the man the jewels and the man turned him into the king. As he was sitting in jail, the rat brought him bread. Then the snake promised to release him and proceeded to turn himself into a ghost and choke the king. The king begged for his life and in return, he would set the traveler free and give him many jewels. 
• I feel this story could definitely be reimagined into a modern tale about gratitude. 

Caption: Men. Obtained from wifflegif.com

Bibliography: Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925).

Reading Notes B

I read the second half of the Monkey King. It developed nicely. It was interesting to explore heaven as a class system with titles and such. The story reminded me kind of Plant of the Apes, maybe because there was so much discussion of apes and kings. Again there I don't know what I will use for this week's story because it was kind of a long story and might be hard to condense, but I enjoyed the read. 

Caption: the call of the Monkey King obtained from themonkeyking.com

Reading Notes Part A

The Monkey King Unit

I enjoyed this set of stories because they were easy to read. The dialogue throughout the story made sense and didn't lose me as a reader. I really enjoyed the descriptive words throughout The Destiny of Sun Wu Kung and the entire series, it gave it more depth and clarity. I enjoyed reading about Xuangang in the second part and his whole journey. I am not sure if I will draw any inspiration from these stories to integrate into my own, but I enjoyed the read. 

Caption: Funny looking Monkey King obtained from madman.com.au

Reading notes Part B

Caption: Featured in The Book of Thoth, the papyrus of Ani

I finished up part B of the "Egyptian Myth and Legend" by Mackenzie. I really enjoyed both parts of this story, but I think I enjoyed part B more. I liked the continuation of each story, as I enjoyed that with Aladdin, as well. "The Two Brothers" was fun and entertaining, and I enjoyed the development of the characters. When I first started reading it I got major Caine and Able vibes, so it was interesting to read that story unfold. Although some of the stories dragged on at some points, I felt it was necessary to get a feel for the characters and watch the development throughout the story. Similar to my previous post I felt the story was well told and easy to read. 

Reading Part B

   Wow, I am shooketh. I completed the second part of Arabian Nights, and it was a very entertaining story with a lot of twists and turns. I really enjoyed reading the original Aladdin story. I didn't realize how much Disney had altered it from the original, and it felt as if I read a completely different story. I didn't see that evil brother plot twist coming. That definitely took me by surprise. I was definitely taken aback by the amount of cold-blooded murder that took place in this story. Definitely a little more gruesome than the Disney story (but in my opinion, the Disney version was gruesome, too.)

   Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this story, more so than Part A. I was left on the edge of my seat wondering what would happen next. I am happy to know the original, as well as the Disney story, had a "happily-ever-after," which is seldom in my opinion. 

   It was interesting how the location was slightly different. I didn't realize the original took place in China, so that was interesting to discover. 

Caption: Aladdin gif obtained from giphy.com

Bibliography: This story is part of the Arabian Nights unit. Story source: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

Reading Part A

This week I read part A of the Arabian Nights unit. I love Aladdin, so I wanted to explore this story unit a little more closely. It opens with an angry Sultan, who was betrayed by his wife to a terrible degree and he orders her to be put to death. I wish I could've known more about what she did to deserve death, but it must have been pretty extreme because the Sultan believed every woman was secretly evil.  He then orders a new bride every day only to have the grand-vizir kill her the next morning. However, one day the grand-vizir's daughter,  Scheherazade, offers herself as the bride and has a plan to remain alive. She begs for her sister to stay with them in the chambers and allow her to tell her stories. The Sultan becomes so engaged in the stories he allows Scheherazade to do this every night, so he is able to hear the end of these stories. I really enjoyed part A of this unit. I thought the introduction was very interesting, and it actually kept me on edge. I thought some of the stories in the middle were slightly dull, but overall I liked the concept of interlacing the stories. The dialogue was easy to follow as well. 
Bibliography: This story is part of the Arabian Nights unit. Story source: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

Caption: Arabian Nights obtained from www.anandasacramento.org

Reading B Notes

I finished up Women Saints today. The stories followed along with the stories from part A. Each story was dedicated to a certain female saint, who deserves a little more notoriety. The language was archaic, and still hard to follow, but I pushed through and found a couple stories I liked. 
The first being Saint Cecilia. 

Caption: Saint Cecilia obtained from deviantart.com

Saint Cecilia is the patron saint of music. As stated in my introduction, I am obsessed with music, so this story immediately jumped out to me. However, maybe I misinterpreted the story because her plotline dealt with her virginity and remaining celibate. I like her story, but it was not what I expected to read. There was a lot of detail in this particular one, too.
The next one I found intriguing was Saint Eugenia. She basically pulled a Mulan and dressed as a man to join a monastery. Surprisingly this one had a bit of a happier than most. She was able to convert her father and avoid death until she was killed by a sword. I thought the plot was entertaining, but the story could've been longer.
Bibliography: The Golden Legend edited by F. S. Ellis (1900).

Week 4 Reading Notes

This week I decided to read about the Women Saints. Although raised Catholic I feel I do not consider myself devout. I wish I knew the less well known biblical stories and not the most popular ones I remember from Bible Study. Thus, this week I chose to divulge into the religious saints, who are lesser known. I noticed a rather consistent pattern of these women being tortured and in arguably gruesome fashions. Of these poor women's stories I read these were the few that stuck out to me:
Saint Juliana
Saint Juliana was a devout Christian. She refused to marry a man who didn't recognize her God and Jesus Christ, even if it meant she had to be tortured. She has a run-in with the devil disguised as an angel, where her strength is tested once again. She suffered martyrdom for the Lord and is now celebrated on the 14th of March. 
I liked her story, but I feel it would've resonated with me more if I was more religious. I am not a fan of the way it was written, overall. Maybe if I do my story this week over it I will reimagine it in more of a modern setting. 
Saint Juliet:
Saint Juliet's story is a true testament to a mother's love. She refused to sacrifice her child and was tortured by the city officials. Her child was then taken from her and killed.

Caption: Saint Juliet obtained from mythfolklore.blogspot.com

I really enjoyed Saint Juliet's story. I think it would be interesting to maybe write another version of this, or maybe relate it back to my own life. 
Overall, I enjoyed learning about all these martyred women who felt so compelled by the word of God they were willing to sacrifice everything for it.

 

Caption: Nike Ad obtained from reuters.com
Bibliography: The Golden Legend edited by F. S. Ellis (1900).

Reading Notes B

I am reading part B of The Fables of Aesop.  It followed the same pattern as The Fables of Aesop part A. A short story was told, followed by the moral of the story. Usually a wholesome message to children. Some of them were really good ones...
Then some of them were funny and didn't really follow suit. For example, The Mule story's message was 
   "Be sure of your pedigree before you boast of it."
Which to me seemed like an odd moral to the story, but maybe the author(s) was short on time and needed to fill the page, or maybe your lineage was a bigger issue in the early 1900s. 
A lot of the stories dealt with trust, and from what I gather you shouldn't trust anyone. The Wolf and the Shepard taught me 
   "Once a wolf always a wolf." 
The Cat the Cock and the Young Mouse dealt with a young mouse seeing a chicken for the first time and being terrified by it, while a cat looked beautiful and trusting. However, as the cat approached the rooster let out a shrill scaring the mouse off. He scurries home to his mother who tells him the cat was the evil in that situation. The young mouse learns to not base trust on appearances. 

Caption: Taylor Swift Look What You Made Me Do gif obtained from tumblr.com

I really enjoyed The Astrologer. As someone who tends to forget to worry about the small things (and pays the price for it), I really liked the overall message. 
   "Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."
Bibliography: author unknown with illustrations by Milo Winter (1919)

Week 3 Reading Notes A

Aesop (Winter): 
   I chose to read Aesop for Children (Winter) just because I've never heard of them, and after the day I've had I need some calming stories with some good morals intertwined with it. 
  Aesop for Children (Winter) contains several short stories, which carry some heavy lessons. These short stories are easy to read, and I enjoy the imagination throughout them. I enjoyed several of the stories. I thought The Ass and His Driver was a peculiar one just because the moral of the story was along the lines of "head the warnings of others and choose the path more followed." Usually, it is encouraged to be head-strong and take the path less traveled even if people tell you it's stupid. Another one I liked a lot was super short, The Lion and the Ass. A lion walks with his head high through the forest, and when an Ass jeered at him he did not spur it on by lashing out. Instead, he simply kept on his way. Essentially blocking out the haters. 
The last story I found intriguing was The Boys and the Frogs. One day, a group of boys was playing in a pond and skipping rocks. They didn't realize their rock skipping was hurting a family of frogs. The moral of the story is to make sure your fun doesn't come at the expense of others' happiness. I was always raised to kill with kindness, so this one struck a chord with me. In addition, as so many people have unfortunately experienced, including me, it is not funny to be the punch line of a joke. 
   I like the simplicity of all of these stories. They are all wholesome and offer some valuable advice. 

Caption: The Lion and the Ass. Obtained from storyplanets.com
Bibliography: The Aesop for Children, Unknown author with illustrations by Milo Winter (1919).