L Christina M

The second day of lessons was very similar to the first. I don't have too many notes for this second day, as they would probably be almost identical to yesterday. I don't necessarily plan on making any of these stories into a longer version either, but did appreciate being able to read these tales and relate them to other stores I've read this semester or even prior. 1. My favorite is probably The Three Goslings. 2. It has a lot of dialogue which is always great for expanding stories and characters. (The Three Goslings) Bibliography: April 24, 2013 The Three Goslings

I tend to look for readings that are familiar to me or that I know I've read before. This week the Word "Rapunzel" and "Sleeping Beauty" caught my eye. I was instantly interested. Growing up, Rapunzel was my favorite princess and I knew that I would enjoy this reading. Here are a few things I learned: 1. These stories are written in paragraph format. The dialogue is not really separate from the action and instead it seems more like an essay than a story. 2. They are quite long. 3. Maybe I can retell a story but format it in a different way to make it easier or more eye-catching for the reader. (Rapunzel) Bibliography: Rapunzel

I have alot of experience with Aesop's Fables. In elementary school, I attended a private school that participated in a speech competition every year with other private schools in our state. I participated about four or five years in a row and almost every year someone in our group performed one of Aesop's Fables. The group as a whole often watched others rehearse and studied everyone else's speeches so I was able to research and learn about these fables whether I was performing them or not. When I saw that I had the opportunity to reread and brush up on some things I had forgotten, I definitely jumped right in. Here are some things I noted: 1. The Boy Who Cried Wolf is a popular story but this is written in a very simplified and abbreviated fashion. 2. Maybe I should attempt to rewrite a series of stories in this same poetic form. 3. Each story is told in prose form. Many of them don't go beyond three or four stanzas. To make my own story long enough this week I mi...

The second half of these stories has what I have nicknamed "explanation tales". Basically meaning a tale of how something mundane has come to take place. For instance, the first story in this second collection is called "Why Hummingbirds Drink Only Dew". Stories like these really interest me as well. Between this collection and last, I have really grown to enjoy the stories included in this Tejas collection.  Here are a few things I noted: 1. There are lot go animals in this collection just like the others, however, they tend to start away from the larger more popular animals like bears and tigers and instead take a look at the smaller, more commonly overlook animals such as fish, dogs, and hummingbirds. 2. Maybe I'll look into retelling "Why The Dogs Ears Flop". 3. These stories are relatively short as well. They don't reach beyond 600 words. 4. Try to keep my own retelling short as well to match up with the style of the original stories. ...

I love that this story originates in Texas and love even more that it is told from the viewpoint of children. I plan to retell the one fo the stories from the viewpoint of a child. I think it gives the story a unique perspective and shows everything form a simpler, less sophisticated point of view. This can be quite refreshing after reading stories told from an overly-academic view which is what we as college student are used to. Here are a few things I noticed in these stories: 1. The vocabulary is much simpler than the stories we've read thus far. 2. Maybe I could tell the same stories and just change the animals or keep it the same and just retell it in my own words? 3. I really like Grandmother River's Trick. 4. I'm noticing that a lot of myths are often about cunning, trickster-type characters. This is how big I imagined the river to grow to: (BBC) Bibliography: Grandmother River's Trick Noah NG 18 April 2013

The second half of the readings focused more on the Coyote then any of the other animals. Even the majority of the titles have the Coyote in the title. I was able to find another really interesting "creation" story that I really hope to be able to tell in one of the weeks to come. This one was called "How The Bluebird Got It's Color". Here are a few notes about it. 1. The story includes instances of poems as well. 2. The main character is named Bluebird. 3. I like the idea of breaking up the paragraphs with poems or sonnets rather than just having one continuous story. It might give the reader a longer attention span and even hold that attention a little longer. 4. There is also dialogue included. (thefool.com) Bibliography: How The Bluebird Got Its Color A Pima Legend

I used to live in California with my family so was very interested in learning a little more about the original settlers. I hope to move back there after I graduate and love that I'll have even more knowledge about it this time around. As I've mentioned before, I absolutely love creation stories. Out of all the stories I read, the Creation of Man story definitely stuck out the most to me. The notes below primarily relate to it: 1. The story is similar to the Biblical creation story that I am most familiar with. It starts off with the creation of the world and then ends on the creation of man. 2. Animals are the primary characters in this story, rather than a divine deity. 3. More cunning creature just like Anansi: Coyote. 4. Maybe try and model my story so that I just take the character of Coyote and put him into an Anansi tale. (Dennis Davenport Photography) Bibliography: Native-languages.org 1998-2015

The continuation of the Anansi stories starts early on with the story of Anansi and the Tar Baby. I think out of all the stories I read on day 2, this was definitely my favorite and one that I am really interested in recreating. Here are a few notes I made about this story: - Just like in all of the other stories, this story has ALOT of Jamaican dialect and colloquial terms. Maybe tell another story just using this type of dialect or take these stories already in the dialect and retell them without it? - Tiger makes another appearance. A common character I've seen weaved into a lot of these different stories. - SO much dialogue is utilized in these stories! - The stories are split into what seems like chapters each headed with a different subtitle. - Just discovered that this film is also a Disney book but with a different twist, maybe this is something I can recreate. (alchetron.com) Bibliography: sacred-texts.com Elizabeth Warren Beckwith 1924

For the second week of Asian and African stories I decided to focus on another set of Anansi stories. I forgot just how much I used to enjoy sitting around the fireplace listening to my uncle tell us these stories while drinking hot chocolate around Christmas time. As I looked through the list and saw that there was another set of stories about Anansi, I just new that I had to continue in that direction. Here are a few things I learned: - I love the Jamaican dialect that is incorporated into the story. It doesn't take long for the reader to adjust and definitely adds a whole other element to the storytelling. - These stories are told almost entirely in dialogue. Maybe try and recreate one of these stories using the same idea. - The story about the Rabbit and Anansi were definitely my favorite. I really like the relationship between the two and feel as if I might be able to really come up with some interesting characters to reflect them in my own story on Thursday. - There are ...

The continuation of the story starts with Siddhartha's departure from his father's palace. The story immediately begins to employ dialogue between Siddhartha and Kanthaka, a common device I've noticed being utilized in the story of the Buddha. Also, personification is continues in this section as well stating closer to the beginning of the story, "Kanthaka was a magnificent animal...". Here are some other notes I took while reading through these next few stories: 1. I hope to keep the utilization of dialogue consistent in my stories as well but do hope to engage other forms of language. The dialogue is very heavy in this story and although effective can be somewhat difficult to read for long periods of time. 2. Imagery is very prevalent in these parts as well, especially "Siddhartha Deserted By His First Disciples". 3. There is a large section in the above mentioned part about food. Maybe it would be a good idea to change the foods in my story and ma...

Growing up I did not know much about Buddha. Luckily, a friend of mine in high school and her family were Buddhist and I had the opportunity to learn more about Buddha himself as well as the traditions and customs of the faith. I find it so interesting how so many faiths can exist around us. I went to high school in an area where multiculturalism was very prevalent. With different cultural backgrounds comes different religions and often this can be a huge cause of conflict in many areas. However, where I lived there was such a large understanding of the importance of respect and tolerance. I loved having the opportunity to learn a little about Buddhism in high school through my friends experiences and was so excited to learn more when I saw that this was a topic in our reading for the week. Here are some additional things I learned about the background of Buddha: 1. Queen Maya is an influential part of the development and early emergence of Buddha. 2. The story of Siddhartha is told...

Part B of the reading begins with direct details relating to Achilles. The first reading "The Rising of Achilles" details the gruesome nature of the battle for the body of Patroclus. I really appreciate the detailed imagery that the story includes, albeit a bit gory. In my own story I hope to include imagery similar to this. I believe that imagery is a fantastic way of drawing the reader in and allowing them to feel apart of the story as much as possible. Furthermore, I would like to point out the characterization in this story. In one of my other classes, we are learning about character spines, or personality traits, facts, themes, and events that happened in a character's life that dictates the way they act, feel, and respond in certain situations. I feel as if this story does that incredible well. Paints a clear and distinct image of each character through the dialogue and actions. Here are a few notable facts about the story: 1. Attempting to gather the body of Patr...

I had never read Homer's Iliad before this specific assignment. I haven't always been a big fan of mythological stories and tend to steer clear of them in my own personal reading. But I was pleasantly surprised by this story. Homer's Iliad is a story about the Trojan War (I'm sure we've all heard of this story in high school or even middle school history) but is told in such a different and unique way focusing directly on the Greek character, Achilles, and Trojan character, Hector. Here are few key facts: - The story begins with a quarrel and right of the bat the readers are able to sense the immense amount of tension between the characters. - Achilles is the first to state that out of anger he refuses to participate in the war. - The King of Sparta's daughter's name is Helen. - Helen marries a man names Melenaüs. - When Helen's father dies, Melenaüs became King of Sparta. - Paris ran off with Helen. - Menelaus and the men who made a promise to t...

This has always been a really interesting story to me. Growing up, I really liked learning about David but often times this portion of his life is skimmed over in private schools in an attempt to shelter the kids or minimize a negative view of such a popular biblical figure. But, Bathsheba was as much a part of his life as Goliath was. I think it's important to bee informed of every part of the stories rather than just the prettiest part. For those of you who might not know, at the time that David was with Bathsheba he was in fact a married man. In the bible, adultery is considered one of the greatest sins. The bible reiterates multiple times that David experienced "love at first sight". Here are some additional facts that I did not know before this read: - Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah, another prominent biblical figure. - Bathsheba ended up pregnant with David's child. - Uriah died. - At that point, Bathsheba wed David. (David and Bathsheba) Bibliogr...

These are stories that I have read before. My dad is a pastor and therefore we grew up hearing these stories and learned a lot about the background surrounding them. Regardless of my previous experiences with the specific story and Noah, I was pleasantly surprised by some of my findings that I have never hear do before. For instance, I did not know of the connection between Noah and Adan and Eve, regardless of their obvious relation, you don;t hear much in Sunday school about how each story is somewhat intertwined into one larger anecdote. For me, being able to connect the dots and go from story to story was really interesting. I actually ended up contacting my dad regarding some of the information I was learning. He says that often times stories like these are simplified in order to make it easier for individuals to understand. Having gone to seminary, all that I told him he already knew but he was still very happy that I was having the opportunity to gain a greater knowledge of some ...

I really enjoyed the Supernatural story included on the list. Ghost stories are a common practice in many culture around the world. I am very interested in how these stories connect to each unique culture and how they utilize them to further customs, develop traditions, and educate their youth. This story specifically is about a man fighting a ghost. Not necessarily a common practice, but incredibly interesting, nonetheless. I think including suspense or even horror in stories is a great way to attract a certain audience. Not everyone will enjoy these types of stories but there are always a few devoted individuals who really, really appreciate the horror, thriller, and suspense genre. I'd also light to pay homage to the incredible use of imagery in this story. I think utilization of imagery is important in every genre but using it in horror allows the reader to out themselves into the story. Knowing what the characters are feeling, seeing, smelling, touching, and hearing is a g...

Choose from CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units for Weeks 3 and 4. Week 3: Adam and Eve Week 4: Noah Choose from MIDDLE EASTERN and/or INDIAN units for Weeks 5 and 6. Week 5: Life of the Buddha Week 6: Arabian Nights Choose from ASIAN and/or AFRICAN units for Weeks 7 and 9. [Week 8 is review week.] Week 7: West Africa Week 9: Jamaica Choose from NATIVE AMERICAN units for Weeks 10 and 11. Week 10: Cherokee Week 11: Marriage Tales Choose from BRITISH and/or CELTIC units for Weeks 12 and 13. Week 12: Robin Hood Week 13: Alice in Wonderland Choose from EUROPEAN units for Weeks 14 and 15. Week 14: Italian Week 15: Hans Christian Andersen I love that we have the opportunity to choose our own path of learning. I am very excited for week 7 and 9. Since we were very little my uncle would tell us tales of the Spider Anansi. It has been a while since I have heard these tales told again and I am so excited to dive into those lessons. Additionally, I think it will be very interesting to look i...