Week 15: Online Education Review

I've had quite some experience with online education. Before I started attending OU, I received my Associates in Applied Science for Accounting at Tulsa Community College, entirely through online courses. I really enjoyed taking all my online classes because it allowed me more time to work, as well as go to school. The most beneficial thing was probably that you can work at your own pace for most of the classes. It really gives you some freedom with your education. I would definitely take more classes if they were available online. I sort of wish OU and even University of Central Oklahoma offered more online classes for the upper division accounting requirements, but I guess you can't have everything.

(Midge cat and computer)

Week 15: Gen. Ed. Review

My experience with General Education has been overall pretty good at OU. I really like how they offered a multitude of interesting classes to pick from. I think the Humanities classes that I've taken, have probably been some of my favorite classes here at OU. I think my Gen. Ed. classes were just a fun addition to my degree. I think I've definitely taken some valuable information from all of my Gen. Ed. classes. I think my favorite classes have probably been Anthropology, MythFolklore, and Epics of India. They were all really great classes, and I enjoyed the work in all of them.

(Knowledge is power)

Week 15: College Writing Review

I am an accounting major here at the university. Although it may not seem like it, writing plays a big role in my career choice. I need to be able to write professionally to clients, as well as on memos and letters to the IRS or Oklahoma Tax Commission, etc. I've only taken one really writing-intensive class for my major, which was Business Writing here at OU. Other than that, I've taken a couple of humanities classes, much like this one, that focuses on writing. I think my courses have helped me in being able to communicate better through writing. I also believe that they have helped me to improve my writing and grammar, as well as expand my vocabulary. For this class, I believe that the most helpful writing that I have done is probably creating my Storybook. There is a lot that goes into those storybooks, and sometimes writing entirely about one thing is more difficult than people think. It has definitely helped me to become more creative. At this college, I probably couldn't point out exactly what my most meaningful writing experience was. I have a terrible memory, and there have been a lot of instances of writing.

(Keep calm and blog)

Week 14: Extra Reading Diary

For my extra reading this week, I decided to take a look into Brothers Grimm (Crane). I enjoyed the Hunt version so much, and I also wanted to get a look at the story with Snow-White. I was thinking that maybe this one would end up being the version that I have come to know. Come to find out, this was the version of Snow-White that I knew. At the end of the first section, the story goes on to tell about Snow-White finding a little house with seven spots at a table and seven beds. I thought this was a very interesting part because it kind of had a Goldilocks feel to it. She ate a little from each plate, and then she tried to find a bed to lay in. Unfortunately, it wasn't until the seventh bed that she got comfy enough to fall asleep. Luckily, the dwarves weren't as angry as the bears were in Goldilocks. They let Snow-White sleep through the night because they did not want to wake her. The ending was a little different than I remember, but it was nice to get a different side of the story. I couldn't believe how many times the wicked queen tried to kill Snow-White. She wasn't very good at it. It was nice that Snow-White always came back alive. I was a little surprised that just the moving of her coffin helped the apple to get out of her throat. I kind of like the kiss version better, but that's just me.

(Snow-White)

Week 14: Reading Diary B

After reading the first half of Brothers Grimm (Hunt), I was really looking forward to finishing the unit. Especially since it had a story named Snow-White and Rose-Red. I was very curious to find out if this was the version of Snow White that I have come to know, or if it was someone entirely different. After reading into the story a bit, I soon realized that it was not a story I have come to know. It was quite different, but I very much enjoyed it. Snow-White and Rose-Red definitely had some fun personalities. It was nice that they were so different, but somewhat similar at the same time. There mother was very lucky to have those to girls around the house. I personally did not know what to expect when the bear came into the story. I thought that he may have been tricking the small family into letting him inside their cottage, only to betray their trust later on. It turns out that I was wrong. He was a gentle bear needing shelter from the snow. I also thought that he was just guarding his treasures from the evil dwarf, but there was more to the story. I thought it was really neat that after killing the dwarf, the bear turned back into a Prince. The two girls were definitely really lucky for that bear to come to their door. He brought them a lot of happiness, and in the end, they both were married to the Prince and his brother. It was a really sweet story.

(Snow-White and Rose-Red by Jessie Willcox Smith, 1911)

Week 14: Reading Diary A

This week I decided to take a look into Brothers Grimm (Hunt). The overview of the unit intrigued me. I have heard of Hansel and Grethel before, but I was definitely looking forward to how this unit portrayed that story. Hansel and Grethel was the first story I read in this unit. This story was very long, but I enjoyed it very much. I couldn't stop reading. The story pretty much went how I knew it would. It was nice to get more details from the story. It was nice to get more details from the story. I thought that was very rude of the stepmother to convince their father to abandon them in the woods. It was a shame that Hansel didn't just pick up the pebbles as he was going back to the house on the first attempt to get rid of the children. I didn't know that the parents tried to take Hansel and Grethel out in the woods two different times. That stepmother of theirs seemed like a real monster. After they found the gingerbread house, I couldn't believe how many sweets they consumed. I like sweets as much as the next person, but if that was all that I had eaten in days, I probably would have gotten very sick. Fortunately for the children, the witch couldn't see very far. Both Hansel and Grethel tricked her at different times in the story. Both the children seemed to be good at improvising in this terrible situation. I liked the added bit at the end of the story with the duck. I thought that was really cute.

(Hansel and Gretel)

Week 13: Extra Reading Diary

For my extra reading diary this week, I thought it would be fun to look into the Italian Popular Tales unit. The description underneath the length really persisted me to look into it. I wanted to read the Italian version of Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty. I thought it would be a lot of fun, and I definitely wanted to know if it's any different from the version that I know of both of those stories. After looking over the chapters, I was a little confused at first since I did not see those stories that attracted me to the unit in the first place, but was relieved that the description mentioned what stories were equivalents to those. The first story I read was Zelinda and the Monster, which was much like Beauty and the Beast. There were some aspects that were huge changes in the story, such as the location of where the location of the Beast was. The Beast, or in this story the Dragon, could not leave the garden in the story. So, unlike a palace, the main setting was in a garden. Another difference, which I already sort of went over, was that instead of the beast that we know of in the story, the beast was a dragon. The story was pretty similar other than those aspects though. I really enjoyed this one, as well as the others I read. All of the stories seemed similar to stories I already know, but had their fun little differences to make it an interesting read.

(Rosenrot)

Week 13: Reading Diary B

For my second reading diary this week, I will be finishing up my thoughts on Lang's European Fairy Tales I. After reading the first half of the unit, I was really excited to finish it up. There seemed to be a lot of fun titles that had me really intrigued before I started. The Death of the Sun-Hero was probably one of my favorites from the second half of this unit. The name, itself, was very interesting. The Prince in the story really seemed like something else. By twenty, he was the greatest hero in the kingdom. He must have been quite a catch. After reading on a little, the dream that the Queen and King had seemed kind of too good to be true. It made me think that something bad might happen at the end of the story. The Prince ventured out to find a Tree of the Sun. Only by protection this tree for nine days and nights, would the Prince be able to call himself the Sun-Hero. He had to fend the tree off from getting damaged by wolves. It was a pretty difficult task to defend a tree for more than eight nights. The Prince definitely needed to sleep. I ended up being right after all though. The tree in the story got damaged and the Prince was sentenced to death. It took a while for that order to be carried out, but in the end, the Prince still got what he deserved. Maybe he shouldn't have taken on the name Sun-Hero without earning it first.

(The cool sun)

Week 13: Reading Diary A

This week I decided to take a look at Lang's European Fairy Tales I. Over this semester, I've gotten to take a look at a multitude of units involving fairy tales. This one was no different. I was really interested in seeing what the European fairy tales hold, and whether I could find different stories to which I haven't heard before. Overall, my reading of the first half of this unit was very good. I did come across one story that was my favorite from the first half of the unit.

The first story I really liked was the very first story in the unit, The Master Cat, or Puss in Boots. The very first sentence of the story made me chuckle a little:

"There was a miller who left no more estate to the three sons he had than his mill, his ass, and his cat."

I mean who wouldn't find that funny. This definitely painted a nice picture for the story. As the story went on, it got a little more into the son who acquired the cat. He, of course, thought the cat was going to be completely useless to him. The cat overheard his owner say this and decided to make a case for himself. He asked for a bag and pair of boots. Then he would prove himself to his owner. I don't want to spoil the entire story, so I figured the rest can be left up to your imagination. Cats are very cunning, so his statement was a little peculiar to me. He could very well be telling the truth though.

(Puss-in-Boots)

Week 12: Extra Reading Diary

For my extra reading diary this week, I decided to read the Nursery Rhymes unit. I always loved nursery rhymes growing up, so I was very excited to see how this unit plays out. I was really interested to see if they might be the same stories I grew up with, or new stories. After reading a little bit, I soon found out that I didn't know most of the stories written, but it was fun exploring the new stories. I came across one story that I enjoyed very much. I was very happy to come across a familiar story, Humpty Dumpty. It was written a little differently than how I know the words to be. That was pretty much expected. I kind of liked this version a little more. It seemed to have an older feel to it. This story was part of the riddles chapter. It was very interesting reading all the different riddle nursery rhymes. They are really riddles because some of them seem to make no sense at all. They were a lot of fun to read. Another story out of this chapter that I really liked was the one written about all the legs. At first when I was reading it, I couldn't make sense of it at all. I thought it was just some jumbled words. The little piece of information really put everything into perspective for me. It was interesting to see how one specific word could have so many different meanings when adding different numbers into the mix.

(Humpty Dumpty)

Week 12: Reading Diary B

In honor of St. Patrick's day this week, I was excited to read on in the Celtic Fairy Tales unit. The story labeled Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree was probably one of my favorite for the second half of the reading this week. The name is what intrigued me from the start. I really wanted to know how the gold and silver would come to play in this story. After reading the first few sentences, I soon found out that the story wasn't actually about trees, but gold and silver referred to actual people. I couldn't really believe the story turned so nasty so quick. It really goes to show that jealousy makes people do awful things. Sometimes in the eyes of jealousy, not even your family is safe. The mother, Silver-tree, definitely did not like the someone referred to her daughter as the most beautiful queen in the world. The queen took jealousy to a whole other level after hearing this. Pretty much to the point where she wished to kill her daughter. This definitely made the story very interesting. The mother tried so hard to kill her daughter, but did not succeed. I think the item that completely surprised me in the story was the second wife coming into play. It was very genius though, and worked out perfectly. The second wife had so much love for her husband and the first wife. I was pleased to find out what a nice person she was, and that she fought to keep Gold-tree alive.

(Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree)

Week 12: Reading Diary A

Since I am doing this assignment early, and in honor of St. Patrick's Day, I choose to read the Celtic Fairy Tales unit for Week 12. I love reading fairy tales, and as soon as I read the description of this particular unit, I knew I wanted to read it. This unit did seem sort of short, but nevertheless, it was a good read. The first story I really enjoyed in this unit was Connla and the Fairy Maiden. I loved the idea of the maiden being free from death and old age. The way this story is portrayed, the maiden really seems magical and mystic. The maiden definitely did not have to work very hard to impress and make her mark on Connla, the king's son. With her charm, she was able to create a longing in him that no one had ever seen before. It was only normal that the King thought that this was an evil witches doing, and turned to his druid to be rid of her. Unfortunately for them, she was able to return near the end of the story. Only she could satisfy Connla's longing, and she finally got her chance to do it. I really wonder if they ever went off to that joyful land that the maiden promised Connla, or if it was just a trick. The mystery of the story definitely keeps you thinking, even after the story is done. There are a million possibilities for how the story could have gone after the ending.

(Connla and the Fairy Maiden)

Week 11: Reading Diary B

After reading the first half of the Aesop's Fables (English) unit, I was very excited to read on. After looking over the list of chapters when I first started, I was looking forward to reading the stories in the chapter labeled Dogs. I, of course have a dog, and the idea of reading tales about dogs sounded very interesting. The second story, the Hungry Dogs, was a good read. I think the moral of the story was very interesting as well. Thinking that something in the distance is treasure could definitely lead to doom. You definitely need to know what it is you're after, and not just assume that it is something good. There are plenty of tricks out there, and you definitely need to be careful in trying to avoid them.

The second story in this chapter I really enjoyed was the Faithful House Dog. I don't know why, but just by the title, this story made me think of my own dog, Cobi. I was very excited to read on. By looking at the title, I was definitely thinking that the story had to do with a lesson of faithfulness of some sort. I was intrigued to find out how that test would pan out. After reading the story, I could only hope that my dog would be as faithful as the one in the story. He didn't try and take the bribe from the intruder, which was a very good call. He protected his owner, and by that he is very loyal. This story definitely showed a lesson of loyalty, and although it was short, it got its point across.

(Cobi)

Week 11: Reading Diary A

This week, I decided to go with what I like best and read the Aesop's Fables (English) unit. I enjoyed the other Aesop's units that I read so figured this one really wouldn't disappoint. From first glance over the stories listed, I was very excited to get to read some more stories involving animals, but was also very intrigued to see stories about gods. The first story I really enjoyed was the chapter labeled Foxes. If you read any of my earlier posts, you would have ran across that I have a fox tattoo on my upper thigh. I think foxes are really cool animals, even though I do love most animals, and I was excited to read some stories about them. All of the stories in this chapter seemed to have different themes behind them.

My favorite was probably the one about the fox and the dragon. Ever since Game of Thrones, dragons have been a bit of an obsession, so who wouldn't like to get two of their favorite things into one story. This story was a bit hard to read, but I definitely liked the rhyming. It was a good thing that their was a summary of some sort before reading the story. It definitely made it a lot easier to understand. I like how the fox was portrayed as a character with wisdom, especially since foxes are usually portrayed as such. It was funny to find out that the dragon was foolish. There is really no surprise there when taking into account how dragons guard their riches. Overall, I really enjoyed this story.

(Fox)

Week 10: Reading Diary B

After reading what I had so far, I was extremely excited to finish up Eskimo Folk Tales. I sort of think that these stories have been my favorite thus far this semester. They are fairly easy to read, plus its very interesting to read stories that have to deal with Native America. From the second half of this reading, I was very interested in The Wife Who Lied. From the name of the story, it seems like this would be relatable in the real world. The first sentence was really what hooked me in. I mean how can you not get intrigued when you see that the individual in the story came from a tribe of man-eaters.

After reading on, this story seemed almost kind of graphic, but in a good way. Sometime for me, the more graphic and horror like, the better. I couldn't believe that almost everyone was killed in the village. Those three that hid were very lucky and I guess you would say smart for not getting caught by the killers. I was also kind of taken back that those three who lived worked so hard on arrows that their bones were showing. They were definitely dedicated to the cause of getting back at their enemies. Unfortunately, I do not think they did enough work for the hut was taken and the men were killed. In addition, those women who lived were taken and forced upon new husbands. I was very surprised that the lying wife died in the end, but it does make sense. This story definitely tells others that you should not lie.

(Inuit village near Frobisher Bay, from Hall's Arctic Researches and Life Among the Esquimaux, 1865)

Week 10: Reading Diary A

For this week, I decided it would be fun to read Eskimo Folk Tales. It sounded like a fun topic, especially since who wouldn't love eskimo's. The first story that I really enjoyed reading was The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son. The name itself interested me to begin with. I always enjoy reading about animals, a I've said time and time before. I think it was really great that the old woman took the bear in as her own. I was actually kind of surprised that the townspeople around her took so kindly to the bear; especially when he got so big that he made their children cry. Luckily after becoming too big, he had the adults to play with. It was really neat that the bear could live in unison with the townspeople and his foster mother.

The part of the story that I was sort of sad about was that the bear having to leave his home. I understood that he killed the man because the man probably tried to harm him first, but I don't necessarily think that he should have left his home. I guess the foster mother was just trying to protect him the best she could. I mean it does make sense that someone would come and try to kill the bear for revenge. This was a really cool folk tale, and probably my favorite out of all that I read so far in the Eskimo Folk Tales. I am really excited to read the second part.

(Brown bear cub head)

Week 8: Commenting Review Week

So, in all honesty, I didn't look at any of my comments until this week. After writing a post, I don't really go back to look on what people think of it. I know that that is probably not a great attitude for the class, but that's how it's been. After reading some of the comment I received, I thought that they were all very nice and had good input. I don't believe I'm making good connections with other students in this class through blogs, because all in all, I haven't really had any back and forth conversations. It's really hard to create connections through an online course. I think the comment wall is probably and really good way to fix that, but if there's no effort put in, then it kind of doesn't work. I don't really know how you could improve on this. Maybe if each student was just assigned a buddy for the entire duration of the class, instead of changing every week, students would get a better chance to connect. This would also keep feedback consistent for the storybooks and blog posts.

(Baby Bells. Personal Photo)

Week 8: Writing Review Week

I really don't know what has been my greatest writing success so far in this class. I guess it might be that I'm writing at all. I think it's really helped that I'm actually interested in what I am writing. For instance, I am very much into my storybook for this class. It's something that I feel I can actually write about, and it just makes it that much easier. As I was looking back on my old storytelling posts, I noticed that I actually didn't retell very many stories this semester. It's kind of hard to figure out what my good strategies are when I really wasn't doing the assignment. I do think some weeks it was easier than others to retell a story in my own words. It was very easy to retell stories from units that I really enjoyed, but harder for units that I didn't necessarily understand the language.

(Abandoned Pet 26. Source: deviantart)

Week 8: Reading Review Week

So, I'd like to start off by saying that I am not a very big fan of reading in general. I did though, very much enjoy the reading experiences that I've had thus far in this class. Although it may take some major effort on my part sometimes, I definitely got something out of reading every unit that I chose. I think the thing I like most about our readings is that we, as the student, get a choice of what we want to read. I read many things over the past 7 weeks, and enjoyed almost every one of what I read. In particular I was very impressed by the Aesop Winter and Aesop Jacobs units. I thought it was extremely fun to read about animals in different contexts. I always love stories with animals, and its fun that they always have lessons to go with them.

In all honestly, while reading, I have no note-taking strategies. I really just try to read through all the stories and then sort of pick what I want to write about while I'm reading. It makes it easier that I can just read the stories, and then, by memory, go back and write a blog post on what I enjoyed the most. I would definitely say that after looking back on my reading diaries they help me recall a lot. I don't have a very good memory, especially since I already forgot what I read last week. Being able to go back and click on the Reading Diary label was so much help for this week. I wouldn't be able to pick out what I read without it.

(My Fox Tattoo. Personal Photo)

URL Shortener Tech Tip

Original Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Little_Mermaid

Shortened Link: http://goo.gl/rWJt1t

Week 7:Reading Diary A

This week I chose a unit from the African Traditions category. I was quite interested to read Brer Rabbit. I always enjoy reading stories about animals, and from first glance this unit definitely seemed like that kind of book. After reading into the unit, it was a little difficult to understand. I definitely got the gist though. Besides the difficult language, the first story I really loved was Why Mr. Possum Loves Peace. So even though I had a difficult time understanding this story, I believe that Mr. Possum and Mr. Coon were friends. I thought it was hilarious when Mr. Possum pretended to be dead. Mr. Coon thought that Mr. Possum was a coward for this act, but he wasn't. He was simply trying to put fear in another. What better way to put fear into someone than to pretend to be dead!

The second story that seemed really interesting was Mr. Wolf Makes a Failure. I always get a kick out of reading stories about wolves and foxes, so it was very fun to read about Mr. Fox. This story actually seemed sort of morbid if I got part of it correctly. So, what I believe that happened was that Mr. Fox and Mr. Wolf decided to play a trick on Mr. Rabbit. I think the general idea was for Mr. Wolf to go to Mr. Rabbit's house and pretend that Mr. Fox was dead. Although, I sort of don't think that he completely convinced the rabbit. It was a good try though.

(Gray wolf howling)

Week 6: Storytelling

The Sun Goddess

(The Sun goddess emerging out of a cave, bringing sunlight back to the universe)

Up in the heavens, lived the beautiful Sun Goddess. She sat day and night, in a beautiful palace in the sky, with her maids, deciding the fates of the world below. They were in charge of the joys, as well as the misfortunes. Everything was weaved together in one giant mess.

One day the Goddess and her maids were sitting in silence while working away when they heard a loud roar in the distance. The Sun Goddess knew only one creature could make a sound so frightening, the fire demon. Not long after they heard this, sharp nails started to scrape the roof of the palace. Fire would be inevitable. The palace was doomed to go up in flames, and of course its occupants would go with it. Scared for her life, and what might become of it from the fiery flames, the Goddess fled. While chaos surrounded the eight of them, they quickly made their way out of the palace. A secret passage way took them outside the gates of heaven.

The Goddess of course did not stop here, for once the dragon realized that she was not in the rubble, the dragon would not stop until it took her life. The Sun Goddess flew down to the deepest dark parts of the earth, where she retreated to a cave hidden within the vast blue ocean. Too afraid to face the world, for her death would be soon to follow, the Goddess hid there for a great period of time.

After some time, the Goddess of Laughter soon came looking for her. The Sun Goddess was still hesitant to leave her place of comfort. The Goddess of Laughter thought for a moment. After a pause, she began to tell the Sun Goddess of a beautiful new princess that would soon grace everyone with her presence. She began to add that she was fairer than anyone that anyone had laid his or her eyes on before. The Sun Goddess began to fill with rage. She would let no one take her place in heaven. She stormed out of her shelter and fled back up to the sky, the fire demon awaiting her arrival. With all the rage she contained, she defeated the dragon with one stroke of a sword. Victorious in the fight, she returned to her throne to continue things as they left off.

Author’s Note: I decided to write my story based on the the Miraculous Mirror the Japanese Mythology unit. The original story was included in the "Romance of Old Japan" by E.W. Champney and F. Champney in 1917. I don’t believe I changed too much of the story line. I did want to keep the idea of the Sun Goddess and the dragon, but sort of wanted to elaborate and change some items. I wanted to build up a little more on the dragon that scared the Sun Goddess from her post, as well as her retreat from danger. I decided against including the mirror, but instead kept the rage that fueled her to return to her throne.

Week 6: Reading Diary B

For my reading diary this week I decided to read Japanese Mythology. After reading the first half of this unit, I was very excited to finish things up. I've always been very interested in mythology, as well as the whole god and goddess aspect intertwined with it. It was nice to see how these items are displayed in asian culture. The first story that I really enjoyed reading was the Labors of Yamato - the Grass-Cleaving Sword. Honestly when I first saw this title, I did not know what to expect. This story was full of suspense and I just wanted to keep reading more. Obviously, after reading the story, the name was quite literal with the grass-cleaving sword part. Yamato did really mow down the grass with his sword, luckily creating a safety area within a blaze. This was so interesting to read. I honestly thought the princess came out of no where, but it was a very nice addition.

(Yamamoto Takeru no mikoto between burning grass)

The second story I really enjoyed was yet another story about Yamato, the Labors of Yamato - the Dragon.  I was really excited to get to this story, especially since I do have a little obsession with dragons. You can definitely thank Game of Thrones for that. I thought that it was already going bad when Yamato decided to go and punish the sorceress. Nothing ever goes to plan when you want to do that. As usual, the sorceress fled and became a dragon. This seems very typical for these kinds of stories, but also very entertaining.

Week 6: Reading Diary A

For this week I decided to read the Japanese Mythology unit. I've always been a fan of asian culture, and definitely was interested in reading this particular unit. The first story that really caught my eye was the Miraculous Mirror. I really enjoyed how it started off. I thought the fact that it included the Sun Goddess was pretty cool. I thought it was very interesting how everything bad was woven together with something good by the Goddess. It was a little confusing to read at first, but after looking at it a second time, the story seemed to have made more sense. It was very sad that the Sun Goddess was pretty much run out of her home, to go to the deepest darkest place she could find to hide. If I were up against a dragon, I would probably do the same thing.

The second story that I really enjoyed was the first part of the Heaven-Descended. The name was what really caught my attention. I thought it would be interesting to read about the heaven that is involved in Japanese mythology. It was really cool there was another reference to the sun Goddess. I think my absolute favorite part of the story, for some reason or another, was the rainbow bridge. I've always loved rainbows, and it's really cool that the heaven prince descended on it. It was really neat how this story had a lot to do with princes and princesses. I honestly wasn't expecting that from reading the other stories.

(Rainbow Bridge)

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Week 5: Extra Reading Diary

For my extra reading this week, I decided to look into the first half of Twenty-two Goblins. The name was what first intrigued me. The readings from the units this week haven't exactly been what I was expecting, so I was very interested to start this unit. Overall, the first half of this unit was extremely interesting and very entertaining. Since it is close to Valentine's Day, I did very much like reading the Three Lovers. The name itself seemed pretty straight forward. The story was a little more in depth, and it was great! I was not thinking of that exact outcome for the third youth to get her as his wife. Once I actually thought about it, it definitely made more sense. It was crazy that this girl had three worshipers, and was very sad that she died. Luckily, her death did decide who would ultimately be her husband. I did very much enjoy the King's decision on who treated her like a lover.

(the goblin in the tree)

The second story that I really enjoyed was Food, Women, and Cotton. This was a very interesting story and somewhat complicated, as well as confusing. It was a little hard to read. In all, the reader was suppose to declare who was the most clever out of the specialist of food, women, and cotton. I was thoroughly confused by the end of this story. After reading it the second time, it definitely made more sense. All the sons forgot about their duty to their father, and were instead arguing about why they couldn't carry a turtle. In the end, they all forget about the turtle and ruin their father's sacrifice.

Week 5: Reading Diary B

It was really nice to finish up reading Folktales of Bengal. I really enjoyed the first story I read. As I mentioned in the first reading diary this week, I really like stories about ghosts. Folktales of Bengal has definitely been introducing me to different kinds of stories this week. A Ghostly Wife was definitely one of those stories. It seems like a lot of the ghost stories I've read this week involve a ghost impersonating someone else. Luckily this time, someone noticed the change, and that the ghost was in fact not the brahman's wife. In the end, they did get the woman back, and the ghost back to her tree. I liked the ending of this story the best I think.

The second story that really interested me was the Ghost who was Afraid of being Bagged. The barber's wife was very upset that she lived a widow's life. She thought that they should have way more money than what they did. The barber went out one night and came across a ghost. This was a very interesting event, especially since the ghost was wanting to kill the barber, but the barber was very clever. He told a fib to the ghost to save himself. It's crazy to think that the ghost was taken back so much by the barber's story. The ghost really believed that the barber would bag him. Luckily, for the barber, he was very good at telling a lie. This definitely saved him in the long run. This also, in turn, made him a very rich man. I think it's safe to say that he now has a very happy wife.

(Ghost. Unkown.)

Week 5: Reading Diary A

For this weeks reading diary, I decided to read into one of the India units. Reading the first part of Folktales of Bengal was very interesting. The first story that really caught my attention this week was the Boy whom Seven Mothers Suckled. After starting this story, it really seemed kind of familiar to another story I believe I read last week in the Indian fairy tales. Both were about a king who had a number a wives that were trying to get pregnant. In this particular story, the king was told if he plucked seven mangoes, and fed them to his seven wives, they would soon bear children. I did really enjoy the change in the story when the king decided to marry a Rakshasi. After reading about these indian demons in Epics of India, I was intrigued to move on. After this change in the story, it got somewhat morbid. The Rakshasi of course wanted the king to prove his love for her in the most terrible of ways.

The second story that captured my attention was the Ghost-Brahman. Of course I always enjoy a good ghost story. In all honesty, I didn't know if this story would be like the ghost stories I like or something entirely different. It was a pretty crazy story, and one I did not picture when starting the story. It was a good change of pace though. The ghost actually came in and took over everything that the Brahman had called his own. Luckily in the end, the Brahman did get his wife, his mother, and his house back. It might have taken a lot of time, but he got it back.

(Mango tree. Robert Mclean)

Week 4: Extra Reading Diary

For this week's extra reading diary, I chose to read Indian Fairy Tales. I kind of stayed with the fairy tale theme this week. For my whole reading I did the Persian Tales, so I thought this unit would be a nice finish of my week. I really enjoyed reading the entire first half of this unit. One story in particular that I really liked was the Broken Pot. I thought this was kind of a very funny story to read. It goes through all these things the Brahman wishes to do, which of course starts with a pot. Unfortunately for the Brahman, he thinks up all these thoughts of which will happen, and ends up getting burned by karma before they even happen. That's why I thought that the ending of the story was funny. He thinks about kicking his wife that he will get eventually, and of course makes a kicking motion with his foot. This, in turn, causes him to kick the pot, smashing it into a bunch of pieces.

(Pot Cracked)

I also really enjoyed reading the Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal. Both stories seemed to have witty, as well as funny endings. In this story, the Jackal actually turns out to be the smartest being, of course tricking the tiger who which tricked the Brahman. It really goes to show that not everyone who seems to be a fool is. Some of them are just playing the game, and in a very smart way I might add. It's better to trick others when they think you have no wits.

Week 4: Reading Diary B

I was really excited to finish the unit Persian Tales. It was mostly due to the fact of some animal stories coming up. I am definitely a sucker for any kinds of stories about animals, as well as fairy tales. It does seem kind of generic, but that's just what I like. The first story that really captured my attention was The Story of the Wolf Bride. I mean if that title doesn't catch your attention, I don't know what will. It was actually a very good story with a lesson behind it. The story seemed sort of short, but I very much enjoyed reading it. I think the lesson was definitely right though. What is meant to happen will happen. There is no changing fate. It was really sad though that the girl had torn her husband to pieces. It was probably a good thing that she did not remember any of it.

(akira by WolfyWiseHeart)

The second story I really liked was the Story of the Baker and the Grateful Fish. This story was a bit morbid at the end, but it definitely got the point across. It it very unwise to trick people, especially people who have a lot of support behind them. Luckily the baker had given so much to the fish, so in turn, they helped him escaped from the mountain top and get to dry land. The same can't be said for the trickster merchant. Unfortunately for him, he got what was coming his way. Karma is definitely real. Different factors play into it, but it always finds it's victim.

Week 4: Reading Diary A

This week I chose to read a unit from the Middle East. I decided to read Persian Tales. I think the whole fairy tales name really got me excited to read this unit. I've always been a fan of them, and to get a glimpse into Persian fairy tales sounded like a really fun idea. After reading the overview, I really got hooked. Animals and magical adventures sounded like a great time, and I was excited to get into the actual reading. The first story that really caught my eye was Nim Tanak, or Half-Boy. It was really the name that hooked me onto the story at first, and I'm glad I got to read it. The story was actually quite sad, at least at first. It was a nice refresher that the "half-boy" was the hero of the story. Luckily, he got what he truly deserved in the end, which was his families love. You really can't judge a book by it's cover.

(Magyar warrior of the 10th century. Typical of the appearance of light skirmish horse-archers of all periods.)

The second story that I really enjoyed was Muhammad Tirandaz, The Archer. A story about an archer just seemed very exciting to read. It was very interesting that from killing two mice with one shot, he got so much. I really liked that they referred to the mice as two lions in the story. It made Muhammad sound much fiercer than he actually was. Sometimes this is a bad thing, but in the end it definitely ended up working for him.

Week 3: Brainstorming Storytelling Styles

Topic. My Storybook will be online dating profiles of Mermaids. I want to have the site be along the lines of a regular dating site you would find now, but instead of humans, they would just be mermaids. I found four stories in particular that I would really enjoy encompassing into my Storybook. The first story, which actually kind of drew me to this topic, was Sam and the Mermaid. I think this story really shows how ruthless and persistent a mermaid can be, and I have the perfect profile in mind for this one. Another Story that was very interest was Lorelei. This story gave a great depiction of a mermaid to which I would like to elaborate on. Of course I can't spoil any fun for now though. The other two stories I thought about encompassing are The Mermaid's Twin Sister and The Lady of Gollerus. I thought both of these stories had some potential on being added to my storybook. It may take some tweaking, but I would like to include them both.

(Mermaid. John Reinhard Weguelin. 1911.)

Bibliography.
1. Sam and the Mermaid, from Folktales Told around the World, by R. M. Dorson (1975).
2. Lorelei, retold from the ballad Loreley, by Clemens Brentano (1801).
3. The Mermaid's Twin Sister, from the Clarion Books, by L. Joseph (1994)

4.The Lady of Gollerus, from Fairy and Folk tales of Ireland, by W. B. Yeats (1973).

Extra Reading Diary: Adam and Eve

For my extra unit this week, I decided to read something from the Biblical Traditions. The unit I chose was Adam and Eve. I thought it might be good to change things up since I had been reading from the Classical Greece units for the last two weeks. It was a nice change of pace, especially since I'm sure we all know the general story of Adam and Eve. I mean I grew up just knowing the simple story of them being tempted by the devil, of course disguised as a snake. After reading the first half of this unit, I really came away with two parts that I liked the most.

The first chapter that really had me interested was the first chapter, The Creation. Like the story of Adam and Eve being tempted by Satan, I was also familiar with the creation of man and woman by God, although I had never necessarily read anything that encompassed this. Although I'm not very religious, this chapter seemed very powerful with words to me. I am a sucker for love though. Hence, why I thought one part was particularly my favorite:

"And Adam said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."

To me, this statement in itself seems really powerful, not only from a religious standpoint, but from that of a soul mate perspective. I guess I'm just a weird romantic at heart.

(Les très riches heures du duc de Berry)

 The second part I really enjoyed reading was that of Paradise. Everyone always had there own depiction of what his or her paradise would be. In a Biblical standpoint, this chapter gives a great description, although opinions may differ on the matter. It was crazy to think that Adam had it so easy. I mean angels bringing him food and wine, jus

Reading Diary B: Aesop (Jacobs)

For this reading diary, I finished up reading the Aesop (Jacobs) unit. It was really nice finishing up this unit and getting to read all the fun little stories it encompasses. One chapter in particular caught my eye. Insects, Snakes, and Crabs was very interesting to read. The reason that these stories kind of caught my attention was because of my association with snakes. When I was in kindergarten I actually had a pet python named Katie. In particular, I really enjoyed the story the Man and the Snake. I thought it had a very good lesson attached to it; “beware how you entertain traitors.” It was very sweet and to the point, as well as very clear on what the story was trying to get across. I also really enjoyed how the pictures contain the entire story. It may be short, but it’s definitely a lot of fun to read.

Another story that caught my eye was one in the chapter named People Wise and Foolish, Part 1. The stories in this chapter seemed a bit longer. The Shepherd's Boy was a classic story that I grew up knowing. It was really nice to find it within this unit and read the entire thing. Mostly this story is told from just memory, but here it was laid out in actual text. I really like the lesson that this story encompasses, and I have definitely used it a couple of times when trying to teach a lesson to a child.

(The illustration by Francis Barlow of the fable "The Boy who Cried Wolf", called by him ''DE PASTORIS PUERO ET AGRICOLIS'', 1687)

Reading Diary A: Aesop (Jacobs)

This week I decided to dive into Aesop (Jacobs) as my reading. I really enjoyed getting to read the winter version of Aesop for my extra reading last week, and figured it might be good to stay with the same thing. Although the stories are very short, I do very much enjoy the lessons that go along with them. They aren't always quite clear, but it's fun to find the meaning in them.

One story that really caught my eye during the first half of my reading was the chapter regarding all sorts of fox stories. Foxes, Part I was very intriguing considering I just finished up my tattoo of the fox on my leg. There isn't a whole lot of significant meaning behind my tattoo because I really just liked the art, but its fun to find connections in the world. This chapter had different stories pairing the fox with all sorts of things, one being a stork. I really enjoyed reading about the fox and the masks. The fox is regarded to as a trickster of sorts, but yet, at first                 (My fox tattoo. Personal Photo)                 glance, a mask worn by an actor tricked him. It                                                                                       definitely goes to show that you can't always judge a book by its cover. Sometimes the outside doesn't always show what’s lurking underneath.

Another really fun chapter that seemed to grab my attention was the one titled Cats and Dogs. Of course, since I have both a cat and a dog, these stories would fascinate me. One story in particular, was one about a cat and a fox. Of course I would come back to a story about a fox. It was quite interesting how the fox thought he was so clever having many different options to run and hide, when in fact; the cat’s one option was better. Sometimes having too many options clouds are judgments, and leaves us with only a loss.








                                                                                                                                                     (Bella sleeping. Personal Photo)

MythFolklore Topics Brainstorm

Topic: Dragon stories/lore
Comments: I've been really interested about dragons ever since I started watching Game of Thrones. I'm sure there is a multitude of stories out there about dragons, and different types of dragons, as well as myths.
Possible Stories: I was thinking about possibly doing a storybook on a dragon rider, who has all different kinds of stories from trying to find the perfect dragon. Another idea I had was to do a dragon lore of some sort. It would pretty much be a sort of dictionary on dragons.
Sample Story Comments: In looking at the page of ideas for storybooks, I found a link to dragons. In this description it gave a sacred text called Dragons and Dragon lore. It had a very interesting story about the birth of the dragon that might be cool to incorporate in a storybook.
Bibliography Information:
Sample Story: Birth of the Dragon
Book Title: Dragon and Dragon Lore
Book Author: Ernest Ingersoll
Year: 1928

(English: artwork for the Durian-Project of the Blender Foundation. David Revoy)

Topic: Online date profiles for Mermaids
Comments: Since I was young, I've always had sort of an obsession with mermaids and the water. I mean what girl wouldn't. Seeing as I do love the water, and swimming, I thought it might me fun to do a storybook about mermaids.
Possible Stories: I thought about maybe doing an online dating site for mermaids. It would pretty much look like profiles you see on any dating site, but instead of humans, there would be mermaids looking for a human mate.
Sample Story Comments: Sam and the Mermaid mentioned that there were no mermen under the sea, but only mermaids. I thought it could be a cool idea to bring this idea into my storybook.
Bibliography Information:
Sample Story: Sam and the Mermaid
Book Title: Folktales Told around the World
Book Author: R. M. Dorson
Year: 1975


Topic: Pirate Adventures
Comments: A few years ago, I had a little bit of an obsession with pirates, and would do a lot of online gaming involving pirates. I thought it could be a pretty cool idea to incorporate into a storybook.
Possible Stories: I think it would be most beneficial to do a storybook on one particular pirate that encompasses different stories about his life/adventures.
Sample Story Comments: I thought about maybe doing a storybook over Christina Anna Skytte. She is Swedish pirate and baroness. It was mentioned on wikipedia that her and her fiance were pirates together. It sounds like this background has a lot of potential. 
Bibliography Information:
Sample Story: Christiana Anna Skytte
Source: Wikipedia


Topic: Aesop's Fables
Comments: Although the fables are usually short, I thought it would be fun to retell the stories in my own way and add more to the stories.
Possible Stories: I thought about maybe creating a storybook revolving around Aesop's Fables that have animals involved with the stories.
Sample Story Comments: I was very interested in the story about a man bitten by a dog. It had a very interesting lesson, and would be a fun story to elaborate on.
Bibliography Information:
Sample Story: The Man Bitten by the Dog
Book Title: Aesop's Fables
Book Author: translation by Laura Gibbs
Year: 2008