Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Week 6: Storytelling

The Sun Goddess

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.

5 comments:

  1. Hi Taylor! Great Story. I did not read the original version so I was unfamiliar with the storyline, but you did a great story bringing it to life. I love creating a picture in my mind when I read a story and you did that. The fire demon sounds terrifying but I always love when the good guy comes out on top! I didn't see any spelling or grammar problems so good job!

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  2. I read this story for this week's reading and thought it was really neat. You stayed true to the original, but left out the mirror which I actually thought was a good idea especially since you are telling only this part of the story. Anyway, I loved your story! You did a great job of really bringing the story to life.

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  3. I really enjoyed your story this week! I particularly liked the way you set it up and structured it. Having each paragraph’s last line be centered makes the story visually appealing so kudos! Compared with some of your other posts, the font was a little small which made it hard to read. I wish the author’s note was longer so I could get a better grasp of the main points of the original story. Other than that, good job!

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  4. Hey taylor great story, maybe change the font a little bit, I was squinting the entire time lol. As for you story, as I read this story I kept asking myself what about this story changed. After reading your author's notes I have to commend you on the job you did. You found a way to retell this story and elaborate on a few of the details while the entire time staying true the original. I think you did a great job with this story.

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  5. Man, that's a fantastic picture you put at the top of the story! The way you wrote your story definitely made it feel like an ancient tale from long ago. It flowed really well, and it had an ending that I think could definitely be used as a life lesson -- don't let vanity be your downfall, or something of that nature! Like a few people said, the font was kinda small, so it could be hard to read for some people (I actually was squinting a bit as well). Other than that, I really liked the story and thought you did a good job on it!

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