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)