Storytelling for Week 2: Lilith, The Real First Woman

One day in Ms. Dutton's 3rd grade class, during story time, she began to tell the children the story of the beginning of existence. She had just recently read The Legends of the Jews, and she could not wait to tell them all about it.

Lady Lilith

Source: Wikimedia

She began her story telling, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth. He created the sun and moon, the lands and seas, the animals and plants, and lastly, man. The first man to ever roam the earth was named Adam. Now, I know that you all are thinking you know what comes next, but I am here to tell you that you are wrong! Someone raise their hand and tell me what God created after Adam? If you were going to say Eve, put your hand down because that is incorrect. That's right, Eve was not the first woman! Crazy, huh? I thought so too, until I heard the real story. God created Lilith from the dust, the first women, for Adam to rid him of his loneliness, but poor Adam, that first woman of his left him! Her very purpose was to be with Adam so he was no longer alone on earth, and she could not stand to be with him. Instead, she ran away, and was later found by three angels sent by God to bring her back to Adam. That crazy lady refused to obey them, so they made a deal with her. If she would not return to Adam, one hundred of her demon children would die every day. EVERY SINGLE DAY! She went along with the deal, so I guess that says a lot about Adam. I mean, was it really that horrible living with him? I guess so! Anyways, Adam was alone, so God created Eve, the second woman to be made and end Adam's loneliness. The end."

Author's Note: I used the story Lilith to retell this week. The basic story stayed the same, but I decided to add a storyteller, Ms. Dutton, to make it more interesting. In the story, it tells of Adam's loneliness and God's attempt to end his loneliness by creating a woman from dust, instead of from Adam's rib. She did not want to be with him so she ran off, and refused to come back even when she was told that one hundred of her demon children would die every day. After her refusal to return, God created Eve from Adam's rib, making her the second woman to live on earth.

"Lilith" by Louis Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews (1909). Web Source: Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook

Week 2: Essay

The story unit I read for this week is Adam and Eve. The reason I chose this unit was because I found it fitting for the first reading. Because Adam and Eve is accounted in the book of Genesis, meaning the beginning, I thought, "what better way to start my readings?" I enjoyed reading the first two stories because they were from the Bible, and I have heard this story countless times. I was really surprised by the stories that followed. Stories from The Legends of the Jews was really interesting to me because there were different interpretation of the beginning of the earth and humankind. One of my favorite stories that I read was Lilith. Reading that Adam had a different wife before Eve definitely throws a twist into the story most people hear. I also enjoyed reading from The Forgotten Books of Eden. Reading about the struggles Adam and Eve endured after being cast out of the Garden of Eden makes you really feel bad for them! I did get a little irritated when they kept killing themselves, but I guess if you have experienced a beautiful place like the Garden of Eden, and then you are cast out to live in a cave, you would have no will to live. Thank goodness God was merciful and eventually accepted their sacrifice for forgiveness of their sins! I think there was adequate enough information on the unit page for someone to decide whether they would want to read this unit or not. One suggestion may be to let them know these stories use words such as didst and thou. Sometimes reading stories written like this take longer to read, so if someone is wanting an easy, fast read and depending on their ability to quickly read in this form, they may not want to read this unit.

Lady Lilith

Source: Wikimedia

Week 2 Reading Diary: Book of Adam and Eve

Books of Adam and Eve

The Creation and The Fall The first two stories are from the Bible in King James Version. It tells of the creation of heaven and earth. It accounts the creation of all things including man. It also tells the story of how Adam and Eve disobey God by eating from the tree of knowledge.

The Ideal Man The third story is told from a Jewish perspective on the creation of man. It also refers to other significant men throughout Jewish history that share similar characteristics as Adam such as Samson and his tremendous strength.

The Fall of Satan The fourth story tells of the fall of Satan. Satan does not like that God wants him and the other angels to pay homage to the man, Adam, that he has created from dust. He feels that he is superior to humans. God strikes a deal with Satan asking him to name the animals he bring before him, and if he is unable to do so and Adam is able to, then he must honor man. Satan is unable to name the animals correctly and is cast out of heaven to earth.

Lilith The 5th story tells of Adams first wife, Lilith. Before Eve, God gave Adam Lilith so he would not be alone on earth, but she did not want to be with him. She left him, and was later found by 3 angels sent by God. She refused to return to Adam in exchange for the death of 100 of her demon children every day.

Eve The 6th story tells the difference between men and women in relation to Adam and Eve.

Paradise The 7th story speaks of the 7 portals you go through before reaching heaven or paradise. It also lays out 6 commandments.

The Fall of ManThe 8th story tells of the fall of man. The serpent who is successful in manipulating Eve into eating from the tree of knowledge, also gets Adam to participate in eating the forbidden fruit.

The Punishment and The Punishment, cont. The 9th and 10th story tell of the punishment given to Adam, Eve, and the serpent who disobeyed God by eating fruit from the tree of knowledge. Instead of confessing their sin and repenting, they hid from God. As well as these three, the earth and moon received punishment as a result of the disobedience of Adam and Eve.

Leaving the Garden The 11th story tells of when God cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden after they disobeyed him. He contemplates in which direction he should cast them out

Entering the Cave of Treasures The 12th story explains when Adam and Eve enter the Cave of Treasures after God tells them that he will send his Word to save them when five days and a half are fulfilled. They are afraid to live in the broad open earth, and reflect on the life they had in the garden.

They Die a First Time The 13th story gives an account of the first time Adam and Eve die. Adam realizes his actions have led him to live in a place far less greater than the garden. He dies of grief. Eve then weeps and prays to God to bring him back, and she ends up dying of grief.

Beasts of Creation The 14th story tells of how Adam explained to God that he was fearful that the beasts of earth would devour him, so God commanded the beasts not to trouble them. Adam and Eve kill themselves again.

Want of Water and Light The 15th story recounts when Adam and Eve explain to God that they need water to survive but they are commanded not to drink it. Adam kills himself again.

Darkness In the 16th story, Adam questions God why darkness exist. Adam believes it to be a punishment but God explains that darkness is for rest.

The Sunrise and Serpent The 17th story illustrates when the serpent tries to kill Adam and Eve. He wraps them with his body and God sends angels to save them. When God had originally cursed the serpent, he still allowed him to speak, but because of his attempt to kill Adam and Eve, God took away his speech.

Suicide and Salvation In the 18th story, Adam and Eve kill themselves again and God comes to save them.

Worship and Blessing In the final story, Adam and Eve worship God and offer sacrifices to him for forgiveness of their sins. This was the first offering ever made to God.

Week 1: Introduction

Hi guys! My name is Marissa Dutton, and I am a Mathematics major who will be graduating in December. I honestly can not express my excitement any better than saying FINALLY! I feel like I have been in school forever (five and a half years), and at times, it seemed like I would never reach this point, but I have finally made it to the home stretch. In four short months, I will be a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, and I cannot wait! As far as work, I have no clue what I plan to do. Before transferring to OU, I was attending a university in Louisiana as a Math Education major, but when I moved here, I changed my major to Math. I think I will still let teaching be an option after graduation, but other than that, I really have no idea what I want to do. I guess I have four months to figure that out, so I better get on that!

For those who have never taken a class with Laura Gibbs, let me just warn you, you will love this class! I love the way the class is set up because you feel like you have so much control over the grade you receive. This is my second class I have taken with her, and I enjoyed her Indian Epics class so much, I had to come back for her Myth and Folklore class. I also needed another upper division elective, so her class was an obvious choice! Make sure you stay ahead on the assignments, even if it is just one day ahead. If at all possible, try working ahead so you can get done with the class early. That way you can focus on some of your other classes towards finals time. Laura is great with encouragement and feedback, so I hope you all enjoy this class!

I spent a lot of time with family this summer, including babysitting my little cousins. On of our favorite days was when we went to the zoo. They loved going into this area with the colorful birds. We were able to hold some of them, and this one liked me so much he climbed all the way to the top of my head using my hair as a ladder. I spared you guys the pictures of his climb to the top of my head because my facial expressions were not exactly the most attractive. I was afraid of him peeing on my head! Haha

personal photo from OKC Zoo 2014

 

Week 1: Storybook Favorites

Happily Ever After: A Prince's Perspective
This storybook caught my eye simply because of the picture on the homepage. I found it hilarious to see Snow White and her prince charming living in the real world, rather than the storybook fairytale we have seen in the movies. Snow White is seen holding a child on each hip with another child at her feet and one in the background playing, while prince charming is chilling on the couch watching TV. It is the complete opposite of the image that comes to your mind when you think of Snow White and her prince charming during the "happily ever after" part of life. It looks humorous!

Epic Wicked Women
I think the reason this storybook caught my attention was because it reminded me of my storybook I created last semester when I took the Indian Epics class. For my project, I also focused my storybook around important women from Ramayana and Mahabharata, so I liked seeing someone else have a similar approach to their storybook. My project was from the perspective of a toilet who got to sit in on all the gossip and girl fights between these women, but this story is centered around a therapy session. Although I did not read any of the stories, I think it would be funny and entertaining. How could a therapy session for four women not be entertaining?

Fairy Godmother: Diary Thief
This storybook drew my attention because I have seen many people use the diary approach to their storybook, but I like that this one added a little something to make it different. Rather than us just reading the diaries of many princesses, the fairy godmother, who stole the diaries, is the reason we are able to get a private sneak peak into these princesses' lives. I think I might use a similar strategy when creating my storybook for this semester. Also, I enjoyed the colors and layout of the storybook because they relate well this the topic and theme.

Week 1: Un-Textbook

Week 2:
Of course I have heard the story of the Trojan War and have probably read the Iliad in high school, but I forgot the major details, so I think choosing Homer's Iliad would be an easy way to start the weekly readings.

Week 3:
I think it would be a good idea to choose one story from each period rather than two from the same period because it adds variety to your reading. For this week, I would choose Bible Women. Again, I am pretty familiar with many stories about women in the Bible, and would love to be able to read over them more.

Week 4:
As soon as I saw the title "Arabian Nights," I knew that was the story I wanted to choose. I was in love with the movie Aladdin when I was growing up because I always wanted to be Jasmine (which I was for Halloween when I was 6 years old haha), so that was an easy choice for me.

Week 5:
For a little while I thought about Ramayana because I am familiar with this story from last semester, but I thought I would change it up a bit and choose Life of the Buddha. I recently took a religion class, and Buddhism was the first religion we learned about, so I think I would enjoy reading this story.

Week 1 Storytelling: How A Monkey Became A Dolphin

On Captain Jack Sparrow's most recent expedition at sea, he let his pet monkey named Aboo tag along to tell jokes, do magic tricks, and cuddle with him at night before he went to bed. After setting sail at Athens, Greece, they headed towards New Orleans, Louisiana for a Mardi Gras parade. They had heard about a dessert called King Cake that was in abundance during this Mardi Gras holiday, so they organized a trip just to try this famous pastry! Captain Sparrow and his crew knew this trip would be a long one, but they did not know exactly how long. They miscalculated the amount of food and supplies they would need to survive their journey to Louisiana. After two long weeks, the food supply was dwindling quickly, and Aboo was catching the eyes of some hungry crewmembers. Sparrow reassured Aboo not to worry, but that did not keep him from losing sleep at night. The next afternoon they could spot the port to New Orleans, but a horrifying one hundred and fifty foot wave flooded over Captain Sparrow's ship. After being tossed around and flipped upside down, Captain Sparrow's ship was destroyed, leaving Sparrow and his crew to swim to the shore. Surprisingly, the monkey had survived the storm. A dolphin witnessed this tragic incident and caught a glimpse of the monkey struggling to keep himself afloat. This dolphin had recently lost her husband and child, and seized this opportunity to find someone else to care for. Instead of helping the monkey back to shore, the dolphin kept the monkey for herself. She taught him how to hold his breathe for long periods of time, how to catch fish with his teeth, and many other dolphin useful skills. He became the furriest dolphin that ever did live in the sea!

Author's Note:
I decided to give names to the character, so I chose Captain Jack Sparrow for the sailor and Aboo for the monkey. I'm from Louisiana, so I decided to add that as a reason for traveling to Louisiana. Also, I did not like the sad ending of the monkey dying, so I changed it up a bit. The dolphin takes the monkey in as a child, and takes care of it, conforming the monkey to the ways of the dolphins!

Here is the original story: The Monkey and the Dolphin

Laughing Dolphin by Naotake Murayama



Source: Flickr

Week 1: My Favorite Place - Greece

In the summer of 2013, I went on a mission trip with a group of students from my home state, Louisiana. We spent most of our time in Athens, Greece where we did most of our mission work, but one day we were able to do some island hopping. One of my favorite islands that we visited was Hydra. It was unbelievably beautiful!

Personal photo of Hydra, Greece

photo from July 2013

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