Week 11 Essay: Welsh Fairy Tales

I really enjoyed the readings for this unit. I felt like many of the stories had good messages behind them. My favorite story I read this week was The Story of John O'Groats. I think I liked this story such much because it had a happy ending. I do not have children of my own, so I can only imagine what it's like to have a child who is walking down a path of destruction and no matter what you do, you can't change them. I like that even though the son in this story may have caused strife with his father because of his irresponsible spending and relations with harlets, the father still loved his son. He loved him so much, and expected that he would spend all of his inheritance after his father passed, so he stored up money for his son to live off of when he spent everything else. He knew he could not just give it to his son because he would end up spending all of that too. Instead, he did something that I would describe as tough love. Some might read this story and think the father's plan was a little cruel, but I believe that was the only way to make the son change his ways. He left a note for his son explaining he should hang himself and end his misery. The son was so upset about losing everything that he attempted to do so with the noose his father left. The father did not attach the noose to anything, so the son did not die. He did however learn his learn, got married, and never gambled again. What a great story! I would encourage everyone to read this unit, especially this specific story.

Welsh Fairy Tales

Source: The Public Domain Review

Week 11 Storytelling: The Plan

Noose

Source: Black America Web

Babes and beer. That's all he cares about. He carries on with his life without a care in the world. If I don't do something now, that wayward son of mine will spend all of his inheritance after I pass, and then what will he do? Things sure would be different if his mother was still around. God rest her sweet soul. After his momma passed, he's never been the same.

I've got an idea! I'll have my worker build me a hut, and this is where I'll store up some gold for my son as security just in case (and I'm sure he will) he spends everything he owns and is left to be a beggar the rest of his life. Not my son! But it can't be that easy. If he knows this back up gold is here, he will never spend it wisely. I must think of a way to give it to him without actually "giving" it to him. Maybe teach him a lesson.

I figured out the best plan! Here's what I'll do: I'll give my son a key to the hut and tell him to go there when he has spent everything. Knowing him, he won't think twice about the hut (he hated that place), and he'll probably lose the key anyways. When he arrives at the hut (without the key) he will have to fight his way in. Once he's in, he'll see the noose I have set up. He'll then notice a piece of paper nailed to the door from yours truly stating "You've spent it all. Fulfill your father's wish and end your misery." Of course, at this point, because he will be so upset about losing everything, he will probably attempt to hang himself.

I know what you're thinking. Cruel father, right? Well, that's what he gets. I love my son very much, and if you knew him, you'd understand this is the only way to force him to leave his old life and become a responsible human being. Anyways, after he falls to the ground and realizes he's not dead (the noose wasn't attached to anything), he will find the hidden gold, and hopefully he will realize his foolishness and finally do what I could only have wished of him when I was still alive. GROW UP.

The End.

Author's Note:
This storytelling is from my favorite story this week called The Story of John O'Groats. It's a story about a lord who passes and leaves everything to his prodigal son. As predicted by his father, the son spends all his inheritence and is forced to give up his estate to the factor. He goes to the hut his father built and attempts to hang himself because of a letter found written by his father. After his attempt, he realizes the father only did this is teach him a lesson, and he finds the hidden gold from his father. I decided to tell this story from the point of view of the father. Hope you guys like it!

Bibliography:
Welsh Fairy-Tales and Other Stories by Peter H. Emerson (1894). Source: Myth Folklore Book

Week 11 Reading Diary: Welsh Fairy Tales

Welsh Fairy Tales

A few of my favorite stories I read from the Welsh Fairy Tales unit was the Old Man and the Fairies and Tommy Pritchard. Although they were pretty short stories, I enjoyed reading them because they were so short and sweet. The first time, The Old Man and the Fairies was about a man who was carried off when he was asleep. The fairies filled his bag full of gold and he went back home. His wife wondered where he disappeared to and where he got the gold from. He wanted to use his gold to buy things, but when he went back to the box where he was keeping it, it was full of cockle-shell. The second story, Tommy Pritchard, was about a boy who found a sixpence underneath a stone. He went back every day and found a sixpence. His father began to wonder how he was buying candy all the time and thought he was stealing. When he questioned his son, he would not tell him where he got the money. The next time he went back to try to find a sixpence, he only found a cockle shell. He never found a sixpence in that spot again.

After reading the second half of the reading, my favorite story was The Story of John O'Groats. It was probably one of the longer stories, but I really enjoyed the story line. A wealthy lord dies and leaves his inheritance to his prodigal son. Quickly after he passes, the son spends all of his father's money and losses his estate to the lord's factor. Because he knew his son would spend all of his money, he left an inheritance for his son hidden in a hut he had built before he passed. The son is able to regain his estate and he never gambles his money again.

Week 10 Essay: American Indian Fairy Tales

I really enjoyed the reading for this unit because the stories were so interesting and related to nature. My two favorite stories from this unit were The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds and The Fairy Bride. The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds was one of my favorite stories to read because of the ending. The children fall asleep on a mountain, and while they are asleep, the mountain grows into the clouds. The parents and many of the forest animals attempt to reach the children without being able to do so. I liked that so many of the animals that are considered to be the fastest, smartest, or strongest are the ones who failed at climbing to the top of the mountain to save the kids. The little creature who most people would consider being incapable of accomplishing the task, was the only one who made it to the top of the mountain. What a great message especially to children who are told by society that they cannot doing something! It was a great story of hope and perseverance. The Fairy Bride was also one of my favorites because it was a story about a girl who went against the norm. Her mother wanted her to marry a hunter so he could take care of her. Isn't that so easily related to the mindset of mothers and fathers today concerning their daughters? Girls are taught that they need a man to take care of them when they are fully capable of taking care of themselves. I loved the message of going against what people expect of you and doing what you love. Living your own life. This little Indian girl loved wandering the meadow and enjoyed time alone. Instead of marrying the man who was set out to be her husband, she found her self a fairy man in the meadow and never returned home! This unit was also enjoyable because I could listen to it audibly. I love that. I would recommend this unit to everyone!

Storytelling for Week 10: Diary of a Wimpy Kid

October 22, 2014

Oh boy, do I have something to tell you! As you can tell from my previous diary entries, I have not had the best time since starting high school. I'm not exactly what you would call the "cool" guy in school. I'm not very tall and I'm not coordinated enough to play any kind of sport. I'm the guy that most people look at and think, "That kid is such a nerd." That's right, I'm a nerd. Although, it wasn't until I got to high school that I realized this. High school jocks can be cruel. They were always picking on me because I always had a book in my hand. What's wrong with always wanting to learn? There's more to life than just baseball and football. Sure, being able to hit a home run or throwing a touchdown pass may take talent, but how about taking a Calculus course as a freshman in high school? Now, that's what I call talent! Anyways, enough rambling, let me tell you what happened today! I did something nobody believed I could do, and not only that, I was the only one who could do it. Take that you big dumb jocks! So, in PE, my most dreaded class, on the agenda for today was climbing the nearly impossible rope. Of course, when our teacher announced what we would be doing today, all the jocks howled with excitement. They thought it would be a piece of cake. The captain of the baseball team and football team both stood up first volunteering their muscles to ascend to the top of the rope to prove to everyone how awesome they were. The teacher made them play rock paper scissor to decide the first victim of the dreadful rope climbing. The captain of the football team was up first. Mr. Buff guy thought with all his muscles, he'd have no trouble climbing to the top. Too bad his muscles weighed him down and he came tumbling to the gym floor. After everyone was done laughing, the captain of the baseball team was up next. Attempting to try a different approach, he grab the rope and tried to climb as fast as he could. Nope, didn't work. He also fell to the gym floor. After a few more attempts by some other athletes, the teacher was about ready to give up, until I raised my wimpy little arm. The teacher was in as much shock as everyone else when I volunteered to try, but I wanted to try. Of course, as I stood up and made my way to the rope, I began to hear shouts of, "He can't do it! Nerd boy won't even make it off the ground! He really thinks he can climb to the top?" But that's exactly what I did. That's right, I climbed the rope all the way to the top. I wish you could have seen the looks on their faces! Classic.

Sheep Mountain

Source: Wikipedia

Author's Note:
The original story, The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds, is about a brother and sister who wander off and fall asleep on a mountain. After falling asleep, the mountain begins to rise until the top of the mountain is no longer visible. The parents become worried and begin to look for their children. They ask many animal such as a bear and coyote if they have seen their children. No one has seen them, but the coyote is able to sniff them out and realize they are on top of the mountain. Many different animals such as a jack rabbit, lion, and bear attempt to climb the mountain to reach the children, confident they should be able to do so, but each of them fails. A measuring worm comes along and wants to try, but he is ridiculed and told there is no way he can climb the big mountain. Much to their surprise, after a month of climbing the worm was able to do what no one else could, reach the children and bring them safely back to their parents.

Bibliography:
"The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds" by W.T Larned. Source: American Indian Fairy Tales

Week 10 Reading Diary: American Indian Fairy Tales

The unit I decided to read this week is American Indian Fairy Tales. One of my favorite stories from the first half of this reading is the story about the little boy and girl who fell asleep on the mountain called The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds. After they fell asleep, the mountain began to grow until the top of it was unable to be seen. The parents, worried about their children, went looking for them in the valley. When they ran into all the animals, they asked each one if they knew where the little boy and girl were. The coyote was able to help by sniffing out where the children were, but the mountain was too high to reach the top. Many animals including the jack rabbit, lion, and bear tried to jump or climb as high as they could to reach the top. All of them failed, until the measuring worm came along. All of the animals doubted he could reach the children, but much to their surprise, he was able to. His patience and perseverance allowed him to excel in something everyone doubted he could do.

The last story of this unit, and one of my favorites from the second half of the reading is The Fairy Bride. This story tells of an Indian girl who loves to spend time alone in the meadow rather than doing typically girl things. She enjoys time alone adventuring through the beautiful nature around her. This troubles her mother because her mother wants her to marry someone who will take care of her. A hunter has been selected by her mother for her to marry, but the girl, Neen-i-zu, does not want to marry someone who lives, breathes, and sleeps hunting. On her arranged wedding day, she wanders off into the meadow before her doomed marriage, and when she is there, she finds a fairy man and never returns home again.

Week 9 Essay: Blackfoot Stories

I found the stories in Blackfoot Stories to be very entertaining to read! I am really not sure if these stories were meant to make you laugh, but most of them I read made me laugh quite a few times. The one I laughed at the most and probably one of my favorites was The Smart Woman Chief. I thought it was interesting that the story started out comparing men and women. One of the main things that stuck out to me in the beginning was when it said that men are better than women, but women are smarter. What is interesting is that is a mentality that still exist in our society today. Men are often times superior in things like sports and the workplace. I like that this story gave empowerment to women, and it also made me laugh. I loved that these stories in this unit were easily relatable to other aspects of our lives. The Smart Woman Chief story obviously is more relatable to women because we all know that feeling of rejection from a man when were not all dolled up and pretty, but I like that the woman picked someone else in the end even though after she was cleaned up, the man she originally wanted finally noticed her. She didn't allow him to the get the satisfaction of getting what he wanted. I think Laura did a great job of giving the right information about this unit to allow someone to decide whether they want to read this unit or not. Also, I would recommend everyone read this unit because it is an easy read. It is very easy to understand, and if you want, you can listen to the audio so you do not have to read it yourself. That is what I did. I love being read to, especially fun stories like these!

Blackfeet Indian Stories

Source: Heritage History

Week 9 Storytelling: Oh No You Didn't

Boys are stupider

Source: Generation Cedar

Sadie Hawkins dance was approaching, and Mary knew exactly who she wanted to ask to the dance. The only problem was she was too shy. "He'd never say yes. I'll just end up embarrassing myself. I think I'll just stay home that night, you know, catch up on some homework."

"Oh, just shut it. Go ask him. The worst he could say is no! Quit being a chicken." Mary's friend Becca had been trying to talk Mary into asking Dean, the captain of the football team to the dance for weeks now. "If you don't ask him soon, someone else will, so GO! Before it's too late."

"Okay, fine. I'll do it tomorrow. I have to mentally prepare myself."

"Geeze, you're so weird."

"Not everyone can be as outgoing and confident as you, Becca."

"Sure you can. Watch this." Becca walks over to Jake, the most adorable guy in our senior class. "Hey, wanna go to the Sadie Hawkins dance with me?"

"Yeah, I'd love to!" Jake replied.

"Great, see ya later." Becca walks back over to Mary. "See, it's that easy."

"That's only because you're Becca. I'm Mary. The nerdy girl with the glasses. Nobody even notices me."

"Well that's a great attitude to have. You can do it, Mary. Just go home tonight and practice what you're going to say to Dean because God knows when you get nervous, you forget how to speak."

"Thanks a lot. You're really boosting my confidence." Mary replied sarcastically.

The next day at school, Mary arrived more nervous than she had ever been in her entire life. As she walked through the entrance to the school, she spotted Dean. "Here goes nothing...Hey Mary, crap. I mean, hey Dean, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure. Shoot."

"Umm, do you have a date to the Sadie Hawkins dance? Because if not, I was wondering if you would want to go with me? I totally understand if you don't want to or if you have another date. I mean of course you probably have a date, I mean look at you..." As Mary continued to ramble nervously, she noticed Dean wasn't even looking at her. "Umm hello? Are you listening?"

"Oh, sorry. You were rambling, so I stopped listening. What was the question?"

"The dance. I was wondering if you wanted to go with me?"

"Oh, uhh yeah probably not. Sorry, kid."

Mary was crushed. How could someone be so rude. As she was trying to hold back her tears, Becca walked up. "Man, I am so sorry. What a jerk. Come on, I'll help you find someone else to go with."

"Oh yeah, like who?"

"Like that new guy over there. Today is his first day. I hear he transferred in. Apparently he's going to be the new captain of the football team. I bet Dean will be crushed. Come on, let's go ask him."

Becca walked up to the new guy sitting alone at the lunch time, "Hey want to go to the Sadie Hawkins dance with my friend?"

"Of course, I haven't made any friends yet since it's my first day and all so I would love to go!" The new guy answered.

The new guy became the new captain of the football team, Dean became a loser, and no one wanted to go to the dance with him. He tried to get Mary to go with him but she was now dating the hotty of the school. Poor Dean. The end.

Author's Note:

The original story, The Smart Chief Woman, is a story about a woman chief who trying to purse the man chief of his tribe, but because she was covered in blood and grease after making jerky meat, he would not give her the time of day. After she went back to her tribe to clean herself up, she presented herself to the other men of the tribe to find a husband, and when the man chief who had just rejected her noticed her, he wanted her. Because she was a "smart" chief woman, she rejected him and picked someone else. I found this story to be amusing because I think any woman would do the same if they had experienced rejection from a man because she wasn't all dolled up, but then once the makeup and hair is done, they want you. So funny!

Bibliography:
The Smart Chief Woman by George Bird Grinnell (1915). Blackfeet Indian Stories

Week 9 Reading Diary

Blackfoot Stories

The first story of this unit, Two Fast Runners was interesting because it reminded me of children. Little kids like to think they are the best at certain things and sometimes will challenge their friends to prove their boasting. Obviously the deer ran faster in the timber and the antelope ran fast in the prairie because those are the places they are most familiar with running in. This story reminds me of the quote that goes something like "You can't judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree" or something like that. Basically, you can't judge someone on their ability to do something in comparison to someone else especially if they are incapable or doing so or if they are not familiar with the environment.

The Smart Woman Chief

I am not sure if this story was meant to be funny but I found some humor in it. The beginning of the story talks about how men and women did not know each other. It also elaborates on this idea that men are better than women, but women are smarter. This story about the smart women chief explains this concept of women being smarter than men by telling how the woman chief rejects the man chief. When the women are preparing to go to the men to find a husband, the woman chief decides she wants to man chief dressed finely and decorated in red. She commands the other women to wait as she goes down to the men to pick the man chief as her husband. She had been making jerky all day so she was covered in blood and grease. Because she was not all dolled up, he ignored her. She goes back to her camp and tells all the women they are to go find their husbands while she stays back and cleans herself up. She returns to the camp to find a husband, and when the man chief notices her after she has cleaned herself up, she ignores him and picks someone else, leaving the man chief with no wife. Classic! Haha

Week 8 Reading Diary

After looking through all of my Reading Diaries so far for this year, I have noticed some change in my writing strategy. In the beginning, I would generally summarize or pick out my favorite parts about each story I read, but after a couple weeks, I started summarizing and recalling details about my favorite story from the reading. I think I like doing it this way better because the way I write my Reading Diaries now helps me when writing my storytelling. Typically what I do is pick my favorite story after reading all of them and talk about my favorite characters or parts of the story. Doing this helps me to remember the most important details so that I can try to use those details in my retelling of the story. I would suggest this way of writing to other students in this class or future students, but everyone is different. Some people may like to use this strategy, but not just focus on one story. They may want to focus on a few stories, and that way when it comes time to write their storytelling for the week, they will have a few ideas to choose from. Also, I think the amount I am writing about each story is just enough because I usually do not have to go back to the story and re-read it when thinking of ideas to write my storytelling. The details I include in my Reading Diaries are enough to spark my memory from when I read them. I think because I only focus on writing about one story in my Reading Diaries now, I do not remember a great deal of details about the other stories I read, but I think its good to pick one particular story that I like and use that for assignments throughout the week.

Week 7 Essay: More Brer Rabbit

Brer Rabbit

Source: Flickr

 

This week I decided to read the second Brer Rabbit unit because I really enjoyed reading the first Brer Rabbit unit. I was not able to read the first part of the unit, so I cannot comment on all of the stories in this unit, but the stories I was able to read were so cute! I like that the trickster aspect of Brer Rabbit's character continues throughout all the stories. I think it allows you to expect him to be up to no good, but then again, you are never sure what he is going to do. I also think it is hilarious that he is always able to trick Brer Fox. You think he would learn by now! Of course, like the previous Brer Rabbit unit, these stories are also told in dialect, so they may be harder to understand for others. The audios that are available are lifesavers and allow you to listen, rather than read, the stories. I really like having this resources because I am not sure I would be able to understand what was going on even if I tried reading the stories out loud. My favorite story from this unit was Mr. Fox is Again Victimized and I used this story when writing my storytelling for this week. The main reason I liked it was because Brer Rabbit was able to trick Brer Fox yet again! I bet Brer Fox was sure he had Brer Rabbit this time since he was hiding in a tree, but of course, Brer Rabbit was able to get away again. Like the first Brer Rabbit unit, I would recommend this unit. I think that anyone would enjoy taking a break from actually reading the other units, and be able to listen to the stories read to you. 

Week 7 Storytelling:

Brer Rabbit Rides Brer Fox

Source: The Wren's Nest

 

 "Leave me alone!" Cody screamed as Tyler tried to jump on his back.

"Ahh, come on Cody. Give me a piggy back ride and walk us over to the gas station so we can buy a Big Gulp and some Skittles."

It was one of those hot summer days right before school started. It was too darn hot to do anything, so Cody and Tyler decided they walk over to the gas station. They had hung out all summer, and now that summer was coming to an end, they had run out of things to do and were starting to get on each other's nerves.

"No, you weigh too much. You'll break my legs!"

"Don't be such a baby." Tyler taunted as he jumped on Cody's back.

"Get off of me you fatso!" No matter how hard Cody wiggled and jumped, he could not get Tyler off his back. "What did you do? Super glue yourself to my back?"

"Towards the gas station, slave!" Tyler commanded as he pointed in the direction of the gas station. Cody knew if he played along, eventually Tyler would loosen his grip and he could buck him off his back.

"Fine, you better have money on you."

As they drew nearer to the gas station, Cody could tell that Tyler was less worried about Cody throwing him off his back, so he loosen his tight grip. Cody began to shake, and shimmy, and wiggle, and waggle until he was finally able to get Tyler off his back, but before he could grab a hold of Tyler and give him a wedgie for picking on him all day, Tyler managed to climb up a tree. Cody, not very good at climbing trees, could not reach him.

"I'm going to tell your mom if you don't come down from there!" Cody screamed.

"Go ahead, once you leave, I'll jump down from this tree and you'll never catch me! Ha!"

As Cody was deciding whether to leave to tell Tyler's mom what a bullying he's been, or stay and wait until Tyler comes down from the tree, their friend Phillip showed up.

"Hey guys, whatcha doing?" Phillip wondered why Tyler was up in the tree.

"Perfect. Phillip, you wait right here and don't let Tyler out of your sight." Cody ran off to fetch Tyler's mom.

Tyler had to think of a way to distract Phillip. "Hey Phillip. Look its the ice cream truck. An ice cream cone sure does sound good right now in this heat."

"Yeah, it does!" Phillip could not control his love for ice cream, so he ran off towards the ice cream truck.

"Well that was easy." Tyler thought as he jumped down from the tree to hide somewhere else.
 

 

 

 

Author's Note: This story is from the second Brer Rabbit unit Mr. Fox is Again Victimized. I kept the story the same, but I changed the characters to young boys during the summer time. I made Tyler into the trickster bully, Brer Rabbit, and Cody into the easy tricked friend, Brer Fox. Also, I included another friend, Phillip, similar to the buzzard character who stays and watches Brer Rabbit, while Brer Fox goes to fetch an axe to cut down the tree Brer Rabbit is hiding in.

 

 

 

"Mr. Fox is Again Victimized" by Joel Chandler Harris (1881). Web Source: Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings