Storybook Project Week 3: Brainstorming Styles

Topic: My storybook will be about the lives of fairy tale princesses after the end of their stories. Most stories don't cover the entire lives of the main characters (from birth to death) so there is usually more that happens after "The End" or things that happened before "Once Upon a Time." I want to use the details of the fairy tales to make reasonable inferences about what the lives of the happy couples would be like as their relationships continued to grow and change. One story I definitely want to include is Beauty and the Beast because it has always been one of my favorite fairy tales. Another story I want to use is Cinderella because I'm interested in imagining how she would transition from being an emotionally abused maid to a pampered royal. Finding stories of other classic fairy tales like Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Rapunzel should be a cinch, and there will likely be a number of variations of each story so I can pick the version I like the most.

Beauty and the Beast by Walter Crane (Wikipedia)

Bibliography:
1. Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête), from The Young Misses Magazine, Containing Dialogues between a Governess and Several Young Ladies of Quality Her Scholars, by Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont (1783).
2. Cinderella; or The Little Glass Slipper, from The Blue Fairy Book by Andrew Lang (1891), based on a story of the same name (Cendrillon, ou la petite pantoufle de verre) by Charles Perrault (1697).

Possible Styles

The Real Housewives of Far Far Away. One fun way to do this storybook would be to do it like a modern-day reality TV series. Each story would be an "episode" from the show's first season. It would include descriptions of each princess's daily life along with commentary by/interviews with the princess, her husband, and any children they might have. I might even be able to work in a group meeting of all the princesses at the end for a get-together or maybe a "reunion show" where we find out even more about their lives since "filming" ended like real reality TV shows do sometimes. This would be a good style for the topic because it would make the stories feel more modern and relate-able than the original stories.

Fairy Tale Princesses: Where Are They Now. This is similar to the first style but with a few key differences. While the first style focuses only on their current lives and information given by the main characters, this style would be like the popular "Where Are They Now?" documentaries with an overview of the princess's story (including recently "discovered" information not in the stories), interviews from less central characters (e.g. the ugly stepsisters, the witch from Rapunzel), and of course, interviews with the princess herself. These stories would be more isolated from each other than the reality TV series idea (which might have all the princesses coming together to interact). This would be a good style for the topic because it would inform the readers about the details of the particular version of the fairy tale that I chose to base my stories off of so that they aren't confused by things that weren't in the versions they might have read (or seen in a Disney movie).

Forgotten Sequels. This style is more straightforward than the previous two. It would be a collection of sequel stories (supposedly written by the same authors) that, like many movie sequels, didn't do as well as the original. I could make the stories cheesy and try to capitalize on the success of the first fairy tale by sticking with "what worked," like what usually ruins a cinematic sequel. Conversely, I could write the stories more seriously and have them be "forgotten classics" that were good but simply overshadowed by the wild success of their predecessors. This would be a good style for the topic because the stories would be more natural continuations of the first stories because the storytelling styles would be similar (straightforward, traditional storytelling).

The Untold Tragic Ends to Classic Fairy Tales. This style would have a much more gloomy tone than all the other style possibilities. The basic theme is that though "happily ever after" was written at the end of the stories, the events coming after those words (the "real" endings of the stories) are very tragic. There's the possibility of the princess dying, the prince dying, a scorned villain getting their revenge, or perhaps just an unhappy marriage that ended in divorce (or worse, they stay together and are miserable for the rest of their lives). While the other styles could include one or two tales of woe, every story in this storybook would be a tragedy. This would be a good style for the topic because it would actually be very similar to how the original stories were told. Most of the princesses started out in bad situations (deceased parents, nearly murdered or abused by a stepparent, stolen by a witch or a beast) but got a happy ending, this time they would not though.

YouTube Tech Tip

Google Translate Sings: "I'll Make A Man Out of You" from Mulan (ft. Caleb Hyles)

Mysterious as the dark long of the shoeeeeee!

Essay: Assessment of the Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 8-10) Reading Unit

This week I read the Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 8-10) reading unit and I don't know if I could be happier! The stories I read this week were really interesting because they were mostly Greek myths that I had never heard of before. Last week, I did a reading unit over Aesop's fables and while a few were new to me, many of them I had heard of before. I like making new discoveries (especially when the experience is positive) so this unit was a good fit for my interests. The myths in this weeks unit were a little odd, with plots including things like male lovers of the (male) gods, incest, and sexual attraction to inanimate objects. Yes, it was a little weird, but you have to expand your horizons! You don't usually read stories like these, so it brought a new dimension to the readings I've done for this class and for personal enjoyment.

There were a few times I wish I had known more about the backgrounds of certain myths. The previous unit included complete notes from Dr. Gibbs, but this unit did not (This was made clear beforehand but I decided I was comfortable reading the unit without them). One example where I feel like background information might have helped the story make more sense to me was the story of Ceres and Erysichthon. I have no idea why Erysichthon cut down Ceres' favorite tree. Is he just a bad guy? Did they quarrel before this story took place? I just don't understand his motivation. The story of Ganymede and Hyacinthus might benefit from some information about homosexuality in Greek culture. I'm not sure what the prevailing opinion about the practice was in ancient Greece. I know it was at least somewhat acceptable in some places but also not acceptable in other places. I would have liked just a little bit of history or a link to a website where I could read more about it.

Erysichthon fells Ceres' favorite tree (Ovid Illustrated website)

What I learned from this unit is that I need to read more about Greek mythology because I really enjoyed this unit. What has always scared me off from Greek mythology is the style it is usually written in (epic poem form) and the generally large vocabulary needed to understand what is going on. However, reading these myths proved to me that there are readable versions of Greek myths; you just have to find them. While the warning given before the unit worried me initially (i.e. "Just remember that you are reading a poem intended for a sophisticated literary audience in ancient Rome; you were not Ovid's intended audience!"), I found that I had no difficulties whatsoever with the language of the stories.

I would highly recommend this reading unit to anyone who is interested in it, with the only precaution being that you need to be prepared for a little weirdness as there are stories about somewhat taboo subjects like I mentioned before [i.e. incest, homosexuality (if that kind of thing bothers you), and sexual attraction to inanimate objects]. If none of those scare you off, you should enjoy this unit much like I did. :)

Week 3 Storytelling: Insatiable Greed

The sky was filled with puffy white clouds, pushed along by the cool breeze ruffling the tree tops. The sun's rays reached out and lit the whole forest as if it were a neon green welcome sign. What a beautiful day to destroy a forest. Erys Goldmire stepped out of his shiny black car, dirt crunching under his expensive, black leather shoes, and surveyed the scene before him. A tiny shack of a house sat off to the right, and behind it, a sea of bright green trees just waiting to be felled. In front of the ramshackle building stood a frail and ancient woman, a local who had tried to prevent Erys from obtaining the land. If she had agreed to sell it when he had offered, she could have received a much bigger payment than what the government had given her as compensation for taking her land under eminent domain (and Erys wouldn't have had to spend the 1.5 million to pay off that government official). She was looking his way, eyes squinting not in defense from the sun but in hatred of the man before her.

"I prayed that you would never come back," the old woman said, eying the large construction machinery parked all over her yard which had left scars of their tracks behind them. Her brown, wrinkled face scowled angrily up at the man who had stopped at nothing to rob her of her childhood home.

"I hoped you would be dead before long," Erys flung back at her. He had tried to be charming to win her over at first. Once he realized he wasn't going to get anywhere, he had dropped the act and let his contempt for the old hag spill out from him.

It was at that moment that he spotted the tree--the old woman's favorite tree. She had dressed it in ribbons and set up an altar in front of it, an altar she used to pray to the pagan patron goddess of the forest. Needing to drive home his triumph over her, Erys grabbed a chainsaw from a near by equipment rack and headed right for the tree. Not bothering to clear away the altar or ribbons, he yanked the chainsaw to life and sneered at the old woman before proceeding.

"Where's your great protector of the trees? Is she not going to stop me?" The woman stared passively at the crazed man, no sign of outrage or frustration on her face. This only fueled his madness more. He plunged the rotating sharp teeth into the trunk of the ancient tree, a loud whine like a scream emanating from the point of contact. As the blade sank deeper and deeper, sap began to pour out of the open wound and bled all over the altar. Finally, with a loud crack, the trunk snapped in two and the massive tree plummeted to the earth, crushing the altar underneath it. Erys looked to the old woman for any sign of emotion.

"You will pay," she said hollowly. Without a word more or a glance back, the woman silently left the scene.

"Get to work!" Erys bellowed. "I want to be able to see the horizon by tomorrow morning." A strange uneasiness settled over the cruel businessman. He was anxious to have the forest cleared and construction started, but it was more than that. He wanted more. More land, more buildings, more money, more business. He wanted a foothold in every country, an enterprise in every state. He hungered more than he ever had before, and he needed these things now. Though he had intended to oversee all aspects of the project, Erys climbed back into his luxury car and ordered the driver to take him to the airport immediately. He had work to do.

...................

Six months later, the man was a wreck. He spent days at the office at a time, haggling deals for land, approving designs for new buildings, monitoring the success of each enterprise. With each new parcel bought, each new building erected, and each new profit report received, his hunger only grew even more. No number of acres or building square footage or amount of money could fill the ever-growing hole inside of him. The feeling of need gnawed at him day and night; even in his sleep he could not find peace.

Soon Erys was up to his ears in dept. He was buying for his newest ventures before the old ones could make any money. He made bad deals for poor quality land, spent millions constructing lavish hotels, and tens of millions on bribes that would help push approvals through faster. He even pawned off his daughter to the son of another wealthy businessman as part of a deal for his worthless swamp land in Louisiana.

It was not long at all before Erys was on the fast path to self-destruction. He drank alcohol as if it were water and did drugs to keep him awake throughout the night so that he could work as long as possible. Work was his food source, and his body began to waste away because of it. One night, he found himself on the roof in a drunken stupor. He staggered around on uneasy legs, taking in the scene of his surrounding empire on the very edge of the roof. A strong sense of vertigo engulfed him and his body, ravaged by hunger and toxic chemicals, could hardly hold him upright. Now a cool, strong breeze was stroking his face, just like the one he had felt that day on the outskirts of the beautiful forest, long since gone. His vision blurred as the speed increased. It could have been his imagination or a drunken hallucination but he could have sworn he heard the wind whisper in his ear, "I told you that you would pay," right before his body hit the concrete sidewalk thirty stories below the top of his skyscraper office.

Scene from the movie Greed (1924) Erich von Stroheim

~*~*~*~*~*~

Author's Note: My story is based on the Greek myths about Ceres and Erysichthon, from Ovid's Metamorphoses (translated by Tony Kline, 2000). In the original myths, Erysichthon cuts down Ceres' favorite tree with his own hands after his men refused to do so themselves. The tree was actually a nymph and when he swung into the trunk, blood poured forth from the wound. Enraged, Ceres sends a messenger to ask her antipode, Famine, to inflict her torturous power upon Erysichthon. He becomes unable to be satisfied no matter how much he eats, sells his daughter multiple times in order to get money for food (she keeps running away from the buyers but is taken back by her father), and eventually cannibalizes himself in the end. When I read this story I thought about this as a metaphor for man's destruction of nature and insatiable greed. In my version, I give Erys(ichthon) a motivation for cutting down the tree whereas in the original myth you don't really know why he was set on destroying Ceres' favorite tree (at least in the stand-alone story that I read for this class). It was easy to retell the story using this kind of metaphor, but I did end up eliminating the role of his daughter, Mestra, because she didn't work into the plot of my story very well. It was tricky to figure out how Erys would "eat" himself but I decided that it would make sense for him to destroy his body with drugs, alcohol, and ultimately suicide.

Reading Diary B: Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 8-10)

Here are my favorites from the second half of Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 8-10):

Orpheus and Eurydice: This is a sad story but it also seems like a turning point in the mood and themes of the unit. It kind of reminds me of that story from the bible where the guy is leaving a city and he's not supposed to look back at his wife, but he does and she turns into a pillar of salt. While the ending is tragic like so many other Greek myths, they kind of throw you a curve ball at the end. The narrator tells you how Orpheus never married again and you think, "Awww, how sad and sweet," but then they slip in at the end "Oh, by the way, he switched teams to men and was the first gay guy is Thrace." They just throw that last sentence in there and you don't really know what to think about it. It doesn't make me like the story any less, but it just makes it feel like the ending was rushed and there's probably an interesting story there that we don't get to hear.

Ganymede and Hyacinthus: This story was interesting because it was sort of an anomaly. Most of the time, the stories are about gods and their female lovers or goddesses and their male lovers, but this story is about two of the gods' male lovers. I didn't even know they had those until I read this story (although, it doesn't really surprise me because Zues/Jupiter has always been a very promiscuous character). Of course, the ending can't be too happy; it is a Greek myth after all. The male lover of the god Phoebus, named Hyacinthus, is killed when the earth throws Phoebus' discus back to him that Hyacinthis was going to retrieve and the discus ends up striking the boy in the head, killing him. Apparently, the male lovers of the gods are as prone to tragic ends as the female ones.

Pygmalion: This story is just odd. A guy falls in love with a statue he carved and Venus turns her into a real woman. But before that, he touches it and kisses it and puts clothes on it and lets it "sleep" in the bed with him as if it were a real person. If this story were to be told today, it would be about a creepy guy who treated a life-size doll or something like his girlfriend. If I were to rewrite the story, though, I would do something kind of like the movie Her. The guy (or girl) falls in love with a computer program or machine that (s)he created and it becomes a real person in a dream (s)he has. Overall, it was an interesting story but still very odd.

The Foot Race: The last story that caught my attention was about Hippomenes and Atalanta. The girl is literally running from being married and killing all the males who fail to beat her in a foot race, but she's so pretty that guys keep coming to race her. Hippomenes manages to beat her with some divine help, but it's alright because they are actually in love. If only the story had ended there. The two end up desecrating a sacred temple and are both turned into lions. Did any people in Greece NOT have a tragic tale of woe? Imagine being raised on these stories instead of the classic fairy tales we know and love. I think our ideas of life and love would be a lot different. Maybe I could do a story about that, about a modern day girl who is brought up on Greek myths instead of fairy tales and how her romantic relationships are affected by this. Would anyone be interested in reading that?

The Race between Hippomenes and Atalanta by Noël Hallé(Wikimedia Commons)

Reading Diary A: Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 8-10)

Here are my favorite stories from the first half of Ovid's Meamorphoses (Books 8-10):

Philemon and Baucis: What I liked about this story was that it's one of the few where the usually wrathful gods are actually nice to some humans. Philemon and Baucis remind me of a sweet, hospitable old couple and their kindness to the gods Jupiter and Mercury causes them to spare the couple's lives. I guess they haven't completely given up their wrathful ways because they still flood and drown an entire neighborhood because the people didn't let them into their homes, but at least they didn't punish Philemon and Baucis for the mistakes of others. I also liked their transformation into trees so that they did not really die and can continue to be next to each other.

Ceres and Erysichthon: This is one of the stories where I feel like the human victim of the god(dess) really did deserve their fate and instead of pitying him, I feel like justice was served. What made this story a favorite, though, was the story idea I got from it. If I were to rewrite this story, I would update it, giving it a modern twist. In our society's desire for commercial expansion, a lot of the environment (including important habitats for certain animals) has been demolished to make way for strip malls and hotels and casinos and other commercial buildings. Along with this destruction of nature, we also seem to have this unquenchable need for material goods, which is a lot like the hunger (famine) Ceres plagued Erysichthon with (I'm pretty sure, I don't know how to correctly pronounce either of those names, but at least I can just spell them in a blog post).

Achelous: I found this story to be a little bit humorous. Achleous insults Hercules, his parentage, and even mocks the feats he has accomplished seemingly because he's not a god, just a demigod. I understand that a certain amount of pride comes with being a god, but in this case, Achelous had to put his money where his mouth was and it didn't work out very well for the "almighty" god in this story. While Hercules may not be a god, he sure has superhuman strength, not to mention a fine set of combat skills from all the trials he overcame successfully. To put it plainly, Achelous talked crap about Hercules and got his tail whipped for it (he even lost a horn which Hercules snapped right off his forehead).  There are several different lessons one can take away from this story, like the downfall of pride, being able to back up your words, and how words can have consequences.

The Death of Hercules: I have mixed feelings about this story because it is quite sad and gruesome. A dying Hercules, in immense pain from a poisoned shirt, decides to burn himself on a pyre to relive his suffering. Hercules is a great hero so this is a sad way for his epic story to end. However, the feeling is reduced by the gesture of Zues/Jupiter who takes the immortal part of him and puts it in the sky as a constellation. Jealous Hera/Juno does not speak out against the action, even though she has hated Hercules and put him through many trials throughout his life. In fact, it is overcoming her many trials that made him famous throughout Greece and beloved by the gods. Although, you can hardly blame Hera for hating him since he is one of the many illegitimate children her husband has had. Still, he didn't deserve her wrath or his painful death, but at least he was immortalized in the sky.

Hercules on Mount Oeta
(Stories from the Greek Tragedians)

Storybook Project Week 2: Brainstorming Topics

Topic: Life lessons from Aesop
Comments: I really love Aesop's fables, so I would definitely be interested in doing a storybook focusing on the most important morals (in my opinion, at least). I would have the storybook set up as if it were the class website for MORAL 1113: Life Lessons taught be Professor Aesop, a special guest professor at the University of Ancient Greece. One story would be learning from the wisdom of a character, another from the foolishness of a character, and a third from the cunning of a character.
Possible stories: I read a bunch of Aesop stories for my reading unit this week and I would likely use this unit to find stories I'm interested in rewriting. There's also another reading unit of Aesop's that I did not read and could be a source of additional stories, if necessary.
Sample story comments: I really liked The Lion and the Statue and this could be the wisdom story in my storybook. I really enjoy the insight the lion gives to the bragging human.
Bibliography information:
Sample story: The Lion and the Statue
Book title:
Book author: Joseph Jacobs
Year: 1902

The Lion and the Statue illustration by Walter Crane

Topic: Dark and Mythical Creatures
Comments: This would also be set up like a class website but this time for Hagrid's NEWT level care of magical creature class. I was thinking of ways to possible include the Harry Potter series into my storybook somehow and this idea just came to me. I've always enjoyed learning about mythical creatures, so this topic could be a great fit and an enjoyable project for me to work on.
Possible stories: There are a lot of source for mythical beast stories under the example topics page of the class blog. I found lots of online books from websites like sacredtexts.com, the Aberdeen bestiary site, and Charles Gould's Mythical Monsters book. I would like to have stories about at least three creatures, possible werewolves, dragons, sphinx, mermaids, or maybe basilisks!
Sample story comments: I found an interesting story about a witch who turned herself into a wolf which could be a good tie-in to the Harry Potter theme of the storybook. It also had a cool description of the witch mid-transformation as she's turning back into a human.
Bibliography information:
Sample story: A Witch as Werewolf
Website: Werewolf Legends from Germany

Topic: Marriage Stories of the Tlingit Nation
Comments: I found these stories to be very interesting because they were unlike many marriage or love stories I had heard before. They were all mostly sad or had unusual endings or plots. Although different from what I am used to, reading unfamiliar stories keeps the reading interesting and helps expand the way we think about certain stories.
Possible stories: There were some stories that I found on sacredtexts.com as well as different Native American story eBooks that I could use. There was also a helpful section called Myths and Legends of Alaska. I also personally own a book with a lot of Native American stories and some of them might be Tlingit stories.
Sample story comments: One of my favorite stories I came across was The Woman Who Married the Fire Spirit, which reminded me a little bit of the story of Persephone. In the end, the woman leave her fire spirit husband and remains in the human world, though she is quite unhappy.
Bibliography information:
Sample story: The Woman Who Married the Fire Spirit
Book title: Tlingit Myths and Texts
Book author: John R. Swanton
Year: 1909

Topic: The Real Housewives of Far Far Away
Comments: I'm an avid reader of fairy tales, old and new, so it was likely that a fairy tale related storybook idea would come to me. I've always wondered what happened after "happily ever after" and my stories would explore that, based on certain princess stories.  What are their lives like after "the end?"
Possible stories: There are endless possibilities for stories and sources of stories. You have the popular princess stories (although, most of them don't actually start out as princesses): Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid. You also have the long list of popular authors to choose from: the brothers Grimm, Perrault, Hans Christian Anderson, just to name a few. There are endless books and websites with fairy tale stories.
Sample story comments: Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite fairy tales (and, coincidentally, Disney movies) and one of the main reasons is that I've thought a lot about what their lives would be like after the spell was broken.
Bibliography information:
Sample story: Beauty and the Beast
Website: Beauty and the Beast

Week 2 Storytelling: Important Lessons from a Dying Man's Bedside

Once there was a wealthy merchant who was growing quite old. Besides having a large amount of money, he also had a grand house full of children, five boys and one girl. The children, while they loved each other as much as other brothers and sisters do, were always quarreling over one thing or another and their father worried what might happen to his family if he were not there to make peace during their many disagreements. Their mother had died a few years prior of pneumonia and the merchant's health was beginning to fade; eventually, they would only have each other rely upon.

Being of a great age, the merchant spent much of his time thinking and one thing he thought about particularly was how to get his children to understand how important it was that they always stick together. Children are not the wisest of creatures; lessons taught to them in a direct manner often go in one ear and out the other. With the young, it is usually best to show them what you mean. But how could the merchant show his sons and daughter the importance of unity? And what about his youngest child, his only daughter? Growing up without a father and a mother from such a young age would surely be a difficult thing. What knowledge could he give to her that might ease the difficult journey ahead?

Months passed and soon the old merchant could hardly leave his bed. By this time, the older children knew their father was not long for this world. Distressed from the impending loss of their last parent, tensions were high in the big house and the children were prone to fighting even more than usual. This worried the old man dearly, so one night he called for all his children to assemble in his bed chamber.

Putting aside their differences for the sake of their ailing father, the children filed into the room quietly and by age. The eldest was a big, strapping boy of twenty-five, engaged to be married to a lovely girl the following month. His strong hands were clasped tightly in front of him, for the largest part of him was his heart and it ached to see his beloved father weak in his bed. The next was a tall and slight lad of twenty-three, bright and astute. He stood gravely at the foot of the bed, knowing very well this might be one of the last times he would ever see his father. The third son was short and round with a mischievous spirit, being the source of much of the discord among the siblings, but even he recognized the seriousness of the occasion. The fourth son was a lad of seventeen, built like his eldest brother, and the fifth after him was a wispy thing of fifteen with bright blue eyes that shone with innocence and, at the moment, sadness. The last to enter was the daughter, a pretty little girl of merely ten years. She remembered how things had been just before her mother died, so even she knew that it would not be long before she lost her father, too.

With all six of them standing at the foot of his bed, the old man turned to his servant and asked him to take the bundle of sticks from his bedside table to his eldest son. The boy held the bundle (that he had seen the same servant gathering earlier) between his large hands and looked at his father in curiosity.

"Break it," his father ordered hoarsely. Knowing full well he could not do it, the boy tried his best anyway. When he could not, the bundle was passed from one brother to the next and even to the little girl at the end of the line. After none had succeeded, their father had the servant untie the bundle and give each of them one stick from the pile.

"Break them," the old man commanded again. This time the room was filled with the sound of snapping wood. Yes, even the youngest broke her stick in two with ease.

"Union gives strength," their father explained with more force in his voice than the children had heard in quite some time. "You are all accustomed to bickering and arguing, day in and day out. As I'm sure you all know, I am not long for this world, and a day will come when I will not be here to set things right when you inevitably quarrel again. I hope that you would keep this lesson in your minds, for when I'm gone you will only have each other to rely upon in this whole world." The siblings looked at each other solemnly, the broken bits of wood still clasped in their hands.

"Anna," the old man called quietly, reaching out for his youngest child to come nearer to him. He took her small hand in his wasted one and peered into her big brown eyes. "The world can be a cruel place for a woman, but I do not want you to be afraid. Be intelligent. Be confident. And, above all, be strong. For there are few things more formidable than a knowledgeable, strong, confident woman." He patted her hand and lay back on his pillow, exhausted from effort.

The children filed their way back into the hall and went somberly to their rooms, each determined to keep their broken sticks as a reminder of their father's most important lesson.

The Bundle of Sticks illustration by Walter Crane

  ~*~*~*~*~

Author's Note:  The source material for my story is The Bundle of Sticks from the book "The Fables of Aesop" edited by Joseph Jacobs (1902). In the original tale, a dying man brings his sons to his death bed and teaches them that unity is strength by having them try to break a bundle of sticks individually. They only succeed after dividing up the sticks between them. The reason I chose to retell this story is because the man did not call any daughters he may have had to hear this lesson about strength. He may have only had sons, but I imagined that he did have at least one daughter and I believed that she should have been present to learn the lesson as well. I also imagined what lesson he might want to impart to this sole daughter individually, but I didn't want it to be the stereotypical lesson it seems girls always get from their dying parent: be kind. The main attributes Anna's father emphasizes are intelligence, confidence, and strength. I specifically picked these traits because they are usually associated with masculinity and the old man's sons would probably expect that they should aspire to be these things. Anna, however, might be told by the world that she only needs to be kind, gentle, pure, obedient, etc. It is for this reason her father makes a point of advocating strength, confidence, and intelligence, three characteristics that would certainly benefit a young orphan girl for whom self-reliance would be a necessity.

Reading Diary B: Aesop's Fables (Jacobs)

Here are my favorite stories from the second half of Aesop's Fables (Jacobs).

Birds, Part 2: The Cock and the Pearl is a fable I had never read before but was a happy edition to my previous knowledge. I tend to agree with those that think that the rooster is being practical by rejecting the pearl in favor of food. Honestly, what can a rooster do with a pearl? He probably can't trade it to another animal because other animals have no need or use for it either. Maybe in the make-believe world of Aesop he could trade it to a human for food (since in that world basically anything can talk), but I like to think of the moral (precious things are for those that can prize them) in terms of the real world. To a rooster, a heap of corn is a precious thing; to a person, corn would not be nearly so valuable as a pearl. Why should the rooster keep the pearl (something precious to others) when it is not of value to himself?

Crane's illustration of The Cock and the Pearl

Another story that I liked from this same section of reading was The Bat, the Birds, and the Beasts. The bat tries to be on both sides of the war between birds and beasts, but ends up being disliked by both sides, the moral being he that is neither one thing nor the other has no friends. This story reminded me of Wormtail (a.k.a. Peter Pettigrew) from the Harry Potter series. He really didn't belong to either side of the first Wizarding War; he was only trying to be on the more powerful side. He flip-flopped allegiances and then went into hiding when Voldemort was supposedly dead. When Wormtail met his old Hogwarts friends, he was despised and nearly killed. When he went running back to Voldemort, he was treated poorly because the Dark Lord knew he was not a true follower. Being neither really on one side nor the other, Peter was left with no friends. (I also wonder if he disliked that, for the most part, he was only called Wormtail and not Peter)

Insects, Snakes, Crabs: I'm particularly fond of The Ant and the Grasshopper because I could connect it with things in my own life. I am definitely the ant and my boyfriend would certainly be the grasshopper. I'm a big planner and go-getter. I want to know what needs to be done and when, and I get it done. My boyfriend likes to "fly by the seat of his pants;" he does everything at the last minute, hardly ever planning, and sometimes things just don't get done. While I might say, "It will get done whenever it gets done," he might say, "It'll get done or it won't get done." I also wonder if this story had any influence on the Disney movie A Bug's Life in which the ants are hard workers and the lazy grasshoppers use their size to intimidate the ants into gathering food for them. The more I think about it the more I think this might be true, but I will have to do some research to find out for sure.

Family and Friends: After reading this story and asking myself a crucial question, I decided that the story I will rewrite this week is The Bundle of Sticks. When I came to the end of the story, I couldn't help thinking, "Well, that's a nice message, but what would he say to his daughters, if he had any?" I don't know and it's not explicitly stated whether or not the dying man in the story has any daughters, but when I imagined he did have daughters that he didn't give this important message to, I was a little upset. I imagined him thinking that this was a lesson about strength, so it didn't pertain to his daughters who didn't need to be strong. In the recent trailer for the new, live action Cinderella movie, Cinderella's mother, while on her deathbed, tells her daughter to always be kind. While kindness is a great trait, it should not only be taught to girls but to boys as well; the same can be said of strength being taught to boys as well as girls. So in my story, the dying father will give equal advice to all his children (or something like that, the final story may be different than my rough idea here).

People Wise and Foolish, Part 2: The last story I really enjoyed was The Miser and His Gold because its moral echoes a feeling I have always had about greedy people: wealth unused might as well not exist. What's the point of having all that money if you're not going to use it for anything? Many portrayals of Ebenezer Scrooge from Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol often depict the miser in plain close and living in a rundown mansion. He has piles and piles of gold but he's so greedy that he won't spend even a small bit of it to keep up his house and himself. I get that once greedy people have money, they usually aren't too keen to get rid of it quickly, but the whole point of having money is to use it to buy things you need or want. If you don't use it, you might as well not have it at all for all the good it does you. Sure, you can say that you're rich, but you don't have any of the benefits of having that money if you don't spend it. I may seem displeased, but I'm actually glad that somebody understands my annoyance with the flawed logic of misers.

Famous Last Words (Week 1)

Wow! The first week of school is already over. Time seems to fly by much faster in the spring semester. Does anyone else think this, too, or is it just me?

While the week went by quickly, I feel like I got a lot done. I wrote 8 blog posts (including this one), although I got a head start and wrote some last week. I've already started the first section of reading for this class and I can definitely say that 1) it was as good as I had hoped it would be and 2) this is probably my favorite class so far this semester. I know it's only the first week, but first impressions are important.

On the whole, I would say that I didn't necessarily have any bad experiences in my other classes, although I did almost fall asleep in my capstone class. That's what happens in evening classes, though! By 5 p.m., I want to be at home and in my comfy clothes already. I've never really had a late class before (it runs from 5:00 to 7:50), but thankfully I had a Coke with me and the sugar woke me up for the second half. I read the first chapter of my textbook for neurophysiology, which really sounds much scarier and difficult than it actually is. I also read the first unit for my Women Creating Social Change class and it was actually probably the most boring of all the reading I did this week. The first one was misleadingly funny; the last two were very dry and scholarly accounts of how social movements come about. So far I haven't noticed much overlap in my classes, but that sort of thing happens, if at all, a little later in the semester.

Turning to a non-school-related subject, I recently learned about a hilarious YouTube series that might be just the thing you need to relax and laugh a bit after the first week of school. It's called Google Translate Sings. If you haven't heard of it yet, basically this girl puts song lyrics into Google Translate and runs them through multiple languages. Then she translates them back into English and sings what comes out, which is usually very funny. I would recommend starting with Let it Go from Frozen (which I almost have memorized), but there's also Love is an Open Door, Do You Want to Build a Snowman, I'll Make a Man Out of You (from Mulan), Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus, and much more. In fact, let me just leave the video down below for you so you don't even have to go to YouTube.

"Let It Go" from Frozen according to Google Translate (PARODY)

I hope you enjoy your weekend!

Someecard

Reading Diary A: Aesop's Fables (Jacobs)

Here were my favorite stories from Aesop's Fables (Jacobs):

Lions, Part 1: One story I really liked was The Lion and the Statue. In the story, a man attempts to prove to a lion that humans are stronger by showing him a statue of Hercules defeating a lion, but the lion replies that if the statue was made by a lion then the victor would be the lion. The moral of the story is, "We can easily represent things as we wish them to be." I like this story because I recognize an element of psychology (my major) in it. There have been many studies about how we perceive things so that they are favorable to us or how we expect/want them to be. In the picture below, you can see Crane's illustration for the story as well as read the limerick version of the story.

The Lion and the Statue illustrated by Walter Crane

Lions, Part 2: Another story I enjoyed was The Lion in Love. One of the reasons is a bit of a comical connection to The Lion and the Statue: the strength of men boasted of by the man (intelligence) actually does allow some humans to overpower a lion. I also like the moral because it is so true: love can tame the wildest. Although it was sad, I also liked the bit of realism of the love story not working out. Love makes us vulnerable, especially the "wild ones" who must be tamed by love, and sometimes this vulnerability allows us to get hurt when feelings are unrequited or a relationship just doesn't work out. I could easily see myself rewriting this story with a person metaphorically taming themselves for love and ultimately being rejected.

Foxes, Part 1: The Fox and the Mask was another story I liked because of its moral (Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth). It's very relevant today because our society can be overly concerned about appearances, but a pretty face or nice house or nice clothes do not mean necessarily that someone is a good person "on the inside." They may be vain, greedy, ignorant, shallow, or just plain unpleasant, but you can't tell just by looking at them. I could also imagine rewriting this story so that a person makes an initial judgment about someone or something but soon finds out that sometimes outward appearance masks a lack of inner worth or quality.

Wolves: The Dog and the Wolf.What I liked about this story was that it made me think critically and ask questions. The moral of this story is, "Better starve free than to be a fat slave." This made me think of the price we pay or the sacrifices we make for freedom and luxury. People will lay down their lives to fight wars for freedom or the ability to govern themselves, like during the American Revolution. After the colonies were free from British rule, they were also without the protection of the British Empire. In the same way, we usually must pay a price for luxury. For the dog, this means giving up his freedom; for us, it could mean giving up time with our families to earn money.

Mice: The last story is one that most people know--The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse. It is similar to The Dog and the Wolf in its message; its moral explains, "Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear." Again, we see the theme of giving up something (in this case, safety) in order to enjoy some kind of luxury (in this case, high quality food). I could potentially do a rewriting of both stories, with the main character encountering two people: one who gives up freedom for food and another who lives dangerously in order to eat quality food. The main character would rather be free and eat less-than-great food than to have a master or fear for his life.

The UnTextbook: Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...

I think the UnTextbook will be part of the most difficult aspect of this course: deciding which (awesome!) units we'll be reading this semester. More specifically, the difficulty will come from deciding which units you won't be reading because you can only choose 2 units each week. Of course, you could always do extra reading if you'd like, but when the semester gets really busy you just won't have time to cover some units that you're very interested in. Here is a rough outline of how I think my semester readings will work out:

Weeks 2 and 3: The dilemma starts already! I'm having a hard time deciding between Aesop's fables, Greek mythology, or somehow doing a combination of the two. I'm very interested in reading stories from both units, but I can't decide which great stories I'll get to miss out on. Perhaps I'll find some theme that can connect an Aesop unit to a mythology unit and making that connection will make up for any wonderful stories I might miss out on.

Weeks 4 and 5: I'm excited to read stories from the India unit after having read about (but not having actually read) the Panchatantra, Jatakas, and Ramayana in the children's literature course that I took last semester. If I remember correctly, Panchatantra and Jataka stories are meant to teach lessons or impart wisdom and this could fit well with the Aesop and mythology units that I hope to read since some of these stories also teach a lesson or have important morals. (I think I might be onto a theme for my study of these readings: lessons from literature!).

Weeks 6 and 7: This time I'm interested in reading stories which with I am both familiar and unfamiliar. I don't know much about Japanese mythology, but I've always been interested in Japan and Japanese culture, so I look forward to learning something new about these subjects. A little more familiar to me are the African tales and Brer Rabbit stories, some of which I read or heard as a child and some of which I only heard about in my children's literature class but that I am interested in learning more about.

Weeks 9 and 10: These weeks will be no-brainers in terms of choosing which units I will read. My boyfriend is Native Alaskan (Haidi-Tlingit) and, while he isn't very involved in the culture of his nations, I'd love to read stories from the Alaskan unit that I might share with him. Also, I'm (a very very tiny) part Cherokee, so I'd like to read the Cherokee stories unit and learn a little bit more about a part (albeit very small) of my heritage. However, I do regret missing out on the marriage and hero stories, but maybe I can scrounge up a bit of time over spring break to read some of these stories, too.

Weeks 11 and 12: This will be another tough decision week. I'd love to read one or both units over Alice in Wonderland, but I'd also like to do the English Aesop unit and read some more fables. Also, I'm a huge fan of fairy tales so it's hard to pass up reading the English fairy tale units. Additionally, both my boyfriend and myself are part Irish, so I'm also drawn to the Celtic tales. It's so hard to choose just two!

Weeks 13 and 14: The reading choices for this week will be pretty simple. As I've already said, I love fairy tales so the easy choices are Grimm and the general European fairy tales. The difficult part will be deciding which of the three Grimm units and two European fairy tale units I'll be missing out on. By this time, I will hopefully have some kind of unifying theme for all my readings making tough weeks like this a little easier by selecting units with stories that fit that theme. Below is a picture of the cover for an English translation of a collection of stories by the brothers Grimm. I decided to go with this picture because I've always enjoyed the Grimm fairy tales (I actually own a book that is a collection of most of their stories).

Cover of an English translation of stories by the brothers Grimm (Wikimedia Commons)

Week 1 Storybook Favorites: Lions and Princes and Rhymies... Oh my!

Wow! There are some really great storybooks out there.

Let's start with The Prince Diaries. The first time I read the title I actually mis-read it as "The Princess Diaries," imagining that the stories would be the personal musings of fairy tale princesses about the stories that made them famous. However, what I found was even more interesting. I'd never thought to think of the stories from the prince's point of view. One thing I really enjoy reading about is a familiar story from a new or modern angle (if you do too, I recommend this book, it's been a great read so far), so this storybook really captured my attention. Maybe I'll do something similar if I decide to do a storybook.

The Prince Diaries

Another storybook I really liked was Nursery Rhymes Gone Wrong. The tone of this storybook is very different from a lot of the others I browsed through, very creepy and eerie. It's a collection of stories like those imagining what life is like for fairy tale princes and princesses after "happily ever after" but concerning the main characters of nursery rhymes (called Rhymies) and with the disclaimer that all of the stories are tragic. Overall, it's a very unique concept and general feeling for a storybook (in a good way).

Nursery Rhymes Gone Wrong

The third storybook on my favorites list is Aesop Animal Pairs. I'm a big fan of Aesop's fables (and excited to start reading them for our first reading unit next week) so I was very happy to stumble upon this storybook. It focuses on animal tales, specifically those involving pairs of animals. I liked that the stories the student picked were not the more well-known animal pairings like the lion and the mouse. I have a habit of sticking to the classics I know and love, but I try to branch out and discover new favorites, which made this storybook especially delightful for me.

Aesop Animal Pairs

Honorable mentions include The Temptation of Zeus and Fairytale Case Files. When I saw the line "Zeus' lovers speak out" I was thinking along the lines of a daytime talk show like Jerry Springer or Maury, but the tone of the storybook was much more serious. Similarly, the tone of the latter storybook was serious and dark, reminding me of the movie Hansel and Gretel or a much darker version of the movie The Brothers Grimm.

Introduction: A Little Bit About Me

Hello again! In case you don't know, my name is Shelby Brown and I am a senior at OU (I plan to graduate in May!). I'm a psychology major and secretary of the Psychology Club, but this semester I'm taking quite a few classes outside of psychology in subjects that interest me (like this one!). So far I've had a great time in this class (Mythology and Folklore). I'm also taking my senior Capstone class, Officiating Spring Sports, an online seminar in cognitive neuropsychology, Women Creating Social Change (another online class), and a half-semester online course called Sociology of Family.

I'm the oldest of five kids. My sister, Tiphanie will be turning 20 this year and has a son, my nephew Preston, who will be turning 1 year old on Sunday! My sister Brittany (almost 15) is a freshman in high school and plays basketball. My brother Gary Brent (I call him Bubba) is 6 years old and my youngest sibling, Maggie, is 5. I currently live with my boyfriend Alex, our friend Michael, and Alex and I have a cat named Sweetie.

Personal photo of our cat, Sweetie (Dec 2014)

Sweetie in a box: If I fits, I sits! (Personal photo from Dec 2014)

I enjoy a variety of activities including reading, writing, and sports. I like to read young adult and fantasy novels. The Harry Potter series is probably my favorite of all; I'm currently re-reading the series for the first time and I just started the Half-Blood Prince. I think everyone likes to find some fantasy world that they wish they could live in and the wizarding world is mine. As mentioned in a previous post, I would really love to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter someday. I've played quite a few sports from softball when I was really young to soccer to basketball (from 4th grade to my freshman year of high school) to volleyball to cross country and track.


I am a huge Disney kid, having grown up during the golden age of Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Toy Story, etc. I know tons of Disney songs/movies by heart and quote them at times. During the break I was working my way through all the Disney movies, but now that school has started, I may not have time to finish it (at least not very soon). I also recently became a huge Doctor Who fan over the summer, but I've only had time to watch series 5-7 (the 11th Doctor/Matt Smith series) because of time constraints from school. With little leisure time during the semester, I find it difficult to decide between reading Harry Potter, watching Doctor Who, watching Disney movies, and starting new books, TV series (like Once Upon a Time), and movies.

11th Doctor doll I bought recently (Personal photo from Jan 2015)

Well, that's basically me in a nut shell. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and I'll be happy to answer them. I look forward to learning about you guys and reading your stories in the future!

Week 1 Storytelling: The Mayor of Bombay and the Snipe Pipe-Thief

There was a fat man of Bombay,

Who was smoking one sunshiny day,
When a bird, called a snipe,
Flew away with his pipe,
Which vexed the fat man of Bombay.

~*~*~*~

The mayor of Bombay sat on the balcony of his enormous estate, peering down at his town below which basked in the beautiful sunshine of a bright summer day. Although the day was picturesque, the weather irritated the mayor who was renowned for being quite large. Indeed, the rays of the sun which made clear the beauty of the town also beat down upon the mayor’s girth, richly clad in fine purple and yellow silks. His protruding stomach lay heavy and hot upon his knees which were soon slick with sweat. One large arm made an effort to cool the mayor by slowly waving a green feather fan in his face while the other’s plump hand was curled around his favorite pipe, a handsomely crafted piece of art made of wood and painted a shiny black that gleamed under the sun’s rays, revealing the fine gold swirling patterns etched all along the pipe. It had been a gift from a colleague to congratulate the mayor on being elected to office.

As he sat there gazing at the tall white buildings of the city, a shadow swiftly crossed the man’s face. Squinting into the sun, the mayor spied a solitary bird circling lazily in the sky, emitting a small chirp every so often. Just as the mayor was returning his gaze to the town below, the bird began to descend slowly in the direction of the balcony, landing light as a feather on the clean white rail directly across from the mayor. They sat staring at each other for a moment, casually acknowledging the other’s presence. The bird was handsome, as birds go, a young snipe with a plump brown belly, a long, slim yellow beak, and beady black eyes as dark and as shiny as the pipe still lightly clamped between the mayor’s teeth and held in his sweaty palm.

Common Snipe:
Wikimedia Commons

In a sudden flash of brown feathers, the bird launched itself from the balcony rail and right into the mayor’s face. As the man jerked his round head back in surprise, the snipe secured its long yellow talons tightly around the stem of the pipe and wrenched it out of the mayor’s slick hand. Letting out a cry of surprise and anger, the mayor swiped a meaty paw at the bird, but the movement was sluggish while the bird was swift, having already flapped its way six feet above the mayor’s head and continuing to rise. Enraged, the mayor fought to lift himself out of the grasp of his deep plushy chair but to no avail. The man was just too big.

“Guards! Guards!” he called out. Rushing in from the attached room, the guards assisted the mayor out of his chair, but, unfortunately, that was all they could help him with for there was no way to retrieve the snipe which was quickly becoming a smaller and smaller black dot headed for the distant horizon. The mayor beat his meaty fists upon the white rail where the bird had been perched not two minutes earlier. Hot and frustrated, the mayor decided to take a cool bath to be followed by long nap.

Black Pipe:
Pixabay

Flapping its way slowly out of town, the snipe carried its treasure through the hot air for several miles. He soon arrived in a neighboring town where he headed toward a squat clay building in the middle of the city. Swooping in through the window, the snipe lightly dropped the handsome pipe upon the counter, landing beside it and waiting patiently for the shop owner to emerge. Entering from the back room, the shop owner was not surprised to see the pretty bird and a pretty prize sitting on his counter.

“Well, hello there, my friend,” he said while running a finger down the bird’s back, “I see you have brought me another fine addition to my inventory.” He picked up the pipe to examine it closer and was pleased with its brilliant craftsmanship. The first time he had found the little bird on his counter, it had been an emerald ring lying next to it which had sold for a nice price the very next day. As he had done that day and every day since the bird had continued to return with valuable items, the shop keeper reached beneath the counter and presented the snipe with a large, fluffy biscuit. Taking the biscuit in its claws, the bird silently exited the shop and headed east toward its nest where three hungry babies waited expectantly for their dinner.

~*~*~*~

Author’s Note: This story is based on an untitled nursery rhyme which is quoted at the top of the page. The rhyme is from The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang (1897) and tells the story of a bird who steals the pipe of a fat man from Bombay. I’m not sure what it was about this rhyme that caught my eye, but I found myself imagining how I might more elaborately describe the “fat man from Bombay.” I had first intended to end the story similarly to the original nursery rhyme with the mayor going off to take his bath and his nap, but the story just felt incomplete and I couldn’t help wondering why the bird took the pipe, so I did a bit of free-writing and just let the bird take me to the story’s logical conclusion.

My Favorite Places I Want to See

I have traveled much of the area around Oklahoma and Texas. A comprehensive list of places I to which I have traveled include:

• Oklahoma
• Texas
• New Mexico
• Colorado
• Louisiana
• Arkansas
• Kansas
• Nevada (Las Vegas!)
• And, not in the south and the farthest I have traveled, New York City!

However, none of these places are my favorite. In fact, the places I consider to be my "favorite places" are locations I have never actually been to, but it is my dream to see them some day. They are London, Disney World, and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

London, England

The first place I want to travel outside of the U.S. is London. This mainly has to do with my love for Harry Potter (which you might have guessed at from another place on my favorites list), but it also has to do with my love for Doctor Who and my general fascination with Britain.

Twilight over London from New Zealand High Commission:
Geograph.org

It's on my bucket list to visit this beautiful city! I want to see a play at Shakespeare's globe among other tourist-y things.

Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Florida

I think it will be easier to visit this favorite place first as it would be slightly less expensive and significantly closer. I never went to Disneyland or Disney World as a kid, but (since I grew up in the 90's) I was and continue to be a Disney kid. Even though I am 22-years-old, I feel no shame whatsoever admitting that I desperately want to go to Disney World and that I watch Disney movies regularly.

Cinderella Castle, the icon of Magic Kingdom:
Wikipedia

Disney is place for children of ALL ages. Even 22-year-old kids like me.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Orlando, Florida

As I said before, I love Harry Potter. I'm currently rereading the series and I'm on the Half-Blood Prince. Harry Potter is the reason I love books and reading. Like pretty much every other person who has read the books, I've always wanted J.K. Rowling's wizarding world to be real, to visit Hogwarts and Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley... and now I can!

Hogwarts Castle in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter:
Wikipedia

Only about 20 minutes from Walt Disney World (depending on traffic), my dream vacation would be to visit the two theme parks on my list on the same trip!

My First Post!

Hello, everyone!

This is my first blog post for my Mythology and Folklore class at OU (i.e. the University of Oklahoma, if you're a stranger who just happened upon my blog). I'm excited about this class because Dr. Gibbs seems so nice and I've heard good things about how interesting this class is. I'm looking forward to meeting my classmates through our blogs as well as reading and (hopefully) writing some good literature.

Nice to meet you all!