Online Education Review

This is my second, I think, fully online class that I have taken. My first online class was when I took General Chemistry II online one summer and it even included an online lab. I think I lucked out a little bit on that. So that makes this my second fully online class I have ever taken. I have really enjoyed online classes. It gives you a chance to choose when you will do the learning instead of having to be at a designated classroom at a designated time each week. It also gives you a chance to work at your own pace a little bit. In both my experiences you could work ahead if you wanted. In this class you had the freedom to work way ahead where in my Chemistry class it was mostly you could finish the week early if you wanted.
I think I would have taken more online classes if given the chance. I have had lots of lecture classes where these "lectures" were just the teacher essentially reading a slideshow that had been uploaded online already. It would have done me just as well to just stay at home and go through the slideshow myself. Obviously, some classes need a setting where the instructor can go over material and then have students ask questions or have discussions. It might be of benefit for some classes such as this to have an online portion and an in-person portion of the class as well. The teacher could upload material and homework each week or month and have a designated time slot each week for students to come by and ask detailed and prepared questions over the material. Overall, I've enjoyed my online course experience.

Typical setup for Mythology & Folklore work (Pixabay).

Extra Reading Diary: Lang's Fairy Tales II

I decided to do an extra reading this week. I chose Lang's Fairy Tales (II) unit because all the stories seemed to be a little lengthier. I liked them because the detail in the story was greater than just a one page fairy tale. I kept some notes over my favorite stories as always and they are found below:

Half-Chick

I found this story to be very amusing. At first, I found myself thinking this is a story where I will end up rooting for Half-Chick to break away from his mom and family to become a great chicken despite only have one leg, wing, ear, etc. After he spurned all those asking for help on his way to Madrid and the King, I found it funny that they all ended up spelling his demise in the end. It would have been interesting to see what Half-Chick would have done had he been spared and if he would have changed his ways.

Medio Pollito atop the tallest church in Madrid, illustrated by H.J. Ford (1982).

Seven-Headed Serpent

In fairy tales such as this its always the must unsuspecting source that gives the answer needed to slay an evil beast. The old nun gave a very intricate plan to slay the seven-headed serpent. I thought the fact that the only sword that could slay the beast was hanging above his bed was also a sword that regenerated itsself. Seven times it would regenerate to cut off all seven heads. The plan to kill the serpent sounded like it was the last level of some intricate and difficult video game.

Storytelling Week 14-The King's New Catch

There once was a great king who loved to fish for giant and rare fish. He traveled all over the world and many seas to fish and catch his beloved trophies. No man in his kingdom could catch a fish better than he. Not that any would dare claim it if they did.

On one fishing trip, the king brought with him a few of his closest confidants to enjoy the trip with him. The king usually did not invite people with him on his trips, except a few select servants to answer his every need. If they were lucky enough to be invited it was just to keep the king company. Never did they actually cast a reel.

On this trip, however, the king was feeling extremely generous this trip and let his confidants enjoy the actual fishing with him. They set out early one morning in the pursuit of rare and exotic fish. The hours dwindled by without so much as a nibble on a line. The king grew impatient quickly, as you can imagine, and was nearing the point of quitting when there came quite a commotion from the other side of the boat they resided in.

A confidant of the king's had caught the most beautiful and large fish that anyone had ever seen or even dreamed of. The king couldn't believe it. Here he sat all day and not one nibble on his line. It was all for nothing as someone below him on the power scale had caught the fish. Who did he think he was? With that, the king had an idea.

As everyone was cheering on the other side of the boat, the king quickly ran and picked up his reel and started pulling with all his might. Or so it seemed.

"Look at the size of this one! And the colors too!" exclaimed the emperor as he fell back on his seat.

He rose up his hands above his head acting as if he held the largest fish that had ever been caught. He wore the biggest smile as he marveled at the size and appearance of his "fish". His companions sat staring at him with looks of confusion on their faces.

"Can you not see it? If not, you must be unfit to see a creature of this size and beauty," reasoned the king.

With that, one by one, the king's confidants started to cheer and exclaim how great his catch was and how much better it was then the other fisher's catch. Later on that day, back at the kingdom, the "fish" was paraded through the streets for all to see. It was eventually hung in the king's chambers, above his throne, where he would proudly tell the story of his mighty catch to all that would listen.

A sunfish caught in 1910 weighing almost 3,500 lbs (Wikipedia).

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Author's Note: This story's inspiration came from The Emperor's New Suit found in Fairy Tales and Stories by Hans Christian Andersen and translated by H.P. Paul (1872). In the original story, an emperor is obsessed with expensive and fancy clothes. Two con artists come to his city and claimed to make the most marvelous clothes that money can buy. They told the emperor that the cloth they spun would be invisible to anyone unfit for the emperor's office. Of course, the emperor paid them both large sums of gold and no one could see the cloth because there was none. Everyone, including the emperor, faked being able to see it because they did not want to be seen as unfit for his office. I wanted to follow something very similar which is how I came up with the fake fish caught story. I removed the swindlers and just made it where the king himself knowingly was faking it to make everyone still think high and mighty of him. 

Reading Diary A: Andersen Fairy Tales

I decided to read the Andersen Fairy Tales unit this week for my reading diary posts. I found all the stories to be very entertaining. They provided a nice relaxing read in the middle of a crazy week! I took notes over a couple of my favorite stories I found in the first half of the reading. They are found below:

The Princess and the Pea

I really liked this story because I remember reading this story or book sometime in grade school. I remember being very amused at the fact the princess could tell she slept on something as small as a pea even under 20 mattresses! It was also amusing to think the prince had his pick of all the princesses in the land but chose one that came to the castle in the middle of the nigh looking anything but a real princess. 

The Emperor's New Suit

This story was actually pretty funny to read. I liked how all the people pretended to see "the beautiful cloth" to save their dignity in case they were actually just unfit to see it. It was even funnier that the emperor walked the streets wearing nothing thinking he was wearing the greatest clothes that gold could buy. I have to wonder what I would do in that situation. One would not want to the only person to not be able to see the emperor's grand suit! It was very fitting that an innocent child would be the one to point out what everyone else was actually seeing. Hopefully the weavers were long gone by then!

The Emperor admiring his new "clothes" (Wikipedia).

Extra Reading: Brothers Grimm (Ashliman)

I decided to do an extra reading this week in addition to my earlier reading. I chose to read the Brothers Grim (Ashliman) unit because I saw tales I am familiar with such as Little Red Riding Hood and Rumpelstiltskin. I kept notes on which stories I had the best time reading and these are found below.

The Cat and Mouse in Partnership

I have read a story similar to this in an earlier unit that follows the same plot (I even wrote a storytelling post about it). The difference was that the characters were supposed to build a shelter together and one kept running off and eating the spoils that were supposed to await them when they were finished. My favorite part about that story and this one was the names the cat came up with for all its godchildren when it would run off. I found it amusing that they correlated with how much fat was left in the pot!

Cat and Mouse in Partnership by Walter Crane (Wikipedia)

The Singing Bone

I liked this story as it reminded me somewhat of Cain and Abel. The younger brother killed the wild boar on his own because he was honest and pure in heart. The brother tricked him into walking ahead where he struck him dead. The older brother then took the boar to the king and acted as if he had killed it himself. It was refreshing to find out that the act was figured out in the end and I thought using one of the younger brother's bone as a horn that sang its own song was a very interesting way to solve the "mystery".

Storytelling Week 13-Riding on Geryon

Hadn't I already been through enough? As if having to travel through Hell wasn't excruciating enough, now Virgil is making us ride down to the eight circle of this evil place on the back of the most monstrous creature I've ever laid eyes upon. To describe him does not do it justice but I will anyways.

The first thing you notice is the gigantic wings that spread out from the monster's back. They looked as if they belonged to a bat, but instead sprouted from Geryon. The next thing you notice is the arms. Huge, muscled arms that have knotted hair up and down them from years of disregarding hygiene. Although this is terrible, the worst may be what is attached to the ends of these disgusting arms. Claws like that of a hawk and sharp as swords lay at the end of each arm waiting to swoop down and grab anything Geryon's heart desires.

The body. Geryon posseses all the features mentioned before and then some. His body is like that of a great dragon. Scales that glimmer in the glow of the boiling crimson. Glimmer because they are covered in a thin sheer coat of slime or some substance equal to it. As if this did not make the beast hideous enough, there is one thing that makes him scarier than all. His face is that of a man. Not just any man. His face is that of an honest man making him seem harmless except for the monster's body he was attached to.

Dante and Virgil riding the monster Geryon (Wikipedia Commons).

Virgil talked me on to Geryon's back as he turned to the beast asking for him to travel slowly so as to not throw his passengers off. We took off slowly from the edge and descended deeper into hell as Geryon flew in slow, wide circles. Part of me wished the beast would hurry and get us to our destination. The other part of me knew if he used just a tiny bit of his strength we may no longer be attached to his back.

As I turned to look behind me, I noticed something I had not before. His tail. It looked like a giant scorpion's tail had been attached to this beast and it swung wildly in the air as he continued his path to the bottom. I could no longer take the thought of what was now occurring. I grabbed with all my might onto Virgil's back and vowed to never let go until this journey was over.

As I had my eyes closed for the rest of the trip, I was suprised when we finally reached our destination. When I saw where we had landed, however, I greatly wished I had just kept my eyes closed for the rest of eternity.

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Author's Note: This story came from the stories The Old Man of Crete and Geryon and Descending on Geryon's Back found in Dante's Divine Comedy translated by Tony Kline with illustrations by Gustave Dore (2002). I was really intrigued by the monster Geryon when I did my reading for the week. In the original story, Geryon transports Virgil, the guide, and Dante down to the eighth circle of Hell called the Malebolge, or "evil trenches". I did not change the story really as it was just a short bit of the story. I just felt like I could really tell a story about how scared and miserable Dante was riding on such a monstrous creature's back down to an even scarier place. I got a majority of the description of Geryon from the first story I listed and then the actual journey on his back came from the second story listed.

Reading Diary B: Dante's Inferno

I finished up the reading for Dante's Inferno for this reading diary. I felt like I had a better understanding while reading this half of the unit than I did when I first began reading. Maybe it was the break I took between the two but whatever it was I comprehended what was occurring a little easier. I once again took notes on my favorite stories or what peaked my interest and these are found below.

The Harpies and Capaneus

I felt like this chapter of the story gave rise to the familiar scene of hell seen in movies and such. The "crimson boiling" is what I pictured to be fiery lava or something similar. Dante describes how there are people are submerged in this in varying degrees: some up to their necks and others just with their feet completely in the boiling. This is what I would expect to see in a movie scene of hell. Dante learns that these people are guilty of extreme violence against others.

Descending of Geryon's Back

This scene seemed a little crazy not only to me but apparently also to Dante. He has to climb onto the back of Geryon, a monster with wings, paws, a man's face, and a dragon's body. Virgil and Dante ride him down to the eighth circle of hell. The way Dante describes his fear while riding the monstrous beast is very detailed and I don't blame him!

Jason and the Demons

In the first chasm, pimps and seducers were tormented. Within this story, the tale of Jason was told where he abandons Hypsipyle, who he impregnated. He is tormented by his overwhelming guilt for leaving her with child after he seduced her with his charm and gifts. This seems like it would be a good story on its own regardless of being mentioned within Dante's Inferno.

Dante's Inferno theatrical poster for the 1924 film (Wikipedia).

Reading Diary A: Dante's Inferno

I chose to read Dante's Inferno for the reading of Week 13. I was really interested in this unit just from the description given at the beginning of the Un-Textbook. As I read, I realized that I had chosen a unit that was hard for me to understand if I didn't read carefully and thoughtfully. Many times I had to go back and reread a paragraph or two to fully understand what was going on or what had happened. I took some notes while I read and they are shown below. The image I included really helped me understand each level and what was going on throughout the story.

Paolo and Francesca

I liked this story because it was the first story where Dante actually had a conversation with one of the souls in hell. I'm glad for the description of the story beforehand or I would have been really confused on what occurred here in this story. Francesca tells Dante how love is what led her to her current state and Dante is initially and rightfully confused. After speaking with Virgil, he then turns back to Francesca to explain how love put her in the place she now resides. She then tells her story of her affair and Dante then fully understands.

Cerebus and Plutus

I found it very interesting that no one knows the exact meaning of "'Papé Satàn, papé Satàn aleppe" which comes from the mouth of Plutus. It really makes me want to research possible meanings. I find it interesting that for a story that has been around this long that there isn't an exact interpretation.

Fortune and Phlegyas

The scene that really stood out to me here was the scene of the souls that were sentenced to, what I assume, a lifetime of anger. I can see where anger can ruin lives and I thought that was a good image of it. Having people have looks of pure anger on their face and biting and clawing each other to near death was a very powerful image.




Levels of Hell within Datne's Inferno (Wikidpedia Commons)

Famous Last Words-Week 12

This is my first time posting a Famous Last Words blog post. I decided to write one this week because it is getting close to the end of the semester and things are getting a little hectic. I thought it would be nice to sit back and think about all the things I have done this week and not the things I was supposed to do and did not get to.

I did not get a chance to write a storytelling post this week because I was so busy in other classes with tests and presentations. I am hoping to get a little ahead later tonight in this class as I have a very busy couple of weeks coming up. I have a capstone presentation in a couple weeks that my group and I are not prepared for. We have lots to do this upcoming week to get ready. We can get it done it is just going to take a few long nights in between to do so! I am very ready to get this project done as it seems like its really the only thing standing between me and graduating. It will be a major relief once April 22nd is over with!

I'm almost to this point! (Meme Guy)

For this class, I am currently writing up my third story for my storybook project. I have really enjoyed writing this storybook and am excited to finish up. I feel like I have finally got a little creative side back that I haven't been able to work on in my classes the last couple of years! I really enjoyed writing and making up stories in high school so I'm glad this class has given me an opportunity to explore that a little bit near the end of my college career. It is probably the most writing I have done since freshman year but I have really enjoyed it.

Extra Reading: Celtic Fairy Tales

I decided to do an extra reading this week and I chose the Celtic Fairy Tales unit to do so. I chose this unit initially because in the description it mentioned leprechauns, fairies, and ghosts. After a long week of studying I wanted something that could entertain me! I kept some notes while I read and these can be seen below. I tried to focus on my favorites throughout while reading.

The Field of Boliauns

Since the mention of leprechauns is what first caught my eye when choosing this unit I should have known a story of a leprechaun would end up being one of my favorites. I felt like the whole time that the leprechaun was taking Tom Fitzpatrick to the place where the pot of gold was supposed to be you almost felt like a trick was coming. Then you knew Tom was about to be tricked when he let the leprechaun go as he went to fetch a shovel to dig for the gold.

Leprechaun (Villafanart)

The Sprightly Tailor

I found this story to be very amusing as it showed courage but also mixed with a little ghost story. I would have liked a little more backstory as to why Macdonald wanted the tailor to sew his garments in the old, haunted church but I guess that isn't to important to the story. I like how at the end there is something that tries to validate the story as it alludes to the handprint still being on the walls of the gate outside the castle.

Reading Diary B: Beowulf

I finished reading the Beowulf unit for this Reading Diary. I was really excited to read about Beowulf and his encounter with the monster Grendel so I was glad to see that the tale would come early on in this reading. As always, I kept some notes about my favorite stories and what I thought could be used in my storytelling post.

The Battle with Grendel

This is what I was excited for since reading the previous half of the unit. Once again, the vivid details used by the writer were inspiration to try and use the same detail in my writing. I felt like the writing gave way to lots of action packed writing and I was really impressed with the author's ability to create so much action with just their words. The part I found most amusing is that when all the people of Heorot awoke and heard a racket they looked up to see Beowulf and his men on the rooftop holding up Grendel's bloody arm. I could just imagine the look on their faces!

The Arrival of the Dragon

I liked this story because I thought it did a great job of setting up future stories. Having a slave, with no name, tell the story about what he saw in the dragon and the many spoils that he slept with was a great way to lure the reader into wondering what was true in his story or if they could even trust what he was saying. This also led to Beowulf being skeptical until the slave pulled out the jeweled cup which he had taken from the dragon's lair.

The stranger stealing the jeweled cup from the dragon (illustrated by A.R. Skelton).

Reading Diary A: Beowulf

I chose to read the Beowulf unit because it mentioned that it was the full story. I wanted to read a story that showed the entirety of the story behind the main characters. I vaguely remember reading Beowulf in high school and I felt like it would be good to revisit this collection of stories.

Beowulf's Resolve

While reading this particular story I really noticed the description and attention to detail used throughout. I first noticed this while the writer described the scene as Beowulf became enraged at the thought of Grendel terrorizing the land. I would really like to try and incorporate this detail in my storytelling post this week. It made the scene extremely easy to visualize in my mind. I think this is very important because the reader can more easily see what you pictured as you wrote the story.

The Word's of Beowulf

I was glad that Beowulf stood up for himself and set the record straight about his race against Breca within in the sea. This story had caught my interest throughout this first half reading but I thought that it was just something used sparingly and would never actually come out. I liked how it was alluded to throughout and finally was told in the overarching story. I still wish there was a complete story about this race as it seems like it could easily be a lengthy story in itself. Maybe I could use this and write about it for my storytelling post.

Beowulf sailing to Daneland (Wikipedia Commons).

Extra Reading: Robin Hood

I decided to do an extra reading this week instead of writing an essay. I chose the Robin Hood unit because I can remember hearing stories or watching Robin Hood when I was young. Reading this unit was a little bit of a challenge as I thought reading the stories in ballad form was actually tougher than I thought. I did manage to find a few favorites during my reading and I convey them below.

Robin Hood on the cover of a comic (Wikipedia).

Little John

This was an amusing little ballad. I thought it was entertaining to hear they called him Little John even though he stood near seven feet tall and could obviously fight very well. I also liked that even though their small battle did seem to be very vicious it ended up being all in good fun. At the end of the fight, Robin Hood's band of merry men are called upon and act to avenge their leader's loss. Instead of this, Robin Hood offer's to take in Little John and teach him the way of his band of men within the forest.

The Ranger

This story is a lot like the story of Little John. The ranger confronts Robin Hood and tells him that he is in charge of the forest and Robin Hood disagrees saying that he reigns supreme in the forest. Once again, Robin Hood battles his foe for a long period of time. When the battle is over, it seems like the two have battled to a draw. Once again, Robin Hood invites the ranger to join his band of merry men and they feast and drink all night to celebrate their new member.

Storytelling Week 11-The Putter Excalibur

One day, a professional golfer was walking down the fairway with his caddie. The young professional had just given up a huge lead on the last day of the tournament due to his terrible putting on the greens. After their round, the golfer and the caddie sat at the bar in the clubhouse.

"I just can't seem to make putts!" exclaimed the golfer. "I'm getting close but none fall in the hole."

"What you need is a new putter. I bet you could find a great one in the pro shop on the other side of the clubhouse," reasoned the caddie.

With that, the golfer and the caddie found the pro shop and searched for some time for a new putter. There were putters of all shapes and sizes. Long ones, short ones, silver ones, gold ones. Even with all the variety, there wasn't a putter that seemed to fit. Just when they were going to give up a hope, a dull glow came from behind a pile of old, discarded golf clubs. The golfer reached behind the pile and pulled out an old, gold putter that seemed to come from the 1950s. Along the head of the putter were engraved the name "EXCALIBUR".

Although it was old, it was the only putter that seemed to feel comfortable in the hands of the young golfer. Even though it felt comfortable, the caddie and golfer were unsure of how it would perform in an actual tournament round. The golfer would try it out at the next week which just so happened to be the Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia. It was the first major tournament of the year and the first year professional wanted to prove to the rest of the tour that he belonged.

The putter lived up to its mysterious appearance as he putted exceptional all week long. He was tied for the lead with one hole to play and had a 30 foot putt that would give him the victory if he could sink it. As he lined up the putt and stood over the ball his eyes rested on the engraved words in the dull golden head of the putter: "EXCALIBUR". With that, he pulled the club back and putted the ball with a smooth stroke. The putt curled and seemed to stop right on the edge of the hole before it fell! He had won the tournament and found a weapon he could rely on the rest of his career.

"Excalibur" the putter (Wikipedia).

Author's Note: The inspiration from this story came from The Sword Excalibur found in King Arthur: Tales of  the Round Table written by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H.J. Ford (1902). In the original story, King Arthur is without a sword as he rides along with Merlin the wizard. They come upon a lake with an arm rising out of the middle of the water holding a magnificent sword. The Lady of the Lake appears and agrees to let King Arthur have the sword if he will give her a gift when she asks. He agrees and rows out to the sword and retrieves it. I decided to change the story to a professional golfer needing a new putter to fix his struggles. I thought it would be amusing to keep the name of the "weapon" as Excalibur and have it be somewhat magical. I did this because the Masters golf tournament starts next week and a commercial came on as I was thinking of plots for the story. I am a big golf fan so I hopefully did not use to many words that are not known if you are not familiar with golf. I tried to keep the use of sports specific terminology to a minimum.

Reading Diary B: King Arthur

I finished reading the second half of the King Arthur unit for this reading diary. The story shifted from being all about King Arthur and his adventures to various Knights of his. Most of the stories revolved around the Knights' quest for the Holy Grail. I kept some notes on my favorites below.

The Adventure of Sir Percivale

I think Sir Percivale may be my favorite character so far within the King Arthur unit. He seems to have good morals and fights for others throughout this story. He first rides to confront a Knight that has stolen a great steed of a yeoman. He rode hard and fast on a horse not suitable for battle but was ultimately beaten by the Knight and could not catch him. Then, at the end of the story, he joins a battle with a great serpent and a lion. He decided to help the lion because he thought him to be the more "natural beast". It was amusing that the lion took fancy of him and acted like a regular housecat thereafter and even slept with Percivale.

The End of Arthur

I liked this because it wrapped up the entire story in a way that wasn't to crazy or hard to understand. Merlin's vision of King Arthur dying a noble death on the battlefield came true and it was neat to see a little passage from the beginning of the unit come back and come true. Also, the fact that when King Arthur had the Knight throw Excalibur back into the water that the hand (I presume the same one from which he took it from in the first place) shot out of the water to take it back beneath the surface was a very cool visual.

King Arthur retrieving Excalibur from the hand in the water (Wikipedia Commons).

Reading Diary A: King Arthur

I decided to read the unit of King Arthur for my reading for Week 11. I like to read stories of heroes and things like that (and am currently watching Game of Thrones) so it was an easy choice for me to read this unit. I kept track of what were my favorite stories and they are found below.

The Drawing of the Sword

This was fun to read because I can remember me loving this story when I was a young boy. To hear the more detailed background behind it made the story very interesting. The part where Sir Ector describes never knowing who Arthur's father was but that Merlin told him one day he would discover from who Arthur came was the best part for me. It showed background of the story without having to delve off into its own individual story to tell it.

The Sword Excalibur

I really am enjoying this unit so far because I am learning so much background behind movies and stories I read as a child. I liked the thought of a hero having to complete a task (such as pulling the sword from stone) or giving up something in return for a mighty treasure as in this story.

Excalibur (Wikipedia)

The King's Pilgrimage

This story was almost like some weird science fiction movie. It was creative to have the squire dream the dream and have all these spooky things happen to him only to awake and see that they had indeed occurred. I've thought of writing a spooky storytelling post so maybe this could be the inspiration for it.

Extra Reading: Blackfoot Unit

I decided to read the Blackfoot unit this week for an extra reading instead of writing an essay. I picked this unit specifically because I wanted to read some legend type stories and I think I picked a pretty good unit to do so.

The Wolf Man

This story reminded me of the old tale about a baby being brought up by wolves. I thought at first that it would possibly be a scary story about how the werewolf came to be or something like that but was pleasantly surprised. I also liked how the village did not end up punishing the man-wolf and ended up punishing his two wives for trying to frame his murder.

The Buffalo Stone

I can picture writing a storytelling post about this but instead of a buffalo stone using it as maybe a heads up penny you find lying on the ground that is supposed to bring you good luck. I can also picture this story being told to the young children among the Blackfoot when they first ask why the family is so happy to find a Buffalo Stone. I was really interested in the process of finding the Buffalo Stone. It was alluring to find out that if the Blackfoot hear a bird's chip they know that a Buffalo Stone is close by.

The Rolling Rock

This story made me laugh because I could picture an old man running for his life as a large boulder rolled down a hill after him. It reminded me of some cartoon you would find that included Bugs Bunny or other Looney Tunes character.

"Balanced Rock" found in the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, Colorado (Wikipedia).

Week 10 Storytelling-The Great Lion

Once there lived an old frail man who lived on the edges of the jungle. This old man had no way to feed himself as he was so weak. The other men in the village provided him with a portion of their catch from the hunting done that day so that he would survive. This happened every day for some time. The old man continued to become weaker and weaker as the days passed but still the villagers helped as he was the wisest soul amongst the village.

One day, after the hunting had been completed, a young villager knocked on the old man's door. As he opened the door he could see that the young hunter was bringing more than his day's meal. Laying by the hunter's side was a lion cub that could only be a few weeks old. The boy explained that he thought the old man could use some company as he knew that he lived alone. The old man graciously accepted the boy's gift and thanked him.

The young lion cub (Wikipedia Commons).

As time passed, the lion got bigger and stronger. It got larger and larger until it was bigger than any lion the villagers had ever seen. It assisted the hunters of the village in their daily hunts and routinely brought back more and more meat than the village had ever seen at one time. Even with the lion's contributions, there were rumblings among many villagers that he was getting too big and that he would one day turn on them and kill the village in its entirety.

The worries reached a peak as one night a group of villagers decided to wait till the lion fell asleep for the night and sneak up and kill him. As the men crept through the trees to stalk the lion they heard a mighty roar from behind. As they turned to run, a monster larger and scarier than they could imagine emerged from the jungle and gave chase.

The ruckus wakened the sleeping lion of the village with a startle. With heightened senses, the lion ran to the noises with tremendous power. The cries and screams mixed with the cracking of giant trees led the lion to garner even more power as he flew across the jungle floor.

When he arrived at the scene, he saw what was causing the fear throughout the village. With reckless abandon for his own safety, the lion attacked the ferocious monster with all he had. As the lion and monster stayed locked in bloodshed the group that led the ambush of the lion knew they had made a terrible mistake. Not only would the lion never have harmed them, he would give up his life to protect them.

This thought propelled the villagers to cast aside their fears and pick up their weapons and join in the fight. After countless time had passed, the villagers and their giant lion were victorious and they set about rebuilding their village with a renewed sense of pride and confidence.

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Author's Note: This story was adapted from The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son found in Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rusmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921). In the original story, an old woman receives a bear cub as a gift. She raises the cub as her own as it gets larger and stronger. Eventually, the bear becomes to strong for even the adults in the village to play with. The bear begins to hunt with the village but members of other villagers begin to try and kill the bear when they see him out hunting. One night, the bear brings home a body of  dead man and the old woman must tell the bear to leave the village or else other villages would come and do them all great harm. I decided to use a lion from the jungle as the main character mostly just to give a change of scenery. I also added the part where the villagers became scared of the lion because I feel like if I was in the situation I would have a legitimate fear of a giant lion. I also added the happy ending of the lion fending off a great foe to the village because I had expected that to be the ending of the original and feel like it is a better ending then the lion being exiled from the village.

Reading Diary B: Eskimo Folk-Tales

Today I finished up the second half of the Eskimo Folk-Tale unit reading. I tried to focus my reading diary post on stories I could see myself writing a storytelling post about. Below I have written my favorite stories I read and the corresponding notes I took.

Papik, Who Killed His Wife's Brother

This read like something from a horror movie for me. There was plenty of blood, guts, and gore to go around throughout the story. I found it a little odd that this was a story told by fathers to their children to warn them of killing their fellow man, although, I'm sure it was very effective. The most interesting part of the story was that the men who finally killed the monster could tell it was the old woman's coverlet as the skin and the bones were that of a human. I haven't tried to incorporate a horror story into my writing yet so this could be a story to try.

Atdlarneq, The Great Glutton

This story was entertaining from the beginning as it described the villain or main antagonist of the story is a large man with copper cheeks. Also, it was funny that the punishment or obstacle to be overcome for Atdlarneq was that he must eat and eat until he was about to explode. I could possibly change this story around to make the main antagonist have a different part of his body to golden such as his fists or arms and have Atdlarneq compete in a different competition.

A feast for Atdlarneq (Wikipedia).

Reading Diary A: Eskimo Folk-Tales

This week I decided to read the Eskimo Folk Tales unit. I chose the unit because I wanted to read about some sort of monsters and paranormal activity. This unit had plenty of that and after reading the first half I was able to think about some of my favorite stories thus far.

The Woman Who had a Bear as a Foster-Son

I thought this story was entertaining because it reminded me of a story like My Dog Skip or some other movie that involves beloved pets that were taken in as small animals. The thought of a bear being someone's pet was crazy to think about and my initial thought that it would get to big and strong for it to stay with woman were confirmed in the end. I could see myself writing a storytelling post about this but possibly inserting a different animal in place of a bear.

Bear Cub (Pixabay)

The Giant Dog

This somewhat reminded me of the story above. The thought of a giant animal, a dog in this case, belonging as a pet to someone seems like it will end the same in all these stories. At some point or another these animals get to big and strong and bring harm to strangers. I could take these grisly endings and possibly turn it into a story with a happy ending. Maybe include a large animal as a pet that ends up saving a village from another giant foe or something along those lines.

Reading Diary B: Tejas Stories

I finished up reading the second half of the Tejas Legends unit and kept a few notes about what stories were my favorites. This ended up being a really cool unit for me to read. I enjoyed the stories of creation the most just because I find them to be the most amusing. Here are the favorite stories I mentioned above:

How Sickness Entered the World 

I found this story to be really entertaining. I really liked how there was to be a messenger or somewhat of a savior from the Great Spirit. This brought a small sense of a cliffhanger because it left me wondering who or what would come and what would be the great plan he would bring? Two tribe members killed the messenger, who was a snake, effectively ruining the Great Spirit's plan. The snake's mate came at night and laid eggs of sickness. I thought this was a great portrayal of how sickness came to be in the world. It reminded me a little bit of a horror movie that had a plague as the main culprit.

Paisona, Hater of the Rattlesnake

This story gave me visions of the Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner cartoon. I could easily see this story involving the coyote instead of the rattlesnake. I think I could definitely write a storytelling blog post using the cartoon characters and changing up the plot just a little bit. I really liked the last line or two where it described how the roadrunner always looks around before going into its home to make sure the rattlesnake is not following him.

Wile E. Coyote planning his next attempt at the Roadrunner (Deviant Art).

Reading Diary A: Tejas Stories

I let the crystal ball choose what unit for me to read and it chose the unit of Tejas Stories. While I read I kept a few notes about my favorite stories throughout my reading of the first half of the unit. I liked the first half of this unit because it contained many stories about creation and origin.

How the North Wind Lost His Hair

I liked this story because it described why the warm wind is found in the South and the cold strong wind is in the North. It also described how Spanish moss came to be found in the trees. I thought the battle between the two winds was a great way to describe and detail how the warmer wind came to be in the South. Also, the description of the two winds was very good. Using the cold wind as an old and gray wind that no one liked compared to a strong and young wind that everyone loved because he was a native there.


Why the Woodpecker Pecks

I found this story amusing just because the ending was not expected. I was wondering how they would make the story of the missing children into why a woodpecker pecks on the trees. I liked how the medicine men told the tribe many times to not eat the mescal buttons and even though they began to all eat it and saw no consequences it came back to bite them in the end because Manitou hid their children in hollow trees.



Woody the Woodpecker (Deviant Art).

Commenting Review Week

Usually when I am leaving a short comment on a classmate's writing I usually like to focus on the flow of the story. I focus on whether the story seems to jump around from point to point or if there is clear efficient transition between points. After that, I like to add in my comment what I liked about the story and then possibly something I would have done differently or what could be added to really pull the story together.
When making longer comments, I tend to look at what I mentioned above first and then move on to paragraph structure and wording. When I read stories I like the paragraphs to be smaller and more concise. If there are long paragraphs in a story or post I feel like I'm reading a lab report or something even when the material is still easily readable. The length of the paragraph just makes me automatically start thinking its going to hard to comprehend. Another thing I look for is wording. If a certain style is used at the beginning of the story it should be used throughout. It makes readings a little awkward if the style does a complete 180 degree turn in the middle of the story.
The hardest part about commenting is criticizing. I feel like this is tough because sometimes I don't know if I'm completely right or it is just a matter of personal preference. Many times I have read through previous comments where they praise what I was about to criticize. I usually just say what I have to say and let the person decide for themselves what they would like to do.

(XYZwallpaper)

Writing Review Week

Looking back on the writing I've done for this class I feel like my best storytelling post was in Week 2 when I wrote Achilles' Great Armour. It involved a story containing my favorite character in the units thus far, Patroclus, so it made it easy to think and write a well rounded story. I also think it might have been the best use of my imagination as I used the armour of Achilles as the storyteller. I also wrote an essay post over Patroclus and I think that was one of my better writing posts as well. The picture below is from my storytelling post I mentioned and depicts Patroclus killing Sarpedon with his spear.

Patroclus' spear embedding in Sarpedon as he lay dead (Wikipedia).

By reading and commenting on other student's storytelling posts I have seen many ideas that I want to incorporate into the second half of the semester. I think it will test me enough as a writer to try and do some writing styles I've never thought of that it well be a rewarding experience.
I think the best feedback I can get is when I am told I'm somewhat rushing an ending or not spending enough time on certain aspects of the story that need greater detail. I tend to write a lot at the beginning of the post containing detailed storytelling and then when I get to the main part of the story, which should have the most detail probably, I sometimes rush through it. I want to work on this in the second half of the semester and improve my writing.

Reading Review Week

Looking back I can see that my reading diary posts in the beginning were more detailed and focused on more than just favorite stories. I feel like I should possibly return to that way of note-taking. I don't think my storytelling posts have suffered from this but I think if I go back to how I was taking notes throughout my earlier posts then it will make it easier for me to recall things I want to include in my storytelling. There hasn't been a time yet where I didn't use my reading diary posts to aid in my storytelling assignments. So I feel like if I start taking more detailed reading diary notes it will definitely help.
In regards to the actual note taking, I have found it is much easier for me to do the complete reading and then go back and the stories I remember the most vividly I decide to take notes on. Also, while reading I make little mental notes about things I could see myself using for my storytelling post. This makes it easier to enjoy the reading instead of stopping every few minutes to write out notes for the reading diary.
So far, my favorite units have been from the first two weeks when I read the Homer's Illiad unit. I liked the fact that the stories were a little longer and the characters lasted throughout the unit (for the most part). This made it easier for me to get invested in the story itself and find which characters appealed to me the most and those that didn't. My favorite character, Patroclus, is pictured below and I selected this picture because he has actually been my favorite character in the readings to date.



My favorite character from the Homer's Illiad unit, Patroclus. Photo taken by D. & M. Hill (Flikr).

I don't really read that much for other classes so I have enjoyed how this class has given me the chance to read and keep improving and using that skill. I have always enjoyed reading for pleasure and these readings have done a good job of letting me do that while also working on my reading skills.

Week 7 Storytelling-The Businessman and the Beggar

As I stood in line for my daily train ride to work, I noticed a raggedly dressed man walking by his lonesome muttering under his breath. The man walked close enough where I could hear the words he repeated under his breath mindlessly.

"If only someone would give me money to eat, I would never forget the kind act they performed," the homeless man said over and over.

"Excuse me, sir, are you in need of some assistance?" I graciously asked.

"Kind sir, if only you could spare me enough money to eat today I would forever remember your good graces," sputtered the man with a gleam in his eye, "I would not run and spend it on drugs and alcohol, this I promise. I just need food to eat today."

The homeless man had seemingly read my mind as that very thought is what was causing my apprehension to lend him the cash. I decided to help the poor man and reached into my back pocket to pull out my wallet.

As I pulled out the wad of cash within, the beggar could see that I had more than enough money to give him to eat for multiple days. He eyed the green dollar bills with unabashed envy. I stuck out my hand to give him the ten dollar bill I had taken out, and he grabbed it while still staring at my stack of cash. I hoped he didn't think that this could become a daily routine.


The businessman's wad of cash (Flikr).

"Thank you, sir. It means a lot," said the man as he started off towards the train station exit.

A month passed by and I had not seen the beggar and quite honestly had completely forgotten about him. Then one day, as I again waited in line for my train, I heard the man's ragged voice yell out from somewhere behind me.

"Sir! Sir!" he exclaimed while happily waving towards me in a new set of worn out clothes.

This time he was not alone. He had at least five acquaintances with him. I immediately thought that the only explanation could be that he told all his friends about my wad of cash and how I had helped him previously. Fully expecting to be ambushed with questions of assistance I was pleasantly surprised at the next sequence of events.

"Do you remember me?" quizzed the old beggar.

"Yes, how are you? Looking for more money to eat?" I arrogantly asked.

"No! Actually, I am here to repay you," said the poor man with a smile that seemingly stretched across his entire face.

I sat confused as the man pulled out dollar bills and quarters, dimes, and nickels to the tune of a ten dollar total: the man had paid me back in full.

"I wanted to repay you for your kindness a few weeks back. I found a job that paid me a little so I've been saving up in case I ran into you again. It is my way of saying thank you for your generosity," explained the old man.

I could only stand in shock as the beggar turned with his friends and walked away. I managed to stammer out a thank you but of course he had already been long gone.

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Author's Note: This story was adapted from The Wizard and the Beggar found in Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson (1899). In the original story, a beggar is looking for someone to help him end his craving for hunger. He comes across a wizard who warns him that men forget benefits they receive from others. The beggar promises he will not do that if only the wizard will help. The wizard then shows him two jewels: one that, when held in one's mouth, enables them to fly and another, when held in one's mouth, enables them to receive all they wish to possess. The beggar takes the second jewel and returns home. After awhile, he and his people decide they want the other jewel as well and return to the home of the wizard to take it. The wizard knew the beggar would forget the kind act he performed for the beggar and tricked him by stealing the beggar's jewel and then flying away by aid of the other jewel.

For my story, I decided to make the beggar just need food for the day and the wizard was replaced by the business man. I wanted the ending to be a happy one because in the original story I felt bad for the beggar up until the very end and thought he would stay true to his promise. I thought the feel good ending would make the story better in my eyes. I used the train station for a more present day feel.

Extra Reading Diary: Japanese Fairy Tales

I chose to do an extra reading this week instead of writing an essay post. I chose the Japanese Fairy Tales unit because it contained stories that were a little longer than the unit's stories that I have read lately. I kept note of which stories were my favorite after reading half of this unit.

The Stonecutter

I've read a story like this in another unit I think so I kind of knew how it would end up but it was one of my favorites nonetheless. I really liked how the stonecutter thought he wanted to be all these things that were increasingly more powerful than the other. The way the story ends with him seeing that his initial body of work was the most powerful of all makes you look around and stop wishing for all these things you want to be and be grateful for who you are and what you have.

A statue of a stonecutter (Flikr).

The Envious Neighbor

I think I liked this story so much because of what happened to the neighbor in the end. The old couple continuously gave the neighbor what he so desperately wanted even after he had showed that he could not stay true to his word and return what they had given him. This is without mentioning that everything he took and destroyed was near and dear to the old couple. The neighbor got what was coming to him at the end of the story.

The Sparrow with the Slit Tongue

I liked this story much for the same reason I enjoyed the one above. The evil character paid for its mistake at the end of the story. In this story it was once again greed that led to the demise of the evil character. This seems to be a common theme with the stories I've chosen to be my favorites with the endings either being a lesson learned or the demise of a character.

Reading Diary B: Laos Unit

Today I read the second half of the Laos unit that I started on Monday. I really enjoyed the first reading so I was looking forward to finishing out the unit. I once again took notes and here I mention some of my favorites from the reading.

The Wizard and the Beggar

This story seems like a good story to do a storytelling post over. I liked that the wizard could almost foresee what would occur if he gave the beggar what he was looking for. He set him up by telling him about the other jewel he possessed and used it as a test to see if the beggar would stay true to his word. I feel like for such a short story there was lots of action and I want to be able to do that in my writing.

The Wizard's face when the Beggar went back on his word (Pixabay).

A Boy of the City Streets

The boy in this story was to smart for the three "wise men" that came from neighboring villages. I liked how at the beginning of the story it could be seen that the men thought the child to be nothing but a nuisance and wanted to teach him a lesson. As the story goes along, it is apparent that the child has street smarts and ends up outsmarting the three wise men and making money by selling them as slaves.

The Blind Man

I just found this story amusing because of all the excuses the blind man could come up with when questioned by his wife. Especially the time where the house is burning down and he says he isn't trying to reach the door yet because he is trying to measure the house to build a new one for them.

Reading Diary A: Laos Unit

I chose to read the Laos unit this week during my reading. In the overview of the unit it mentioned that there are plenty of origin stories: why things are the way they are now. I really seem to enjoy the take from different cultures on why they believe certain things or what stories have influenced them. After reading the first half of the unit, I came up with some of my favorite stories.

The Enchanted Mountain

I liked this unit because the description of this place somewhere high in the mountains sounded so majestic. To me it sounded like Laos' heaven or holy place. It almost reminds of the Garden of Eden from the story of Adam and Eve.


Moraine Lake in Banff National Park (Wikipedia).

The Man in the Moon

This story was entertaining to hear because I've never really thought twice about hearing about "the man in the moon". It's very interesting to read stories that have different explanations for how things happened or why things are the way they are than what I am used to in my own culture.

The Lovers' Leap

After reading this story I really feel like I could write a good story using the main plot behind it. It gave me somewhat of a Romeo and Juliet feel to it as they both decided to die with each other in the end. Also, it gave me inspiration because for such a short story I felt like lots of power and captivation was shown through it.

The Giants' Mountain and the Temple

The message behind this story is what makes it one of my favorites: "If you ask aid from others, it is well to put your own heart into the work". To many times people ask for help and expect to get it done for them. I think this puts into perspective what should really be the intention when asking for help from another.

Extra Reading Diary: Nigerian Folk Stories

I decided to do an extra reading this week instead of writing an essay. I chose to read the Nigerian Folk Stories unit because I wanted to read a unit that involved animals other than rabbits and wolves for a change of pace. As I read I kept notes on my favorite stories.

The Pretty Stranger who Killed the King

This story followed along the lines of lots of other stories I have read this semester. Someone who is in a mighty position of power is tricked by someone who has disguised themselves as a young and pretty woman. I liked the ending of this one because the King who was killed was stopped from destroying the lives of many others. I wonder if any other stories I read in this unit will involve someone tricking another disguised as a pretty maiden.

The Fish and the Leopard's Wife

I found this to be a particular amusing story because I feel like it follows the same plot as many TV series in today's world. This could easily be a show on Netflix worthy of binge watching. I continue to like these small stories that explain why the world is the way it is today. In this story, the fish is banished to the water forever as punishment for betraying his friend, the leopard.

Had the leopard not thought clearly this could have been the end of the fish (Animal Wildlife).

Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky

I thought this was a great way to depict why the sun and moon are confined to the sky. I feel like there are many storytelling possibilities with this story. One could possibly make up a story that follows this one as to why the sun comes out during the day and the moon comes out at night.

Week 6 Storytelling-The Playground

"So, will you two help in building the school's new playground?" asked Mr. Thompson.

John and Theodore both replied with a nod of their heads and set off to help build the school's new playground. The old playground was full of dirt and run down jungle gyms, slides, and other outdated pieces of equipment.

After about an hour, John could not help but notice that all the other kids were getting to play and enjoy the sunny day, albeit on the old playground, while he and Theodore toiled away. As they worked on the construction of the jungle gym John came up with what he thought was a brilliant plan.

"Did you hear that, Theodore? Mrs. Booth is calling me to assist her in the classroom," explained John.

Theodore had heard nothing but thought it was plausible as he had been solely focused on his work and had a tendency to space out from time to time.

"Run along then but please come back as soon as you can. There is enough work here for the entire class and only we were chosen," explained Theodore.

With that, John ran towards the classroom but snuck back outside to the old playground and played with the others until he had his fill of fun. When he returned to Theodore and the construction of the playground he could see that the jungle gym had been completed.

"Wow! It looks great," John thought to himself, "And it took me almost no work."

"What did Mrs. Booth have you do in there? It sure took you a long time," inquired Theodore.

"She made me rearrange the library and put the books back in the correct spots. Let's work on this slide," explained John.

As they worked and worked for some time, John once again grew jealous of the kids playing basketball and despised the hot work he and Theodore were selected to do.

"Theodore, do you hear that? It's Mr. Johnson calling me. I will be back in no time. Keep up the good work," yelled John as he scurried off towards the basketball court.

When he returned to the work and Theodore some time later he saw that there was no more work to be done. Theodore had completed the playground while he had been enjoying the game of basketball.

"Alright! Let's start playing!" exclaimed John to Theodore.

"NOT SO FAST!" a voice boomed behind them.

There was only once voice that could belong to and they were both well aware of who it was: Mr. Thompson.

The large man was walking quickly towards the two and looked to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed that morning.

"Theodore, run and play on the new playground you worked hard on. John, we need to have a talk," he said when he reached the group.

"John, I have been keeping an eye on you two all afternoon and you have tried to trick Theodore over and over to do all your work. What do you think your punishment should be?"

As John looked down at his feet he managed to squeak out a simple, "No punishment?"

Mr. Thompson gave a hearty laugh as he grabbed the young man by his shoulders and escorted him to the principal's office.

Theodore loved the new playground and enjoyed it even more than the others since he had been the one to build it. As for John, he was banished from the new playground for a whole week. So as the others romped and played on the new toys, John was forced to sit and watch from the middle of the old playground.

The playground Theodore built (Pixabay).

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Author's Note: This story was adapted from The Rabbit and The Antelope found in Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort by Richard Edward Dennett (1898). In the original story the rabbit and the antelope get together to dig a water well so they can quench their thirst when need be in the hot days of summer. They keep a stash of food so that they can eat it when they have finished their work. The rabbit makes up a story that his wife is about to give birth and that he must run back to name their kids. When he is tired of working the rabbit acts as if he is being called and eats a little of their food and comes back. He does this until he has done essentially no work and the antelope has completed the well. The antelope figures out what the rabbit has done and forbids him to drink out of the well. The rabbit does so sneakily until the antelope sets up a trap, ultimately catching the rabbit and killing him.

For this story, I changed characters and what the characters were building. I thought that having two kids build a new playground was a good change in the story because I thought it would be easily relatable to have a kid who doesn't want to work but play. I added in the principal giving out the discipline because in reality I didn't think one kid would take another one banishing him from the playground to well.