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.