Reading Notes Part B: Alaska - The Lost Light

Alaskan Legends unit. Story source: Myths and Legends of Alaska: The Lost Light, edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911).

(Image source: National Geographic)

I like this story too. It could also be a scary story (maybe I'm just in a super Halloween-y mood).

They could be being chased by something in the Upside Down!! (I also watched the second part of Stranger Things recently). They finally chase down the thing they need and are able to fight off the darkness (monster). It could become a quest of some sort. 

Reading Notes Part A: Alaska - Raven and the Seals

Alaskan Legends unit. Story source: Myths and Legends of Alaska: Raven and the Seals, edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911).

(Alaskan Seals)

This story is very morbid. I think I could change it to a pretty frightening tale if I wanted to. Maybe have a serial killer move to a town with a bunch of children. He's a cannibal so he gets hungry and eats all the kids at the orphanage. Then he eats the headmaster he'd originally befriended and then gets greedy and goes around trying to eat all the other children. But the townspeople hear of what he's doing and set the pile of meat he's compiled ablaze with gasoline and fire, thus ruining his meals forever. 

Storytelling Week 10: Taps

The sound of tapping plagues me.

It is a constant reminder of who I am, of what I lost.

Long ago, the proud Indian people looked up to the medicine man of our tribe. He and he alone would go into the desert and eat the little knobs or buttons of the mescal plant in order to have visions that he would then share with The People. He warned us not to eat the plants or bad luck would fall upon us.

For a long while, we were good and did not eat the vision plants and everyone was happy. Our medicine man would go out into the desert and eat the buttons and then come back and tell us what he saw.

But then, one night, my husband came to me and held out his hand. In it were the forbidden mescal buttons.

"Wife," he whispered, "I have eaten the buttons and seen wondrous things! They have spread through the tribe because the medicine man's apprentice followed him to the sacred place and ate some while the elder was not looking. He had visions that the medicine man did not talk about and felt that we should all know the truth, so he brought some back. I am not the first to eat them, nearly all the tribe has had some by now. Please try them and share in this experience."

I hesitated, glanced over at my two children, asleep and curled into each other and then nodded and held out my hand.

The buttons were delicious, I had never tasted anything so good. That night, my husband and I lay outside our teepee and watched the stars dance. Great visions exploded and beautifully vibrant colors swirled before our eyes before we fell asleep.

The next day there were more buttons. The entire tribe rolled around on the ground and laughed and called out about their visions. We did not listen to the medicine man when he proclaimed that dangerous weather was coming. All we could do was eat the buttons and have the visions.

I don't know how many days passed while I was in this state but, one day, I woke up with a very clear head. Comatose bodies littered the camp. I suddenly had a very bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I glanced about for my children and could not see them anywhere. I checked in our home and in the homes of their friends.

There were no children anywhere.

I began shouting and frantically began waking everyone up. The sun was high by the time everyone came to. As a group, we went into the woods in search of our young. They were nowhere to be found.

After several luckless hours, the sky god, Manitou, appeared before us and proclaimed that he had found our children wandering without food or water in the hot sun for a long time. He said that he had protected them by putting them inside hollow trees.

We asked him what we could do to get them back. Manitou said "I will turn you into birds, and you can go look for them in the hollow trees. When you find them, I will turn you all back into people again" and it was so.

I felt very strange and glanced in a puddle to see why. The long black robe I had been wearing had turned into feathers and the red feathers I'd worn in my hair now covered my face. I had been turned into a bird with a very strong and pointy beak but if it meant getting my children back, I didn't care.

We flew in small swarms and pecked at trees for hours. Taps filled the woods and drowned out the sound of birdsong. Many were lucky and found their children but my own remained lost.

I tap away still. Sometimes I hear my husband tapping elsewhere in the woods as well.

I am plagued by the sound of tapping.

Author's Note:

My story and Why the Woodpecker Pecks are basically the same story line, mine is just told from the perspective of the mother who wakes up at the end. 

Basically, the Indians are told not to eat the mescal plants that the medicine man eats or bad luck will be brought upon them. One young man does not listen and eats the buttons of the plants and has visions. He then shares the buttons with his friends who share it with their fathers who share it with their wives until the whole tribe is partaking. The adults are in such a state that they forget about their children and don't feed them for several days. The children get desperate so they wander into the woods in search of food. A sky god sees them and takes pity on them. He hides them in hollow trees so they are safe from the sun and wolves.

Finally, one mother wakes up and cannot find any children. She wakes up the whole tribe and, after they've been looking for several hours, the sky god comes before them and tells them what has happened. He then turns them into birds and tells them they can peck at the hollow trees in order to find their children. When they do find them, they will be turned back. 

The only major differences between my story and the original are the point of view perspective and the ending. I keep the main character as a woodpecker. She and her husband are perpetually searching for their lost children. 

Bibliography: Tejas Legends unit. Story source: When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends: Why the Woodpecker Pecks retold by Florence Stratton and illustrated by Berniece Burrough (1936).

Picture: (Woodpecker: Image Source) 

Week 10 Reading Tejas Legends Part B: The Maiden who Loved a Star

Tejas Legends unit. Story source: When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends, The Maiden who Loved a Star, retold by Florence Stratton and illustrated by Berniece Burrough (1936).

This story is actually super sweet! I think I want to change just a few elements of the story but I want to keep the girl going out into the desert and the help from the shaman woman. I think I want the man in the stars to not fall to his death and instead send down special moonbeams or something that bring purple flowers. Or maybe he's trapped and he scrapes at the sides of his star cell every night so that the dust sprinkles down upon her as a bush. Maybe the shaman is her mother and doesn't want her to leave so she imprisons her as a bush! That would be tragic! I like that better!

(Star: Image Source)

Week 10 Reading Notes Tejas Legends Part A: Why the Woodpecker Pecks

Tejas Legends unit. Story source: When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends: Why the Woodpecker Pecks retold by Florence Stratton and illustrated by Berniece Burrough (1936).

I enjoyed this story a lot and thought it would be interesting to re-tell. 

I think I want to keep the story basically the same but switch it to first person. 

So we'll still have a small introduction to explain why and how all the Indians got into the mescal they weren't supposed to and then we'll wake up through the mother's eyes and follow her as she begs for her child back. This could be super heart wrenching! I'm excited!

(Woodpecker: Image Source)

Week 9 Story Planning: Laotzse

Bibliography: The Monkey King unit. Story source: "The Ape Sun Wu Kung: Laotzse" in The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).

Summary of the original story:
Okay so first he's already in another form, a peach-worm to be exact, and he's just eaten all the fruit in the garden that's going to make him immortal.

Visitors come on an errand from the Queen-Mother and he traps them then changes his form to sleep worms and puts all the cup-bearers to sleep so he can drink the precious nectar.

Gets to the dwelling of Laotzse but no one is home so he drinks the elixir of life and swallows all the pills of life as well and then flees because he is afraid of getting in trouble.

Finally, he goes back to the scene of the crime and grabs more barrels of the elixir to share with his family.

Research on Laotzse:

Laotzse's character reminded me of Hypnos from Greek Mythology. He and his twin brother, Thantos, are often paired together and live next to the river styx. His attributes include a horn of sleep-inducing opium, a poppy-stem, a branch dripping water from the river Lethe (forgetfulness), or an inverted torch. Both Laotzse and Hypnos serve important roles in protecting things that mere mortals should not be in possession of. Both also fail to keep things out of the hands of those who should not have them (of course I'm basing that assertion on the Percy Jackson series and not straight up research). Actually, Hypnos uses his powers of sleep to trick Zeus twice and manages to get away with it whereas Laotzse get's his magic pills stolen from him while he's at a meeting with literally all of his servants... I don't know why he didn't leave anyone to guard his hut. Especially with a crazy, somersaulting through the sky, want-to-be-god, monkey on the loose.

(Hypnos: Image source)

Conclusion/Planning:
I would like to implement more elements of what the pills of life looked like and maybe make getting them a bit harder. I would also like to implement elements of Hypnos. I'm thinking I'll have the monkey get caught by a guard and then Laotzse will have him help trick another god or something to make up for eating all the pills and stealing barrels of elixir.



Information sources:
Hypnos
Hypnos information about Zeus

Reading, Part B: Sun Wu Kung: Laotzse

This story is part of the The Monkey King unit. Story source: "The Ape Sun Wu Kung: Laotzse" in The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).

I love how mischievous Sun is in this part of the story. He comes off as a real trickster and I would love to implement that elements into a re-telling. I also want to go a little more in depth about the pills of life, maybe describe them more and tell some of their effects. Fleshing out Laotzse wouldn't hurt either, I might want to do more research on him because he sounds like a different, Greek God that I'm more familiar with. I think this would be an excellent part of the story to retell. 

(Peach Worm: Pinterest)

Week 9 Reading A: Sun Wu Kung: Handsome King of the Apes

This story is part of the The Monkey King unit. Story source: "The Ape Sun Wu Kung" in The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921).

This story set was intriguing because it was continuous and the different parts acted like chapters rather than different stories. I think taking the beginning and showing it in a different way could be cool. Maybe change the animals up but mostly have everything be the same.

(Waterfall Entrance: Image Source)

Week 8 Progress

1. Looking back. 

I am happy with my progress so far, I am well ahead of the necessary points for an A right now so that's awesome! My weekly routine is a bit different from the one I specified at the beginning of the semester but it's working out well for me so far. I enjoy the critiquing aspect of the class the most. Looking over other people's work is really fun for me. I haven't used any of the extra credit stuff yet because I haven't had extra time and I'm keeping up with the work so I don't really need it.

2. Looking forward. 

I think I like things the way they are right now. I'd like to not procrastinate as much but... that might just be who I am as a person at this point. 

3. Image.  At this point, I'm just trying to power through and Just Do It!!!

(Just do it!: Image Source)

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

FEEDBACK

1. I've enjoyed all the feedback I've gotten from fellow classmates. All of it has been positive and respectful and makes me feel good as a writer. I especially love the ones that point out things I could improve in my stories. I take these suggestions into serious consideration and often implement them as soon as I can.

2. I feel that all the feedback I've given out has been positive and helpful. I genuinely enjoy critiquing other people's work and I hope that comes across clear in my comments. I like to help my classmates out by pointing out things that might need a second look or leaving ideas for future revisions because that's what always helped me.

3. I feel I am kind of getting to know people a little bit through their blogs. I'm definitely getting a sense of what people like and I'm finding things in everyone's blog that I can connect or relate to in some way. I think I'm happy with my introduction. I feel like I'm so much more than what I wrote about but it's a good beginning to get to know me.

4. I think I'm pretty happy with the feedback I'm giving and receiving so I don't know of anything I need right now. I'm also pretty happy with my blog right now.

5.

(Image source: Feedback Cats)

I think this meme is incredibly accurate. I value criticism much more now than I did even a few years ago because I know criticism can be positive and also incredibly helpful to make good works great. 

Week 8 Reading and Writing

Looking Back

I think the reading and writing assignments went well for me. I enjoyed many of them a lot and I always found at least two stories that I wanted to write about.
I think my favorite story to read so far was from the Congo unit, The Fetish of Chilunga because I hadn't really read anything like it before and it prompted me to write a related but totally different story.
My reading notes have been helping me a lot. I often don't have time to write my story right after the reading so it's beneficial to be able to go back and see what I was thinking. Because I have a lot of freedom in how I structure my notes, it's very easy for me to get back in the groove of what I was thinking and hash out a story.
I am happy with my class project so far, I feel like this is good practice for my future career as an author. Coincidentally, my class project is also my favorite work so far and I consider it my biggest accomplishment in my writing for this class. I've gotten tons of positive feedback on it and everyone that reads it seems interested so I'm looking forward to continuing it.

Image

This is my favorite image I've used so far. It accompanies the first part of my story on my class project. I like it so much because it's not a conventional picture. It's very whimsical and almost haunting. Since it depicts a traumatic part of my story, it's fitting that it's in black and white and not crisp and clear. It really fits the tone I was going for and looks cool.

(Image Source:


Looking Forward

I think the only think I could use to get more out of this class is more time! I barely have time to complete the requirements, let alone the extra credit. There's so much interesting material I'd love to go through and read but I just don't have the time in my schedule to get to all of it! Otherwise, I think I'm doing pretty well and getting a lot out of the class despite the time thing.

Week 7 Story: Ties that Bind and Don't Come Loose

There once was a girl with beautiful golden hair, the fairest girl in the place of Chilunga and all the boys desired her. Matilda knew she was beautiful and wore her haughty nature like a coveted fur stole.

When she finally became of age, her father began the search for her husband. Her father had a best friend who had a son the same age as Matilda. They were decently rich and good people so he figured it would be a fair marriage and all involved would be happy.

The only person more disappointed than Matilda with the match was Nathaniel, the husband to be.

He hated her arrogance and vanity and she lamented that he was so ugly not even beasts would eat him with his beak-ish nose, oily hair and splattering of face pimples.

Their fathers would hear none of their complaints. Finally, Nathaniel decided he would agree to the marriage to appease his father and stopped complaining... out loud.

The fathers and Nathaniel agreed to take long walks in the woods of Chilunga so they all might get to know each other better. They dragged Matilda along too though she didn't talk much and pouted the entire time.

On one of their walks, the men began to discuss marriage in general and then Nathaniel's marriage to Matilda.

Matilda couldn't take it anymore. She stopped walking, stamped her food and whined, "I am not going to marry this man! He is much too ugly for me and I will not have him as my husband!"

"Matilda," her father growled at her, " you will do as I say."

"No."

"Very well." He scooped her up and hoisted her over his shoulder. The men continued their walk through the forest and ignored her screams and demands to be put down.

The group finally reached the holy ground where the fetish, Boio, reigned.

Matilda's father dropped her unceremoniously on the ground and backed away from her while yelling "this, Boio, is my daughter, Matilda, and she refuses to accept Nathaniel's hand in marriage because she believes he is too ugly for her."

Nothing happened for a moment so Matilda scrambled to her feet and began brushing twigs out of her golden hair. Just as she was about to open her mouth and complain some more, a dark, ominous voice that seemed to come from all around them hissed "are you then so beautiful that you can afford to despise this good man on account of his ugliness?"

Matilda tried to run but could not. She found herself magically frozen in place with her hands tied behind her back.

"Help!" she cried to her father, "untie me!"

"Matilda, though you are my daughter and you are beautiful, you are very vain indeed. Boio has spoken, I can do nothing for you. You shall remain here until you agree to marry Nathaniel." With that, he turned on his heel and led his friend back into town.

Nathaniel started to follow his father but felt bad about leaving Matilda behind in such a state. He decided to hang back and try to talk to her. She really is quite beautiful, he thought to himself, maybe if I just explain that I'll be a good husband to her and make her happy, she'll agree to marry me and we can all go home.

He walked up to her and made his case clear. He spun a yarn about their life together so beautiful that all the animals in the forest were ready to go home with him and live happily ever after.

But, alas, Matilda was unmoved. Nathaniel was so hurt by her rejection that he stormed off and never visited her again.

She stood there, resolutely, like a statue and eventually became one. To this day, Boio uses her as an example of what happens when you are too vain.






Author's Note:

Hi everyone, I hope y'all enjoyed! This story is very loosely based on The Fetish of Chilunga. In that story, a Fetish named Boio rules Chilunga and whenever people in the story would anger or offend him, they found themselves stuck with their hands tied behind their backs until someone they knew apologized or paid off their debt for them. A part of the story mentioned that girls that refused to marry boys based on their looks were taken to the holy spot and asked the same question Matilda is asked in my story and then they are tied up until they agree to marry. The main story ends by describing a man who didn't believe in the Fetish until he brought it gifts and the gifts disappeared before his eyes. Only two earthly men can see the Fetish and they are the ones that bring him food.
My story varies greatly from the original because I just took that one small section and expanded upon it. I made Matilda really whiny and annoying and Nathaniel a good but not good-looking guy and set them on their way. It doesn't mention anything in The Fetish of Chilunga about what happens to the girls that continue to refuse to marry so I made the part about her becoming a statue up! I thought it was fitting because she was such a brat!

Bibliography: Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort: Congo: The Fetish of Chilunga by Richard Edward Dennett (1898). 

Photo: hands tied behind back: Image Source

Reading Notes Part B: Congo: The Fetish Of Chilunga

"Girls who are given in marriage by their parents to ugly men and who object to them on that account are taken to the holy ground. Then they hear a voice speaking to them, saying: "Are you then so beautiful that you can afford to despise these good men on account of their ugliness?" Then their hands are tied behind them, and there they remain prisoners until such time as they are willing to marry the men." 

(hands tied behind back: Image Source)

This part of the story intrigues me! I want to expand on this moment with a beautiful, stuck up girl that has to marry a very ugly boy. She refuses and is held prisoner in the forest for several days. The man loves her and visits her every night. At first, she does not appreciate him but then, eventually, she falls in love with him and agrees to love him. 

(Actually, maybe it's just that she's used to a certain type of guy and then realizes that that type was all wrong for her and this is the guy she needs.) 

Bibliography: Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort: Congo: The Fetish of Chilunga by Richard Edward Dennett (1898). 

Reading Notes, Part A: Congo: The Jealous Wife

(The Jealous Wife: Image Source)

Two jealous wives.
How sad do I want to get with this?
Maybe not too sad. Broken vases sound better. Or paintings! Idk, some type of artwork.
They're both interns trying to get their art submitted for a special showcase and they have to show it to their boss. They both make these elegant vases and then one gets jealous of the other and tries to break her vase but ends up breaking her own. No one dies at the end.

Bibliography: Congo: The Jealous Wife. Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort by Richard Edward Dennett (1898).