Bibliography: Czech Folktales unit. Story source: The Key of Gold: A Clever Lass by Josef Baudis (1922).
Monday, December 4, 2017
Reading Part B: Czech: A Clever Lass
Bibliography: Czech Folktales unit. Story source: The Key of Gold: A Clever Lass by Josef Baudis (1922).
Reading Notes Part A: Czech: The Waternick
Bibliography: Czech Folktales unit. The Key of Gold: The Waternick by Josef Baudis (1922).
This is like Hansel and Gretel. I almost want to make it more realistic and have them get captured by some creepy farmer guy or something. Maybe they're going through the forest that borders his farmland and he finds the tree they tied their line to and moves it to an abandoned building on his property and by the time they notice, it's too late and he pushes them in. He's crazy but he doesn't do anything to seriously hurt them. He just makes them clean up the farm and feeds them random things he finds. Eventually the children create a distraction and they escape.
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Week 14 Story: Pact
Max and Sam were the best of friends.
As they grew up together, they made many pacts while they played their favorite video games in Max's parent's basement. One of those pacts was to be each other's best man at the other's wedding, no matter what.
Three years after they made that specific pact, they were riding four-wheelers on a course behind Max's house. It was a beautiful day; the sky was clear, the grass was green and the smoke in the sky was almost forgettable.
The ambulance was delayed because Jim, the trusted driver, was on the pot. His zipper got stuck. When they finally got on scene, his fly was open. Sam noticed but didn't comment. The sight of Max's charred body had taken all his words.
It was Cindy that got Sam through the death of his best friend. She held him while he cried and stuck around through all the outbursts of anger. She was a pro at grief; it was just her and her dad now.
One day, Sam and Cindy were at their favorite coffee shop. The sky was a comfy shade of gray, the coffee was warm, his heart was full. The proposal got 52 likes on Facebook.
Wedding planning began immediately but Sam put off picking a best man.
A month out from the day of the wedding, November 2, 2017, was the anniversary of Max's death. It was that night that Cindy chose to yell at Sam to get his butt in gear so they could get the wedding party together. It was their worst fight. The silence afterward held the weight of the door slam for an awkwardly long amount of time.
The spare key to Max's parent's house burned cold on the chain around Sam's neck. He didn't know he was going to the basement until their paint-chipped backdoor was in front of him.
It was late. Max's parents (they were still called parents.. right?) had fallen asleep hours ago in separate beds, her in Max's and him in the one they used to share.
The stairway to the basement yawned black. Sam almost came to his senses. He would have left and gone to apologize to Cindy if he didn't see the flicker of blue light on the wall at the bottom of the stairs.
Maybe they had left the TV on? The least he could do was turn it off for them, help save their electricity.
He skipped the fourth step because it always creaked. Muscle memory made him knock on the wall twice, pause, and then thrice more - their secret code - as he descended.
"Hey, Sam! You took forever! Get over here! I'm getting slaughtered!"
The air was cold and his heart thudded in his chest. Sam stood still.
There was Max, just as he was the day he died - eyes glued to the TV screen and knuckles white against the controller - like nothing had changed in the past few years.
Sam shook his head, considered turning back, but the game got more intense. His gaming instincts took over.
At first they only commented on the game. It was like the rhythm of their life had never been disturbed.
With his eyes on the screen, Sam took a deep breath, released it, and told Max about Cindy; asked him to be his best man.
He caught Max's smile from the corner of his eye and matched it with his own.
"Yeah man, of course, we made a pact, remember? Let's just finish this round and then we'll go plan the bachelor party."
It was a nice escape from reality. They ended up playing "just one more round" three more times. One of the characters in the final round had blonde hair like Cindy and, suddenly, Sam couldn't wait to get home.
He forgot about the fourth step on the way back up. It's squeal disturbed a cat that got under Sam's feet and almost made him fall. When he turned to ask Max when they'd gotten a cat, the blue light from the TV was gone and the basement was empty.
The night was considerably warmer than it was when he'd gotten there. Sam's coat dragged against the ground as he trudged back to Cindy's house.
He went to push on the back door to let himself in, but the never-locked door held firm.
Three loud pounds brought a tall man with a shotgun to the front door. His name was Brad and he'd gotten the house from his estranged great aunt six years prior. He wasn't Cindy's father.
He threatened to put a bullet through Sam's head and then call the police if he didn't stop hollarin' for some "Cindy" that didn't live there.
Sam backed away and walked down the road till he came to a brand new convenience store on the corner.
The lights inside were blinding but it was the date on the flashing, light-up display that burned in his retinas.
November 2, 2317.
Authors Note:
The idea behind this story came from the Russian Folktale The Two Friends. In that story, two best friends agree to invite the other to their weddings, dead or alive. One of the friends ends up dying and the one that lives eventually decides to get married. On his wedding day, they drive by the graveyard and he remembers the deal he made with his best friend. He tells the wedding party to wait while he goes and sees his friend's graveside. When he gets there, he (almost jokingly) asks his friend to come to his wedding. Suddenly, the grave opens and his dead friend appears and is happy that his living friend remembered. He invites him to celebrate with a drink. Both hop into the grave and have three drinks together, but with each drink, a hundred years passes. When the friend who is getting married leaves the grave, nothing is the same. He runs to the village and finds only strangers. The priest helps him go through the records and they find that three hundred years ago, a bridegroom disappeared on his wedding day and his bride eventually married someone else.
My story is essentially a modern retelling. I chose to make their meeting place a basement instead of a grave (both put you underground but I felt a basement was a little more plausible). I also threw in some more characters to spice it up and I made the friend die from an accident rather than sickness like in the real story. I also changed the timeline a bit and had the two friends reunite a month before the wedding because I felt that was a little more plausible than the day of.
I hope you enjoyed this story! It was really fun to write!
Good luck with finals and life in general! It's almost over!! (The finals, not your life.. hopefully).
Bibliography: Russian Folktales unit. Story source: Russian Fairy Tales: The Two Friends. by W. R. S. Ralston (1887).
Image: Basement stairway
As they grew up together, they made many pacts while they played their favorite video games in Max's parent's basement. One of those pacts was to be each other's best man at the other's wedding, no matter what.
Three years after they made that specific pact, they were riding four-wheelers on a course behind Max's house. It was a beautiful day; the sky was clear, the grass was green and the smoke in the sky was almost forgettable.
The ambulance was delayed because Jim, the trusted driver, was on the pot. His zipper got stuck. When they finally got on scene, his fly was open. Sam noticed but didn't comment. The sight of Max's charred body had taken all his words.
It was Cindy that got Sam through the death of his best friend. She held him while he cried and stuck around through all the outbursts of anger. She was a pro at grief; it was just her and her dad now.
One day, Sam and Cindy were at their favorite coffee shop. The sky was a comfy shade of gray, the coffee was warm, his heart was full. The proposal got 52 likes on Facebook.
Wedding planning began immediately but Sam put off picking a best man.
A month out from the day of the wedding, November 2, 2017, was the anniversary of Max's death. It was that night that Cindy chose to yell at Sam to get his butt in gear so they could get the wedding party together. It was their worst fight. The silence afterward held the weight of the door slam for an awkwardly long amount of time.
The spare key to Max's parent's house burned cold on the chain around Sam's neck. He didn't know he was going to the basement until their paint-chipped backdoor was in front of him.
It was late. Max's parents (they were still called parents.. right?) had fallen asleep hours ago in separate beds, her in Max's and him in the one they used to share.
Maybe they had left the TV on? The least he could do was turn it off for them, help save their electricity.
He skipped the fourth step because it always creaked. Muscle memory made him knock on the wall twice, pause, and then thrice more - their secret code - as he descended.
"Hey, Sam! You took forever! Get over here! I'm getting slaughtered!"
The air was cold and his heart thudded in his chest. Sam stood still.
There was Max, just as he was the day he died - eyes glued to the TV screen and knuckles white against the controller - like nothing had changed in the past few years.
Sam shook his head, considered turning back, but the game got more intense. His gaming instincts took over.
At first they only commented on the game. It was like the rhythm of their life had never been disturbed.
With his eyes on the screen, Sam took a deep breath, released it, and told Max about Cindy; asked him to be his best man.
He caught Max's smile from the corner of his eye and matched it with his own.
"Yeah man, of course, we made a pact, remember? Let's just finish this round and then we'll go plan the bachelor party."
It was a nice escape from reality. They ended up playing "just one more round" three more times. One of the characters in the final round had blonde hair like Cindy and, suddenly, Sam couldn't wait to get home.
He forgot about the fourth step on the way back up. It's squeal disturbed a cat that got under Sam's feet and almost made him fall. When he turned to ask Max when they'd gotten a cat, the blue light from the TV was gone and the basement was empty.
The night was considerably warmer than it was when he'd gotten there. Sam's coat dragged against the ground as he trudged back to Cindy's house.
He went to push on the back door to let himself in, but the never-locked door held firm.
Three loud pounds brought a tall man with a shotgun to the front door. His name was Brad and he'd gotten the house from his estranged great aunt six years prior. He wasn't Cindy's father.
He threatened to put a bullet through Sam's head and then call the police if he didn't stop hollarin' for some "Cindy" that didn't live there.
Sam backed away and walked down the road till he came to a brand new convenience store on the corner.
The lights inside were blinding but it was the date on the flashing, light-up display that burned in his retinas.
November 2, 2317.
Authors Note:
The idea behind this story came from the Russian Folktale The Two Friends. In that story, two best friends agree to invite the other to their weddings, dead or alive. One of the friends ends up dying and the one that lives eventually decides to get married. On his wedding day, they drive by the graveyard and he remembers the deal he made with his best friend. He tells the wedding party to wait while he goes and sees his friend's graveside. When he gets there, he (almost jokingly) asks his friend to come to his wedding. Suddenly, the grave opens and his dead friend appears and is happy that his living friend remembered. He invites him to celebrate with a drink. Both hop into the grave and have three drinks together, but with each drink, a hundred years passes. When the friend who is getting married leaves the grave, nothing is the same. He runs to the village and finds only strangers. The priest helps him go through the records and they find that three hundred years ago, a bridegroom disappeared on his wedding day and his bride eventually married someone else.
My story is essentially a modern retelling. I chose to make their meeting place a basement instead of a grave (both put you underground but I felt a basement was a little more plausible). I also threw in some more characters to spice it up and I made the friend die from an accident rather than sickness like in the real story. I also changed the timeline a bit and had the two friends reunite a month before the wedding because I felt that was a little more plausible than the day of.
I hope you enjoyed this story! It was really fun to write!
Good luck with finals and life in general! It's almost over!! (The finals, not your life.. hopefully).
Bibliography: Russian Folktales unit. Story source: Russian Fairy Tales: The Two Friends. by W. R. S. Ralston (1887).
Image: Basement stairway
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Week 14 Reading B: Russia: The Two Friends
Russian Folktales unit. Story source: Russian Fairy Tales: The Two Friends. by W. R. S. Ralston (1887).
(Friends in a Grave: Image Source)
This story was weird! Why would the friend want to keep his friend from his wedding day? I love the time travel though.. What if the friend that was about to get married didn't go to the guy's grave, he just went to his old house that was about to be sold and found his friend in the basement playing video games like he did in life? He could then ask his friend to sit and play a while and a couple hundred years could pass that way. That would give a more modern twist to this story.
Week 14 Reading Part A: Russia: The Water Snake
Russian Fairy Tales: The Water Snake. W. R. S. Ralston (1887).
I could do a lot with this story. I think I'd want to change the mother to an ex boyfriend that's crazy, or maybe a deranged best friend that has a tendency to be clingy. I still want the new husband to die and I want the main girl to feel all sad because he does. Instead of them calling his name, they'll call his phone on hers. Maybe she should be drugged or something so she can't get to him. I don't know if I'd keep the kids, that complicates things a little bit... Maybe I'll make them into dogs.
I could do a lot with this story. I think I'd want to change the mother to an ex boyfriend that's crazy, or maybe a deranged best friend that has a tendency to be clingy. I still want the new husband to die and I want the main girl to feel all sad because he does. Instead of them calling his name, they'll call his phone on hers. Maybe she should be drugged or something so she can't get to him. I don't know if I'd keep the kids, that complicates things a little bit... Maybe I'll make them into dogs.
(Pond of the Water Snake: Image source)
Tuesday, November 14, 2017
Week 13 Reading B: English Fairy Tales: Mr. Miacca
(Mr. Miacca: Image Source)
Bibliography: English Fairy Tales: Mr. Miacca, by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890).
This story could do so much more!! I could make this a lot creepier. I also want to expand on the parts that make the main character so bad - like give examples as to why his behavior is so bad. I also want to describe Mr. Miacca and his wife a little more so they're easier to see.
Week 13 Reading A: English Fairy Tales: Tom Tit Tot
(Tom Tit Tot: Image Source)
I like this story a lot. It reminds me or Rumpelstiltskin which makes me happy because I've always enjoyed that story.
This would be easy to re-write, I don't know which aspects I'd change but I don't think I'd keep it as long as it is currently. I like the fact that they got into the mess in the first place because the mother was singing about her daughter eating five pies, got caught and changed they lyrics of her made up song to seem less embarrassing.
Bibliography: English Fairy Tales: Tom Tit Tot, by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890).
Thursday, November 9, 2017
Week 12 Story: Ponytails
There once was a studious girl named Mary who desperately wanted to pass her chem class. She stayed up very late trying to make all her flash cards in time to study in the morning. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" she called out. Her roommates had been asleep for hours and they were very loud snorers so it fell on her to get up and answer the door.
"So, like, it's Karie. Karie with One Ponytail," was the only response Mary heard before opening the door. Maybe one of her roommates had invited this girl over to study and then forgotten?
Karie with One Ponytail immediately sauntered in, sat down in Mary's seat and started riffling through Mary's papers and study guides.
"Omg, like, where is everyone else? The other Karie's should be here by now... ugh," bemoaned the blonde airhead.
Just then, there was a second knock on the door with a call of "like, open up! It's Karie with Two Ponytails."
Mary went and answered the door again and saw a girl that looked pretty similar to the first girl except she had her hair drawn up in two ponytails.
"Like, give me those papers like, now, you witch," she screeched and wrestled Karrie with One Ponytail for the flashcards.
And so the night went on. Mary opened the door for ten more Karies, each with more ponytails than the last, until there were twelve strange girls in her living room and dining room vying for a chance to study her chem notes. None of them spoke to Mary which was fine because she felt a little overwhelmed. Never before had there been so many people in her apartment let alone all of the Karies in the sorority specifically for girls named Karie!
"Hey, weird girl, make us some kale smoothies. We're hungry but don't want to get bloated."
Mary didn't want to make these girls mad so she desperately searched her kitchen. Alas she could find no Kale and told them so.
"Then go get some, oh my gawd, are you stupid??" Amidst spiteful and mocking laughter, some of the girls tossed cute little coin purses at Mary. She quickly gathered them up and headed to the nearest Walmart. When she got there, she found the kale and a few other ingredients to make smoothies with, then hurried back to the checkout counter. But when she reached into the coin purses to pay, all she found were coupons to male strip clubs. She had left her own wallet at home in her haste to please these dreadful girls and, so, could not pay for the groceries. Poor Mary began to cry.
Then the cashier, a punk-Gothic-rebel of a girl with charcoal smudged eyes and purple streaks in her hair, sighed and asked Mary what was wrong. After Mary had explained her situation, the cashier took pity on her and let her have all of her groceries for free. Then she said "Hey, you could get them to leave by standing outside your house and yelling that all the Starbucks in town are closing down for good!"
"Thanks, I'll try that!" Mary called over her shoulder as she hurried her free groceries to her car.
And, so, she did.
All the Karies with all their ponytails fled into the night to save their basic-white-girl source of power.
And Mary was finally able to study in peace.
(Ponytails: Image Source)
Bibliography: Celtic Fairy Tales: The Horned Women by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892).
Author's Note:
My story and the original are pretty similar except for tone and the ending. Where The Horned Women is sinister and about witches, my story is a humorous tale of a sorority that is super rude about asking for help with their chem studies. I made the main character a little more likable so the reader (hopefully) felt a grounded. I also left out the ending of the original story because I felt that it didn't fit in with my re-telling and I liked where mine ended.
Tuesday, November 7, 2017
Reading Notes, Part B: Celtic Fairy Tales:
Bibliography: Celtic Fairy Tales: The Tale of Ivan, by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892).
I liked how Ivan stayed true to the advise that his master gave him and everything worked out. I feel like there aren't many stories like that out there. The main character always seems to deviate from what he's been taught these days. I think I would like to keep the story line fairly similar, maybe focus on one part of the story and blow it up and flesh it out (particularly the part about the Inn). I think this story would be a lot of fun to re-write.
(Ivan: Image Source)
I liked how Ivan stayed true to the advise that his master gave him and everything worked out. I feel like there aren't many stories like that out there. The main character always seems to deviate from what he's been taught these days. I think I would like to keep the story line fairly similar, maybe focus on one part of the story and blow it up and flesh it out (particularly the part about the Inn). I think this story would be a lot of fun to re-write.
Reading Notes, Part A: Celtic Fairy Tales: The Horned Women
(Horned Women: Image Source)
This is a really interesting tale I feel I can turn into a funny story pretty easily. I would like to make the whole thing satire. Maybe have girls with a bunch of different pony tails that overwhelm this other girl and then she uses stupid tricks to get them to leave and stay away. Basically I want to change the tone from sinister to hilarious. I don't get much practice writing funny stories so this should be an interesting challenge.
Bibliography: Celtic Fairy Tales: The Horned Women by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892).
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
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).
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.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
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.
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).
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
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!
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!
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)
Thursday, October 19, 2017
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.
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
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
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
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.
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.
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)
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
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!!!
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Tuesday, October 10, 2017
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.
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.
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