Reflections

Looking back at the semester I really enjoyed this class. It was cool learning how to set up my own blog and having people look at it weekly and leave comments! I'm most proud of my project because it took the most amount of work! It's cool how it all flows together and how there's different tabs people can click on to read all of the stories. I never would have thought I could create a website like that! I thought this class was particularly special because there was so much interaction between the students. Typically in online classes it's a very individual experience where you have little or no contact with anyone and often times have no idea who else is even in the class with you. This class was completely different and I loved it. I also feel like my writing and imagination has improved over the past few months!

Week 14 Reading Diary, continued: LibriVox

The second half of the reading from the Grimm (Librivox) unit by the Brothers Grimm connected nicely to the first half. I enjoyed reading The Queen Bee because it had a happy ending! It also emphasized the importance of helping others. It was nice to see that since he had saved the lives of the other animals they came to help him when he was in need! I could use this in my storytelling by changing the animals into humans and creating a story using the same back story. I liked the youngest character because he had a very modest approach to everything he seemed very humble. Jorinda and Jorindel was an interesting story. I was shocked to hear that the fairy had captured seven hundred different girls! I couldn't help but wonder why she kept the pretty girls and turned them into birds and why she let the men go? I wonder if she was jealous of the girls' beauty? I could use this in my story telling assignment to tell the back story of why the fairy acted this way. I like that this kept with the theme of ending happily like the rest of the stories. I enjoyed reading The Turnip because it was a little different from the other stories. I liked that the gardener brother ended up getting a greater reward and becoming richer than his wealthy brother. I also had a funny mental image of a giant turnip being handed to the rich brother in return for his grand gift. I wondered why he felt the need to trick the student into letting him down from the tree... why couldn't he have just asked for his help?

(Turnip Illustration by Otto Ubbelohde

Source: UnTextbook)

Week 14 Reading Diary: Librivox

This week I chose to read the Grimm (Librivox) unit by the Brothers Grimm for my reading diary posts. The Frog Prince is a classic story that I remember hearing as a child. I liked that the king made the princess stick to her promise when he could have easily allowed her to go back on her word. This story reminded me of Beauty and the Beast because it had the same theme that looks can be deceiving. The princesses in both stories had no idea that the unsightly creature they were stuck with was a prince but they keep their word and stay with them any way and are rewarded! I liked the story of The Traveling Musicians because it's all about how we interpret things! The robbers didn't take the time to look at who was after them so they immediately thought it was a witch instead of animals. I thought it was sad at the beginning how all the animals are talking about how their owners no longer want them because they're old... it makes me think of how our society sometimes treats the elderly. I could change this story up a little and have the animals be human characters instead and twist the plot around as well! I enjoyed reading the story Briar Rose because I didn't expect it to be Sleeping Beauty! The authors did a great job at describing the fairies and the scenes during the story so I was able to create a very vivid picture of what was going on! I never knew the backstory to Sleeping Beauty so it was cool to read about the 12 fairies invited to the dinner in honor of the princess and the thirteenth fairy showing up in anger because she wasn't invited! I didn't ever fully understand why Sleeping Beauty had been under a curse in the first place when I was a kid.

(Sleeping Beauty Illustration 

Source: UnTextbook)

Week 13 Storytelling: Zelinda and Her Prince

It was getting close to prom season at Aspen Heights High School and everyone was so excited to see who their date would be for the dance! This year was extremely important because it was Zelinda’s last prom. Zelinda was the most popular girl in school. She had long blonde hair and skin that was tan all year long. Everyone in school loved her because not only was she really pretty but she also was kind to everyone she met. It was no secret that Chris, the captain of the football team, was going to ask her to prom so no one even tried! They all just waited to see what his elaborate “promposal” this year would be.

Days passed by and many girls had received flowers and chocolates by guys asking them to prom…. But still Chris hadn’t asked Zelinda. She waited and waited until one day she opened up her locker to find a hot pink note saying meet me under the bleachers on the football field after school for a surprise! Immediately Zelinda knew that it was Chris asking her to prom. She was so excited and thought of as many different things possible that Chris could do to ask her.

Finally the bell rang at 3:00 and Zelinda excitedly walked to the football field. She ducked under the bleachers to find Tim holding flowers… Tim was one of the biggest nerds in school. He had a face full of pimples, braces, and the thickest glasses she had ever seen.

(Football Bleachers. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Tim slowly walked over to Zelinda and handed her the flowers. Looking down at his feet and in a shaky voice he said, “Zelinda would you go to prom with me?” He was so nervous his face started to turn red.

Zelinda knew she couldn’t turn him down. It was her last prom and she really wanted to go with Chris but she knew how much courage it had taken Tim to ask her to the dance so she couldn’t say no.  She accepted his flowers and reluctantly said, “I’d love to go with you Tim.” She immediately turned around and hastily walked to her car. Zelinda called her friends to tell them what happened. Now she was stuck going to prom with the weirdest guy in the school! There was no way she was going to have fun that night… Her friends were shocked she had even said yes.

A few days passed and it was the day of prom. Zelinda put on her dress and started getting ready for the special night. As she was putting on her makeup she thought to herself… I can’t believe I’m even putting on all this makeup… its not like I’m even going to be able to hang out with Chris and my friends. She finished getting ready and heard a knock on the front door. Her mom yelled out to her saying that Tim was there to pick her up.

Zelinda slowly walked down the stairs and saw this handsome boy waiting for her! She was in complete shock… Tim was wearing a black slimming suit and no longer had any acne and was wearing contacts instead of his thick glasses. Her cheeks turned pink and she even stuttered as she said hello to him! When she asked where his braces were he said that he was scheduled to get them off that week so they were removed yesterday! The two took pictures together and got in the limo he had rented for them. Zelinda ended up having the time of her life and never wanted the night to end!

When she laid in bed that night she thought to herself, wow I can’t believe I had been that shallow and judged Tim just based off of his looks… I feel so terrible for complaining to my friends about having to go with him! From now on I promise not to judge a book by their cover and to accept everyone as they are.

~~~~~

Author's Note: I decided to do this week's storytelling based on the story called Zelinda and the Monster by Thomas Frederick Crane. In this story a father has the choice of either being killed by a monster or returning with his youngest daughter, Zelinda, to marry him. He chooses to bring his daughter back in return for his life. Zelinda reluctantly lives with the monster who treats her very well. Everyday he asks her if she will marry him and promise herself to him for the rest of her life. One day he tells her that her father is very ill and that the only way to save him is by marrying him. So she finally agrees and as she says this the monster turns into a handsome prince! He says that a witch had cast a spell on him which turned him into a monster and that the only way he could be saved was by a woman promising herself to him. I chose to make my story more modern so I had my characters in high school. I kept Zelinda as the main characters name but I decided to focus more on the moral of the original story and have it be about not judging people based on their looks!

Bibliography: "Zelinda and the Monster" by Thomas Frederick Crane. Website: UnTextbook. 

Week 13 Reading Diary, continued: Italian Popular Tales

I enjoyed reading the second half of the Italian Popular Tales unit by, Thomas Frederick Crane. The Language of the Animals was very similar to one of the stories from the first half of the unit. For example the king was disappointed in his son claiming he could speak to animals so he asked for him to be killed. Instead of killing him they killed a dog instead and brought back it's heart instead! I could maybe combine these two stories somehow based on their similarity! I liked that the son ended up using his ability to speak to animals to help others and then in the end he became the Pope and showed everyone that what he learned was valuable! The Cat and Mouse story was very strange... I didn't understand how the cat had decided to marry the mouse just by the sound he made when he sang. I was shocked to see that the cat had accidentally cooked the mouse in the food, but I didn't understand the series of events that took place after that happened. I enjoyed reading the story Buchettino because it kept my attention the entire time! I liked that this story had an ogre included in it which was different than the other stories I had read. The image of Buchettino stacking tons of plates and pans on top of each other to climb up to the roof made me laugh! I would like to use this story in my assignment this week I just haven't thought of a creative way to change it yet!

(Cat and Mouse. Source: Geograph)

Week 13 Reading Diary: Italian Popular Tales

This week I chose to do my reading on the Italian Popular Tales unit by Thomas Frederick Crane. I decided on this one because it was filled with stories I had never read before! I enjoyed reading Zelinda and the Monster because it reminded me of Beauty and the Beast. I couldn't believe that her father decided to give Zelinda up to the dragon-like creature... it seems as if he should have sacrificed himself! And still Zelinda cared for her father so much that she finally gave in to marrying the creature so she could see her father again before he died. I like the meaning behind this story that looks can be deceiving. It's easy for people to judge someone just based off of their looks! I like that this challenges that belief. Water and Salt was a very simple story but I still enjoyed reading it. I was shocked that the father tried to kill his own daughter for saying that she loved him more than water and salt... it seemed so extreme to me! It was nice to see her sisters save her from death because it seems like a common theme in these fairy tales is that the sisters hate the third one! The ending made me happy because she was able to prove to her father that water and salt really are important to a meal and that he was wrong for wanting to kill her. The Ingrates was an interesting story. It seemed very backwards to me because all of the characters were cruel to each other and could care less if one was killed. I wasn't a fan of the moral of the story that those who do good deeds aren't rewarded and those that are evil are rewarded... I could change this in my storytelling this week!

(Photograph of Red Rose. Source: Pixabay)

Week 12 Storytelling: The Rose Tree's Tale

There once was a beautiful rose tree that grew in a garden. The tree was planted by a brother and sister years ago on a sunny spring day. It started off small but as time passed it grew into a huge tree with pretty white roses. When the tree blossomed the fragrance from the roses could be smelled all the way into the house so, the family would keep their windows open and allow the sweet smell to fill every room. Not only did the tree give off a comforting scent but it also provided the children with shade when they played outside after school. The little girl liked to climb up high on the tree’s branches. She would sit there and read books for hours and hours until her mother came outside calling her in for dinner. The little boy on the other hand was a flirt and liked to pick the flowers from the rose tree and give them to the girls in his class. The tree didn’t mind she just enjoyed the company the children gave her. As the years passed the tree saw many things… some good and some very bad. She never told anyone about the things she saw until one day when an unspeakable thing occurred. She decided to tell a little white bird that enjoyed sitting on her branches what happened that dreaded day.

(White Blossoms. Source: Free Stock Photos)

One day I watched as the little girl returned home from school. She skipped happily into the house and was greeted by her stepmom. I wasn’t a fan of her stepmom… she was always used to being the prettiest woman in town and now that her daughter had grown up everyone was talking about how pretty the little girl had started to become. I could tell she was getting jealous because each day I would watch her take extra time to get ready in the morning. She started putting on more makeup and curling her hair.

When the little girl walked in the mom greeted her and complimented her on how beautiful her hair was. She asked the little girl to lay her head on her lap so she could comb her hair out since it had been up all day during school. As she did this she slowly reached over and grabbed an axe that was sitting right behind her. I wanted to scream out and warn the child about what was going on... but I’m just a tree! So, I watched as she held up the axe and chopped off the girls’ head.

The brother came home much later from tutoring and immediately knew something was wrong. Normally his sister would be sitting up in my branches reading one of her books… but she was nowhere to be found. When he walked inside and saw the horrifying scene inside he grabbed his sister’s body, put her in a box and buried her underneath me. He sat there for hours weeping over the loss of his sister. He eventually cried himself to sleep so as I always do I provided him with shade and watched over him for the night.

Now the boy comes every day to be with his sister. He spends time talking to her and keeping her up to date on what’s going on in his life. I’ve watched him grow up into a man with a wife and kids. He seems very busy now, but he still makes time to visit his sister and I everyday and for that I’m grateful for his company. I will continue to watch over his sister and keep her safe for the rest of my life!

~~~~~~

Author's Note: I chose to do this weeks storytelling based off of the story called The Rose Tree by Joseph Jacobs. In this story a step mom is jealous of her daughters beauty. She asks the daughter to lay her head on her lab so she can comb out her head. She then complains that the girls hair is so tangly and asks her to grab a board to help. When the girl brings the board and lays her head back down the mom grabs an axe and chops off her daughters head! When the brother finds out he grabs the body and buries it under a rose tree in their garden and cries until his tears reach the box where she is buried. The story ends with a white bird that normally sits in the rose tree's branches, tricking the step mom to come out side. The bird drops a millstone on her head as payback and kills her right there on the spot! I decided to use the rose tree in my story as the narrator. I wrote the story as if she was the one who saw everything and was telling the white bird about it. I left out the whole ending part of the birds revenge because it would have made my story way too long and I really wanted to focus on the rose tree. 

Bibliography: "The Rose Tree" by Joseph Jacobs. Source: UnTextbook. 

Week 12 Reading Diary, continued: English Fairy Tales

I enjoyed reading the second half of the English Fairy Tales unit by Joseph Jacobs. The story Henny-Penny was really silly at first because it has a bunch of funny named animals following Henny-Penny because they think the sky is falling. I didn't understand why they were all so willing to follow Henny-Penny when they had no evidence of this event actually happening! This story kept with the theme from the previous unit of the story turning for the worst, because a fox tricks the animals into his cave and kills a few of them. I had negative feelings towards the main character Henny-Penny because she ended up running away and not helping her friends get away from the fox! Another story I enjoyed reading from this section was Mr. Fox. I liked the idea of the signs above the doors and gates of Mr. Fox's castle that serve as a warning. I was surprised that Lady Mary kept going even after reading the signs... I would have been freaked out! The ending was a little different than I expected because I thought Lady Mary would be killed but she surprised me by having her brother's help her kill Mr. Fox! I enjoyed the story Fairy Ointment because it was so creative. The author used such descriptive words for the man and his horse... it made me nervous for the woman when she left him! I still am curious as to why the baby needed ointment for his eyes. This could potentially be used in my storytelling this week to add an explanation! I also would have been curious as to what the ointment did... but I don't think I would have been brave enough to put it on my own eyes!

(Illustration from Fairy Ointment. Source: UnTextbook)

Week 12 Reading Diary: English Fairy Tales

This week I chose to read the English Fairy Tales unit by Joseph Jacobs. I enjoyed reading the story called The Rose Tree because it kept my attention the whole time with it's twists and turns. The author did a great job when he was describing the girl in the story. I had such a vivid image of her in my mind! The beginning reminded me of Snow White because the mother was so jealous of her step daughter's beauty. I was shocked when she ended up chopping the daughters head off... I thought she was just going to cut her hair! I could use this in my story telling this week but maybe from the rose tree's perspective. The story called Binnorie was very dark and sad. It seems like there's a common theme of jealousy and death in this unit! While reading, I couldn't help but put myself in the older sister's shoes. I know it would kill me if my husband left me for my younger sister! Of course one of my favorite stories in this first section of the unit was The Story of the Three Little Pigs. I liked how this one was different and had a whole second half that was about the third pig tricking the wolf many times before having him as stew! I'd love to use this as my storytelling by maybe combining another story from this unit.

(Illustration from Binnorie. Source: UnTextbook)

Week 11 Reading Diary, continued: Celtic Fairy Tales

The second half of this week's reading of Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs was very similar to the first half. I enjoyed reading the story King O'Toole and His Goose because it was so sweet to see the Kings love for hunting and his goose. I feel like this is similar to so many Bible stories where a saint comes in disguised to see how people will treat them when they don't know a saint is in their presence. It was nice to see how the man kept his promise when Saint Kavin restored his goose! I was shocked the story ended so sadly with the goose being killed while it was hunting fish. The story Beth Gellert really caught me off guard! I had a feeling that the greyhound didn't kill the prince's son, but I was in suspense the entire time trying to figure out why there was blood everywhere! It made me so sad to see that the greyhound was trying to protect the son from a wolf, but the prince didn't know that and killed his dog anyway. I could use this for this weeks story telling and maybe tie King O'Toole and His Goose together by incorporating Saint Kavin. I could have the saint bring the greyhound back to life once the prince finds that he saved his son's life! The story called Brewery of Eggshells really stood out to me because it was so different. The entire story I was wondering why the children weren't growing and couldn't figure it out until the very end! I wonder why the goblins decided to switch the mothers children with their dwarfs... it made no sense to me! I also was so shocked to see the mom just toss the children that looked like hers into the lake! I thought the story was kind of funny and might try to use it in my storytelling assignment this week!

(Illustration of Gellert the greyhound. Source: UnTextbook)

Week 11 Reading Diary: Celtic Fairy Tales

This week I chose to read Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs. I really enjoyed the first story in the unit called Connla and the Fairy Maiden. I thought it was interesting and wondered why Connla was the only one who could see the fairy maiden in the story and not his father Conn the king. I also was curious as to why she tossed the son an apple that would always grow back to being whole when he took a bite. I could use this for my storytelling for the week and finish the ending since the reader is left wondering where Connla and the Fairy Maiden set away to and what happens next! The Horned Woman was a very strange story in this section. I had a very vivid image of the women all standing in the mistress' house with horns sticking out of their heads! It would have been so scary to be the woman who let them in because the witches cast a spell on her and she could no longer talk or move... she was forced to do what they ordered her to do! I like that in the end the woman got the witches out of her house and was able to keep them away. My favorite story of this section was Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree since it was so similar to Snow White! I liked that there were a few differences though, for example that gold-tree had left to be with her husband so silver-tree was unable to kill her. I also liked that the second wife helped gold-tree to get her mom back by having silver-tree drink the poisoned drink she offered first! I was surprised to see the second wife bring gold-tree back to life and that she was okay sharing her husband with her... I'd would also like to use this story possibly in my assignment for this week!

(Illustration of Connla and the Fairy Maiden 

Source: Untextbook)

Week 10 Reading Diary, continued: Tejas Legends

The second half of reading the Tejas Legends unit by Florence Stratton was very similar to the first half. I enjoyed the story Why The Hummingbirds Drink Only Dew because it was so out of the box! It really reminded me of the story on the tortoise and the hare since the hummingbird was so positive that she would win the race but then the heron ends up coming in at the end and winning! I liked how the humming bird actually kept its promise and I thought it was a clever way to explain why hummingbirds drink from flowers instead of water like normal birds. How The Sickness Entered The World was more of a dark tale compared to the others. I liked how they gave sickness human like qualities. I wonder what would have happened if the snake lived? I could use this as a story for my assignment this week! It was such a creepy image to imagine a snake leaving its eggs everywhere! I really liked how descriptive the story When The Rainbow Was Torn was written. I almost felt bad for the rainbow because it was split and caught in the cactus, but I was also happy that the cactus got the color it longed for! Why the Dog’s Ears Flop was one of my favorites from this section just because I love dogs! I hated how mean the Indians were to the dog just for messing up once… I feel like they were way too harsh on him!

(Photograph of cactus flower. Source: UnTextbook)

Week 10 Reading Diary: Tejas Legends

This week I chose to read the Tejas Legends unit by Florence Stratton. All of the stories seemed to incorporate nature one way or another, which was really nice. In the story When the Storm God Rides, the author did a great job at describing what the thunder bird Hurakan looked like. I think I would have been scared too if I ever encountered a bird like that! Throughout the story I wondered though why they were afraid of the storm god and the thunder bird if they were just looking for feathers? I could maybe elaborate on this in my storytelling. They also gave the reader good imagery of the God coming in anger to the Texas coast with lightening and thunder coming from all around him! I thought it was a creative way to explain where the islands around Texas came from. Why the Woodpecker Pecks immediately got my attention when it said that woodpeckers used to be Indians… It automatically made me curious as to what happened! This story reminded me of Adam and Eve since the Indians were told not to eat from the mescal plant but of course they were tempted and gave in. I also noticed a common theme of birds in the stories in this unit. This was a creative way to explain the story behind woodpeckers, why the peck at trees, and where they came from! I enjoyed reading The Cloud That Was Lost because it was such a cute story! It could be told at bedtime to children. I could use this in my storytelling to elaborate more since it’s so short. Grandmother River’s Trick like the rest of the stories in this unit had great imagery throughout! I had a vivid mental image of the cloud ringing out her wet hair to send rain down to the river to make it over flow. I thought it was a clever story about how the garfish were tricked out of the river. I also liked that the river had a personality!

(Image of Tejas Indian Legends book.

 Source: UnTextbook)

Week 9 Storytelling: Heads Will Roll

On tonight’s newscast we have breaking news of a rolling head chasing after her children! I would advise your children to leave the room because the pictures and story itself could be considered quite disturbing…

(News room Photograph. Source: Wikipedia)

Good afternoon everyone! We’ve recently received a heinous story including murder, talking snakes, and chasing heads. We’d like to call this breaking news title: “Heads Will Roll.” Our very own George Smith is out in the middle of the action talking to anyone in the area trying to get information on this crazy event. Lets cut on over to George and see if he’s received any insight on what happened earlier today…

“Thank you Veronica. I currently have one of the neighbors here who happened to see murder happen. Would you be able to tell me what happened earlier today around 10 am?”

“Well, I was washing the dishes and gazing out the window like I do every morning. We live next to a lake so our view is just gorgeous. I could stare at it all day! As I was looking out the window I saw one of the wives from my book club walk down to the lake. All of a sudden a huge snake came out of the water and I kid you not the two started talking to each other! I even rubbed my eyes a few times to make sure I was seeing this correctly. A few minutes later the wife’s husband jumped out of nowhere and killed both the snake and his own wife! The whole series of events scared me so much that I dropped the plate I was washing and it shattered everywhere.”

“Wow I can’t even imagine how terrifying that would be to watch… Did anything else happen?” asked George from the news.

“Unfortunately yes. I watched as the man cut both his wife and the snake into tiny pieces. He put them into a bag and walked back to his house. That’s the last I saw of him,” said the neighbor.

“Thank you so much for giving us a little insight to what happened. I know it must be hard to relive such a graphic sight. I now have the oldest child of the murdered wife with me. Can you explain to me what happened to you today?” George asked inquisitively.

“It was a normal day until we came home from school. Normally mom is the one who is there to greet us but she was nowhere to be found and my dad had already made us dinner. We didn’t ask any questions because we were so exhausted from a day of classes so we sat down and ate. A few hours passed and mom still hadn’t come home. Dad said that if she came back while he was gone to tell her that he had gone to get the rest of the food he hunted earlier that day. So I was sitting at the table with my siblings working on homework and all of a sudden my moms head… still alive I must add… rolled in and said “I am very sorry that my children have eaten me up” I freaked out! How could I have eaten my own mother!? I had no idea she had even been murdered! My siblings and I ran out of the house screaming and as the head pursued us. I didn’t know what to do so I drew a thick line in the sand so the head would get stuck. This worked and we ran all the way to the police station.” Said the oldest sister.

George’s mouth and eyes were wide open when the camera panned back to him. “This is just traumatizing. I’ve never heard of something so crazy in my life! I’m so sorry for the loss of your mother and I really appreciate you taking the time for this interview. Now I’m going to send this story back to the news room.”

Thank you George for piecing this terrifying story together for us. We’ve recently heard that the father has been taken into custody for further questioning and the children are currently being evaluated for the psychological trauma they have been through today. When we get more details on the story we’ll be sure to tell you on our next news segment!

~~~

Author's Note: I chose to do this week's assignment off of the story called The Rolling Head. In this story a woman would go down to a lake every day after her husband had gone to hunt to talk to a snake. The husband caught on and followed her one day and when he saw what was going on he killed both the wife and the snake. He cut both of them into little pieces and fed them to his children. The head of the murdered wife rolled to the children and told them that they had just eaten her. When this happened the children got scared and ran away but her head followed after them. The oldest child drew a line in the sand so the head would get stuck, which worked. The children had to fend for themselves for awhile so they hunted and gathered a lot of food which caught the attention of a nearby town who was starving. The people came to the children and were fed. Soon enough they left and it was just the children and the father living together, but they were mad at him for what he had done and they had lions come and kill him! I decided it would be fun to write this assignment as a breaking news story since there are so many crazy events involved. I kept the story very similar to the original but decided to stop the ending with the mother's head getting stuck. I wanted to make it more modern so I had the father going to jail and the children being evaluated for what they had just been through. 

Bibliography: "The Rolling Head" by Stith Thompson. Website: UnTextbook. 

Week 9 Reading Diary Continued: Native American Marriage Tales

The second half of The Native American Marriage Tales by Stith Thompson was very similar to the first in keeping with the animal transformation theme. I really enjoyed The Dog-Husband story because it reminded me of Toy Story. It was interesting how every night when the girl went to bed the dog would turn into a human and then before she woke up he would be a dog again. It was similar to how the toys in Toy Story would be alive when Andy and other humans were gone and then go back to “playing dead” when they were around. It was cool how they kept the theme throughout the story and even the girls children were able to transform from human to dogs. The Youth Who Joined the Deer also kept with this theme. I thought it was so interesting how the tribe would kill their own deer people and use them for food but then bring them back to life by putting the bones in water. They made it seem completely normal! I liked the imagery in the story when the chief put the buck skin on top of the man turning him into a buck for his deer wife during rutting season. I liked how the story had the man return to his original tribe to teach them how to properly hunt and respect the deer. The Girl and the Turkeys was my favorite story of this section because it was based on the Cinderella fairy tale! I liked how descriptive they were when they introduced the poor girl… it really gave me a mental image of what her character looked like. They also changed the plot around a little bit and instead of having the girl be home by midnight she was required to always remember the turkeys who helped her. I didn’t understand why the turkeys didn’t wait any longer because in the end the girl didn’t forget about them she returned! Unlike the actual Cinderella story this one doesn’t have a happy ending… I could use this in my story telling and rewrite it in a different way!

(Original Book. Source: UnTextbook)

Week 9 Reading Diary: Native American Marriage Tales

This week I chose to read the Native American Marriage Tales by Stith Thompson. I soon found that there was a theme of animals, mainly female, that were able to transform from animal to human. The Piqued Buffalo-Wife, was interesting because the man chose to wife a buffalo and had a son with her! I didn’t understand why the buffalo, the man’s wife, tried running towards him and hooking at him… but I had such a creative mental image of her turning into a woman as she did! I also wasn’t expecting the herd to trample the man if he guessed the wrong son! It sounded like a very harsh punishment to me. The Fox Woman kept with the theme of transforming animals as well. I would have been so freaked out if I was aware that someone I didn’t know was coming into my house while I was gone and cleaning it! I thought it was really creative how the fox was able to take off her skin and turn into a woman as it pleased. The entire time I was wondering why the man didn’t know he had a wife and also why the fox assumed she was his wife. I liked the story on The Woman Stolen by Killer Whales because of all the vivid details. It was cool to think of a whole underwater life of fish chiefs and all of the fish having homes! The Rolling Head story was my favorite of the first section. I was appalled when the dad ended up killing both the woman and the snake and feeding them to his children! I had a crazy mental image of a head chasing the children when the story said the mom’s head rolled towards them. I could use this one for my story telling this week because I didn’t like that the story never expanded on what happened to the mother’s head… it just moved on!

(Photograph of killer whales. Source: Flickr)