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.

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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!

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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.