Week 7: Storytelling: The Cave of the Beasts

Week 7 Storytelling: The Cave of the Beasts

Once upon a time there was a man named Todd who was married to his wife Francesca, and together they had seven beautiful daughters.The names of his daughters were Elizabeth, Charlotte, Annabelle, Christina, Penelope, Catherine, and Alexandra. 

One day when Todd was out looking for firewood, he stumbled upon seven golden duck eggs. He brought home the eggs, but had no intention of sharing them with his seven daughters. He desired to share the deliciously golden eggs with his wife for breakfast the next morning. 

Golden Eggs

Todd's oldest daughter, Elizabeth, woke up early the next morning and asked her mother was she was cooking that smelled so delicious. Francesca admitted that she was cooking golden duck eggs, and she would let her have one if she did not speak a word of it to her six younger sisters. 

Next, Charlotte woke up and asked her mother what she was cooking. Francesca replied that she was cooking golden duck eggs. She agreed to let her have one if she did not tell her sisters. This went on and on until all of the golden eggs were eaten by all of the daughters. 

Todd finally woke up around ten-thirty that morning only to find that his precious eggs were gone. Todd was so angry that he cooked up an evil plan to rid himself of his daughters whom he now despised. 

His plan was to trick his daughters by telling them they were going to visit their grandparents who lived beyond the dark forest, but he was actually going to sneak away from them in the middle of the night and leave them to be eaten by the wild beasts in the forest. 

Dark Forest

That afternoon, Todd and his seven daughters left their house to travel through the dark forest. When nighttime came upon them, the daughters turned around to ask their father if they were close yet. When they turned around, they realized their father was gone and had left them to fight the night alone in the dark forest. 

They found a stone which they would make into a pillow. All together they moved the stone to the ground to rest their heads on it in the night. When they moved the stone, they saw that it was really a door to a glowing, eerie cave. 

The girls curiously went into the cave and found that the glow came from a collection of priceless gems, stones, and jewels. They also found feather beds with golden silk sheets, and helped themselves to a luxurious night of sleep. 

Cave Jewels

During the night, the owners of the cave, a fox and a wolf, came home to find the girls sleeping in their beds. They were too tired to eat them that night, so they decided to wait until the morning. Since their beds were occupied, they decided to blow out the fire and sleep in the pot above the warm firewood.

When the girls woke up, they saw that the owners of the cave had come home and they were sleeping in a giant cauldron over still warm firewood. Four of the girls tiptoed over to the cauldron and slammed the lid onto it while the other three collected rocks and stones to put on top of the lid so the fox and wolf could not escape. 

The Fox and the Wolf

An intense warm feeling woke up the fox and wolf, and minutes later they were dead. The girls had started a fire to cook the animals and save themselves from being eaten alive. A few days later, Todd went out to the woods in hopes that his daughters were still alive. He realized he had made a mistake in leading them to their death and wished to bring them home. 

When he smelled something delicious cooking, he followed his nose. Finally, he reached a glowing cave. He slowly crept inside and much to his surprise he saw seven young women. He felt relieved and started crying tears of joy. 

Todd said, "Oh girls, I am so glad to see you! I am so sorry I left you out here alone. Please come home to your mother and me."

The daughters replied, "Oh father, we are indeed happy to see you, too. We are quickly cooking up breakfast, and then we all shall leave this cave together. We can take all of these precious jewels with us and become rich!"

Todd said, "Oh daughters it does smell delightful. If I may ask, what are you making that smells so delicious?"

The daughters replied, "We are actually making golden duck eggs. That is your favorite right? Come here take a look. Do you think they are golden enough?"

As Todd looked into the burning cauldron, he saw nothing but a dead fox and wolf. He was very confused, and just as he was turning around to ask his daughters what they were talking about, all seven of them pushed him into the cauldron and shut the lid tight. 

The daughters said: "That is for leaving us out here to die alone. This is what you deserve!"

Burning Cauldron

The daughters then gathered up all of the jewels and gems, headed home, and forever lived a life full of luxury and happiness with their sweet mother. 

Author's Note: For this story, The Cave of the Beasts, I kept almost everything the same, except for the ending. In the original story, the daughters did not kill the father at the end. The girls in the original let the father take them home and they let him take the jewels so they could all live a happy, rich life. I was expecting the ending that I wrote to happen, so when it didn't, I decided I must change it! This ending makes more sense, and is much more interesting! Also, only the youngest daughters went with the father to the grandmother's house because the older daughters knew better. They knew it was a trick. I thought that was pretty wrong because if they knew, why did they not warn the other sisters? So I decided all of them should be tricked. In the original they traveled into the mountains, but I thought a dark forest sounded scarier. It reminds me of something out of a horror film. The same events take place in the cave with the fox and the wolf except that the animals did not see the girls when they get home. The fox talked the wolf into sleeping in the pot instead of the bed because it would be warmer. Also just for fun, I gave everyone names. None of the characters have names, but I decided to make it more interesting and give everyone a name. I chose Todd for the father because leading your children into the woods to be eaten is evil, and if you have ever watched "Breaking Bad," the character Todd is pretty darn evil. For the daughters and mother, I chose really feminine, long pretty names because they are sweet (for the most part).

Bibliography:

Book: Chinese Fairy Tales
Author: R. Wilhelm
Year Published: 1921
Web Source: Un-Textbook

Week 7: Reading Diary

Week 7 Reading Diary: Chinese Fairytales

Reading Diary A
The Favorite of Fortune and the Child of Ill Luck:
Wow this story was really sweet until the second to last sentence. I did not see that coming at all. This one would be fun to recreate the ending and maybe not have the wife die. Or I could keep it the same because it is twist that people would not see coming.

The Cave of the Beasts:
I did not like the way this story ended. The father leaves his daughters to be eaten by wolves in the woods because they ate his eggs, and they return the favor by letting him take all of the jewels and stones home? They should have cooked him in the kettle pot like they did to the fox and wolf! That is how I would rewrite the story!

The Panther:
This story reminded me so much of Little Red Riding Hood. IT was very similar because the wolf dresses like the girls' mother and then pretends to be her to the daughters. Explaining why her eyes are big, her face has spots, and why her feet are so big!

Why Dog and Cat are Enemies:
I actually read a story very similar to this the first or second week of class. Actually, I liked this story better! It made more sense to me. I thought it was fun and is a story worth rewriting because no one really knows why dogs and cats do not get along.

The Miserly Farmer:

The Pears

I really liked this story! It had a great message: KARMA. The farmer would not spare one pear for the poor priest so when someone bought the priest a pear he planted the seed and it grew immediately. He served all of its fruit then cut it down. When the farmer looked at his wagon, all of the pears were gone and the axel of his wagon was gone. He realized those were his fruits and the tree was his axel.

Reading Diary B
Fox Fire:
This story was very different. The farmer steals the fire ball from the fox and inherits special powers. The fox comes back 30 years later to take it back from the farmer.

Retribution:
I really enjoyed this story. The old man watches the water boy die and says nothing. So years later that water boy is reborn into a wealthy family and accidentally throws a rock at the old man. The old man dies and the boy says nothing. I would actually like to rewrite this story to where the reborn water boy purposely seeks out the old man for revenge.

The Maiden Who was Stolen Away:
This story was pretty good! I did not see the whole man turning into an ogre thing coming. I personally would have liked the rescue to be a little more detailed and grand, but it was overall a good story that I enjoyed.

The Flying Ogre:
I thought this story was going to be a little more exciting than it was. People are looking for an ogre who is disguised as a young girl. I would probably make this story more elaborate.

Week 6: Famous Last Words

Week 6: Famous Last Words

This week I did not do my best in terms of writing. I did not really get into any of the stories too much, and I also waited until last minute to write my storytelling. I think this really effected me because I feel like I took a step backwards, but it is okay because I will be better next week. For sure! I have learned this week that it is not really that fun to rewrite a story if you are not going to rewrite some aspect of it. It may be a good story still, but the fun part is making it your own. That is something I plan to work on next week. 

New Brunswick, Canada

Since fall is upon us, I decided to add a few picturse of one the places I have visited that I love most. I believe that it is probably chilly and beautiful in Canada right now. Canada is the only place I have ever been that I would be okay with moving to. The people are nice, the coffee is PERFECT, and it is such a laid back place compared to the United States. I have only ever visited in the summer and the winter, not the fall. I traveled to Toronto, Ontario one summer in July and one winter in January. July was amazing because it was in the 70s and 80s. Perfect weather in my opinion since I really do not like the heat of Oklahoma summers. When I went at New Years, it was a whole different story. It snowed most of the days, and was bitter cold like I have never felt before. I went ice skating off Lake Ontario late at night while it was snowing. Needless to say I came home with a horrible, horrible cold. 

Toronto,  Canada

I really loved Niagara Falls when I went (I did this in July)! It was one of the most beautiful places I have been to. So since I know Canada is probably looking amazing this time of year, I decided to post some picture of Fall in Canada that I found on Google. Since I have been to one of the biggest cities in Canada, I would really love to travel to a less city-like city in Canada and hopefully in the Fall or Winter.

Week 6: Essay

Week 6: Essay

This week I read the Nigerian Folktales unit. I thought that it was going to be different than it was. It was one of my least favorite units thus far. I thought it would be interesting because the preview said it was about animals. I also was really looking forward to the stories that explain why things are they way they are. For example why we bury dead people or why elephants have small eyes. I guess the reasons from theses stories were not that interesting or entertaining to me like some others I have read for this class. Some of the stories were really short too and I think that creates a lack of depth and detail which creates less interesting and enticing stories.

 I thought it would be nice for something different this week to read about animals, but I think I am really more into the fairy tales like the previous ones I have read. So I think this week I am learning what kinds of stories I like and which ones I do not like which is important for the rest of the semester. This will also help me with my portfolio because it will not be fun to write stories that I do not like or am not interested in. 

My favorite story this week was probably Of the Pretty Stranger who Killed the King. I liked this one because it was kind of tragic and twisted. It was different than the typical fairytale or story. So that is why I decided to do that story for my retelling this week.

The Frog Prince

  Next week I will look for more stories like this or stories that are more centered around people and magic instead of animals and elements. I am really looking forward to the brothers Grimm unit and the British/European units later on in the semester because I feel like those are the kinds of stories I really like to read.

Week 6: Storytelling

Week 6: Of the Pretty Stranger who Killed the King

There once was a king named Botu who was very successful, but everyone hated. He was very successful and rich because of his wonderful leadership skills, but he had many enemies.This is because he went to war too often and killed far too many people, and because he often turned prisoners into slaves.

In a town nearby people were becoming very aggravated with Botu and they wanted him killed. Since he was very good at battling and fighting, they would not be able to beat him in a fight. They came up with a scheme that would surely work. They had a very old witch in their town who could shape shift into whatever she pleased. The people of town offered to pay the witch, Ursula, to kill the king.

Ursula the Witch

Ursula took the offer and changed herself into the most beautiful young woman that anyone had ever seen. She had long hazelnut brown hair and dark green eyes with rosy red cheeks and candy apple red lips. When Ursula set off to visit Calabar, where the king lived, she brought a very sharp sword that she had hidden in her boot. She stumbled into the Halloween festival that was being held in Calabar that night.

Everyone stared at Ursula when she walked by. They were in awe of her beauty and she quickly became the talk of the town. Less than an hour later King Botu had gotten word of this beautiful creature and had to meet her. It was well known that Botu had quite a thing for pretty girls. He searched the festival for less than twenty minutes when he found her and when he did, he was speechless.

Botu knew he must make Urusla his wife immediately. He proposed to her right there in the middle of everyone. Ursula, knowing this just made her job one hundred times easier, said "Yes!" before he even finished asking. They headed to the palace that second to be married and then consummate the marriage.

After the wedding, Ursula slipped some sleeping pills into Botus wine so he would fall asleep very quickly and then she could kill him and get on with her life. When they finally got back to Botus bedroom, the second he hit the pillow, he fell asleep instantly. Ursula slid the sword out from her boot and without hesitation, she sliced his head right off.

To prove that she had indeed killed the king she brought his head with her back to her town so that she would receive the money she was promised. When the king was discovered dead, no one even thought to consider that his new, young, beautiful wife had done it.

"Never marry a stranger, no matter how pretty she may be."

Authors Note: For this story I did not change much because I did not want the moral of the story to be lost. I changed the names from Mbotu to Botu and Oyaikan to Ursula. I left out the ending of the story where the witches town ends up attacking the kings town and killing almost all of their people. This is because it did not really go with the theme/moral I was going for in my retelling.

Bibliography:
Book: Nigerian Folktales
Author: Elphinstone Dayrell
Year Published: 1910
Web Source: Un-Textbook

Week 6: Reading Diary: Nigerian Folk STories

 Week 6: Nigerian Folk Stories

Of the Pretty Stranger who Killed the King:
This was a pretty good story, and it had a good moral: do not marry a stranger no matter how pretty she may be. I could change this one up a lot if I wanted to. I would like to change the end where no one thinks about or realizes it was his new wife who killed him.

The Disobedient Daughter who Married a Skull:
I would like to do this story because I could make the daughter super rebellious and disobedient to where the audience thinks she gets what she deserves when she ends up marrying a skull. I might even let them eat her in the end!

Why the Worms live Underneath the Ground:
I have always been interested in stories that explain why things are. This type of story is definitely something that catches my eye when I see it.

Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky:
I think that this story could have been a lot better if it was longer. I could elaborate a lot more on this story and make it much more interesting!

The Lightening and the Thunder:
I liked this story because there is a lot of room for change. I could even change the thunder and lightening to two totally different elements. I could add some reasons about why the lightening (son) gets mad and what the thunder (mother) yells at him.

The Cock Who Caused a Fight:
I think it would be fun to do a plot twist with this story.

The Hippopotamus and the Tortoise:
I actually really liked this story. I thought it was kind of fun, and I liked how clever the tortoise was!

Of the Fat Woman who Melted Away:
This is about a jealous woman making a fat woman made out of wax go into the sun so that she would melt. I think it would be fun to change it up and do something about the wax woman wanting to lose weight or something.

Poster Tech Tip

Poster Tech Tip

Coach Keilty's Inspirational Quote

One of my favorite teachers from high school always told us to "Dream Big Dreams" and it kind of became the motto of our school. He was one of the most genuine and loving teachers I ever had and I cannot think of a more motivational quote than that!

Einstein Chalkboard

Tech Tip: Einstein Chalkboard

My Einstein Chalkboard

I truly believe in karma so I thought that would be a good moral to post. 

Google Presence Tech Tip

Google Presence Tech Tip

Whenever I just googled my name as "Stephanie Renae Griffin" nothing about me came up. When I googled "Stephanie Renae Griffin Oklahoma" a few things came up and one of them was from oklavoters.com and it had my date of birth, my full name, my address, my political affiliation, and the day I registered to vote. This kind of creeped me out a bit since someone could find out where I live! Whenever I searched my name in bing, I did not find much either so then I searched "Stephanie Renae Griffin Facebook." This made me realize that there are a few other people with my name, and I could not find which one was actually me. I am kind of happy that I cannot find much about me just for privacy and safety reasons!

Week 4: Storytelling

The Three Delicate Wives

Once upon a time in a far away sea there was a merman prince named Comet and he had three beautiful princess mermaid wives. The first wife's name was Stardust. She was beautiful with long wavy platinum blonde hair, dark pink eyes, a turquoise tail, and lips the color of a blooming peony in the spring. The second wife's name was Aurora. She was a beauty with straight bright red hair, deep purple eyes, and a green tail. The third wife, Moonstone, was a lovely brunette with sapphire blue eyes, fiery red lips, and a purple tail that was faster than both of the other wives'. 

The wives of Comet escorted him to an elaborate summer celebration given by the king, and that is when things started to go wrong.  The four had a great time feasting on all of the delicious foods the kingdom provided. They then danced the night away to the song of the summer which happened to be "Under the Sea." They were having such a wonderful time that Comet leaned in to kiss Stardust's cheek and when he did, a pearl from her hair fell to land into her lap. She screamed out in horrible pain and then passed out from her agony. She was taken home to be comforted by the palace's nurses. She went to bed and woke up the next day still a bit sore from the tiny pearl that had hurt her so badly the day before. 

While Stardust was away resting, the other three stayed at the celebration and danced until the sun came up. During sunrise a slight sun ray peeked through the water onto the dance floor and found Aurora's skin. When she felt it touch her body, she started crying and screaming. Comet asked her what was wrong and she told him it was a sun ray that hurt her so badly. When he looked upon her skin, she had severe blisters and burns all over her skin. The palace's nurses came to take her away and put magic burn paste onto her burns and she was much better the following morning. 

While Stardust and Aurora were sleeping away their pain, Moonstone and Comet stayed to enjoy the marvelous desserts and wine at the celebration. While they were enjoying their time at the party, a little fish swam by Moonstone. The fish was swimming so fast that he caused a bubble to appear in front of Moonstone's face. Just as she was taking a bite of her dessert, the bubble popped and she threw down her fork and plate. The little bubble "pop" had made such a noise that Moonstone's ears had bruises inside and out. Comet decided it was time to go home and gave Moonstone some ice to put on her ears. 

The next morning Comet contemplated on whether these princesses were too delicate for him or not. He could not believe that a pearl, a sun ray, and a bubble could hurt his lovely wives so badly. He ultimately decided that he loved all of them so very much that he could not let them go. He would have to take better care of them for the rest of their days together so that he could always be with his three true loves.

Author's Note: For this story, The Three Delicate Wives, I changed the characters from humans to  mermaids. I have always been obsessed with mermaids and I thought this would be a fun one to get creative with since there are three women. I also really elaborated on their looks. In the original, they did not do this at all, but I think it really helps your mind to visualize the story better when characters are described. Then I changed their names, but still kept them outer-space-themed because I really love outer space and anatomy. Their original names were Crescent, Star, and Moon. I also made the ways the women get hurt different to fit in with the sea theme. In the original, the first wife gets hurt by a flower petal, the second one by moonbeams, and the third by hearing a pestle. I thought being underwater would really express how delicate the women actually are. Underwater, everything is so much lighter and quieter, so this really intensifies the amount of delicateness these women have.They do not all get hurt at a party, but in different situations throughout one or two days. I took away the part about the goblin telling the story to the king because it would not have made sense unless one were to read the whole unit. The point of the story was originally to see if the king could solve the riddle of who was the most delicate, but I chose to not incorporate that into my story because I really wanted to focus on them all being equally delicate so that Comet could still love them all equally. In the original it is the one who is hurt by sound because she did not even have to be physically touched to get hurt.

Image Info:
Disney's Mermaid Lagoon as The Under the Sea Summer Celebration 

Bibliography: 

Book: Twenty-Two Goblins

Author: Arthur W. Ryder

Year Published: 1917

Web Source: The Un-Text Book

Week 5: Portfolio Styles

Portfolio Style Ideas

I think I have officially decided to the portfolio. I liked this idea because I can work as I go and pick from stories I am already reading! I would really like to have some fun with all kinds of stories. There are always a few that I cannot decide between so this gives me two stories to pick from.

First, one of the styles I find really interesting is the plot twist idea. I always love when there is something totally unexpected in a story/movie. The only thing I would be worried about is coming up with something exciting enough for the story. It seems that it would have to be something really dramatic and unexpected to make it worth the plot twist. I also think this one would only work for certain stories, not all would work well with a plot twist.

Second, I would love to do a prequel story line with a story that includes an evil villain. I think that it is a great way to either have the audience gain sympathy for the villain or hate them even more depending on what the story includes. People are always interested in what made a villain so evil and bitter in the first place.  Exploring this would be quite interesting and I think it would really captivate the reader. I would have to get really creative if I were to do this style because I would basically be making up the whole story on my own. The little issue with this style is that I would have to do write about stories that most everyone knows. This style would be great for stories like Cinderella or Snow White from the Brothers Grimm unit.

Third, I am really into horror stories and all that scary Halloween stuff so one of my ideas is to turn the stories into horror stories. I am so obsessed with scary movies, but they are never scary enough for me. This would be a really fun style for me to work with because I think it is really different and unexpected. I could even just take the characters from a story and change the story line completely. This would be really fun, but I would also have to get very creative in this style in order to make all of the stories really different.

Fourth, I think it would be fun to write the stories in a different point of view. Either from a minor character in the story, or even the main character. Most stories are not told this way, so it would be a fun way to read the story. I think you get to know more of the emotion that the character is feeling if it is told by them. A way that I could do this would be to do it as a diary. That would be kind of neat and different.

Fifth, sequels are always interesting because you get to read about the same characters, but in a totally different storyline. This could be just as interesting as the prequel idea if I did it right. I would have to really keep my readers interested. The only issue with this style is that they would have to be stories that everyone knows. I am not sure how difficult that would be since I have not really read any stories I already knew so far in this class.

Week 5: Famous Last Words

Famous Last Words

I have been very busy this week because I have had SO much to do. I took my first test of the semester today and it went really well. IT was for Wealth, Power, and Prestige. I was really nervous because we have to read eight books for that class, and we are tested over them along with lecture material. For this test we had to read "Inequality Matters." I figured I had the lecture material down pretty good, but I was so unsure about the book material. Luckily there were only two short answer questions about the book. Now I will be spending my weekend preparing for my Spanish 2113 test. I am REALLY nervous about that test. I took a year between the second Spanish class and then this Spanish class so I am a bit rusty. This class is only 3 hours compared to the 5 hours the first two levels are, but there is just as much work and material to do/remember. I am so ready to get that test over with so I can just enjoy some television or a movie or something fun!

My mom left today for Los Angeles with my grandmother for an art trip. They get to go to a ton of museums, tour artist's homes, and have cocktail parties and some dinners at the artist's homes. They are also staying at the Four Seasons in Malibu. How much better can it get? I am so jealous to say the least! However, this means I will be playing mom this week at my house! I am in charge of making dinner for my dad and sisters, and feeding my dogs! So I am going to be very busy this upcoming week, but hopefully I get some me time too :)

Me and Chris Hemsworth taken by my mom

This week I decided to post a "fun" picture! Since my mom is in L.A. this week I looked through our pictures from when we went on a family vacation to L.A. for spring break! This is me attempting to kiss Chris Hemsworth. As you can see he is VERY attractive, and he is also my celebrity crush. Unfortunately for me this is a wax figure at Madam Toussad's Wax Museum on Hollywood Boulevard (the wax figure does him no justice, he is much more attractive in person)!

Week 5: Essay

Week 5: My Writing Experiences

When I was in high school I remember I did not like to write much. I never felt like I was good at writing, but I usually got As and Bs on all of my papers. Everyone in my family told me that I should major in something to do with writing, but I never believed in myself. Freshman year I had this awful English teacher that for some reason HATED me. I had people in the class even ask me "Why does our teacher hate you?" I honestly did not know because I had never done anything wrong to her. I got a D on my first paper for her class and I was mortified. That was the first time I ever went to a teacher's office hours and it was completely awful. She made me feel so small and stupid. She basically told me I had no idea what I was doing and that I did everything completely wrong, but she let me redo the paper. The experiences I had in her class made me feel awful about myself and I was not confident in my writing at all. 

An "A" Paper

The next semester I was taking my second and last semester of English, and I could not happier that I would not have to take it again. After having my confidence crushed, this class really changed me in the best way possible. My teacher was so great and worlds different than my first teacher. He is still one of my favorite teachers I ever had at OU. Thinking I was a horrible writer, I was so nervous to get my first paper back. I ended up getting a 95%. I was so shocked and confused, but so happy. After we turned the third paper in, he asked me to talk to him after class. Naturally I was super nervous because I had no idea what he was about to talk to me about! It ends up he told me that I should really consider majoring in professional writing or something similar. He thought that I was and excellent writer, and that I had a really different and captivating way of writing. This was one of my favorite moments from college, ever. I was so shocked and surprised that he thought I was a good enough writer to major in professional writing. I ended up getting As on all of my papers, and getting an A in the class.

Obviously I did not take that route, but I still do a lot of writing in my major. When I was still a business major I took a writing for business class, and it really helped me a lot. I learned so much from that class that I can use in my career some day. This mythology class is very writing based and I think it is really helping me with my creative writing skills which is something I definitely (and always) can improve! For Sociology, I am in a methods of social research class right now and there will be a ton of writing. For my major most of the writing is social research which I am not as familiar with, but my methods class is about to tell me all about that so I like to think I am a well rounded writer when it comes down to all of the different writing classes I have taken.

Week 5: Reading Diary: Indian Fairytales

Reading Diary A: Indian Fairytales

The Broken Pot:
I really liked this story! I thought it was funny in the end ( I actually laughed) when the pot broke. I actually did not see that coming! I think I could have some fun with this story if I decided to rewrite it! I also feel like I could modernize this one.

Cruel Crane Outwitted:
I liked this story. The crane got what he deserved in the end. He tricked all of the fish into eating them, but the crab was smart and tricked the crane into killing him and saving himself. This one would be interesting to remake.

The Tiger, the Brahmin and the Jackal:
This one was kind of fun. The man lets the tiger out, but the tiger wants to eat him now. He brings back a jackal who is trying to understand the story of how this happened, but he is really faking out the tiger to get him back into the cage.

Harisarman:
A story about a man who lies to the king and says he is magic. He ends up getting lucky 3 times when tested and ends up getting much money for it!

Reading Diary B: Indian Fairytales

The Gold-Giving Serpent:
I liked this story because it was very straight forward. There was no messing around, it got straight to the point. I think this would would be good to rewrite because it shows a good message about greed.

Pride Goeth Before a Fall:
This story was pretty good because the good guys won in the end. I like how a lot of these stories are about outsmarting or tricking the villains in the stories. I am not sure how easy this one would be to rewrite though because of the little song in the middle.

How Sun, Moon, and Wind Went Out to Dinner:
This was one of my favorites stories because it was short and simple, but had a great story. I always enjoy stories like this where it attempts to tell why something is. Like in this story for example, the reason why the sun is so hot. I find that type of story so fascinating. I would really have fun rewriting this one.

Sun, Moon, and Wind

Week 4: Famous Last Words

Famous Last Words

Happy Birthday Jen! taken by me in Palm Beach 2012

This week was my littlest sister, Jennifer's, sixteenth birthday! We have had a fun week so far. She was nominated for homecoming attendant at Norman North High School. Unfortunately, she did not end up winning, but she was okay with that. Homecoming was actually on her birthday, too! Her birthday was September 11 so it is easy to remember. She threw a huge party here at our house last night! It was a pool party with about fifty 15-16 year olds, and it was crazy. There was blasting music, whipped cream sprayed in two girls hair and faces, ten boxes of pizzas, two cookie cakes, and 4 dozen iced cookies that said "Sweet 16" on them. It was about 50 degrees outside, but everyone had a great time and most people swam believe it or not. We had our pool and hot tub both heated to 100 degrees. Unfortunately for Jennifer she has to get the hand-me down car. It is a 2000 silver Avalon that I drove when I turned 16 and then my other sister drove when she was 16, and now Jen gets to drive it. We tell her she should be thankful she even gets a car because a lot of kids don't. She at least got a new stereo system for her birthday! Tonight we are going with our family and our grandparents to a nice steak dinner for this wonderful occasion! I feel so old now that my baby sister is 16 and driving! It is so crazy to even think about! She is such a sweet  and beautiful person inside and out. I have never heard her talk bad to about anyone or anything. She is always so happy, funny, and talented. So happy sweet sixteen Jennifer!

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Week 4: Essay

Week 4: Essay Option 2

Twenty-Two Goblins

This week I read Twenty-Two Goblins. I really enjoyed this unit! This was probably my favorite one that I have read so far. I think it was fun because it was a bunch of puzzles that made me think. The stories were very interesting because even though the riddle was was at the beginning of the story and you already knew what was going to happen, you had no idea how it was going to get there. There were some that were more surprising than others, and some that were more predictable. I found myself wanting to keep reading even past the halfway mark. I finished it all in one day and also did the storytelling that day. I think these stories were nice because they were shorter than some, and also very easy to understand. I used the audio book to read along with and that really helped. I tend to start thinking and daydreaming when I read and so it takes me forever to read something. The audio book helped me keep focused and pay attention a lot more so I got done a lot quicker and finished faster. A few of my favorite stories included: "Brave, Wise, Clever," "Food, Women, Cotton," "The Three Delicate Wives," and "The Three Lovers." My least favorite stories (based on the endings) "The General's Wife," "The Old Hermit," "The Snake's Poison," and "The Girl and the Thief." I did not like some of the endings on these because the people die at the end, or something strange happened. I thought it was neat how this story was made up of little stories, but was overall one giant story altogether. Overall, I really enjoyed this unit and thought that it was a very nice read. It did not need any notes or anything and everything was pretty straight forward. The description was dead on, and that was what made me choose this unit. 

Week 4: Reading Diary: Twenty-Two Goblins

Week 4: Twenty-Two Goblins

Reading A Notes

Introduction: 
The king goes on a journey to take a body hanging from a tree to a monk. The body has a goblin in it and the goblin starts to tell a story to pass time on the journey back home.

The Three Lovers:
I liked this story, but did not like the way it ended. It ends with the goblin never confirming if the king was right on who should have gotten Coral as his wife in the end. It appears he does this in a lot of the stories though.

Brave, Wise, Clever:
I actually found this story pretty interesting. I am starting to see a pattern that the king always guesses the riddle, and the goblin escapes. I always like to guess which one the king will answer, and this time I was right! This story could be a lot of fun to change up for the storytelling assignment.

The Girl, Her Husband and Her Brother:
I found this story kind of strange. Lovely's husband could not eat or live without her, but then he randomly cuts his own head off? So confusing. It was a very different story than any I have read for this class yet. The girl puts the wrong heads on the wrong body! Then she cannot decide which should be her husband.

Food, Women, Cotton:
I liked this story because I really did not know what to expect throughout the whole story. I could not really figure out what the conclusion would be. I thought the ending was clever which is kinda cool because the whole story is about who is the most clever of the brothers.

The Four Suitors:
This story was very short, but was very similar to a few of the earlier stories in this unit. I agreed with the king that Grace should have been with the warrior because a lot of the other men had sciences that did not really matter much. For example, the man who could talk to animals.

The Three Delicate Wives:
This story was very different from the others because mostly the others are about three men and who the woman gets to be with. This one was a bout one man and three women who are his wives. I think this one would be fun to retell because I could change the way the women are delicate, and the way they get hurt.

Reading B Notes

The Snake's Poison:
I found this story interesting because it made you think. There were about five different things that the death could have been blamed on, but the one that was not mention was the one I would say. It was Love-speeds fault because he is the one who took the man's wife. If he had not done so, the whole rest of the story and all the other actions would not have happened.

The Girl and the Thief:
This story was really confusing in a way. The girl who hates men and does not want to get married, sees the thief all bloody and falls madly in love. He is killed for his actions, but she has him become undead and marries him and forever everyone is happy with him. I do not think I would want to retell this one.

The General's Wife:
The king's men go and see the most beautiful woman of the land, but tell him she is not beautiful enough for him. They do not want him to be distracted of his job to rule the kingdom. He ends up seeing her eventually, and his slave (who is married to her) offers him to her. He cannot lose his virtues so he kills himself. The slave thinks he failed the king so he also kills himself.

The Four Brothers:
Four brothers who have nothing set out to learn a science all come back with the ability to bring something back to life. One ads flesh to bones, one adds fur to flesh, one gives organs, and the last one gives the breath of life. When a lion is reborn by them, they are all killed by the lion. The goblin then asks the king whose fault is it. The king says it is the one who gave the breath of life to the lion.

The Old Hermit:
This story was kind of strange. A young boy died and then during the funeral he came to life. A old, brittle hermit did magic to put himself in the young body of the boy. He then told his family to go on and he would perform a deed to stay alive, but the hermit throws his body off a cliff and lives forever in the young boys body.

Father and Son, Daughter and Mother:
When a husband and father dies, the daughter and mother find themselves in different relationships hours later. A father and son who were hunting and stumbled upon them. The father marries the daughter and the son marries the mother. The goblin asks the king what their children's relation is. When he cannot answer, the goblin realizes he really is a selfless man.

Conclusion: 
The goblin tells the king to kill the monk by cutting his head off so that he would not recieve magic and become ruler of the fairies. The king does as he is told and so he recieves the magic and becomes ruler of the fairies and the goblin is pleased. He promises to tell the whole world of the 22 goblin stories that he had told the king.

Week 3: Famous Last Words

Week 3: Famous Last Words

This week I realized that people are starting to get the hang of the storytelling assignments. Some people are getting really creative and changing a lot about their chosen stories. There also has not been a story that I have not liked yet so I am thankful for that!  I personally think that I could use some more practice because I would like to get really creative with them, but sometimes it it hard for me to think of different ideas. What helped me this week was reading through the storytelling style ideas while doing the storybook project assignment. I really enjoyed reading through those because there was so many ideas that I had never thought of! Some of my favorites were the prequel, sequel ideas because there are so many things that I could make up on my own! 

So this weekend I got to have a mini vacation to one of my favorite cities- Dallas! I love it there so much. I love Texas in general because my family (both mom and dad's side) is from there originally. My dad is from Houston and my mom is from Lubbock/Dallas. Fortunately both of their families moved up here for work reasons and they met, fell in love, and had me!! So Texas is my home away from home, and is probably the first place I would move to if I ever had to move anywhere.

My boyfriend and I went down there just to relax, do some shopping, and eat some amazing food! Particularly Mexican food because that is my favorite! :) We had the best time, and it was great timing because we were both kind of exhausted from school already (that is NOT a good sign)! So it was good to get away and not think about homework, studying, or responsibilities for 2 1/2 days. Now it is back to reality and back to the real world of work and school! I cannot wait until my next weekend getaway!

 Downtown Dallas, TX