Reading Notes: Native American Hero Tales, Part B

Image Information: What I imagine Red-Woman looks like. Web Source.

I really liked the story "Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away." I have to admit, I kept waiting for the young boys to encounter Red-Woman. I thought it might be cool to add on to the story and tell how the young boys killed Red-Woman as well.

I also like the story "The Son-in-Law Tests." This unit is filled with evil people especially family members. The more I read from this unit the more I consider writing my own new story of an evil family member.

Bibliography: Native American Hero Tales by Stith Thompson, link to the reading online.

Tech Tip: Pinterest Browsing

Image Information: Baked Orange Chicken and Brown Rice. Web Source: Food Network.

I really liked using my new Pinterest browser button. I only got to experiment with it for a short amount of time but I am really excited to continue using it from now on. I absolutely love Pinterest and this will make updating my Pinterest boards a lot easier! I searched for healthy recipes on google and above is one of the recipes I found. It is a picture of a baked orange chicken and brown rice recipe. I found it at Food Network. I also found another great recipe for a parmesan chicken and rice casserole at Cooking Light.

Reading Notes: Native American Hero Tales, Part A

Image Information: Native American heroes. Web Source: wikimedia commons.

I like the story of the jealous uncle. I could not believe that the father of the boy would not have put an end to the cruelty. I thought about writing a story where his father does something to end the cruelty. I also thought about writing some background information for this story. The title is "The Jealous Uncle" but the author never says why he is jealous. I figured I could write a story that gives some background to why the uncle is so cruel.

Bibliography: Native American Hero Tales by Stith Thompson, link to the reading online.

Week 9 Story: Young Cherokee Journey

Image Information: young Cherokee boy. Web Source: wikimedia commons.

A long time ago, there was a young Cherokee boy. He loved to hunt and spend time with his family and the rest of his tribe. Most of all, he loved to hear stories and myths of the Cherokee tribe. His father told him many stories about the Cherokee tribe and their history. However, his favorite story to hear was about how the world came to be.

He listened as father told him about the earth. The Cherokee believed that the earth was once buried deep in the ocean and was discovered by a beetle. Eventually, someone unknown attached the edges of the earth to four cords. The earth still hangs in suspense to this day. The young boy's eyes were always filled with wonder and amazement at the thought of these four cords. He could barely believe it was true and always wished to see these cords for himself.

On the day of his thirteenth birthday, he decided he would set out to find at least one of these cords so he could put his wonder to rest. He knew the task before him was a dangerous one but he knew it had to be done. That night, he quietly packed a sack of his belongings and slipped away in the middle of the night.

He decided he would start by heading north. It was about to be summer time and he knew it would be the best time of the year to trek through the northern part of the earth. He also figured that the cords must be located at the "top" of the earth or otherwise everything would be upside down. And so northern bound he was.

The terrain was much worse than he expected but he trudged on. He traveled north through what is known today as Canada. When he reached Canada, he noticed there were many mountains. "Those mountains are my best chance at finding a cord," he thought to himself. He carefully observed the mountains that were before him. He searched to find the tallest one; that way he would be able to see the cords for certain. When he determined which mountain was the tallest, he began to hike to it.

It was much farther away than he thought. It took him almost two weeks to reach the base of the mountain before he could even begin to climb it. It took him another two months to reach the top of the mountain. When he finally did, he saw it. Right before him, he was able to see one of the four cords that suspend the earth like an island above the water. The young boy guessed that the cord was a mile around, for he could not even see around it. The cord was made of thick pieces of metal that were twisted together to make one cord. He reached out to touch it and could feel a vibration running through the cord. He knew that this was because of the sheer stress that the cord was under. He was proud to know that his journey was not a waste. Tears began to fill his eyes as he realized his people were right all along.

He could not wait to share his findings with the rest of his tribe. The journey home was a long and hard one. He arrived back home almost nine months after his departure. His family and tribe were so worried about him because they thought he had died.

After assuring them that he was in great health, he shared with them his wonderful news. The tribe praised him for his bravery and boldness. They had a huge gathering to celebrate the young boy. He was filled with joy because he finally knew the truth and he never doubted another Cherokee story again.

Author's Note: The original story talks about how the earth came into existence. The animals of the earth originally lived on Gälûñ'lätï but started to run out room and needed more space. Below them was nothing but water. A water beetle named Dâyuni'sï offered to travel below them to the water to see what he could find. The beetle dove into the water and found soft mud, which began to grow, and eventually became the island known as earth. The animals waited for the earth to become dry before they left Gälûñ'lätï and moved to earth. In the original source, they gave background for why there’re things such as mountains and the sun. To keep the earth from becoming water again someone unknown attached four cords to the cardinal points of the earth. These cords were attached to the sky vault, which is solid rock. From this sky vault, the earth was hung. The story mentions that the Cherokee fear that the earth will become overpopulated and the cords will break and the earth will sink into the sea again. I used the original source as an inspiration for my story. When I read this story, I imagined what young Cherokee children thought about this story. I also thought it might have been difficult for some to believe such a story. I decided to tell a story of a young Cherokee boy who had his own doubts about the validity of this story.
Bibliography: Myths of the Cherokee: How The World Was Made by James Mooney; link to the reading online.

Reading Notes: Myths of the Cherokee, Part B

Bibliography: Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney; link to the reading online.

Tech Tip: Blogger Template

If you've been to my blog before, you may notice that I have chosen a new design. I did not really like my old design as it was simple and had the color orange (gross!). I have been meaning to change the design for a while now so I decided to use this week's tech tip to do so. I chose this design because I absolutely love the rain. I decided to use shades of blue because I find it very calming and pretty. I love my new design!

Reading Notes: Myths of the Cherokee, Part A

Image Information: picture of a Cherokee sign. Web Source: flickr.

How The World Was Made: I thought about telling an after story of the earth breaking down from the four strings as the Cherokees feared. Maybe also tell the story from the point of view of a father telling his son about the earth.

Bibliography: Myths of the Cherokee by James Mooney; link to the reading online.

Week 8 Growth Mindset

Image Information: inspiration quote about learning. Web Source: flickr.

In this class, I struggle with finding motivation, playing it safe and staying inside my comfort zone. Some of my strengths in this class are thinking long-term, being confident I can improve, and being willing to learn from my own mistakes.

In other classes, I struggle with much of the same issues. However, I also struggle with focusing too much on my grades, doing things at the last minute, and being a perfectionist. Some of my strengths are being open to any and all feedback and focusing on my progress.

In life, in general, I struggle with almost all of these at some point or another. I am an extreme perfectionist and always want to get things done right the first time. I am also really bad about comparing myself to others.

Since I am very open to feedback from others, I can use that feedback as much as possible to perfect my stories and writing skills. I can schedule out my time to make sure I do not leave things until the last minute. At the same time, I can focus more on the short term and take things one day at a time instead of being constantly focused on the long term. I can also rest assured that my writing does not have to be perfect because I can always revise it the next week.

Week 8 Reflections

Image Information: a quote about fear. Web Source: flickr.

I feel like I have been making good choices when I choose my readings for the week. I really enjoyed the Japanese Fairy Tales unit. I had a lot of fun with the reading I chose to write about. I haven't quite found my niche yet with a consistent time and place to complete the readings. My reading notes have been helping me write each week but I want to start incorporating a character description section of my notes so that way I can come up with more ideas for how to write more complex characters.

I'm really excited for the Native American reading units next week. The Great Plains, Cherokee, and American Indian Tales sections caught my attention as possible readings in week 9 and 10. I'm also interested in Beowulf, Robin Hood, and English Tales for week 11 and 12. I would also really like to read some of the Brothers Grimm units in week 13 and 14.

My biggest struggle this semester has been branching out from my comfort zone with a story. I guess I have been afraid to change a story too much or to let myself be creative. I sought help and advice from Professor Gibbs and she really helped me to branch out of my comfort zone this week. I had a lot of fun letting myself be really creative with the story I wrote last week. I was really pleased with it. I will continue to follow the advice I received and let myself "go wild" with my story telling.

I would like to try and incorporate more humor and witty dialogue into my stories. I plan on using the creative storytelling link to give me inspiration on new ways to tell a story. I most admire the creativity and story telling styles of other people in the class. The only habits and tendencies I see in others' stories are a lot of typos and grammatical errors in their original draft. This is not every person but I see it somewhat often. I would like to try to avoid this by reading my story out loud before posting it.

I feel as though I have been giving other people good feedback regarding their stories. I do feel bad pointing out any typos or grammatical errors in others' stories and have refrained from doing so thus far. I guess I could start pointing those out as best I can. I can also focus on giving storytelling suggestions or ideas they can use to expand on their stories.

Week 7 Story: The Maiden and the Magical Bracelet

Image Information: the magical bracelet. Web Source: pexels.

Once there was a beautiful maiden. She lived in the countryside with her two wonderful parents. They loved her very much and were fully aware of her great beauty. Her mother and father sometimes worried that someone would notice how beautiful their daughter was. They feared that he would desire to marry her for the wrong reasons, so this is why they chose to stay in the countryside instead of living in a big city around many people.

The mother knew that her daughter would grow even more beautiful as she got older. Because of this, her mother decided to seek help on the matter to make sure that her daughter could live a normal life with no unnecessary attention. The mother traveled into town to see a woman named Riko who was a very powerful woman with great magic. There she told Riko of her daughter and the fears she had for her future. Riko immediately started to scramble around the room as if she was looking for something. 

"Aha, here it is. This is just what you need," Riko said. 

Riko had pulled out an old golden bracelet that was a little rusty but still beautiful. The mother took the bracelet that Riko handed her. She gazed at the bracelet for a long while and turned it in her hands.

"How will this help my daughter?" she asked.

"This bracelet has magical qualities. When your daughter puts it on, it will mask her great beauty such that she looks just like everyone else. Should she take it off, then everyone will know her secret," replied Riko.

With this, the mother took the bracelet and went on her way. When she arrived home, she placed the bracelet in a wooden box in her bedroom. She figured she would wait to have her daughter put it on until she could no longer protect her daughter.

The maiden was a hard worker. Living on a farm in the country, she was well aware of a hard day's work and didn't mind it much. Her father often accompanied her in the fields to harvest their crops. She enjoyed this time that she had to spend with her father. One day, it was extremely hot outside and her father fell ill due to heat stroke and never recovered. She and her mother wept for their loss. Her mother soon passed just as her husband. They say she died of a broken heart.

Before her mother died, she told her daughter to fetch the old bracelet from the box in her bedroom and put it on. The young maiden did so and returned to her mother.

Her mother said, "Wear that bracelet everywhere you go for if everyone discovers your great beauty, you will never find true love."

The maiden was filled with great sorrow at the loss of her parents but she continued to wear the bracelet everywhere she went just as her mother had told her to. She also continued to take care of their home and tend to the farm. Unfortunately, the farm became too much for the maiden to handle and she was forced to sell it and move to the city.

The maiden did not mind this much as she always wanted to live in the city. She missed her parents' farm often but enjoyed being around many other people for the first time in her life.

One day, she was walking down the streets of the city, heading back to her home. She started to notice that people were stopping in their tracks and staring at her. This confused her greatly until she looked down at her wrist and noticed that the bracelet was gone for it must have fallen off her wrist. Soon the tales of her beauty spread far and wide and the maiden was overwhelmed with thousands of marriage offers. None of these men really loved her, as they didn't even know her. Her mother was exactly right in what she said.

The young maiden never gave up on love, though. She made any of the men that sought after her prove their love and worthiness. She hoped that one day one of her suitors would be able to truly love her for who she was as a person and not her beauty. She is still waiting.

Bibliography: Japanese Fairy Tales: Maiden with the Wooden Helmet by Andrew Lang; link to the reading online.

Author's Note: The original story was about a maiden with extraordinary beauty that lived in the countryside. Her father passed away first and the mother did her best to raise her daughter. After many years, the mother caught a cold and did not recover. Before she died she told her daughter to wear a wooden helmet to hide her face. After her parents passed, the maiden went to work as a caretaker for a man's wife. The man’s son discovered her beauty when he returned home and he asked her repeatedly to marry him. The maiden did not agree to marry him until she had a dream where her mother told her to marry the man. She finally agreed to marry the man. On her wedding day, they tried to take the wooden helmet off of her head in order to style her hair but it would not come off so she had to leave it on for the wedding. As soon as they were pronounced married, the helmet burst off and broke into many pieces. Everyone at the wedding was able to see the face of the bride for the first time. And the maiden and the man lived happily ever after. I liked the original story but wanted to change up a couple of things for a more unexpected ending. I decided to let the fact that she originally lived in the countryside play a bigger role in the storyline and moving to the city play a negative role in that it leads to her secret being discovered. I also decided to replace the helmet with a magical bracelet instead.

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales, Part B

Image Information: Schippeitaro and the young warrior fighting the Mountain-Spirit. Web Source.

I liked the story about Schippeitaro. If I re-told this story, I would probably just use the characters of Schippeitaro and the young warrior and tell my own version with a new adventure. I also might tell a story of the young warrior returning home after the defeat of the mountain spirit.

I like the story of the magic kettle. I like the idea of it bringing good luck and I would consider a new way to center the story all on the kettle bringing good luck.

Bibliography: Japanese Fairy Tales by Andrew Lang; link to the reading online.