Week 6 Readng: Sinbad - First Voyage

 Sinbad the Sailor: First Voyage part 1(Source)

• The story opens up with Sinbad telling the man about how he squabbled his fortunes
• He sold all his stuff and joined a company of merchants 
• The set sail 
• They landed occasionally at small islands 
• They went on an island but it was actually a sleeping whale
• Sinbad did not make it into the boat so he was clinging to piece of wood
• He finally found an island and climbed up a cliff
• He met the people on the island and they liked him

A movie cover for the 7th Voyage of Sinbad (Picture Source)

Week 5 Story: The Three Lovers

  The following story is based off of the Twenty-Two Goblins: The Three Lovers translated by Arthur Ryder (Source)

    I chose to loosely base my story on the story of the three lovers, but I changed the ending to something a little darker. In the original tale, the young girl comes back to life.

        The Brahman stepped out onto the balcony and spread his arms to the heavens. He was the happiest man alive. The Brahman's first daughter, Coral, had just been born in the middle of spring. She looked just like his lovely wife, and they could not wait to watch her grow up into a beautiful woman.

Years later Coral had indeed grown into a beautiful woman and many young men were vying for her affection. Three in particular had distinguished themselves as the favorites to win her heart.

The three young men continually showered her with gifts and flowers to finally win her heart.

During a particularly cold winter, Coral became very sick and eventually died.  Her mother and father were devastated that their lovely little girl was taken from them.

The three young men were also devastated and mourned for months.

When the leaves began to fall, the young men each decided to try and find out how to get the beautiful young girl back.

One decided to move into the woods and live by himself. One chose to become a monk and moved to a local monastery. And the last one chose to travel the world in search of different brahman that might have cures to bring back the dead.

As the last young man traveled the world, he came upon brahman after brahman that did not have the answers that he was seeking. However, just before he was going to head back home, he was eating in a brahman's house and he found his answer.

The brahman's family invited the young man over for dinner, and as they were eating the brahman's baby son began crying. No matter what the mother and father would do, the child would not stop crying. The mother then got up and through the child into the fire. The young man sat aghast and did not know what to say when the brahman told him to not worry because he could easily bring the child back to life. As the brahman worked to bring the child back to life, the young man took detailed notes to take back to his love and bring her back to life.

The young man made the long journey back home and went to the girl's gravesite where he did exactly as the brahman had done, but to no avail. The young girl could not be brought back to life.

A Wise Old Man (Source)

Reading Notes: Twenty-Two Goblins, The Generals Wife

  Twenty-Two Goblins translated by Arthur Ryder (Source)

• The king picks up the goblin again
• Very brave king
• There is a great merchant with a beautiful daughter
• The merchant wants the king to marry her
• The King's brahmans saw her beauty and said she had bad qualities
• The king did not marry her but gave her to a general and they lived happily
• The king saw her again and was taken with her beauty
• The general wanted to give his wife to the king but the king would not have it
• The king withered away and died due to his yearning for love
• The general burned himself because his king was dead
• The goblin asked the king who was more deserving to die
• The king says the king in the story and the goblin escapes and goes back

A tree like one the goblin would have been in (Source)

Reading Notes: The Twenty-Two Goblins, The Three Lovers

 Twenty-Two Goblins translated by Arthur Ryder (Source)

• There is an old brahman that lives on a river and he has a beautiful daughter
• Three young boys come out the father and ask for her hand
• The young girl could not decide which one to choose
• The girl dies
• The three boys do something different to cope with their grief
• One boy becomes a monk and travels to other countries
• He eats dinner in a house where a baby cries and his mom throws him into the fire
• The master of the house raises the body back to life
• The monk goes back and raises the young girl back to life
• They all fought over who was to take her as his wife
• The King answered the riddle saying the one who slept by her ashes should be her husband
• The goblin went back to his tree

A tree like one the goblin would have been in (Source)

Comment Wall

 

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Week 4 Story Lab

 Microfiction Story Lab 

        Reading these stories about microfiction were very interesting. I have never read any stories this short and am excited to explore this idea much more. It allows for the author to include just the nuts and bolts of the story. This makes the reader's mind interpret the story in many different ways. The short stories almost reminded me of parables told by Jesus in the Bible's New Testament. I am excited to explore some of the extra credit microfiction writing opportunities in the coming weeks and see what I can come up with!

The stories that I looked at were on the Drabbles: Tiny Traditional Stories in 100 words website. (Source)

The Cunning Hare and the Witless Lion (Source)

Reading Notes: Bible Women - Herodias

 King James Bible (1611): Mark 6 (Source)

• John the baptist gets arrested and thrown in prison
• Herodias wanted to kill John but Herod would not let her because he feared John for he was a holy man
• At a feast, Herod's daughter, Salome, danced for the party and Herod offered her whatever she wanted.
• Her mother, Herodias, says to ask for John's head on a platter.
• Herod did just that

Herodias and Salome (Source)

Reading Notes: Bible women - Sarah

 King James Bible (1611): Genesis 18 (Source)

• The Lord appeared to Abraham and Sarah with three other angels.
• Abraham makes food for them to all eat.
• The Lord said to Abraham and Sarah that they will have a child.
• Sarah laughs because she is so old. Then she lies to cover it up.
• The Lord returns to Sarah and she bares a son called Isaac.
• They had a great feast when Isaac was weaned.

God rewards Sarah and Abraham with a son ( Source)

Feedback Strategies

 Try Feedfoward instead of Feedback (Source)

        In this article about positive feedback the author focuses on teaching people to give others suggestions about future performance instead of focusing on past mistakes. One thing I liked about it was the quote "It can be more productive for people to learn to be right, than prove they were wrong." This is a very exciting way of thought when it comes to feedback because it opens up so many possibilities and allows for growth that otherwise isn't there.

Five Reasons to Stop Saying "Good Job!" (Source)

        This article was very interesting to me because it was something that I have never heard of before. The phrase "Good Job!" has always had positive meaning to me and I've never looked at ways that it can be harmful. I liked when the article was saying how saying "Good Job!" creates the need to continue to hear that positive reinforcement. 

(Image Source)

Topic Research: King Cormac of Ireland

 For my project I am thinking about doing stories about King Cormac. He was an old king of the Munster Tuatha in Ireland. He has many heroic exploits and great stories. I think it would be fun to do a story about his birth at the start of my project. My next story could be about his rise to the position of King. I was thinking my third story would be either about some of his exploits as King, or I could do a story about his death. 

Source to The High Deeds of Finn and other Bardic Romances of Ancient Ireland, by T. W. Rolleston, et al, Illustrated by Stephen Reid

King Cormac (Source)

Week 3 Story: The Friendly Old Cyclops

 Homer’s The Odyssey (Source)

 

            This story that I have written is loosely based on the first part of Homer’s The Odyssey. Some of the characters are the same, but most of the plot has been changed to go in a different direction.

 

 

On a cold rain-soaked night, a dark ship crashed through a large wave and a monstrous island loomed into view. Their voyage at sea had been hard and sleepless for the last couple of days. Eurylochus, who was on watch, cried out to the rest of the crew “Land Ho!”. They had made it.

 

As they beached the ship, the rosy streaks of dawn began to appear on the horizon. Their skin feeling the warm relief they had long been yearning for.

 

“Pair off in groups of five and explore the island” ordered Odysseus, “We will meet back here at night fall to decide on a course of action.”

 

“Aye Captain” they all replied in unison and off they went.

 

As the groups were exploring the island, they began to hear very loud booms that shook the earth. At first, they were perplexed by these sounds until one saw a cyclops that towered over the tallest tree thundering along towards a mountain. The group quickly headed back to the ship to report what they had seen.

 

“The cyclops was how much bigger than a man?” Odysseus asked.

 

“At least fifty times my height Captain.” Replied Eurylochus.

 

“We must go meet him and see if he has hospitality to weary travelers.” Said Odysseus.

 

Off they went in search of the cyclops following Eurylochus who remembered the way to the cave dwelling of the giant.

 

As they approached the cave, Odysseus called out to the cyclops, “Hullo! Cyclops sir would you be gracious enough to some weary travelers to let us come inside?”

 

“Of course, friend!” replied the cyclops.

 

As they entered the cave, the cyclops said, “My name is Zacheus. What brings a crew of men to my island?”

 

“We were on a voyage to cross the sea when we lost our way.” Replied Odysseus.

 

“Well you all must be very tired and hungry. Good for you all I have a large herd of sheep that I can prepare a feast with as well as good sweet wine to drink.”

 

With that, the men and Zacheus ate, drank, and sang songs until late in the evening when they all dozed off from exhaustion.

 

They woke feeling refreshed and blessed to have met such a nice cyclops in Zacheus. He gave them sheep and wine for the voyage and sent them on their way across the sea.

 

 

 

 

 

 Odysseus (Source)

 

 

           

Reading Notes: Homer's the Odyssey part A

Reading Notes Week 3: Homer’s The Odyssey Reading A (Source)

 

Land of the Cyclops:

·      Arrive at the land of the Cyclops

·      Describe Cyclops way of life. No boats. Never worked to farm or grow crops even though island is ripe for it.

·      Describe the Cyclops island

·      One ship decides to go meet the cyclops and see if they are nice to strangers and fear the gods

Prisoners of the Cyclops:

·      He chooses 12 men to go with him.

·      He tells the story of getting the sweet wine and what they did that night they got it

·      They went to the giant’s cave but he was gone grazing in the fields

·      The giant came back and they gave him an offering

·      He asks them what they are doing

·      The giant killed two of his men and ate them

The Cyclops defeated

·      They blinded him and tricked him so no one would help him

Escape from the Cyclops

·      They escaped by sneaking out under the sheep

·      Odysseus then yelled back and taunted the giant and told him his real name

Polyphemus’ Curse

·      The cyclops prays a prayer to Poseidon that Odysseus will never reach home

·      They got to Circe’s island and had a feast but are kind’ve lost

Circe’s Magic

·      They all see a goddess (Circe) singing

·       She turned them into pigs

·      One man didn’t go so he went back to get help

·      Odysseus goes to save them and Hermes stops him on the way to give him advice

The Moly Defeats Circe

·      Odysseus withstands her spell and go to bed together and free his men

On Circe’s Island

·      They stayed on her island for a year

·      She tells them they must sail to Hades

The death of Elpenor

·       

Odysseus (Source)

Topic Brainstorm

 Ireland Myths and Fables (Source)

    I think it would be interesting to do a project about different myths and fables of Irish origin. I don't know very much about the culture or way of life in Ireland, but this would be a great opportunity to explore and learn more about it. There are a lot of stories about different kings, so I could do a whole project about different kings throughout Irish history.

Pacific Myths and Fables (Source) 

    It would be interesting to do a project over different creation myths from the Pacific Islands. I have always been drawn to the ocean and the feeling that comes with being at the beach, but I do not know very much about the history and culture of the Pacific Islanders. 

Native American Myths and Fables (Source)

    I would maybe like to choose a different story that reveals the culture of different Native American tribes. This would be interesting because I am part Cherokee, but have never taken the time to discover the history of the Cherokee people. I could compare different aspects of their culture which would really help to explore the Native American people.

Folk Tales and Myths (Source)

    This project would be looking at classical story like Brer Rabbit, Brer Wolf, etc. These are the tales that I am most familiar with these types of fables, so this would be a more in depth look into these stories than other project topics.

British and Celtic Fables (Source)

Week 2 Story: The Tiger and Brahman

 The Tiger and Brahman

 

The story I have written is a take on a classic Indian Fairy Tale about a Tiger, a Brahman, and a Jackal. I have chosen to focus only on the Tiger and Brahman, and create a story entirely its own.

 

Story Source: Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs

 

 

            One scorching hot mid-August afternoon, a Tiger was strolling along the road and happened upon a cool shaded well.

 

The Tiger, being thirsty from the heat, says to himself, “I must have some of this water or I will surely die.” He slowly strolls over to the well and reaches out for the bucket. At that very moment, a cage springs up from the ground as if it were magic!

 

The Tiger is frightened and begins to claw and bite at the bars but to no avail. He is trapped. A voice of laughter slowly reaches him. The Tiger turns to see a Brahman sitting on a stool laughing at him.

 

The Brahman says to the Tiger, “You fool! You have fallen directly into my trap and now I will sell you to the highest bidder.”

 

“You can’t sell me!” said the Tiger, “I am too valuable to you.”

 

“And pray” said the Brahman, “tell me how on earth you would be valuable to me.”

 

“Let me out of this cage,” cried the Tiger,” and I will show you how I can be of service to you.”

 

“You are out of your mind if you think I would let you out of this cage Tiger.”

 

“There must be some way that you would trust me enough to release me from this cage.” said the Tiger.

 

“Why if you were to tell me your greatest weakness,” said the Brahman, “I might just think about letting you out. But first you must tell me how you are valuable to me.”

 

“Well,” began the Tiger, “I am very strong and a fearsome fighter, and this road is fraught with thieves and murderers who might wish you harm. I could accompany you to the end of the road to keep you safe, and then you set me free.”

 

“That is a very interesting proposition.” Said the Brahman as he thought it over. “You have yourself a deal as long as you tell me your greatest weakness.”

 

“Oh of course,” said the Tiger, “I am blind in my right eye so cannot see anyone approaching from the right side.”

 

“Very well!” exclaimed the Brahman, “You will accompany me to safety and then be set free.”

 

The Brahman found the key in his pocket and released the Tiger. Within the blink of an eye the Tiger was on the Brahman. “What are you doing? cried the Brahman, “we had a deal!”

 

“I don’t care about whatever deal we had“ said the Tiger, “no one plays tricks on me and expects to live.” And with that, the Tiger killed the Brahman and went back to the well for a refreshing drink of water.

 

 

Sere Kahn https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/95/Shere_Khan_Disney_Jungle_Book.jpg

Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

 Tricksters: Tiger, Brahman, and Jackal

• A tiger is caught in a trap
• Along comes Brahman
• There is an exchange and the Brahman lets the tiger out
• Tiger then captures the brahman and threatens to eat him now
• The Brahman then goes to the first 3 things he sees along the road and asks them for help but they give no sympathy
• He then stumbles upon a Jackal that goes back to help him
• The Jackal tricks the tiger to get back in the cage and he shuts the door   

Sere Kahn https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/95/Shere_Khan_Disney_Jungle_Book.jpg

Week 2 Reading Overview

Choose from CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units for Weeks 3 and 4.

Week 3: _Homer's Odyssey_

Week 4: _Bible Women_

Choose from MIDDLE EASTERN and/or INDIAN units for Weeks 5 and 6.

Week 5: _Twenty-Two Goblins________

Week 6: _Sinbad__

Choose from ASIAN and/or AFRICAN units for Weeks 7 and 9. [Week 8 is review week.]

Week 7: _The Monkey King________

Week 9: _Brer Rabbit________

Choose from NATIVE AMERICAN units for Weeks 10 and 11.

Week 10: _Cherokee________

Week 11: __Hero Tales_______

Choose from BRITISH and/or CELTIC units for Weeks 12 and 13.

Week 12: _Celtic Tales________

Week 13: _Alice in Wonderland________

Choose from EUROPEAN units for Weeks 14 and 15.

Week 14: _Russian________

Week 15: _Inferno________

    I'd say I am most excited for the different Hero Tales that I chose because I enjoy reading spy novels the most out of any genre. The hero tales have the same sort of background in that its about somebody saving someone or something. I'm not exactly sure about where I would like to go with this class, but I am hoping that as the semester progresses, something will jump out to me and grab my attention. Right now the first thing that comes to mind would be to do something about Huckleberry Finn but we shall see.

https://www.youthvoices.live/category/writing-communication/books/huck-finn/

I chose this image about Huckleberry Finn because I like his sense of melancholy adventure.

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