WEEK 7 STORY: TIME FROZE

There once was a man named Time. Time was a wise man, he was very efficient and always punctual. Time had three wives, Telepathy, Teleport, and Travel. The three wives had a very dynamic friendship and got along really well, despite the fact they were sharing a husband. Time always ran errands for his wives and he never found it to be an inconvenience for him.
One day the wives each wanted their very own turquoise crystal. The only places to get these crystals were on the outskirts of the town in one of the most dangerous and isolated caves. Time being a wise man packed everything he would need for his journey. As he finally approached the freezing cave and reached for the crystals his hand began to freeze, then his whole are, and eventually Time was frozen.
Back home the wives were running out of food and missed there husband. It had been several days and he still had not returned. So, Telepathy closed her eyes and searched for her husband. Her intuition told her he was in trouble. She recognized where the cave was and told Teleport and Travel. Teleport recognized the cave and grabbed the hands of Telepathy and Travel and all of a sudden they were there in the cave. They all gasped, their sweet husband was frozen. They all hovered around him, unsure what to do. Time was frozen and all because they wanted some crystals. The wives gathered around him and tried to defrost him. They tried to break the ice and that didn't work. They tried everything and realized that they needed to come up with a plan. Telepathy had already used her power to find him and Teleport had already used her guidance to get them there, however Travel had not used her ability yet. Travel maybe the only way to save their husband. She held onto the hands of Telepathy and Teleport and they travelled back in time to before their husband left for his journey. They went back to before they even asked for the crystals and there their husband was, healthy and back to his normal self.

(Ice Crystal Cave)

Author's Note: The Dreamer, The Guide, and The Raiser of the Dead are all married to a man. Their husband was a great hunter, so everyday he went out hunting to bring back his wives food. One day he killed an antelope. They ate it, but soon complained of hunger a little later. So, the man went out to track an Ox because that would be the only to fill them up. However, once he tracked and shot the ox, the ox charged after him and he died. The wives were still hungry and missed their husband. The Dreamer had a dream of their husband being killed by an ox. She know of the road, so The Guide led them to where his body laid. Once they arrived The Raiser of the Dead brought him back to life. Then each wife decided to make him a pot of soup, once he was able to eat so he could pick the soup of his choice. Two of them killed fowls and made them, while the third put pig in her soup. The Raiser of the Dead had the winning soup because she gave him the gift of life.

Stories From Congo: How The Wives Restored Their Husband To Life

READING NOTES: CONGO PART B

The Leopard and the Crocodile: Web Link

I have noticed in the Congo Unit it is normal for a man to have many wives. Typically the man is always the provider of the house while the women are always asking for things. So, in this story a man befriended a leopard and a crocodile. He took advantage of the leopard and the crocodile by presenting them with palm nuts. However they didn't know about one another. So, the man continued to present and the leopard and the crocodile continued to give meat and fish. Until, the end when the leopard and the crocodile grew tired of palm nuts and wanted to eat a dog instead. The man coordinated that the leopard and crocodile meet up (thinking they were each meeting with a dog). The leopard and crocodile ended up fighting each other to the death. I liked the story and how simple it is. I also like the way the leopard and crocodile were friends with the human.

(Crocodile)

EXTRA CREDIT: CRASH COURSE/EXTRA READING

Triple Goddess: The Mother of Arles

Extra Credit: Crash Course/Extra Reading Notes 

Great Goddesses

Archetypes began with Carl Jung. He believed archetypes are collective unconscious as a result of just being human...

The Father Creator and the Great Mother are the Great Goddesses focused on in this clip.

The Goddess Movement focused on:

• Fertility aspects of the female
• Signified fertility
• Successful births

In this clip, Mike talked a lot about The Triple Goddess

The Triple Goddess

• Sorts goddesses into three types: virgin, mother, and crone
• System that sees women through the eyes of men (basically by sexiness)
• Control the cycles of growth, decay, and rebirth

Mother Goddesses are many multifaceted

We saw a lot of patterns in the stories other Mother Goddesses. Many times, Goddesses try to have a relationship with mortal men and it doesn't always work out. For instance, Otohame was a Goddess who took a fisherman and kept him her immortal world for centuries. He never aged, but became homesick. So, she then returned to home and told him to not open this box. Of course, he opened the box and aged the amount of centuries he had been away from home and died. 

  

Fire and Buffalo Goddesses

(Hawaii) 

When it comes to Fire Goddesses a lot of stories have to with places where there are volcanoes. 

Pe le was a tripple goddess and had three sisters. She had a long ongoing promise with one of her sisters. The promise was that Pe le wouldn't burn her sister's friend's land if she went to go get Pe le"s man and promise not to touch or seduce him. Pe le didn't keep her promise, so the sister kissed Pe le's man. Becasue Pe le is a triple goddess she made the volcanoes erupt. 

Buffalo Goddesses are mainly focused in Buffalo Nation. The People of Buffalo Nation have a complex religious system. The Buffalo Goddess, White Buffalo Calf Woman was a very impactful goddess. She gave many gifts to the buffalo nation and told them that they were special. 

Goddesses: 

• offer a sense of order  
• and encourage the right behavior will be rewarded
• powerful
• desirable
• give and take
• they suggest a relationship between worldly desire morals
• create social order: how to treat one another

Archetypes and Male Divinities
 

In mythology, males appear as:

• fathers
• sons
• kings
• judges
• savior
• sages
• shamans
• tricksters
• lords of destruction

From creation myths, fathers appear unapproachable and the son is always striving to take his spot, but they want to won over his approval...

King/judge: gods are in human leadership roles, justify monarchical power on earth

Male divinity act as judges to humans

Savior gods: 

• The son that will nourish humans
• Humans shaman appear in many cultures, super natural powers are used to find the answers to pressing question, ex: Hermes (messenger)

READING NOTES: CONGO TALES PART A

Stories From Congo: How The Wives Restored Their Husband To Life

I read Part A of the Congo unit from African Tales. I was intrigued to read these because some of them tells stories of magical powers embodied in physical form. I really enjoyed the story, How The Wives Restored Their Husband To Life. The three wives all had very long and beautiful names, and they each had their own power. The Dreamer, The Guide, and The Raiser of the Dead and they all played an important role in the story. I think if I was going to take anything from this story and incorporate it into my own, it would be the powers given to the wives. However, I don't see my story having one husband and three wives, but I like the idea of giving them powers.

Women of the Congo, 1885

STORYLAB: CRASH COURSE

This StoryLab: Crash Course was a lot of information at once. However, I took away a lot of beneficial information, therefore broadening my understanding of myths, mythology, and the theories of myths.

Mythology is a Slurpee, a combo of science, history, sociology, anthropology, religion, psychology and literature

·      Myths are many different interpretations,

·      Not necessarily facts. Myths can be read and understand in a number of ways

·      Line between myth and religion is blurry

Mythology is a Slurpee

A working definition for myth: story that is false and not to be taken seriously

However many people take myths very seriously; the systematic studies of myths

“A myth is story, but it’s a special kind of story, that for the purposes of this series has two primary characteristics: significance and staying power” (staying power means surviving centuries)  

Mike gives an example of Persephone myth that explains the seasons the cycle of planting and harvest to the actions of the immortals.

In summary, he told the story of Zeus’s daughter being taken by her Uncle Hades. Because she ate six pomegranate seeds she had to live in the Underworld for six months out of the year. Therefore creating winter. This explains the seasons and cycle of planting and harvesting.

I mentioned earlier that some people do not take myths lightly and rely on them as a credible source. Tylor was a scientist who used myths has science and believed that they are all historical facts.

I believe you have to take each myth with a grain of salt. Meaning that some are interpretations of original myths and some can be completely made up and false.

Myths originated mid 500 bc in Greece and Plato was the one that insisted myths including gods and super heros were irrational. He had a bias however and believed his myths were the only ones rational and true.

READING POST: PERSIAN FAIRY TALES PART B

I wanted to continue with the Wolf theme, so I read The Story of the Wolf-Bride in Part B of the Persian Fairy Tales Unit.
Web Link
In summary, this story is about a father and his son. The father obtained the fortune of his son and the fortune was that the son was going to be torn to pieces. So, taking precautions the father built an underground cave for the son. After many years of being kept safe and avoiding being eaten by wolves the son had grown up to be a man. It was time for the man to marry a wife. He fell in love and his wife and him celebrated for seven days and nights. The father took the two down to the cave to leave them alone. All of a sudden, the woman turned into a wolf and tore him to shreds and then turned back into the woman.
I liked the simplicity of the story and the style of writing. However it was a predictable story and too short in length. I wish there would have been more interaction with the wife and husband. Maybe there could have been some signs that she was a wolf throughout the story. Overall, I liked the story and want to try to adapt the positive attributes to my own story.

Iranian Wedding

READING NOTES: PERSIAN TALES PART A

The Wolf and the Goat: Web Link
This was a charming story from the Persian Fairy Tales unit. From my understanding is has been translated to English. Through the translation this story still has the charisma and rhyme in the original story. The way the characters interact with one another in a fun way!
To summarize, The Wolf and the Goat is about a mother goat who has given birth to four children. There names are Balil, Alil, Ginger Stick, and Black Eyes. One day the mother goat was going to get grass for the kids and told them to not open the door unless they see her red hand. (Which I think is confusing considering she has hooves and not hands) The goats understood, but what they didn't know was that the wolf was listening in the whole time. So once the mom goat left, the wolf dyed his paw red and made his way to the house. He was able to get in because the kids thought his red paw was his mom's. The wolf took Alil, Balil, and Ginger Stick and returned back to his house. When the mother goat returned home to just Black Eyes, she was angry and came up with her plan to get her kids back. So she went on the roof of the wolf's house and suggested a fight. While the goat and the wolf were preparing, the wolf went to go get his teeth sharpened and the dentist switched out his teeth for cotton wool. They met at a stream, after drinking some water they were ready to fight. However, the wolf fell in and the goat speared him with her horn. The children returned home with their mom and they lived happily ever after.
I enjoyed the style of writing of this story. I liked the rhyming pattern and the way the characters spoke to one another in the story. It's a fun and charming story that can take on many different twists.

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COMMENT WALL

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WEEK 5 STORY: Mother Nature's Broken Heart

We all know Mother Nature... The woman who controls the winds, the sun, and the sky, she embodies nature.

As powerful as Mother Nature is, she has feelings too. It was Valentine's Day and Mother Nature was in a good mood. She made the sun a little brighter, the sky a little clearer, the winds calm, and the oceans as blue as ever. As Mother Nature began to look down at her world, she felt a little sad and lonely. She knew it was Valentine's Day and that it was a holiday to celebrate love.
She thought to herself, "There are so many people in love and have someone to love, but who will be my Valentine?..."

She began to cry and when Mother Nature cries, the whole world knows. Tears rolled down her face into oceans, creating giant tsunami waves. The sky turned dark, the clouds rumbled, and the winds roared. The world experienced a storm like no other, mother Nature had thrown the temper tantrum of all tantrums.

While all this was occurring there was an intelligent and wise man named Noah. Noah was very intuitive and had a gut feeling something big was going to happen. Noah enjoyed building and construction work. So, in his spare time he would build whatever he could think of. His next big project was to build an ark. Not just any ark, but an ark that could fit men, women, children, and animals. People thought he was out of his mind and a little messed up in the head, despite all the judgment and criticism he stuck to his gut feeling to finishing this project.

Noah was enjoying his Valentine's Day as a single man. He spent is day watering his garden, watching The Notebook, eating a whole box of chocolates, and putting the finishing touches on his ark. When all of a sudden, the sky turned dark and a storm came like no other. Noah looked at his ark, then looked up to the sky and he knew something was wrong.

Many people had heard the stories of Mother Nature, but never thought twice to think if she was real, much less have feelings. However, Noah believed in Mother Nature and that she truly did control the sun and the sky.

So he called out to her, "Mother Nature, Mother Nature why are the winds roaring and the skies so dark?"
Mother Nature rarely had anyone reach out to her. She looked down at the little man with the ark and replied, "I have a broken heart and I am all alone!"
Noah replied, "But, Mother Nature you are not alone! Look at all your creations! I'll be your friend!" Mother Nature looked around and realized that the little man she just met was right. All of a sudden, Mother Nature's tears dried up and the skies cleared and the sun was bright. She was not alone and spent Valentine's day with a new friend.

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Author's Note: This story was inspired by the Jewish Fairy Tale, The Giant of the Flood
Story source: Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919). Og Is a giant begging to come aboard Noah's Ark.

READING NOTES: PANCHATANTRA READING PART B

This story is part of the Panchatantra unit. Story source: The Panchatantra of Vishnu Sharma, translated by Arthur W. Ryder (1925).


The Mice That Ate Iron
This is a Panchatantra tradition in the form of poetry and made its way all over Europe.
What drew me to this story is the style of writing used. The story was basically broken up by poetic phrases. I liked it because it was different from the typical paragraph format. The Mice The Ate Iron is about a merchant named Naduk who lost his money. The title The Mice That Ate Iron came from a scenario in the story of where the merchant's money could have gone. For instance, they go onto say that a hawk must have flown away with an elephant. They used satirical metaphors to emphasize the point they are trying to make.

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READING NOTES: PANCHATANTRA READING PART A

This story was translated from Sanskrit into English. Therefore, the king is names Immortal-Power and he has three sons named Rich-Power, Fierce-Power, and Endless-Power. The family being so "powerful", however the sons did not have the brains...
So the king who was embarrassed of his sons lack of intelligence reached out to one of the most wise men in the land. Basically offered him a great amount of money to educate his sons. Vishnusharman took the boys and began to teach. He made them read five different books and within in the matter of six months they had made strides in their intelligence.

The story is from the Panchatantra Unit, from Frametale Stories. Wisdom tales told in nested stories within stories style.

Story source: Panchatantra of Vishnu Sharma, translated by Arthur. W Ryder. (1925)

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TECH TIP: BLOGGER TEMPLATE (extra credit)

I explored more of the blogger templates and decided to change mine! I first went to Blogger.com, click design options menu, then choose themes. From there you are able to customize colors and different templates for you blog. Depending on how you want your blog to flow, can determine what colors and templates you choose! I chose a more flowy and artsy template for my blog. I thoughy my first one was too harsh and monotone!

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TOPIC RESEARCH

Topic Research

After receiving feedback, I want to consider the idea of princesses and E! News, maybe even The Real Housewives of Happily Ever After. I want to focus on Rapunzel, Beauty and the Beast, and Little Snow White from Dan Ashliman's Folktexts. 


Rapunzel- Blond Beauty France: Web Link

Key feature: 

• Rapunzel's grandma was getting in the way of her and the Prince being together. 
• Her hair is her staple look and without it she wouldn't be Rapunzel. 

Beauty and the Beast: Web Link

Key feature:

• This is the traditional story of Beauty and the Beast
• Belle is a very selfless person, who sees good in everyone! 

Little Snow White: Web Link

Key feature: 

• The Queen is jealous of Snow White for being the "fairest in all the land" 

After reading all these are coming up with some way to intertwine these stories, I noticed there is always someone who is jealous of the princess. I think going with The Real Housewives of Happily Ever After could be so fun. I would write in a style of Season and Episode and each blog there would be some new drama. Maybe Rapunzel talks bad about Belle behind her back and that leads to drama and gossip and then Gaston gets involved? I would love to find more stories of the other princesses! The more the merrier! Maybe Snow White gets called out fro getting plastic surgery or a spray tan? I love thinking of petty drama! 

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WEEK 4: STORY LABORATORY

The danger of a single story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Single Story Web Link

Chimamanda began reading and writing at a very young age. She talked about how impressionable and vulnerable she was by the books she read. She had never left Nigeria or knew anything outside of Nigeria, so her stories were only familiar with the British and American books she read as a child. Once she came across African books she knew more than just the single perception she had from the books she read. Once she came to America to go to college, she was quick to realize that her American roommate had a “single story” about people from Africa. In a patronizing way assumed Chimamanda didn’t know how to work a stove, listened to tribal music, and was shocked to hear her speak English so well. We are all guilty of the single story. The single story is basically the close minded perception we have of others. When we are younger or not familiar with something we create our own perceptions without knowing reality. Majority of the time these single story perceptions carry on into our older years and that is when stereotypes and prejudices begin to evolve. We take what we think we know or what we have always heard about the unknown and that becomes our first impression.  When we read one thing , we cannot assume it reflects on all ethnicity, religions, or cultures that are represented in the single story.  

  

Imaginary friends and real-world consequences: parasocial relationships | Jennifer Barnes | TEDxOU: TED Talk Web Link

Jennifer Barnes answers the questions. Why do we spend so much time, emotion, and money on something we know isn't real? Why do we engage and feel so passionate about fictional characters? Why do we care so much and feel so connected to them? 

A parasocial relationship is a relationship you form with someone you don't really know. For instance, I feel like I know Justin Bieber by the way I follow him on social media, watch videos of him, and listen to his music. I feel like I know him. We don't only follow these celebrities through a publicity platform, but through their personal social media. We feel like we actually know them! But, when it comes down to it, we know that we are just a spec in these fictional characters and celebrities lives, and they don't know us! However, we still feel connected to them. We have a subconscious belief that we believe that fictional characters are fictional, but we have alief, a gut feeling they're actually real. This Ted Talk was super interesting and left me thinking about all the fictional characters and celebrities that I feel like I have a relationship with.

READING NOTES: JEWISH FAIRY TALES PART B

The Fairy Frog
Story source: Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa (1919).
I enjoyed this story a lot, I liked that the story was happy and light! I think it's important to mention different emotions throughout a story. In the beginning of The Fairy Frog Hanin's parents pass away. We learn about grief and how there is a time of many days of grief. I always appreciate when stories emphasize different seasons of life and that includes emotions! Hanina and his wife used all their money and basically bet everything they had for this purchase they made at the market. That takes a lot of faith, but over time they took care of the frog and fed him with the little food they had. Eventually the frog grew to be the size of a human. As crazy as it sounds, the frog began to take requests from Hanin and his wife to pay them back for taking such great care of him.

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