Reading Notes: English Fairy tales Unit (1): Reading B- The Ass, the Table, and the Stick

Picture of a Donkey spitting gold by John D. Batten

My ideas: This story was very neat. I liked how there was magic in the story and how two unfortunate people were joined together and had wealth. I like the troubles that the boy goes through to gain his fortune. People keep taking advantage of him, and this is much like how people do now day. However, I did not like how when the son finally regained all his fortunes, his father had died, and he was not able to show him. I wonder, if the boy would share his fortune with his father? Was he riding back home to show off to his father or was he intending to rub it in? What if the father had been alive and the son was able to rub in his new found wealth. I also really liked how in the end of the story, the boy still chose the maiden to be his wife, despite all the others with more wealth. I would like to change this story to the boy's perspective. Doing this would allow the audience to be more connected. This would also allow us to see how the boy reacts when he finds his fortunes gone. Also, simply putting it in his perspective would add a lot of detail to the story. From this, we could find out what attracted him to the maiden. Were they childhood friends? Was she really pretty? Also, how did he feel every time he rode home and he realized what had happened? Was he angry? Why was he riding home to begin with? This story has a lot of different ways I could retell it.


Bibliography: Jacobs, Joseph. English Fairy Tales. English Fairy Tales Unit (1). The Ass, the Table, and the Stick.

Reading Notes: English Fairy tales Unit (1): Reading A- The Story of the Three Little Pigs

Illustration from J. Jacobs, English Fairy Tales 

My Ideas: Everyone knows the story of the three little pigs. This is one of the most memorable stories from my childhood, so I could not help but to choose this story. I am a big fan of putting the story in different perspectives, so I could change the story and put it in the mother's perspective. We hear about her shortly at the beginning and that is all. Also, I could make this story a sort of cat and mouse game, maybe adding more details and thought and put the story in the little pigs perspective. Also, what if the other pigs had survived and fled to their brothers house, where they would fight together against the wolf. What if the wolf's character was rich and when the pigs killed him, they gained his fortune and were reunited? What is we learned why the other piglets chose to build there homes out of bad material? Is this due to how they were raised? Also, how old were the piglets? Were they maybe too young when their mother had to let them go? I also think it would be a good idea if the wolf would have kidnapped the other piglets and kept them hidden. Maybe at one of the places the wolf told the piglet their was apple or turnips. The smart piglet could rescue his brothers, kill the wolf, and reunite their family. These additions would make the story very eventful. I feel like there are a lot of options with this story. Unlike other stories that I have read this semester, it actually has a good amount of detail. Although the detail is good, there are still things I could add. 
Bibliography: Jacobs, Joseph. English Fairy Tales. English Fairy Tales Unit (1). The Story of the Three Little Pigs.

Storytelling: Week 11- Another Cinderella Story (The True Bride)

**Background, this story is the diary of a girl much like Cinderella. Her mother died when she was just a baby, and recently her father has died in a terrible hunting accident.

Cottage in the Woods: Photo Source ArchitectureImage

Tuesday, January 5: Dear diary, today has be hard. It has been three days since my father died and I can barley handle the grief. Stepmother has not let up on me any, even in my time of grief. I wonder if she even mourns the death of my father. As cold and heartless as she is, I doubt it. As for my stepsister, she seems upset, but Step-mother scorns her when she looks sad, so I can tell she is holding it in. I wish we could talk and comfort one another. Too bad I am an outcast in my own home. Have to go, step-mother is calling.

Saturday, January 9: Dear diary, it has been nearly four days since I last wrote. Stepmother has made me in charge of all the household chores, so I have been busy. I still miss daddy. He would have never let her treat me this way. Tonight step-mother told me that I am lazy and useless, even though I am the one who cares for this house and cooks for her and my sister. Thursday, it began snowing, and has not stopped since. That is all I have for today.

Sunday, January 10: Dear diary, it appears this is the beginning of the end. Today, stepmother asked me to travel out to find berries, in the middle of this blizzard. I must go, as she already deems me as lazy. I will begin my journey tomorrow and I told step-mother that I would wonder until I died, so this may very well be the last you hear from me.

Tuesday, January 12: Dear diary, I SURVIVED. I am back home and better than ever. When I was out looking for berried, I stumbled across the most beautiful little cottage where four brothers lived. They were so kind to me. When I told them what I was doing, they helped me to find berries, but not just any berries, the largest, sweetest strawberries I have ever seen. I bet you will never guess where they had the strawberries, on their roof! That is right, growing away, right underneath the snow. I was in complete awe. After the brothers blessed me with these berries, they then asked me if I needed anything else. I hated to ask, I really did, but it was just so cold outside, and I could not bear to make the journey home in the old rags that I wore, so I told them I was poor and how I needed new clothes for my journey home. The youngest brother then told me to spit on my hand, I was a little taken back by this request, but I did as he said. When I opened my hand, a gold nugget appeared. I could not help but be overwhelmed with my new found ability to spit gold. Just when I thought I could not be blessed anymore by these kind souls, each brother made me the most beautiful clothing I had ever seen. I thanked them, and they sent me on my way. I am so blessed. When I came home though, even in the light of my new fortunes, stepmother was jealous and fueled with rage at my success. That is her calling, so I must get back to work.

Wednesday, January 13: Dear diary, I can not stop laughing. Today, step-mother sent my sister to get the same fortunes as me, however, when sister came back, all she got was the ability to spit foul smelling toenails. I cannot help but laugh. I am worried though, that step-mother will abuse my powers. I wonder if there will be any consequences to this new found gift.

Author’s Notes: With this story, I kept the storyline the same. All the same details happened, just like in the original story, however I put it in the “cinderella” of the story’s perspective. The first thing I did was add background to where the father was. This story is actually a four-part story and is very similar to the story of Cinderella but with a Native American twist and in all of the stories, the father is never mentioned again after the first sentence. When I was reading the original stories, I always wondered where he disappeared to, so I thought the readers of my retelling would too, so I added an explanation for his absence. The next thing I changed, was that I put it in the daughter’s perspective. Throughout the original story, there are no thoughts or opinions shared by any of the characters, so I thought that putting it into the daughter’s perspective, especially the one who is treated poorly, would add a personal effect and allow readers to connect more with at least one character. I thought making a diary would be the best way to express all of the daughter’s feelings toward what happened to her.

Bibliography: Thompson, Sith. Tales of the North American Indian's. Native American Marriage Tales Unit. The True Bride. 1929

Reading Notes: Native American Marriage Tales Unit- Reading B: The True Bride

• Story: In this story, their is a man and a woman who have a daughter. The wife died and the man married another woman who also gave the man another daughter. (This story is very much like Cinderella) The stepmother, always accused her stepdaughter of being lazy and was always angry with her. One day, in the heart of winter, the stepmother asked her stepdaughter to go out and gather berries, this being an unreasonable request, the stepdaughter did not want to go, but she was tired of her stepmother constantly nagging, so she went. SHe told her stepmother that she wold wonder until she was dead. She put some food into a basket and went on her way. While she was wondering, she wondered upon a cottage, that was full of three men. They asked her why she was out in the middle of winter, and she told them about her mother always nagging and how she needed berries. The men then gave her a snow shovel and told her to go onto the roof and uncover the snow. When she did, it was revealed that the roof was earth and full of giant strawberries. She filled her basket and then climbed down. The men then asked her if she needed anything else. SHe told them she was poor and needed new clothes. The youngest brother told her to spit and when she did, it revealed that she spit gold nuggets. The next brother made shoes for her out of the finest material. The third brother made a dress, out of the finest material, as the younger brother had done. The eldest brother, made her a robe that would never wear out. As the brothers made their object for her, her new clothing appeared on her body and her old clothes disappeared. When she returned how with her new clothing, the basket of berries and her new found ability of spitting gold, her stepmother was surprised and became angry with the girl. She then told her younger daughter to follow the tracks the elder daughter has left in the snow, so she too could have the ability to spit gold and get new clothes. The girl did, and when she came upon the four brothers cabin, they offered her the same opportunities, however, she refused to spit and acted as though she was above it, this caused the brothers to get angry and they gave her the ability of spitting toe nails instead of spitting gold. When she returned home, the mother was angry and told her not to spit again.
• My ideas: Much like the story of Cinderella, I want to put this in the stepdaughters perspective. This would transform this tale into an actual story. This would make the story more detailed and allow the characters to have more feelings and opinions that are expressed. This would also allow for more dialogue and thoughts to be added to the story. 



Cottage in the Woods: Photo Source ArchitectureImage

• 
  Bibliography: Thompson, Sith. Tales of the North American Indian's. Native American Marriage Tales Unit. The True Bride. 1929

Reading Notes: Native American Marriage Tales Unit- Reading A: The Rolling Head

Snake. Photo by Sugar Monster

• Story Summary: This story was very similar to stories I have previously read in other units. This story is about a family who keeps to themselves. There was a man, woman, and two children. Every time the man went out hunting, he would paint his wife's face and body before he went out hunting. The wife, went out to the same stream, every time. She would take off all of her clothes as if to bath, and then she would call for a snake. When the snake appeared, he would tell her to come to him since her husband was away. Everyday, her husband would return with meat for his family to eat, and he would wonder what happened to the paint. One day, he asked the wife where the paint had went, and she told him she had bathed in the lake. Curious as to why, the husband set out the next day, performing the same ritual as to go to a hunt, but instead, he followed his wife to the lake. When he saw the women, with the snake wrapped around her, he was angered and jumped on the snake and killed it. He then killed his wife and cut her up and took her back to her meat back for the children to eat. The children unknowingly ate their mother. The father than told the children to tell their mother when she returned that he went out to fetch meat he had tied up in a tree. The father then left. The younger daughter said that their mother was merely teasing them by not returning and the older daughter then told her not to speak ill of their mother. Then the mother's head came rolling to the daughters and said I am very sorry my daughters have eaten me up. The two daughters, terrified by this sight ran, but the head kept following. Eventually, the elder daughter drew a line in the dirt so the head would not cross. The daughters were then hungry and saw a deer, they merely looked at it and it struck the ground as it had been shot. They then ate the deer. Someone was very kind to the girls and they were well looked after. Two large panther and two large black bears guarded the girls. A starving village had heard of the two girls that had plenty of food and went the them in hope of them sharing. They children welcomed the people in. When all the people had left, only the girl's father remained. Because he had left them, the girls told one of the black bears to kill him, so it did. 
• My Idea: My idea is to change the story to either one of the girl's perspectives or even to the father's. Maybe I could even put the story in the mother's perspective, which would tell us a lot of things we do not know, such as why she called the snake and continued to visit him. Was her husband abusive? What did the paintings he did on her body mean? Was she not happy? Was she the force that protected the girls? Was her absence ever revealed to the girls? There are alot of detail I could fill in in this story.
• Bibliography: Thompson, Sith. Tales of the North American Indian's. Native American Marriage Tales Unit. The Rolling Head. 1929.

Week 10 Story Planning: The Woman Who had a Bear as a Foster-Son

Story: This story is about an old woman who lives near a shore. The house was nearest to the shore, meaning she was a little bit out of town. When the towns people from the town above had been out hunting, they would always bring the old woman meat and blubber. She had always longed for a son and one day, she finally got her wish. Well, sort of. Occasionally, when the townspeople would hunt. they would kill and bring back its meat. One day, they killed a bear that had a cub. The towns people, knowing the old woman was lonely asked her if she wanted a bear cub and she said yes, and she went to get it. When she got the bear he was very cold, so she took him into her home and began to nurse him back to health. The old woman began to care for the little cub as if it was her own child, so much that the bear even slept with her. 

The bear began to grow and as it did, the woman would talk to it and overtime the bear grew the mind of a human being. She even taught the bear to sniff at her when he was hungry. The children of the town would sometimes come to the old woman's house and want the little bear to play with them, and of course he did. Before he left, the old woman would always remind him to sheath his claws, and so he did. As the bear grew, he outgrew the children he was playing with and soon he began to play with adults, but as soon as he grew more, it was no time before he was even too strong for the adults to play with. The adults, knowing how strong he was, decided to start taking him hunting, as he would be an asset.

 Eventually, northern people came across the bear and almost killed him, but the townspeople managed to save him. The townspeople told the old woman that she needed to make some type of marker for the bear, so that other people, from other villages would know him and know that he was tame. The old woman made him a collar of plaited sinews to wear as a marker. After that, the bear continued to hunt and be the best hunter there was, and people of other villages would always let him go when they saw his collar. 

A group of people for a town called Angmagssalik heard of that bear that was not caught and they said that if they saw it, they would kill it. The people advised against this, as the foster mother was old, and they did not know how she would manage without the little bear. The bear had always leaned from the old woman, not to harm a human and treat them as kin. One time during a storm, the bear was away hunting, he did not return until evening and when he did, he nudged at the foster mother’s hand as usual to tell her he was hungry. When the foster mother went outside, she saw the body of a man whom she did not know.  She then began calling to the townspeople. After this, the foster mother realized that the bear better not stay with her, as it was not safe. She regretted this, as he was the son she never had. On the morning the bear was set to leave as she hugged him, she rubbed oil and soot on his side without him knowing. That was the end of the story, but it did say, that people to north saw a large bear with a black mark on its side.

Polar Bear:  Wikipedia

My Ideas: I really liked this story, but it was really sad at the end. I understand why the bear had to leave, but why could the old lady not have just gone with him and let him protect her as she had? I would like to change the ending and let the bear stay with the old lady. Maybe they could move together and take care of one another. They could even go visit the people of the other villages and explain the situation. I also think it would be cool to make the bear talk and put this story in his perspective. It would be a unique to hear his point of view on things. The old lady was the mother to him, as he was the son to her, their bond to each other is so loving, but I want to what the bear thinks. How does he feel about the people since they killed his mother? What about his instinct? Was it not there since he grew up with humans? Why did he not run off? I am almost positive you will be hearing a story from the Bear's perspective. Also, this story did not have very many descriptions. I would like to add descriptions and make it more detailed so people can paint a picture of what is happening and what things look like.

Research:

·       Inuit Myth and Legend: Inuit people throughout the ages have employed oral traditions over time and have known their importance. They started by telling their stories through illustrations and carvings. They have also used songs and dances to better convey the meanings of theses legends and myths. The early tales, as described above, were how the early Inuit’s preserved their history (Houston). The article also said, that the old stories as I described, were sometimes liked to Inuit shamanism. Shamanism is a religious or mystical expert who functioned as a mystical expert, healer, prophecy and custodian of cultural tradition (Smith). Being the native American unit, it makes sense. Most native American’s had tribes and each person had their own role, so it would make sense that there would be a designated person in charge of keeping the cultural going and to keep passing these stories told. Most Inuit myths and legends are about the creation, heavens, birth, love, hunting and sharing food, respect for elders, polygamy, murder, infanticide, incest, death and afterlife. According the article, many Inuit myths have complex meaning that can only be understood by those living in that culture. This article was really neat.

Bibliography:

Rasmussen, Knud. Eskimo Folk-Tales. Eskimo Folktale Unit. The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son. 1921.

Houston, James. Inuit Myth and Legend. The Canadian Encyclopedia. 

Smith, Derek G. Shaman. The Canadian Encyclopedia.

Reading Notes: Eskimo Folk Tales Reading B: The Wife Who Lied

Picture from the story: The Wife Who Lied

Story: Navara, was a woman that came from a tribe of man-eater, but when she grew of age, she was taken by of the tribes that did not eat men to be married. One time, Navara was going to visit her own people. She decided that she would put her mittens of her feet to make her look as though she was not properly cared for by her husband's people. Navara's people felt greatly for her and they agreed to make war against her husband's tribe. They set out to Navara's husbands village and when they arrived, all the men were out hunting, with only the women home. They slaughtered all of the women except three, who escaped through hiding from them.  When all the men came home from hunting, they found all the women dead and stuck on pole with points in them, except for the three that survived. They knew immediately who had done it, since Navara had left previously. The immediately fell into war and went to the other tribe's land. The three woman who had survived worked so furiously to help prepare for war, that their finger bones were exposed. When they finally set out to the enemy tribe, they hid themselves among the rocks, knowing the other tribe would be expecting the. Eventually, because of an old woman's dream, the enemy tribe knew that that Navara's husbands tribe was near, and they all met in a single house to counsel with the spirits. The tribe them surrounded them and took Navara and killed her.
My Ideas: This story is very gory and gave a lot of details about the deaths. Why did Navara lie? Why did she decided to cause war between the two tribes? Did she not want to marry her husband? Was she unhappy? Did she just like her tribes ways better? I feel like there is very little detail about the background information of this story. To retell this, I would fill in the blanks, such as the questions I asked about. Also, I think instead of putting this in all knowing form, it would be good to hear for either one of the survivors of the attack or Navara herself. This would make the story more personal and give us some details about the characters.

Bibliography: Rasmussen, Knud. Eskimo Folk-Tales. Eskimo Folktale Unit. The Wife Who Lied. 1921.