Essay - Italian Fairy Tales

For my LAST unit, I chose to read Italian Fairy Tales. This was a great unit to end on. It was full of fun stories that I really wasn't expecting. I had a lot of fun reading these stories that had humor, personality, resilience, and emotion. Each story had its own power and story. My favorite story from the unit was called Water and Salt. It was about a king who asked his three daughters to tell him how much they loved him. When one of the daughters told him he loved him as much as water and salt the king was furious and told his guards to kill her. The guards ended up not killing her, but a goat instead and covered up her story. The girl was rescued by a magician and fell in love by another prince. They threw a party and invited all the kings to come. The daughter told her maids not to give the king any water or salt. He could barely eat his food and then the girl said now you know what I meant. The king couldn't believe it.

This was an awesome class and I'm really glad I got to enjoy so many great readings. This was a great unit to end on and I would suggest it to anyone looking for an easy and fun read. The best thing about these stories is the opportunity to learn about so many different cultures. These Italian fairy tales are a prime example. They are great stories that I had never heard of before, but loved anyway.

Have some extra time on your hand? Go check it out!

That's a wrap!

Essay - Europa

This unit on Europa is one for the record books. I loved reading it! I have had the privilege to read Joseph Jacobs before and he never disappoints. The coolest part of this unit is the fact that there are a lot of familiar stories that are retold. They are mixed and matched and really do a great job of providing a new style and freshness for the reader.

I thought most of the stories were pretty easy to read and had a nice tone to them. I would definitely recommend this unit to others and I know they would enjoy it just like me. Like I mentioned in my reading diary, one of my favorite stories was Beauty and the Beast. It is just a great story that I have admired for quite sometime now. Joseph Jacobs did a great job rewriting this famous story and gave it a cool twist.

The unit really isn;t too long in its entirety. I really wasn't sure what to expect when choosing this unit to read so I didn't have a ton of expectations. I chose it because of the author and the interesting summary of it. I am beyond happy with my choice though. With only one more week of reading, I am glad I chose to read this unit. It was good to end on a positive note and read from such a good author.

It has been cool to see the different reading styles over the course of the semester. I have had the opportunity to read bits and pieces of just about everything and this was a good finale to it all. It is kind of sad to see it coming to an end, but these readings will stick with me. I have learned so much and I would encourage anyone to do the same readings too!

Beauty and the Beast

Essay - Nursery Rhymes

This past week, I had the opportunity to read old nursery rhymes from the British Isles. It was a blast from the past and I was so happy that I got to go back and read some of my favorite childhood stories. The unit was pretty unique because it was full of different types of nursery rhymes. For example, the first unit had riddles and songs and various other types of stories, while the second-half of the unit had jingles and classic rhymes.

What made this unit so cool was the different types of familiarity in the stories. I knew several of the stories in the unit, but I had never heard of most of them. After reading so many big stories throughout this semester, it was good to have a change of pace. My goal was to have a better understanding of readings from different cultures, and I think this unit helped get me closer toward that goal. Not only was it a fun read, but it also brought me closer to see how the European culture stories are told from generation to generation.

There were good overall notes for this campaign and I don't believe any more need to be added. I remember seeing this unit last week and I purposely chose to save it for this week to end on a good note. I wasn't let down. This unit was an easy read that had a ton to offer. If you are looking for some nostalgic classics, I would recommend checking some of these stories out for yourself.

Of course, my favorite story was Humpty Dumpty. I was pumped when I saw that story in the readings, because it was one of my favorites growing up! I can remember my baby sitters saying that rhyme to me and imagining a giant egg witty on a wall. It is such a small story, but is always so good to read.

Humpty Dumpty

Essay: Celtic Stories

I wasn't really sure what to expect when I chose to read this unit on More Celtic Stories. I'm glad I chose to read this unit, because it was a lot of fun! There were a lot of different types of stories that all had certain characteristics and personalities. I thought the wiring was uniques because there were different types of words that gave the reader a Celtic feel. Of the unit, I wrote about a couple of stories that were my favorite in my Reading Diary.

One story was about a man who had never dreamed before. When he finally was able to have a dream, it was absolutely insane! Crazy things happened and he did;t want to have another dram again. My favorite story from the entire unit was about a farmer. He was having a bad year and lost his family and his workers. He needed help plowing his crops, but couldn't find any workers. When a man looking for work stumbled upon him, they agreed the man would plow the crops if her could take whatever he could hold in one trip. They agreed and the man plowed all of the farmers crops by himself. The farmer was thrilled until the plow man took all of his crops. He ended up losing the crops from his barrel and couldn't fool the farmer. The farmer was grateful for the work and was able to keep his farm going.

I wrote a story based of this in my Storybook. Instead of a plowman, I used a leprechaun. If you are looking for a mediocre read, go check it out!

I'm enjoying this theme of stories this week, and excited to choose another unit next week with the same theme. I'd encourage others to read this unit and to read it in an Irish accent. It makes it a lot more fun ;).

Celtic Stone.

Essay: Cherokee Stories

I really enjoyed reading this unit on Cherokee Stories. There was a lot of good insight into the Cherokee culture as well as some really cool stories. I thought the stories kept the reader interested and were very unique. Most of the stories involved animals. These animals had giant personalities and brought a lot of character into each story. Some stories talk about things on earth and where they came from. For example a story about where the moon came from or where strawberries came from.

My favorite story involved the tobacco plant. The setting of the story was when the world was first created and there was only one tobacco plant of the earth. In the story, animals and humans took turns smoking the tobacco until some dangerous geese stole it. When an old woman is about to die because she no longer has tobacco, the animals come together to try and get the plant back. After failure time and time again, a little hummingbird wants to try and get it. The humming bird is so fast that he successfully get the plant and brings it back to the sick old woman. She smokes the tobacco and is healthy again. Happy endings are always the best!

I thought the style of the writing was pretty cool in these stories. It was traditional and made the reader get a good feel for the setting. There are not a lot of notes for these stories, but they aren't really needed. The stories themselves provide enough detail and insight for the reader to understand what is going on.

I enjoyed reading these stories because I took Cherokee as my foreign language for two years in college. It is a very cool and interesting culture that played a significant role in Oklahoma history. I haven't taken Cherokee since last year, so it was good to get to read more stories from the Cherokee again. I would suggest this unit to other students in the course as well!

Tobacco Plant.

Photo Cred: PixGood

Storytelling for Week 9: The Magical Plant

Long, long ago there was a magical plant that hid in the South American Rain Forest. The plant was said to be magical because it broke language barriers between people and animals. Every day, each tribe of natives who knew about the plant and each animal of the rain forest would take a whiff of the plant’s beautiful scent and could talk to the other species for the next 24 hours.

Because the plant allowed for humans and animals to communicate, the rain forest was in perfect unity. Both humans and animals helped each other and provided for each other’s needs. They were happy and thankful for the plant’s magical power.

On one late night, a tribe from outside the rain forest swept through the rain forest and discovered the magical plant. They decided the plant was too peculiar to just pass by, so they dug it up and took it with them. Little did the tribe know that they had taken the single piece of the rain forest holding the entire community in unison. The tribe carried the magical plant with them back to the their home and displayed the plant for all to see.

Early the next morning, the early risers of the rain forest and noticed the plant was missing when they went for their morning whiff of magical powers. Terror arose throughout the community and the humans and animals went into a panic. The people plotted their revenge in stealing the plant back. They received a tip from the guy on night watch. He had noticed a large group of men traveling through the forest. He gave the general direction he believed he saw these men going.

The animals also began a separate plan to repossess the magical plant. The night owl had noticed a large group of men leaving to the West the night before. The next morning the animals and the men went to find the plant. Soon after reaching the edge of the forest, they noticed a small village filled with people and animals all speaking to one another. The tribe knew they had stolen the plant because they now had the powers the tribe once possessed. The animals sent in their slyest fox and the people sent in the quietest man in the tribe. The two watched each other’s back without speaking and retook the magical plant. The tribe all received a whiff of the plant and rejoiced that they could finally communicate with each other once again.

Once the tribe returned to their home, all the people and animals were overjoyed to have their powers back from the magical plant. They threw a massive party to commemorate their victory. The plant was safe in the forest among the animals and the tribe forever. To this day, an animal and a member from the tribe will watch over this plant day and night to make sure it is never taken away from them again. Through the plant’s magical powers, the tribe and animals will live peacefully together, forever.

The magical plant.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story is based on an old Cherokee myth called How They Brought Back Tobacco. In the story, animals and humans love the single tobacco plant and use it to smoke. When geese take the plant away, the animals and humans can no longer enjoy its use and an older woman almost dies without it. Finally, a hummingbird steals the plant back and allows the woman to gain her health back.

I wanted to change the story up, but keep the same overall plot. I took a few semesters of Cherokee so I had a lot of fun reading this unit and writing this story. In the original story, an old lady almost dies because she can't receive the magical powers from the plant. That is so crazy! That is why I love reading these Cherokee myths, because they are so unusual. Each story provides something new and fun for the reader.

I think the coolest part of the stories in this unit is the fact that they each bring a background for something. Like this story shares the origin of the tobacco plant. Other stories talk about way animals are the way they are or other similar examples. I had fun writing this story and I hope you enjoy it!

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Title: Myths of the Cherokee

Author: James Mooney 

Year: 1900

Essay: South African Folktales

This past week I read the unit on South African Folktales. This unit was similar to what I read last week from Nigerian Folktales, but definitely had its own uniqueness to it. The folktales included great, in-depth stories that continued throughout the entire unit. Many of the same characters were seen throughout the unit and surprise endings (to me at least) always made the stories much more interesting.

Each of the stories were super easy reads and very easy to understand. I would almost think some of these stories were for children until I read some of the dark endings. For example, in my Reading Diary B I talked about a story I read called Jackal and the Monkey. In the story, the sleazy Jackal tricks the monkey into a trap and leaves him to die for the Jackal’s crime.

The first story I pointed out in Reading Diary A was probably my favorite story. It had a lot of interesting features and kept me entertained. I thought it was clever and original and was a story that I could see being passed down from generation to generation in the South African culture.  The story was a about a monkey with a bow and arrow and a fiddle. When he was falsely accused and sent to court for lying about his bow and arrow, he played his fiddle and all the animals couldn’t stop dancing. They were so exhausted that they begged the monkey to stop and he could have whatever he wanted, even be king of the forest. The monkey simply wanted his bow and arrow back and his wish was granted. All the other animals left the area in fear he would play his fiddle again.

I really enjoyed this unit overall, and I would encourage others to read from South African Folktales.

Map of South Africa.

Photo Cred: CDC

Essay - Nigerian Folktales

This week, I read from two separate units. On Monday, I read from the Japanese Mythology unit, but I decided to switch things up on Tuesday and read from Nigerian Folktales. I thought I was going to really joy the unit over Japanese Mythology, but I got really bored with it and when I began reading the second half of the unit I found it very hard to understand. The stories were written in modern English, but they used words and names from their ancient myths that I was unfamiliar with. I decided to take a shot at Nigerian Folktales and see what it was all about.

I’m glad I did! The unit offered a lot of bizarre stories about animals and creatures. It was pretty easy to follow and understand, too. I wrote about a specific story from the unit in Reading Diary B about a leopardand a walking fish. I thought the story was already interesting enough when it talked about a walking fish, but I was really taken back when the plot twists and the fish has an affair with the leopard’s beautiful wife. How weird is that? A walking fish has an affair with his leopard, best friend’s wife. It was a good story and was a great folktale to explain why fish can no longer walk and must remain in the water. The story explains that the fish’s punishment for his affair was no longer being able to walk or breathe on land.

I only read the first half of this unit, but I would like to go back and rad the second half at some point because I really enjoyed it. I feel like most kids would enjoy some of these stories in this unit as well because they use animals to tell the stories!

The walking fish.

Photo Cred: Louis Dietvorst

Essay: Persian Fairy Tales

This past week, I read the Persian Fairy Tales unit. I really didn’t know what to expect when I chose to read this, but I saw that there were good notes to accompany the reading and so I figured I would give it a shot…and I am really glad I did! This was a great unity that included various fairy tales from the Persian culture. It was interesting to hear fairy tales from a different culture and find some similarities and differences between American fairy tales. Some of the fairy tales I read in this unit were quite bizarre, but that made it even more fun to read.

I wrote about my two favorite stories in the reading diaries from earlier this week. One included a story about a goat family and a wolf. I compared the story to Little Red Riding Hood and wrote a new story in my Storytelling blog based from this story.

My other favorite story from this unit was about a shepherd that saw his friend’s soul in the form of a firefly. This story had a lot of symbolism and had a great storyline. In the end, the shepherd found a lost treasure because of a dream of his friend. I had never heard a fairy tale like this one before, so it made it very interesting for me to read.

Overall, I really enjoyed this unit and thought it brought a great perspective to learn from the Persian culture. After reading more serious stories the past few weeks, I liked having the opportunity to read some light-hearted stories that were sometimes even funny!

I thought there were good notes to give some background to these stories and add to the way these stories were given. I hope next weeks stories are as enjoyable as this unit was!

The Shepherd who found a treasure.

Photo Cred: DLTK