Week 14 Story: The Cloak of a Thousand Furs

Once upon a time, the beloved Queen Aurora and King Philip ruled over a happy kingdom. The people rejoiced when their first child, Prince Adalrico was born and a few years later rejoiced again At the birth of Princess Aurelia.

This happiness could not last, however. Queen Aurora became sick and weak, and on her deathbed, King Philip promised that he would never forget her and would not even marry again unless it was with her unique golden hair.

The kingdom mourned the loss of their queen but soon wished for a new Queen to take on royal duties. King Philip at first was adamant he would not marry, but when his advisers said someone must fulfill the Queenly duties, he remembered his promise to only marry with the unique golden hair of his wife. Reluctant, the advisers searched through the lands for a woman with the same hair as the prior Queen, but none were to be found. This passed on for multiple years and in the meantime the young Prince Philip and Princess Aurelia grew into their teens. When the grieved King Philip met with his children one day, he saw that his daughter Aurelia had inherited her mother's hair and decreed that she must become his bride. Despite the adamant protests of such an abominable act from the royal advisers, the priests, and his children, King Philip was not deterred.

Princess Aurelia understood her father had gone mad. She decided to buy herself time by saying that she would agree to marry her father if he gave her special gifts. Three dresses spun from the light of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, as well as a cloak made from one thousand furs given freely. However, King Philip managed to complete these tasks with the help of the Royal Magicians. In despair, Princess Aurelia was forced to flee into the forests surrounding the castle, only able to grab the three dresses and don the cloak on her shoulders.

Aurelia found a small abandoned house in a rural village and decided to rest there. However, shortly after she arrived, news from her father reached the village. The Mad King claimed that Princess Aurelia had been kidnapped with the help of their prince, who was thrown into the dungeons for his treachery. Any that could find the princess and return her safely would be granted a grand reward, such as a noble title, land, and gold.

And so Aurelia was forced to flee the kingdom and ran for many days through the wilderness into a neighboring kingdom until she, at last, stopped to rest in a hollow tree. A stick poked her awake. It was a royal envoy led by none other than the neighboring King Cedric. Aurelia was asked questions, such as who she was and why she was sleeping in the middle of nowhere.

Aurelia had heard of King Cedric's kindness and wished she could petition him for aid to stop her father and save her brother. However, would King Cedric help her and risk an international conflict or turn her in and be granted a favor. Aurelia knew that the best way to determine one's character is to see how they treat their inferiors. She decided to lie and tell the envoy she had gotten lost on her journey to find work. Out of some intent, more likely pity, Aurelia was hired to work as a kitchenmaid in the palace.

However, the life of a princess did little to prepare her for brunt work. Along with her clumsy attempts to clean the dishes, Aurelia was often scolded for covering the floors with hair from her fur cloak. They become more disapproving when Aurelia was adamant to never take it off. After all, her golden hair was a recognizable trait of her family. When the head kitchen servant petitioned the King to fire her, King Cedric agreed, but not before giving Aurelia another job.

"Your fur cloak is always kept so neat and clean. Why don't you help groom my horse," the king had said.

And so Aurelia began to attend the King's personal steed, with a daily visit from the king. Although the King only stayed for a few minutes, Aurelia took those moments and analyzed the King's true character. Aurelia discovered that King Cedric was as good as the tales claimed, and she resolved to ask him for assistance, not as the servant with the funny cloak, but as Princess Aurelia. And she knew just when to meet with him.

A week-long ball would take place at the castle, which gave Aurelia plenty of time to meet the King. On the first night of the ball, Princess Aurelia donned her sunlight dress. When she entered the hall, heads turned at the golden lady. The crowd part for her and Princess Aurelia made her way to King Cedric. When she asked if they could speak privately, King Cedric asked if they could have a dance first. Aurelia missed her palace life and dancing at balls, so she agreed. The two danced until the night was over, and Aurelia had to return as a servant for the next day of work.

The next night, Aurelia donned the moonlight dress and the night after that the starlight dance. However, each time, Aurelia became so happy to dance with a kind, handsome partner like King Cedric that all of her troubles melted away. However, one the last night, those troubles returned, when she overheard politics at the ball about her father's erratic behavior and the execution of her brother! It was here that Aurelia asked King Cedric to listen to her. However, King Cedric didn't need to be told!

"I apologize, Princess Aurelia, but I already saw through your disguise. Wisps of your golden hair would sometimes fall in front of your face, which is how I recognized you.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was afraid that you would leave. Aside from your excellent company, you sometimes acted like a cornered animal and from the rumors I've heard, I can understand why. A princess wouldn't be working as a servant unless she was afraid of going home. I didn't tell you because I was afraid you would run away and put yourself in danger. Though by the look on your face you have been able to handle yourself this whole time. I apologize for my presumption."

Aurelia and Cedric's conversation continued with a promise from King Cedric to stop Prince Adalrico's execution. With King Cedric's aid, an attack on Aurelia's old home led to the capture of Mad King Philip and the rescue of Prince Adalrico. News of King Philip's madness spread and the people rejoiced when Aldelrico was crowned king. Aurelia stayed in her home country and helped govern but soon she caught herself thinking to kind eyes within a graceful dance partner. King Cedric courted Princess Aurelia for a few years and the two married, living happily ever after.

Author's Notes:

Originally the princess was named Allerleirauh. I decided to change this because I had an idea where only the royal family is allowed to have certain names, such as those meaning "dawn," "gold," etc., which is because of the bloodline's special golden hair trait.

I chose Aurora as the dead queen's namebecause it means "Dawn" and its the name of the goddess of dawn in Roman mythology (though I did hear this name first from Disney's Sleeping Beauty).

Aurelia means "golden" and sometimes "dawn." Both Aurelia and Auroura are named for their golden hair.

Adalrico means noble, powerful and rich.

Cedric means kind and loved.

In the original story, the dying Queen asked her husband to not marry unless he found another woman with the same golden hair she did. I thought this was a strange thing to ask on your deathbed so instead, I decided it would be more interesting if the King had imposed those conditions on himself. Initially, it would mean, I will marry again only if its with you, my Queen," only for the King to twist this intent to marry a woman with the same hair had his prior wife when he has to marry again.

Another change I made was what job the princess had. In the original, the Princess continued to work in the kitchens, but I thought no cook would risk all that animal fur getting into the food. I decided she would work in the stables because animal hair from the horses is already there.

I decided to make the king more of a threat. In the original, the mad king is never mentioned again after the princess flees to another kingdom. I thought, if the people knew the king went mad, they would surely agree that another person should hold the crown. However, I also wanted the princess and neighboring king to get together, which would be difficult if they rule separate kingdoms. For this, I created Aurelia's brother, Adelrico, who would become a king. However, I also thought: Why didn't Adelrico stop his father? I decided to fill this plothole by the King pretending that his son had been killed and that his daughter had been kidnapped and offering a rich reward to anyone who brings her back unharmed. This gives a motivation for the people to find the princess and reason for the princess to flee all the way to another kingdom. This also makes the King a threat so the princess has a motivation to stop him.

Bibliography:

Original Story: "Allerleirauh" from Household Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (1884), translated by Margaret Hunt. Source.

Image Information: Allerleirauh illustration by Otto Ubbelohde. Source.

Week 14 Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm (Hunt), Part B

Snow White and Rose Red Illustration by Herman Vogel. Source.

Original Story: "Snow White and Rose Red" from Household Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (1884), translated by Margaret Hunt. Source.

A poor widow lives in a cottage with her two daughters gentle Snow-White and playful Rose-Red. In front of the house is one white rose bush and one red rose bush.

One evening the two girls were playing and would have an off a cliff if there were not distracted by a beautiful boy in a shining white attire.

Later, one winter evening, a bear shows up at the door and asks to be warmed by the fire. The mother lets him in and the two girls brush the snow out of his fur. The girls like to play with the bear and the bear scolds them when they play too roughly. When the ground thaws, the bear must leave and protect his treasures from greedy dwarfs who were before blocked by the cold hard ground. Snow White thinks she catches a glimpse of gold on the bear.

The long-bearded dwarf is stuck by a tree by his beard trapped. Snow White cuts cut beard free, which only makes the Dwarf angry because he loves his beard. A similar event happens when the dwarf is fishing, only for the fish to be too strong and for his beard to be tangled with the fishing line. The third time with a bird, the girls notice the dwarf has precious jewels.

The fourth time they see the dwarf, their friend the Bear kills him and transforms into a handsome golden prince. Snow White marries the golden prince, and Rose Red marries his brother.

Retelling Ideas:

Shouldn't the girls have been more curious about how their friend the bear has treasures? Wouldn't they think that the mean dwarf they met is one of the evil ones, especially when they see the dwarf has jewels?

What is the beautiful boy who was the second prince?

What if girls keep the dwarf trapped, with Rose Red staying with the dwarf and Snow-white seeing if she can find the bear to tell him about the dwarf?

What if the second prince had more of a story. Either as a cursed animal or as a human who asks the girls to help him find his brother?

I've been calling Snow White and Rose Red girls the whole time so it feels weird that they got married. Maybe age them up or no marriage at all? Maybe they get royal rewards of education?

Week 14 Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm (Hunt), Part A

Allerleirauh illustration by Otto Ubbelohde. Source.

Original Story: "Allerleirauh" from Household Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (1884), translated by Margaret Hunt. Source.

Queen with beautiful golden hair is dying and asks that her husband not marry anyone else unless they have beautiful golden hair like she does.

The people want a Queen to rule over them again, but no noble lady or princess in any kingdom has beautiful golden hair like the queen. Except for the King's daughter who inherited her mother's looks. His advisers are shocked and try to dissuade him from forcing the princess into marriage with him. However, the king had gone mad. The princess came up with impossible challenges for the king to fulfill, such gifts like

"golden as the sun, one as silvery as the moon, and one as bright as the stars; besides this, I wish for a mantle of a thousand different kinds of fur"

However, the King accomplished this and rather than be forced to marry her father, the princess ran away from home, covered her self in soot, and when she was tired, the princess fell asleep in a hollow tree. She apparently ran far enough to go to another kingdom into the royal hunting grounds. The King there sees her and hires her to serve in the castle kitchen out of pity. Different feasts are thrown at the castle, and each night the King sees her in two of the dresses and falls in love with her. Finally, the princess makes the King soup and putting her ring in. This happens multiple times with multiple golden objects but each time the princess says A third ball comes and the princess wears a dress and puts on the coat, the King forces her to reveal her identity.

Retelling Ideas:

The King forces the princess to reveal her identity. Don't include this.

The Princess is dependent on the King because she does not have anywhere else to go besides back home to marry her father. Don't include this.

The Princess decides to enlist foreign aid to overthrow her mad father. The mad father has threatened everyone into silence and killed the seamstresses and most anyone who kno=ew he wanted to marry his daughter. He pretended to be a loving father whose daughter has been kidnapped and offers a reward for her safe return. The Princess knows this is a lie but does not want to hide forever. She decides to keep her disguise as a fur-covered beastly woman to see how the King treats his inferiors. Once she decides he is trustworthy, she petitions for aid. An international council is called and the Princess becomes Queen and her father is put inside an elderly home in hopes he will recover from his insanity.

Week 13 Story: King Arthur Will Not Allow Any Nonsense In His Court

Original Story:  Original Story from King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang. Source.

Author's Note: This week, I really struggled with what kind of story I wanted to rewrite. I thought about having a point-of-view narrative from Arthur's adoptive father, about a land corrupt with slavery and a peasant named Arthur who rises and becomes the wisest king ever known. I thought about making the Sword in the Stone be lifted by a person of pure-heart and not because of bloodline because I believe there should be something more special about a protagonist than who their parent was. However, several rough outlines of these plot points in, I was running out of time. Instead, I decided to try a cometic, light-hearted tone of a King Arthur who will not put up with any nonsense in his court. One of those things being how all his knights abandoned Camelot's people to search for the Holy Graal, which they would never be able to find because of their sins. Another thing was how Merlin knew how the woman he loved, Vivien, would one day kill him, but Merlin does nothing to prevent his own death. In short, people made stupid decisions which caused a lot of chaos to befall Camelot later down the line, so I decided to make King Arthur put a stop to these stupid decisions. This is a very bad rough draft I had no time to polish so PLEASE tell me how you think I can improve it. Thank you!

King Arthur (1903) by Howard Pyle. Source.

_____________

The Holy Graal

For Christmas dinner, the Knights of the Round Table had gathered in the revered halls fo Camelot to toast merrily for their good fortune and good fortune to come. However, the ruckus stilled as a brilliant light filled the halls. There was the Holy Graal, which Jesus had drank from during The Last Supper. A warm feeling filled the hearts of the people near it and felt bereft as the light dimmed and the Holy Graal vanished from sight once more. The ruler of these halls, King Arthur, felt grateful for the miracle and was about to announce for the party to commence when his right-hand-man Sir Lancelot stood.

"My King, forgive me but I ask that you pardon my oath to serve you and Camelot. The high purpose to find the Holy Graal is a calling I shall not ignore!"

To Lancelot's bold degree, all the other knights too proclaimed their wish to search for the Holy Graal.

"No. You are nor pardoned and as knights, you must still fulfill your obligations to me."

"What do you suppose will happen to Camelot if you suddenly leave? Bandits and foreign armies will march in and harm the people we swore to protect. And do you really think any of you are worthy to find the Holy Graal when I can see your own lust for honor through such a quest?'

The knights looked down, ashamed.

King Arthur spoke, "My friends, let us instead enjoy the company we have and should you still wish to go on this quest for the right reasons, train someone to take your place so the land will not be without protection."

The knights agreed.

____________

Merlin's Lover

King Arthur was looking over reports t his desk when his old friend Merlin the Wizard scrambled into the room. However, something was very different about his serious friend. For one thing, Merlin's pupils were heart-shaped which King Arthur was positive was impossible. However, King Arthur had no time to think on the matter further, for Merlin began to speak.

"Oh, Artie! She is just the most wonderful creature I've ever beheld. I just wish we could stay together forever! You know..."

King Arthur blinked. 'Ah, so Merlin is talking about Lady Vivien again, is he? Honestly, who would have thought the old wizard could act like a puppy in love." Something clicked into Arthur's mind.

"Merlin, what did you just say?'

"I said that Vivien is the heart of my body, and that--"

"No, before then."

"Before--oh, you mean how I said that I will gladly accept her face as the last I will ever see?"

"Yes, that. What does that mean?"

"Well, you see, Vivien plans on killing me with a spell that I'm currently teaching her! She's so talented at magic!"

"Merlin, come here real quick."

Merlin walked towards King Arthur and was promptly knocked out by a hit to the head.

Later that evening, Lady Vivien was charged with poisoning Merlin with a love potion and was charged with treason for her plans to weaken he crown by assassinating Merlin.

Week 13 Reading Notes: King Arthur Part B

 Original Story from King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang. Source.

King Arthur (1903) by Howard Pyle. Source.

King Arthur's knights of the round table decided to search for the Holy Grail, which left the kingdom unattended and weakened.

King Arthur took a pilgrimage to St. Augustine and experienced a glimpse of holiness with singing and light. However, Arthur decided to be inspired to become a better man and better king.

The Holy Graal suddenly appears in Camelot's halls briefly. While the King is glad to have experienced a bit of its wonder, all the other knights want to search for it so shirk their duties in order to bring themselves honor. They vow to find it, and vows cannot be broken. King Arthur and the entire court is disheartened that the knights of the Round table are disbanded.

Sir Galahad is a perfect knight. In his quest to obtain a shield, he comes across an Evil dead man who cannot use his powers on Galahad because, "'I see about thee so many angels that my power dare not touch thee."' He is the son of Sir Lancelot and Elaine of Corbenic. (Elaine raped Lancelot by pretending to be his lover Queen Guinevere, also known as King Arthur's WIFE. Sir Galahad was conceived because of foreknowledge of his maternal grandfathert that he would become the greatest knight ever. Yet, Galahad also shirks duties by searching for the holy graal.

Sir Lancelot can not get close to the Holy graal in the old chapel because his sins are heavy and weigh him down. (Sins of worldly adventures for worldly desires. He tries to search for the Holy graal as if it is a worldly thing.) The holy graal heals another old knight.

Seige perlious to be sat by the knight who finds the Holy Graal.

Knight of a King to the Knight of God transition? Earthly, sinful knights are weak compared to heavenly, righteous knights.

Half of the Knights of the Round Table are killed in the Quest for the Holy Graal. Sir Lancelot goes back to Camelot after seeing his son, but Galahad continues the quest.

Galahad had a vision with the Holy Graal and sees much more joy in eternal life in Heaven compared to life on Earth. Galahad becomes prays to go to Heaven already, so he dies.

Morderd, Arthur's son and nephew, plots to kill Arthur. Arthur is wounded, Excalibur is returned to the lake it came from (despite one knight's plans to keep Excalibur for himself). Arthur sails to Avalon to be healed but is as good as dead to the mortal world. Guenevere becomes a nun and reject's any further affair with Lancelot (funny how she respects marital fidelity when her husband is dead compared to when he was alive). Lancelot also dies later. The end.

Retelling Ideas:

Lancelot was tricked into sleeping with Elaine, so how can sucha union be the prophetic conditions for the greatest knight who ever lived. Also, How was Galahad the greatest knight who ever lived if he decided to stop helping people when he was young to go to heaven a few decades earlier?

Kign Arthur tells the knights to care for their people more! Help their fellow men instead of mudering people to find the Holy Graal.

Week 13 Reading Notes: King Arthur Part A

 Original Story from King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang. Source.

King Arthur (1903) by Howard Pyle. Source.

Uther Pendragon was the king but then died. The land fell into chaos over the right to succession, every knight wanted to become the new king. Merlin and the Archbishop revealed the Sword in the Stone in the Great Church. Whoever can pull the sword from the stone is the rightful king of England. However, people (nobles, knights, and other high-born) decided people could win the sword in a tournament. Sir Ector and his son Sir Kay enter the tournament. Except they forgot the sword from the inn so Ector's foster son goes back. However, inn is locked so Arthur decides to get sword from the stone. Arthur learns he is the rightful king of England and that Merlin brought him to Ector's house when he was a baby. Ector didn't know the son of Uther Pendragon lived in his house until that moment.

Except people don't want to except a boy as their king so months pass as knights travel far and wide to pull the sword from the stone. Over time, Arthur is crowned and promises to be a great king for the people. The scabbard has power so Arthur doesn't lose any blood.

Sword of Stone was for birthright. Excalibur from Lady of the Lake is magical and only used by Arthur in a deux es machina moment. Lady of the Lake asks a favor ( that she will not say) in return for excalibur. Arthur accepts.

Merlin visits in disguise and says that his sister's son will be his worst enemy one day.

King Arthur fights against a great knight and almost dies, except Merlin cheats for him so knight loses.

King Arthur asks Merlin for who to marry, he is most infatuated with Guenevere, the daughter of daughter of Leodegrance, King of Cameliard. Cameliard holds the round table, which apparently was a gift from Uther Pendragon. Merlin says if he can not be faithful to Guenevere, he could find other women as beautiful as she is that he could be faithful to. The round table is given as a dowry.

Sir Lancelot is to escort Guenwvere for the wedding preparations.

Merlin falls in love with a maiden (Nimue, Vivien) that he knows will kill her. However, Merlin continues to spend time with her and refuses to change the fate he saw. Merlin teaches Vivien magic, and Vivien buries Merlin alive.

Morgan le Fay is the sister of King Arthur. King Arthur killed a knight she loved and Morgan wantts revenge. She steals the scabbard of excalibur. King Arthur wants to punish her for treason, but almost accepts a gift from her that will kill him.

People decide to find the Holy graal despite Arthur's wishes and the kingdom is neglected in favor of the impossible graal.

Week 12 Story Lab: Crash Course Myth Videos

Crash Course Myth videos. Watch these videos and record your thoughts in a blog post: Overview of Mythology (3 videos, 40 minutes total). These are most useful for the Myth-Folklore class, but I think they can be useful for the Indian Epics class too.

What Is Myth? Crash Course World Mythology #1

This video talked about how due to the age of myths, there is a lot of interpretation. Beyond the multiple versions of myths found, we do not know exactly how a myth was created. Does a myth originate from a twist of truth, are they made up fictional stories for entertainment or to teach a lesson, or were they simply a way to explain natural phenomena? I thought the part of the video that started on the theory of myth was fascinating, and I better understood why our Mythology and Folklore class contains story-telling, as myth from "mythos" means "story." In this class, we are making up our own interpretations of myths as many have done for thousands of years. And myths aren't only old, they are integrated into our societies, such as the "Rags and Riches" example the video provided. The way we use myths in society further explains how we think and how we experience life.

Theories of Myth: Crash Course World Mythology #12

This video talked about how myths have been and are studied. Myths are powerful because of their ability to survive centuries by people believing that their stories are worth passing down. However, not everyone was in agreement. One example this video used was how the criticism of myths has happened for thousands of years, even back in 500 B.C.E. Before I saw this video, I thought everyone in ancient Greece worshipped the Greek pantheon, so I was very surprised to hear that figures such as Plato and Euhemerous disregarded the myths as having any factual truth. Plato called myths another type of lie, which is a connotation that still exists today. Strangely enough, people pretend that they are the most evolved being and that humans in the past were lesser, such as Euhemerous who said people made up myths because they did not have science. However, I thought the field studies (as problematic as its view of a 'primitive' society) told the most about how myths function in society. They teach morals, rules, and beliefs for people to live by. It is really in the context of where the myths are told that tell us more about how they influence us. I thought this was fairly obvious but it didn't occur to me how mythology was affecting history. The connections found between languages created modern mythology of the Aryan people, who, despite having no evidence of existence, created a gateway for superiority thought that fueled Nazi propaganda. This made me think of the modern mythologies we take for granted in our own lives. The internet is a tool that doesn't discriminate with information allowed on it. Such as the following:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34568674

The above is a link to a story of a model who did work for a plastic surgery advertisement. However, people made up a false story behind the photos the model was a part of, and soon the model, Ms. Yeh, had a lot of trouble finding work because of the rumors surrounding her. The moral of the story: Think carefully and critically about what you read before you hit "Post."

The Hero's Journey and the Monomyth: Crash Course World Mythology #25

The main idea this video focused on was that a hero is someone that answers the call to journey from home and undergoes many deadly trials. During this process, the hero surpasses their mentor or gains the approval of their mentor. Once all their challenges are complete, the hero returns home or continues to ascend from humanity. In either case, the hero gained hard-earned peace. Throughout this description of "The Hero's Journey," the hero is put in parallel to ourselves. We all want to find our place in the world, and the hero's trials can act as analogies to the struggles in our everyday lives.

Then "The Hero's Journey" continued past just going home because they need to be accepted again into the community. It reminded me of"The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien. One of the lines was about how people who go on adventures may not come back and if they do they will not be the same. This was seen in Bilbo Baggins as he became a social outcast of the shire because of his adventure. I thought about how my own adventure was going, and I remembered coming home for the first time as a college student. Everything was both familiar and strange because I had grown as a person and the people back home had done some growing without me.

That's it for my Story Lab. Here is a personal photo of a sunrise.

Week 12 Reading Notes: Beowulf Part B

Original Story: "The Story of Beowulf" by Strafford Riggs. Source.

Beowulf resolved to stay awake, but Grendel's strange magic causes him to drift halfway into unconsciousness. However, as the other warriors completely fell asleep, Beowulf broke free of the spell

Grendel has trunk legs and milk-colored eyes. Shaped like a man but somehow disfigured that you can never describe him as human.

Grendel succeeds in killing and eating one soldier and takes the metaphor of grind your bone to dust much too seriously.

Meanwhile, Beowulf was struck with fear and could not move at the sight of Grendel. However, the sight of Grendel eating Honscio forces him to action. Grendel and Beowulf wrestle and by the end, Beowulf has torn Grendel's arm off. Grendel flees and the lords in the drinking hall wake up. The people rejoice and Grendel's arm is shown in front of everyone. However, Grendel's mother steals the arm back. Unferth, who insulted Beowulf and did not believe he could kill Grendel now gives Beowulf Hrunting, a magic sword. Beowulf assembles a company and sends off but he decides to go into the monster cave of Grendel's mother alone. On the way down, Beowulf battles jellyfish and a one-hundred-armed monster.

Grendel's Mother has hissing snakes for hair. Beowulf tries to use Hrunting but Grendel's mother has magic of her own that overpowers it. Beowulf ends up killing Grendel's mother with an old blade. Beowulf burns Grendel and his mother in a fire. Grendel was in the scene the whole time, but seemingly dead. Beowulf returns to the surface but most of the men gave up on his survival and left. Only his close company remained and when they saw the water at the entrance to the cave turned red, they feared it was Beowulf's blood. However, Beowulf comes and everyone is happy.

Retelling Ideas:

What if Unferth did not defend his people because he was secretly working with Grendel all along. He pretends to support Beowulf and give him a so-called magic sword that he knew would be ineffective against Grendel's mother.

Grendel's Mother is Medusa from Greek mythology.

Grendel is an old murderer who was cursed to be as monstrous outside as he was inside.

What if Beowulf did not freeze when he saw Grendel eating a person. What id Beowulf killed Grendel with his bare hands as he wanted to?

Illustration of Grendel by J. R. Skelton Found in Stories of Beowulf (1908) by H. E. Marshall. Source.

Week 12 Reading Notes: Beowulf, Part A

Original Story: "The Story of Beowulf" by Strafford Riggs. Source.

Illustration of Grendel by J. R. Skelton Found in Stories of Beowulf (1908) by H. E. Marshall. Source.

Hygelac is the King of Geatsland and his Queen is Hygd, the Wise and Fair.

Clans fought wars, and monsters roamed the land. Somehow, minstrels who traveled avoided the monsters. Overall, the monsters stuck to their own lairs. When the fearsome warlords of the land gathered in their home, they behaved as any other people with family, friends, and dogs. They would tell stories and dream or boast of their adventures.

Beowulf is Hydelac's nephew who learned how to do war and set sail. Beowulf became incredibly strong, so much that he could not control his strength. The other boys laughed at his inability to handle a weapon but were actually very jealous of him.

After some time, Beowulf sits near the King and some people complain. One "ancient warrior" says that Beowulf is destined for greatness. Meanwhile, Beowulf is upset because he is too old to kill young dragons and his Uncle doesn't rage a war.

A Wanderer Minstral appears and sings many songs, one of which about the monster Gretel who stole into the drinking hall, Heorot, which belongs to Hrothgar, the King of the Danes. Grendel has attacked for twelve years so far and must be stopped. Beowulf is eager to prove himself and so volunteers to kill Grendel with his bare hands. The people who once scorned Beowulf now cheer for him.

Retelling Ideas:

Beowulf was isolated from others because of his very strength. You would think that this strength would cause admiration but it did not. What if Beowulf was isolated for another reason?

Grendel has defeated many warriors over the years. What if someone other than a warrior were to defeat Grendel?

Minstrels can go through monster-ridden lands. What if they had special techniques to slay monsters. Except no one accepted their advice because their career is not that of a warrior, so how would they be an expert in killing? Or assasination methods of minstrels are not honorable. Think minstrels as assassins, spies, able to spread information in a spy network.

Beowulf was weak and tried hard to become a warrior. He meets a minstrel and this becomes his inspiration to become one himself. Beowulf then knows techniques on how to kill monsters-via assasination methods and not direct combat.

Except, Beowulf only lives with his uncle because of his strength. Change this to Beowulf's parents were killed by monsters and Hygelan took Beowulf in as his nearest kin.

Week 11 Story: The Teamwork of Coyote and Raven

Photo of Raven by Greg Schechter. Source.

Photo of Coyote by Yathin S Krishnappa. Source.

Raven was perched on the Old Tree, searching for his friend Coyote. The two planned to meet up. Except Coyote was late. When Coyote did arrive, his ears were drooped. Coyote didn't even try to eat the snow that fell through the sky.
Coyote flopped onto the ground, and after a moment, Coyote's looked up to Raven.

"I don't think the people like the Dark and Cold," Coyote stated as if that sentence made any sense at all.

"Okay, I'll bite. What's 'Dark' and 'Cold'?"

"The Old Ones told me that this world we live in is Dark and Cold, and the people are unable to see, eat, or live well. I learned of something called 'Light' and 'Warm' which would better suit the people. My neighbor Old Chief has a box of Light, but he refused to share it with me. And I do not know where to find Warm."

"If you want to know where Warm is, I can help."

Coyote's ears perked, and the next moment Raven had a full view of Coyote's eager face very reminiscent of a pup's.

Raven, of course, preened at the attention. "I happen to know that Warm comes from fire, which you can get from the nearby Fire People. However, they live in hidden areas, and the only sign of them is from their smoke, which blends with Dark. We would need to make to obtain Light from Old Chiefs box first."

"But I already told you, he won't share it. And his security is really good. I tried stealing the box for hours but didn't get close."

"We'll just have to trick him into opening it then, won't we." At Raven's mischievous twinkle in his eyes, Coyote felt a thrill. "I love tricks!"

Coyote and Raven then came up with a plan. Coyote visited every animal he knew, which was all of them. The Flyers, the Climbers, the Swimmers, the Runners, and the Diggers all assembled outside Old Chief's house.

The animals began to sing, "Light, Light, Light" over and over again, each with a unique tune and tempo. Their music's power summoned Light, which quickly began to envelop the sky. However, before the Light passed on to the Old Chief's home, the man himself came out and shouted, "Let it not be!"

The Old Chief's strength restored the Dark sky. However, the animals were not deterred and continued to sing "Light, Light, Light" through the night. Over time, the Old Chief grew tired from the ruckus at his door and in his weariness, shouted, "Let it be—Light!"

With this mistake, Old Chief unlocked the box containing Light, and Light enveloped the world.

As Light fully enveloped the world, Raven's sharp eyes caught a glimpse of a dark cloud, from none other than the Fire People's smoke. Raven traveled to the Fire People's lands and returned with a lit torch.

And so it was Light and Warm for a long time with the gifts from Raven and Coyote. However, some animals, such as Grizzly Bear, soon wished for Dark and cold to return. These animals began to sing for Dark and Cold to return, while the rest sang with Coyote and Raven to keep the world Light and Warm forever. However, the tremendous amount of singing later tired out the animals, and they decided to compromise.

If you wish to know the results, hear this ancient rhyme: "Dark" became "Night" and "Light" became "Day. The turns of "Cold" and "Warm" is how the Seasons were made.

Author's Note:

Excerpts from Myths and Legends of British North America by Katharine Berry Judson (1917). Source.

Creation of light. Source.

An old chief owned every bit of light, fire, and water and refused to share it. The animal people of the time gathered outside the old chief's tepee and began to try to create their own light by singing and dancing. Because of this, light began to show but the old chief banished the light again. However, after the animals sang more, the old chief became distracted at the noise level until he accidentally summoned light. Since then, people have had access to light.

Grizzly Bear and Coyote. Source.

Grizzly Bear did not like that nighttime was very short and wanted to make it night all the time. Coyote fought against this idea as people need light. They each began to sing a song. Grizzly Bear sang about how it would always be darkness, and Coyote sang about how it would always be light. The louder song then controlled whether it was light or dark. However, they both got tired and decided to make half the time light and half the time dark. This is how the cycle of day and night was made.

Later on, Grizzly Bear wanted very long winters while Coyote knew all-time winter would hurt people. Instead, Grizzly bear decided to want as many moons of winter as feathers in a Blue Grouse tail. Coyote suggested that they instead do half the number of feathers, but Grizzly Bear did not want this. Coyote suggested they instead do half the number of feathers in Flicker's tail to determine the number of moons in winter. Grizzly Bear agreed because he thought Flicker had a lot of tail feathers. This is how the seasons were made.

Origin of Light and Fire. Source.

Sea Gull owned all the light in the world, and Raven wanted to share light with the people. Ravel tricked Sea Gull into releasing the light. Raven used the light to find out where the fire was and trade for it so the people could have fire.

For my retelling, I combined these three stories. I tried to give Coyote and Raven distinct personalities. Raven is more mocking, confident, and a loner compared to the loyal, people-person Coyote.

Week 11 Reading Notes British North America, Part B

Excerpts from Myths and Legends of British North America by Katharine Berry Judson (1917). Source.

Photo of Coyote by Yathin S Krishnappa. Source.

Coyote's Gifts. Source.

Coyote's house fire creates the aurora borealis.
Coyote rolls over and creates cold wind.
Coyote traveled around the country and shaped the land in his whimsical way.
Coyote also created each tribe's unique language.
Coyote can shapeshift

Coyote and the Salmon. Source.

Coyote decides to throw a feast and invites everyone over so they will think Coyote is amazing with his generousity, cooking skills. and party skills. However, all the cooked salmon came to life again and they escaped, including the oil! The people went home and Coyote's party was ruined. Later a very long winter came along and Coyote stayed inside. However, it turns out that the salmon had kept the outside around Coyote's house in a winter appearance so Coyote had stayed inside until summertime.

Retelling Ideas:

Combine the two stories above. Coyote knew that the winter was especially long, yet he did not go outside to check if something was wrong.

Coyote could use his powers to shape the world to make it always nice outside his home, but why doesn't he?

How did the salmon come to life again? Why did Coyote cook them if the Salmon were intelligent enough to get revenge on Coyote?

How did the salmon change the weather around Coyote's house?

What if the salmon were magic and that is why Coyote wanted to use them as his main dish?
What if the people laughed at Coyote for failing to catch the fish so Coyote was mocked and not respected?

What if Coyote disguised himself as a Salmon to catch them again and pay them back for making it winter outside his home?

Week 11 Reading Notes: British North America Part A

Excerpts from Myths and Legends of British North America by Katharine Berry Judson (1917). Source.

Creation of light. Source.

An old chief owned every bit of light, fire, and water and refused to share it. The animal people of the time gathered outside the old chief's tepee and began to try to create their own light by singing and dancing. Because of this, light began to show but the old chief banished the light again. However, after the animals sang more, the old chief became distracted at the noise level until he accidentally summoned light. Since then, people have had access to light.

Grizzly Bear and Coyote. Source.

Grizzly Bear did not like that nighttime was very short and wanted to make it night all the time. Coyote fought against this idea as people need light. They each began to sing a song. Grizzly Bear sang about how it would always be darkness, and Coyote sang about how it would always be light. The louder song then controlled whether it was light or dark. However, they both got tired and decided to make half the time light and half the time dark. This is how the cycle of day and night was made.
Later on, Grizzly Bear wanted very long winters while Coyote knew all-time winter would hurt people. Instead, Grizzly bear decided to want as many moons of winter as feathers in a Blue Grouse tail. Coyote suggested that they instead do half the number of feathers, but Grizzly Bear did not want this. Coyote suggested they instead do half the number of feathers in Flicker's tail to determine the number of moons in winter. Grizzly Bear agreed because he thought Flicker had a lot of tail feathers. This is how the seasons were made.

Origin of Light and Fire. Source.

Sea Gull owned all the light in the world, and Raven wanted to share light with the people. Ravel tricked Sea Gull into releasing the light. Raven used the light to find out where the fire was and trade for it so the people could have fire.

Retelling Ideas:

Combine all three stories above. Coyote and Raven notice that the people struggle with endless darkness and winter, and decide to bring them light, fire, and spring. Coyote and Raven decide to work together. Raven can flow around the world to find fire but it's hidden to only the smoke can be detected. Light needs to come first so Raven can see the smoke. Coyote has the neighbor Old Chief who has hoarded add the light. The two assemble the animals to sing and dance so the Old Chief is distracted and accidentally releases the light. Raven can then find the fire. Some animals such as the Grizzly Bear don't like that winter and darkness is no longer endless and tries to bring them back. Coyote has endurance and competes with Grizzly bear for the day and night cycle to begin. Grizzly Bear still wants to make as many moons as in the feathers of a bird. Raven flies and spots the Flicker and together Grizzly bear is tricked so there are only six moons of winter in a year. The people are happier.

Photo of Coyote by Yathin S Krishnappa. Source.

Photo of Raven by Greg Schechter. Source.

Week 10 Lab: More TED Talks

The Human Brain. Source.

Copyright is Brain Damage by Nina Paley. Source.

Paley's TED Talk covers how copyright has many detriments, including preventing the flow of culture, no additional benefits to the actual creator, etc. Overall, Paley calls herself a copyright abolitionist because any change in the laws and legislation would occur well after a human lifetime. I disagreed with a lot of Paley's talk. One of her arguments is that as copyright is traded between corporations and that the creator does not really benefit from copyright. Paley even mentions that copyright has not earned her any more money.

I argue that copyright allows creators to earn money in the first place. Yes, copyright is traded between corporations, but the reasons corporations own the copyright in the first place is because the original creator benefited from giving them rights to their art. Without money as an incentive, corporations would not be invested in art for the advertisement and production of it. In addition to this point, who would buy art such as a film when they could easily obtain a free version online. The level of consumers would drop of art was allowed to be shared everywhere, so what monetary value would it have.

And as much as people don't like to think about it, money is deeply involved in art. Aside from the money used to gather supplies to create the art, there is an upkeep cost as well. Overtime, mediums of art such paint degrade over time by chemical reactions with the air. The job is delicate enough for specialists to be required to reverse these reactions so the art retains its beauty. If no one pays to see the art, how can museums pay to conserve the art.

I agree that copyright laws are incredibly absurd, but the complete abolition that Paley describes sounds more harmful than anything else. Piracy is not a victimless crime, yet Paley says that people should use whatever art inspires them, no matter the license they fall under. If people did as Paley suggests and ignore copyright, aside from the legal consequences, the corporations would take a blow. If you do not think this is a loss, I would like to remind that a corporation may have strict businessmen on top but the people under them are just trying to make a living. If corporations lose profit, thousands of people could lose their jobs.

Another point Paley makes is that her art becomes lesser with a copyright filter, and she is correct. The work she created without the copyright material would have less substance. However, why did Paley want to use copyright source in the first place for her film's score. There are plenty of young artists who would greatly appreciate the chance to create a score, yet Paley is insistent on using already well-known art. Paley claims copyright hinders culture, but doesn't it play a part for opportunities for new artists to make their mark? I say that the use of copyrighted materials allows new ideas to spread and if after the copyright period of time a piece is still a classic, then it has made a large enough cultural impact to be worth using for the rest of time.



A New Theory of Human Intelligence by Scott Barry Kaufman. Source.

This TED talk focused on the story of a man who was rejected into a program because of his early test scores. Instead, he joins the university under another major and transfers into his preferred department. He started out as someone diagnosed as mentally impaired to getting accepted into Yale for graduate school. He describes how schools focus on past scores rather than the professional and innovative people that students want to become. 

I thought the points in this TED talk were incredibly obvious. My generation is fully aware of the problems of the American school system and attempts to improve it. For example, the No Child Left Behind legislation was made to penalize school districts with students with bad scores and reward school districts with good scores. However, if a student was doing badly in school, how could reduced resources help them improve? Changes to the SAT in recent years, such as the reduced emphasis on vocabulary are an improvement, but the SAT still has such a rigid structure that allows no leeway. 

Some students are easily confused by how a question is worded but they can describe a chemical process or historical event with a teacher's fluency. However, these students do worse on the SAT because the test is mainly multiple choice.

Another point is that when I took the ACT, there were questions about how to fix a single sentence. Except, I thought the whole sentence sounded unnatural. I would have rewritten the whole paragraph, but this was not in options A through D.

The one point from Kaufman that I agree most-whole heartedly with is that we need to treat unique traits of a student as co-abilities, not disabilities. I wholeheartedly agree with this. People diagnosed with some mental impairment are so often treated as lesser and it breaks my heart to hear or see any of it. As a premed, I get most riled up by idiots saying that vaccines cause autism. First of all, no they do not. Secondly, would you really rather have your own child die from debilitating diseases than have an autistic child. People with mental disorders such as autism still live perfectly normal lives.

Most of the time, we don't know a person is autistic unless they tell us they are. The reason for this is that autistic people may have difficulties but they can adjust as any other person. The same goes for any person with low test scores in their early life. People change over time and, as Kaufman said, should be allowed to live outside the scores other people assign to them. 

Week 10 Reading Notes: Alaskan Legends, Part B

"The Land of the Dead" from Myths and Legends of Alaska told by Native Storytellers and edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911). Source.

A young woman died. Her dead grandfather's spirit woke the young woman up from ger casket. The young woman travels to an alternate plane where a town of the dead replaces her living village. In the village of the dead, another woman raises a stick to our protagonist, and the grandfather explains it's to show what a dog feels like when you chase it off. Another man is stuck to the ground, with grass growing out of his body because he ate grass stems when he was alive. Soon the young woman meets her dead grandmother, who offers water and deer meat that comes from the offerings to the young woman's funeral service.

Retelling Ideas:

The young woman meets her family, and it is a happy reunion. Dying is unpleasant, but being dead is good when loved ones surround you.

Or maybe the young woman gets her just desserts like the man who ate grass stems only for his body to grow grass.

"The Ghost Land" from Myths and Legends of Alaska told by Native Storytellers and edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911). Source.

A young widower walks through the forest for a while and walks along a trail. The man stops at a rock at the edge of a lake. Then the man sees people on the other side of the lake and calls out to them, but they do not answer. Eventually, someone does hear him and brings him to a strange town across the lake. This town is the ghost land where the dead live. Man sees his deceased wife. If the man eats the food, he can never return to the land of the living. The man and his wife return to the living world, but the wife is only a shade. The wife returns, and eventually, the man dies too, and they are reunited.

Retelling Ideas:

The man is reluctant to leave because he misses his wife. However, the man realizes that one day, his time will too come to a few decades apart is nothing compared to an eternity together.

The Aurora Borealis shines above Bear Lake in Alaska by Joshua Strang. Source.

Week 10 Reading Notes: Alaskan Legends, Part A

The first human grew from a beach plea plant and, after a few days, came out of the pea pod as a full-grown adult. Man wandered along the beach and experienced strange sensations like hunger and thirst that he learned were relieved when he drank and ate. Raven discovered the wandering human and is curious about what Man is.

Raven learns that Man came from the peapod of Raven's creation. Raven realizes that he unknowingly created Man and decides to help Man learn how to live.

The world adjusts to Man's presence as Raven creates and moves animals for Man's needs. For some animals, Raven does not want Man to kill them, so places them out of Man's reach. For other animals, Raven multiples them so man can eat. Raven is still worried that Man will overeat, so he creates predators such as the bear to ward Man off.

Over time, Raven sees Man is lonely even if Man does not know what alone means. Raven carves clay and creates Woman to be a companion for Man.

Raven returns back to pea pod and sees that more men grew from it. Raven leads them into different directions and teaches them how to live with their respective lands and animals.

Retelling ideas:

Retell from Raven's perspective of a new parent who just discovered they created mankind without trying to. Perhaps Man accidentally almost hurts himself a lot because he is still ignorant of the world. These shenanigans cause Raven to want to pluck all his feathers out in aggravation and worry.

Retell from the abstract perspective of Man with descriptions of when he feels his stomach rumble for the first time or feels a weight in his chest from loneliness. Here also have almost accidents such as trying to eat a poisonous mushroom.

A mix of both perspectives could be useful, just make sure the transitions are clear.

Bibliography: Excerpt from "The Raven Myth" pulled from Myths and Legends of Alaska told by Native Storytellers and edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911). Source.

Photo of the Common Raven by David Iliff, License: CC BY-SA 3.0. Source.

Week 9 Story: The Lord Bag of Rice (Now on My Portfolio)

Once upon a time, there lived a small, close-knit village. Although the people did not have much, they were happy. However, a famine struck the community. The crops did not grow, and the hunting prey disappeared. As the elders discussed possible solutions, the food supply continued to dwindle. Finally, one researcher came across a legend that the Dragon King of the Lake would grant a favor to a human, for a price. In desperation, the village sent its most skilled hunter, Fujiwara Hidesato, to bargain with the Dragon King.
Hidesato traveled a grand distance until he came across the lake depicted in the legend.

Hidesato called out, "Oh majestic Dragon King of the Lake, I am Fujiwara Hidesato, and I've come to bargain with you."

The lake stood still.

Hidesato's heart trembled. "What if the legend was wrong. Without the Dragon King, how will our village survive?" But, to his amazement, the water began to ripple, and a great shape rose from its depths. The Dragon King of the Lake was far more fantastical than Hidesato had imagined. His silver scales rippled as silk in the daylight, and its horns were with silver scales and pearly teeth. However, these traits were not purely ornamental. Hidesato noted many scratches throughout the Dragon King's natural armor.

"Greetings Hidesato. I am the Dragon King of the Lake. Of what would you wish to bargain?'

"A terrible famine has struck my village, we ask for a solution."

"I can offer a solution. What do you offer in return?"

"What do you want?"

"A foolish question. I could have demanded a price to steep for you to pay. Aside from your lackluster bargaining skills, do you have skill with that bow in your possession."

"Yes. I am the strongest hunter in my village."

"Well then, Hunter Hidesato. Here is your bargain. A great centipede from the nearby mountain has made a habit of attacking my family every night. If you kill him, I will save your village."

"Deal."

Hidesato decided to stay by the dragon and waited until night fell.

As the Dragon King described, once night fell, a monstrous centipede appeared and charged towards the lake. Hidesato took his bow and struck an arrow into the middle of the centipede's forehead. However, Hidesato's skill was for naught as the arrow bounced harmlessly off the centipede. Hidesato's heart jumped when the centipede decided to focus its attention on Hideasto. As the centipede began to charge towards Hideasto, Hidesato, in turn, shot at one joint in the centipede, but the arrow still bounced itself off. The centipede was coming in close, so Hidesato fled. This became a pattern as the centipede chased Hidesato while Hidesato ran and shot at the centipede in as many places he could think of. Each arrow met its target but failed to damage. At this point, Hidesato had only one arrow left.

"This isn't working! What do I do," Hidesato thought. "What will it take to bring down this centipede? A centipede?" A new idea inspired Hidesato's mind, and so Hidesato placed the final arrow tip in his mouth and-

As sudden swipe crashed into Hidesato. "When did the centipede get here? Where're my weapons?" Hidesato's bow and arrow were crushed under the centipede, whose odious face leaned in closer to Hidesato.

"I can't die here, I won't," with this determination, Hidesato spat right into the centipede's face before it began to shriek. Hidesato ran from under the centipede that fell and became still. Hidesato rolled over the centipede's body and retrieved his bow, now cracked in two.

The Dragon King was pleased at Hidesato's completion of his task. "I heard the centipede's shriek. How did you manage to defeat it with a broken bow?"

"I remembered that human saliva was deadly to a centipede. I didn't know if the giant centipede would be affected, but I thought it was worth a try."

"A reckless strategy, but worthy of receiving praise for its effectiveness."

"So, you will stop the famine."

"I do not have to power to make the land fertile again. However, I do have a solution." The Dragon King held out a clawed fist and opened it. In his hand was a bag that contained one bag of rice, one roll of silk, and a bronze bell.

"Do not be alarmed at their ordinary appearance. These items are exceptional. The bag of rice will always be full, no matter how much you take out of it. Likewise, the roll of silk is endless. With these gifts, I would like you to help your people as you have helped mine. But beware, many will envy you for your wealth. Should you need me, you can call for aid with the bronze bell, and I swear help will come"

With the Dragon King's favor, Hidesato returned home to his village. Hidesato used the bag of rice and the roll of silk to feed his people. Over time, the town grew, and all who lived in it lived prosperously. Although such wealth often makes targets for bandits, rumors quickly spread that dragons attacked any who would harm the land. Fujiwara Hidesato's story grew and overtime, he became known as The Lord Bag of Rice.


Author's Note:

In the original story, Fujiwara Hidesato was traveling and came across a lake which belongs to the Dragon King. The Dragon King asks Fujiwara Hidesato to kill the mountain centipede, which attacks the Dragon King's family. The Dragon King asks Fujiwara Hidesato to help because he was not scared to see the dragon. Fujiwara Hidesato promises to help. The centipede comes every night, so Fujiwara Hidesato waits for the next attack. Hidesato's arrows bounce off the centipede. Hidesato remembers that human saliva is deadly to centipedes and licks an arrow before releasing it. The Dragon king throws a feast to celebrate, and when Hidesato wants to leave, the Dragon King gives him gifts. Hidesato reluctantly accepts the rewards, which include an ordinary bell, a neverending bag of rice, an infinitely long roll of silk, and a cooking pot that makes everything taste delicious. Hidesato returns home and becomes very rich and later is known as the Lord Bag of Rice.

For my retelling, I wanted to expand on the reason why Hidesato was traveling. I also wanted to make the Dragon King's gifts more meaningful. The original Hidesato was wealthy enough to have servants and was not in lack of rice or silk. Also, I wanted Hidesato not to encounter the Dragon King by chance.

From this, I recreated Hidesato to be a poor hunter. I decided to make Hidesato a hunter so he would still use a bow. I created a famine, which would cause food to be scarce and would give Hidesato a motivation to visit the Dragon King for help. Hidesato saved the Dragon King's family, so I wanted the Dragon King's gifts to have the effect of saving Hidesato's family. I could not find a way to include the cooking pot, so I left it out. The original story's bronze bell was ordinary, which I thought was lackluster compared to the other gifts. I made it so the bronze bell could call the Dragon King, so this one event would stretch out over the ages.

The Dragon King and his family also served a second purpose. One question I had was about the economic implications of endless rice and silk on the market, along with people who might want to steal from Hidesato. I decided dragons made an excellent crime deterrent and that everyone else would live happily ever after.


Bibliography:

"My Lord Bag of Rice" Excerpt from Japanese Fairy Tales (1905) by Yei Theodora Ozaki, Profusely Illustrated by Japanese Artists. Source.

Image Information: Photo of Lago Nahuel Huapi. Source.

Week 9 Reading: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki), Part B

"The Ogre of Rashomon" Excerpt from Japanese Fairy Tales (1905) by Yei Theodora Ozaki. Source.

Illustration from Japanese Fairy Tales (1905) by Yei Theodora Ozaki

At the Rashomon gate of Kyoto, an Ogre is said to kidnap people and eat them. The people live terrified. Nearby is a general Raiko who once defeated many ogres. His knights hear about the ogre of Rashomon and are offended because their master was said to have made the ogres extinct. One knight named Watanabe volunteers to check on the gate, just in case. He comes across the ogre and cuts one arm off. Watanabe is worried that the still alive ogre will return for his arm. One night, his old nursemaid visits and asks to see the ogre's arm. Watanabe agrees and the nursemaid reveals herself to actually be the ogre, who runs off his the arm. The ogre escapes but never attacks again from fear of Watanabe.

Retelling Ideas:

What if the ogre is actually very nice and brings people to magical restaurants humans need an escort too. A traveler hears about the ogre taking people out to eat, but without knowing the context, assumes the ogre kills people then eats them. Watanabe sees the ogre and attacks blindly. Later Watanabe and the Ogre become allies to end Human-Ogre racism.

Week 9 Reading: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki), Part A

"My Lord Bag of Rice" Excerpt from Japanese Fairy Tales (1905) by Yei Theodora Ozaki, Profusely Illustrated by Japanese Artists. Source.

Illustration from Japanese Fairy Tales (1905) by Yei Theodora Ozaki

Fujiwara Hidesato was traveling and came across a lake which belongs to the Dragon King. The Dragon King transforms to look human and asks Fujiwara Hidesato to kill the centipede on the mountain because the centipede kills of the dragon's family one by one. The Dragon King asks Fujiwara Hidesato to help because he was not scared to see the dragon. Fujiwara Hidesato promises to help. The centipede comes every night, so Fujiwara Hidesato waits for the next attack. The centipede appears but Hidesato's arrows bounce of the centipede. Hidesato remembers that human saliva is deadly to centipedes and licks an arrow before releasing it. The Dragon king throws a feast to celebrate and when Hidesato wants to leave, the Dragon King gives him gifts. Hidesato reluctantly accepts the gifts.

The gifts are:
An ordinary bell
A neverending bag of rice.
An infinitely long roll of silk.
A cooking pot that makes everything taste delicious.

With the gifts, Hidesato returns home and becomes very rich and became known as My Lord Bag of Rice.

Retelling Ideas:

Why doesn't Hidesato want to accept the gifts?

What if Hidesato's bow becomes broken and Hidesato's only choice is to run-up to the centipede and lick it directly.

What if Hidesato ends world hunger with the bag of rice.

What if the endless bag of rice and silk roll wreck the economy or causes other countries to declare war?

What id the bell had powers to summon powerful beings to aid Hidesato?

What if a war does occur and Hidesato uses the bell to save his country?

Week 8 Progress

I'm pretty happy with how my story writing has been. I'm especially proud of the progress with my Cupid and Psyche, Girl and the Basilisk and Alladin Prequel retellings. The assignments I most enjoy for this class are the readings as they go by pretty quickly. I find the writing task most fulfilling, but it is a painful process to get the right words out.

I've used the extra credit opportunities a couple of times, but I find it hard to find the motivation to do it. I have a constant amount of required work for my other classes, so I feel that I need to focus on those other assignments instead. At first, my weekly routine was according to the daily due dates but with one week ahead. However, with midterm preparation, I don't complete this class's assignments until Friday or Saturday.

The blog and website creation process in this class was tricky to handle at first, but now I'm very comfortable with posting and changing content on both of them. I'm pleased with how my blog and website look.

Looking forward, I want to manage my time better with studying, so I don't cram all this class's assignments. For some week, I want to retell a story with an alternate setting to add more of my creativity instead of just changes plot points of the original story.

Personal Photo of Puppies Rosie (Sitting) and Rebel (Stretching).

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

Image (3/19/17) from the Feedback Cats Page

I chose this image because I've learned that each time a person revises their story, it becomes harder to see problems because they are too familiar with their story and in what they want to convey. Because of this, external feedback is useful because it shows a person where they need to elaborate and clarify the story for fresh eyes.

The feedback I've been receiving has varied. The most helpful feedback I've received have been the ones with questions asking about plot holes or for extra details. It's useful for me to know what parts of my writing grabbed readers' attention and where I need to clarify my story. Other times, the feedback I've received has been very positive, where the reviewer doesn't see anything that needs to change. They describe ways my storytelling was good with broad descriptions. However, this is also not very helpful as I don't know what I did precisely that was good storytelling to them.

I feel that I've given good feedback to my classmates. When I liked a specific writing technique, I brought a particular sentence that was particularly enjoyable, and I tried to explain why I thought that sentence improved the writing. When I found something confusing or wanted to know more details, I asked questions, which I know was the most helpful feedback I received.

While looking through stories, I've noticed storytelling styles, such as a journal or letter format that I later used in one of my own stories. I also saw some alternate universe stories that I am interested in trying out for a future writing assignment.

While reading people's blogs, I do feel like I know more about the person behind the writing. When I looked back at my introduction, I thought it was too formal compared to what others did. However, the comments for my introduction show that they understood the part of myself I was trying to get across, so I am more comfortable with it.

Something that I've noticed more with writing experience is that it's harder to revise every time you go back to it. One reason for this is that as the author, you have all the background information in your head, so you don't realize when you need to clarify that information in a story. I've tried to help others with this problem by adding questions and bringing up specific quotes in my feedback.Through looking through my given feedback, I've seen improvement in a lot of improvement. One goal I have is to become specific with every feedback assignment, no matter the length.

Week 8 Reading and Writing

I looked back over the theme for my blog, and I didn't really like how light the words were compared to the page. I adjusted it, and I'm happy with my blog. I'm pretty proud of how nice my project website looks. I italicized the author's note and bibliography so people could see the beginning and end of the story more clearly.

My reading assignments work great for me and I don't have any trouble coming up with ideas for my retelling without the need to reread the source material. The writing for this class has been a breeze on some weeks but other times I have the right idea, but I can't make the words flow. I've changed my strategy to finish the reading early so I have time to go through the writing process over multiple days. So far, my favorite reading is "Arabian Nights" Unit. I had such a hard time deciding what part of the story I wanted to retell because it inspired so many ideas. Both Arabian Nights and Cupid and Psyche readings have allowed me to create my favorite retellings of this class so far. 

I'm Finished, so here's a Fin

Basking Shark, off the Isle of Skye by Photographer Antony Stanley. Source.

Week 7 Story: Diary of the Monkey King's Teacher

Author’s Note:

This story is based on “The Monkey King,” which tells the adventures of Sun Wu Kung. I wanted to retell the story from the perspective of Sun Wu Kung’s spirit teacher, The Discerner. Due to the number of time gaps, I decided a diary format would work best.

Many elements are the same between the original and my retelling. The Discerner gives a lecture to his class when Sun Wu Kung jumps up in joy at understanding the lesson. The Discerner offers additional lessons for Sun Wu Kung, and he agrees very eagerly. However, Sun Wu Kung rejects any teaching once he realizes that they will not give immortality to him. The Discerner whacks Sun Wu Kung on the head three times and storms off to his chambers.

From this point, the original story has The Discerner give Sun Wu Kung a coded message to visit him in three nights to learn the secret of immortality. Sun Wu Kung follows the message, and The Discerner is impressed that Sun Wu Kung understood the message, and he decides to teach him the way to immortality. Sun Wu Kung must face more dangers, so The Discerner teaches him skills like transformation and flight. Later, Sun Wu Kung shows off to classmates bu turning into a pine tree and The Discerner sends him away for it. Sun Wu Kung is ordered not to mention he was a student of The Discerner.

In my retelling, I changed it, so there was no coded message. Instead, The Discerner ends up very relieved that he made Sun Wu Kung promise not to mention that he was a student, so the forces of the Heavens wouldn’t point at him.

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Dear Diary,

Today a new student appeared during my meditation. I heard crackling sounds so disturbing that I could no longer continue. I asked one of my students to see what the racket was outside. The noise-maker turned out to be an ape, eating pine cones by the entrance. When he came in, he didn’t introduce himself because he didn’t have a name. Well, being the generous being that I am, I decided to name him Sun Wu Kung.

Dear Diary,

Seven years have passed since Sun Wu Kung’s arrival, and honestly, I had almost forgotten him. I received a sharp reminder when I witnessed Sun Wu Kung’s spectacle this morning. I was presenting a lecture when all of a sudden Sun Wu Kung began to jump up and dance! I scolded him profusely until Sun Wu Kung cut me off to tell me that he fully understood the lecture. As the gracious being that I am, I offered to teach Sun Wu Kung more about The Great Truth so that he could express his excitement out of class. At first, Sun Wu Kung was eager to agree to any lessons, until he found out that they would give immortality to him. From there, Sun Wu Kung refused to learn anything.

I am ashamed to admit that I hit Sun Wu Kung thrice before I stormed off to my chambers. The audacity of that ape! I’m immortal, but I didn’t remove The Great Truth from my life. I even teach it to others because of its value, yet Sun Wu Kung rejects any worth in my teachings if they do not lead to eternal life. The nerve of it! Anyone would jump at the chance to learn the slightest knowledge from me, yet when I offered Sun Wu Kung extra lessons, he insulted me to blatantly to my face. As a teacher, I know I should be calm with unruly students, but Sun Wu Kung is testing the ends of my patience. I need to meditate until I can be reasonable around that unruly ape again.

Dear Diary,

It’s been three days since Sun Wu Kung rejected my teachings and just as I was about to head to bed, Sun Wu Kung entered my chambers and announced he is waiting to receive the secret to immortality. I told him I would do no such thing, but Sun Wu Kung was adamant that I had, in the most convoluted logic I have ever seen. Sun Wu Kung said that when I whacked him three times in the head then stormed off, I told Sun Wu Kung in a secret message that after three nights I would reveal the secret of immortality to him in my chambers.

I realized that Sun Wu Kung is beyond reason and would not leave me alone until I taught him the way to immortality. Like I would do that! Instead, I taught Sun Wu Kung other skills, such as transformation magic and how to travel via clouds. I may or may not have pretended that these were the secrets to immortality. When he realizes the truth of the situation, he will hopefully see the value in skills that have no link to immortality.

Dear Diary,

I thought I had finally learned a way to tame Sun Wu Kung’s wild spirit, but I see that it has only spread to my other students! I heard loud laughter and found the source to be a group of students laughing at a pine tree, who was Sun Wu Kung transformed. I taught Sun Wu Kung to teach him a valuable lesson in life, yet this is the thanks I get. One thing is sure. Sun Wu Kung can no longer stay. However, if word got out that I had such a wild student, my reputation would plummet. I need to think.

Dear Diary,

After a night of deep contemplation, I sent Sun Wu Kung away! I told Sun Wu Kung that if others learned that he was my pupil, that he would be in grave danger. From that, Sun Wu Kung swore to secrecy and went back to wherever he came from. In the process, Sun Wu Kung thanked me! I should be thanking him! Thank you, Sun Wu Kung, for leaving my life, and may you never come again.

Dear Diary,

I heard rumors about some upstart calling himself “The Great Saint,” but I never paid much attention to them. But then, I learned The Great Saint is an ape who could be none other than Sun Wu Kung! 

There is a mountain of misdeeds, such as stealing the elixir of life, erasing the mortality of his ape family, stealing weapons, etc. The Lord of the Heavens attempted to arrest him, but Sun Wu Kung had evaded arrest multiple times. Finally, they trapped him with the help of Buddha. But for all the horrendous deeds, I have not heard anything about who his teacher was. Which means I’m safe! I’m so glad I told Sun Wu Kung not to mention his connection to me. To think, I was only worried about being a laughing stock in front of the other teachers, but the Lord of the Heavens could have beheaded me for teaching such a troublemaker.

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Bibliography: 

"The Monkey King" from The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921). Source.

Image Information: The Monkey King by Yoshitoshi. Source.