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.