Extra Reading Diary: Tales from Congo

The following extra reading diary from the unit called Tales from Congo

How The Wives Restored Their Husbands To Life: I think this was a nice change of pace from the Jamaican stories I read earlier this week. The premise of this story was a little odd, but so much easier to understand that the other stories I read this week. I liked the dialogue in this story because it made the pace of the story a little faster. 

The Vanishing Wife: This story is about two brothers that lived in the same town. One of the brothers was mean and cruel to others.To escape the wrath of his oldest brother, the younger brother escaped in the woods. Eventually, he met a beautiful woman and other magical creatures in the forest. I really liked this story it was fun and interesting. 

The Jealous Wife: This was kind of a terrifying story. I was not really prepared to read something like this on a Friday morning.  Either way I think it was an interesting story. The detail and imagery in the story really captured my attention.  

Congo Women

Storytelling Week 7: Anansi the Lazy

Anansi started his job at the market seeping floors. It was all they had available and Anansi was in no situation to be picky. After one full day at work, Anansi had done an average job at cleaning the market. He was giving his pay at closing time and promised to come back the next morning. With the money he had earned he bought a Pig. The Pig was small and was the cheapest available. Anansi crossed the stream on his way home with his Pig trailing behind him. The Pig stopped before crossing the bridge. Anansi predicted the Pig was scared by the sound of the rushing river. Anansi would not put the Pig under his arm because it was dirty, nor would he pay anyone to do it for him. Anansi was lazy and broke.

Anansi saw a Pig running across a field near by and called for it. He asked the Dog to bit the Pig, so that it would move across the bridge. Anansi was tried and wanted to go home and rest his feet. Instead of doing what Anansi asked of him, the Dog watched as Anansi convinced others to do his work for him. 

Anansi told the Stick to hit the Dog so that it may bit the Pig to have it cross over the bridge. The Stick said no and waited and watched with the Dog. Again, Anansi begged Fire to light the Stick so the Stick could hit the Dog and so the Dog would bit the Pig to have it cross over the bridge. Just like the others the Fire said no, and took its place next to the Stick. Anansi called to the Water rushing under the bridge to put out the Fire so that the Fire would burn the Stick and the Stick would hit the Dog so the Dog would bit the Pig and the Pig would cross the bridge. Again, like the others the Water said no and continued its way down stream. 

Anansi was growing tried of asking and his temper began to flair up. He wanted one simple task to be done. He asked a Cow, a Butcher, Rope, Grease, and a Rat. All of whom said no. A black Cat was watching all of this happen near the south bank of the bridge. The Cat interjected into Anansi's conversation and said he would kill the Rat. With this each of the former subjects agreed to do as Anansi wished. The Cat killed the Rat, the Rat eat the Grease, the Grease greased the Rope, the Rope hung the Butcher, the Butcher killed the Cow, the Cow drank the Water, the Water set out the Fire, the Fire burned the Stick, the Stick hit the Dog, the Dog bit the Pig and the Pig ran across the bridge.

Black Cat

Anansi made it through the day with minimal effort and maximum reward. 

Author's Note: Honestly, I felt pretty uninspired to write this story. I don't think I did the best job of making it my own. I think when I go back and revise I will add something a little more magical to make it my own. Anyway, the story is a retelling of Anansi and the Pig Coming from Market. I originally like this story from this unit because it was an interesting concept. Anansi had been set up as a fool is all the other stories, but in the one he actually gets what he wants.

Bibliography: Anansi and the Pig from Market, Jamaica Anansi Stories, Martha Warren Beckwith, 1924

Reading Diary B: Jamaica Anasi Stories

Yay! More Jamaica Anansi Stories!

Guinea-Chick and Horse: These are more stories around Anansi. In the first story she declared a law. He basically falls into his own trap and dies at the end of the story. It's really strange. The second story tells about the relationship between a goat and a horse. And, just like the first story Anansi gets into a pickle with the goat. Moral of these stories, is that Anansi is not the smartest man. 

Goat and Horse

Jamaica: Rain and Fire: I like these combined short stories. I think it would be cool to possibly combined and merge the two stories into one storytelling exercises. The first story is about Anansi, the Goat and a helpful Dog. The Goat, of course, possesses magical powers because why not! The second story is about Anansi and his new wife, Ground-Dove. 

Anansi and The Pig Coming from Market: This is a familiar sounding story! I already like this story because it is not written in the Jamaican slang, like the others were. This story really expands on Anansi's selfish and stupid nature. He is very greedy and tries to get everything for free. Not cool Anansi, not cool.

Reading Diary: Jamaican Stories Unit

I decided to read the Jamaica Anasi Stories this week!

Tying Tiger: I like the layout of theses stories so far! They are shorter and have a bit of dialogue, which I like. Once I started really reading it, I realized that the spelling of the story is supposed to sound like a stereotypical Jamaican accent. I really didn't like this, and I couldn't really understand why it was necessary. The story is basically about a bunch of animals going to each other's houses. It's really strand, and kind of hard to read.

Brer Tiger
(Blogspot)

The Gub-Gub Peas: This is an interesting story. There is a boy who cannot read bring a letter from his master everyday to a woman who read it out loud. The letter is usually in profacy of some sort that is in relation to the peas that grow in the crops.and then end of the story the two main characters in counter a lion. 

Tiger's Breakfast and Tiger's Bone-Hole: I think I liked this story collection the most out of the ones I have read so far. There are two stories the first one, has a lot of diagolue between the characters, which I really like. The second one, we learned more about the family who we met in one of the first stories. I liked it because I felt like I was building a relationship with some of the characters. at the end of the second story there is a personal testimony from the author. I think it was really cool to look at the origin of the story itself"  

Famous Last Words for Week 6

I was playing catch up this week after a weekend full of snow, slow WiFi and job interviews. Chicago was amazing and cold and fun. Unfortunately, I got a little behind on my assignments because of some last minute prep work. So, for this week I knew I wanted to get a head of the game and stay on top of the assignments for this week. We have a huge career fair type thing for advertising and public relations majors this week called Top Jobs. It's really exciting, but also a little nerve wrecking because I need a job!

Sunny, but freezing day in Chicago
(Personal Photo)

Anyway, I really enjoyed writing my storytelling assignment for this week. I extended one of the stories I had read from the Japanese Mythology unit. I based the story around a strong female character, who was really fun to write and detail her life out a little more than the original story did. It was so much easier to write than other stories and made the time go by really quickly. I had a lot of fun writing it. For the next assignment I want to try writing a story around a song I like. It was something I saw on Pinterest and thought it would be a new creative way to write a story.

My other class are going really well. I am in a student advertising competition called NSAC, and it is keeping me pretty busy. Our client is Pizza Hut and it has been really great, but all I think about is pizza. It's not doing great things for my diet. But, I'm having a lot of fun and learning a bunch along the way. As I was researching some of the Japanese Mythological names, I noticed that a lot of Pokemon character, which was pretty awesome! It's really cool to see old and new cultures merge like that.

Anyway, I'm all caught up for this week and it feels great! Just gotta keep the winning streak going!

Extra Reading Diary: Chinese Fairy Tales

For my extra reading diary this week I chose to read stories from Folklore of Laos. I pretty much just randomly picked this unit!

A Child of The Woods: I like how this story was written in first person. It's a big change from the other stories I was read thus far. This story is about a princess who flees into the woods. She falls asleep only to wake up to the breath of a tiger near her neck. The tiger watched her sleep and the princess laid unafraid. When she awoke she left without the tiger by her side and continued throughout the forest. Every night in the woods the tiger sat by her side and guarded her. When she no longer felt hate for the people in her village she returned.

The Mountain Spirits and the Stone Mortars: Again, I like this story because of spirits who lived in the mountain.The spirit of the mountain become angry when the people of the village below to not accept their boulders with gratitude. The village people had two options, pay for the heavy boulders or find away to return them to the mountain. They had no choice but to pay for them. That is why now, there are random boulders in the valley of the village. I really like stories like this that make up the origin of something like rocks from the Earth.

Plain of Jars
(Trip Advisor)

All in all I really liked this unit! The stories kept a more interesting pace and I really liked all of the origin stories.

Week 6 Storytelling: Amaterasu's Strength

Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess and daughter of Izanami and Izanagi, was in her room playing the music of the Earth Children and looking out of her window. She was alone after her mother and father had been away handling the devious deeds of her brother the Moon God. He was sinister and angry; life withered under his feet. Mood God was not an Earth Child like Amaterasu. He was an Immortal God and on the high council. Amaterasu wanted the Immortal and Earth Gods to live in harmony, as they were all created by the original mother and father, Izanami and Izanagi.

Amaterasu
(Wikipedia)

Amaterasu waited patiently for her parents to return. As she was settling down to sleep, she heard a knock at her door. It was her father. He looked at her with a face of regret and sadness. He stumbled into her room. Grabbing her by the hand, he led her to the edge of the bed. 

He whispered to her, "She's gone. She was taken from me. From us." 

His voice shook and he began to weep. She begged her father for details, but he was numb from emotion and could not speak. Amaterasu put the pieces together and went straight to the source.

She arrived at Moon God's dungeon, the entrance to the underworld. The grass and all signs of life had wilted away, lifeless on the cold ground. She called out his name. She heard an echo of soft laughing inside the dungeon. She walked closer into the darkness and eventually was engulfed in black. She heard the moaning of her mother and ran towards the sound. The Moon God suddenly appeared by Amaterasu's side, but she was not startled by his presence. After all, Moon God was her brother. They were both created out of love by Izanami and Izanagi.

"Why do you do this, brother?" she asked softly.

"I do this for the power, sister! I do this so others will bow down to me. I do this because I can," he demanded.

Amaterasu was not shocked by his response. Instead, she looked around the dungeon, searching for some kind of way to pry her mother out of the underworld. Then she remembered what her sister Tsukushi said to her when she was young about family. 

"No matter what, your family will help you always. No matter what, they will be at your side." Amaterasu heard the voice trailing off in the distance.

A great light shone across the dungeon from the entrance, illuminating all things. Out of the light appeared her family -- both Immortal and Earth Gods and Goddesses. Together they stood in a circle, chanting, increasing their power to bring Izanami out of the underworld and restore her to her original form. Mood God was left defenseless. No matter how hard he tried, he was still family, and family would alway be by each other's side. The Moon God's powers that put Izanami into the underworld were the same ones that brought her out of the underworld.

Once Izanami was rescued, the Immortal and Earth Gods rejoiced and shared a great feast together. Moon God felt defeated and as a punishment, Izanami sentenced Moon God to watch over the underworld for eternity, never to step foot on the lush beauty on the Earth.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story is a really cool creation story read in the Japanese Mythology Unit. The story is about the beginning of the world, and each of the gods and goddess created are parts of the world and islands. Yamato, who is the Flowery Isle of the Dragon-fly, is an example. The story ends with the entrapment of Izanami. I changed the ending so that Izanagi didn't have eternal sadness because he wasn't able to save Izanami from the underworld. I read a little more about this story online, and I found out that there is a similar story in Greek Mythology.

This was a fun story to write. I think working with the creation aspect was more interesting and helped my write the story more quickly. The character of Amaterasu was so easy to write. She is such a strong woman and because she was the favorite of Izanami and Izanagi, I wanted for her to live up to the expectations. I think connecting the Immortal and Earth Gods and Goddesses was a good way to create a metaphor; no matter what our background we should all get along.  Also branching off of the beautiful imagery in the original story, Izanami and Izanagi, I think I was able to bring the story to life. 

Bibliography: Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917)

Week 6: Reading Diary B: Japanese Mythology

More Japanese Mythology!

The Labors of Yamato: The Grotto of Love: I like this story for its more spooky feel. I think the description of the wind and light set the scene in a cool way that makes the reader feel like they are there. I think the relationship between Yamato and the goddess is really interesting and creepy.

The Labors of Yamato: The Sacred Sword: I just really enjoyed this whole series of Yamato's love life.  The prose in this last story especially, set the tone and out look for the whole story. I really love the reading these stories because the language paints the most beautiful scenery and sets the scene up so well.

The Faery Robe: I love the fairy details in this story. I think it sets up a really whimsical and light tone. Again, the rhythmical structure of the prose makes the story read fast and is so interesting to read. Using Mount Fuji as the background to the story is really great and makes me really want to go to Japan.

Mount Fuji
(The Telegraph)

Week 6 Reading Diary A: Japanese Mythology

I chose to read about Japanese Mythology because dragons, mainly for the dragons. I'll be pretty disappointed if there is a lack of dragons.

Izanagi and Izanami: At first I really like how the proverb style, prose works really well to set up the stories background and foreshadows the story. I love the idea of this Floating Bridge, it's so romantic and sets the scene. There are also a lot of cool names for stuff, like Goddess of the Clouds and Pillar of Earth. It just makes everything sound so cool. This is also, kind of a tragic love story between the couple.

Izanagi and Izanami
(Pintrest)

The Miraculous Mirror: I like the really short descriptive nature of this story. It alludes to so much history and present many more gods and goddesses, like in the last story. The story continues to expanded upon the rivalry between the brother and sister, but in a way unlike the other European story tellings.

The Heaven-Descended: Again, I think the prose style makes the beginning of the story so much more interesting. Maybe I should try it for my storytelling. I think that it sets the tone up really well when the prose are woven throughout the story. I liked this story a lot it had a nice peaceful quality with it, especially with Princess Tree Blossom and Nathless Ninigi.

Comment Wall-Porfolio

Leave me words to read.

Storytelling Week 5: Earth and Fire

Earth, Wind and Fire are the cousins of Sun, Moon and Wind. Sun and Moon were cursed, while Wind was given a blessing by her mother. After hearing of this strange news Earth and Fire traveled home to hear the story from their parents point of view. Earth and Fire were greeted with open arms by their mother and father since, they had been gone so long. Earth and Fire constantly traveled around the world together creating new worlds and helping destroy old ones. Earth and Fire were given a blessing by the great god, Nature, to do the work of his word.

When Earth and Fire returned home, they shared a great feast with their mother and father. They siblings told them about their adventures, the new world they had seen prosper and the old worlds they had destroyed. They did not feel bad for the worlds they destroyed, partly because they had no say in the matter because they were doing the work of the Nature god. Also, because many of the worlds were filled with bad, unholy people. Often, the old worlds would grow even more prosperous after a great fire!

Elements
(Pintrest) 

While the family ate, Earth and Fire could not hold back their curiosity and asked about the dinner with Sun, Moon and Wind at the first sign of silence in the conversation. The parents began to tell the story...

The night the three sisters arrive, the mother and father laid out a beautiful meal with the finest food and wine from the region. The spent all day preparing and making the meal, cleaning the home and arranging flowers. They were excited to see the sisters because they had not seen them for so long. When the heard a knock at the door, it was Moons smiling face they saw. Behind her traipsed in Wind and Sun complaining about the long journey to the house. After, some small talk the five sat down to enjoy the dinner. Moon, mother and father continued making conversation about their village back home, Moon's mother and other topic of inquiry. Sun and Wind's eyes never left their plate and only chimed in to complain about what was happening at home or anything else they disagreed with. The mother and father felt very uncomfortable with the way they were acting, but focused most of their attention on Moon. The conversation was drifting off and the night had grown cold and dark. The mother and father suggested the three sisters hurry home before it got any later in the night. But, before they Moon asked the mother and father for any leftover food that she could bring to her mother. Of course, they obliged and sent Moon home with a basket full of food. As they expected, Sun and Moon didn't say thank you before they left.

"And, that's the last we heard from them. Until, we heard from their mother."



AUTHORS NOTE: This is a story influence by the Indian Fairy Tale The Sun, Moon and Wind. I really liked the personification of the different nature things, so I decided to tell the story from a different perspective but still keeping it in the family.

Reading Diary B: Indian Fairy Tales

More Indian Fairy Tales YAY!

The Talkative Tortoise: This looks a little familiar from the seconds week readings! The plot is essentially the same from The Tortoise and the Ducks in Aesop (Winter) storytellings. I think i may like this telling better because there is more dialogue and more perspective in the story. It also continues the story after the tortoise falls an breaks his shell. The end of the story almost seems like an origin story for why the King was a man of few words. After realizing what brought forth the turtles demise, he spoke few words, only when needed. 

The Gold Giving Serpent:  I think this is a great story about the evils of greed and would make a really interesting re-storytelling with a modern twist. I also like that way the story flows and has a really nice pace and sequence of events. 

Why the Fish Laughed: A queen is laughed at by a fish and it not too happy with the fish. The King is mad his wife it upset and sends a man to find the laughing fish. A string of strange events happening. The ending to this story is a little confusing and I had to read it through a few time to clearly understand the point it was trying to make. Anyway... look how cute this little fishy is!

Smiling Fish
(Amazing Creatures)

How Sun, Moon and Wind Went Out to Dinner:  First off, cutest title ever.  I really like stories with personified objects. This is basically an origin story of how the Sun, Wind and Moon got their qualities. The Sun and Moon are greedy and their mother curses them with harsh, hurtful elements like heat or the ability to parch living things. Moon is kind to her mother, so her mother blesses her with the soft, cool light. 

Reading Diary A: Indian Fairy Tales

I'm currently rocking some henna on my hand, so I'm just trying to get in the spirit of reading some Indian Fairy Tales. I pretty much don't know what to expect, but I'm excited. I really enjoy the Indian culture, like the food (I'm a vegetarian and their religion caters to vegetarians), Bollywood is cool and I really love the brightly colored weddings and festivities. So, basically my knowledge of the Indian culture is pretty superficial. Maybe I should change that.

The Lion and the Crane: I really like this story and actually feel like I've heard a variation of this basic principle. The moral of the story is very straight forward and clear. The crane should have gotten some recognition for putting his life in danger for the lion. The lion gives no credit to the crane, and basically tells the crane he was foolish for taking the bone our of his mouth. I really liked this story, especially the rhyming section when the lion and crane are speaking directly. It really helps with the pace of the story and make it just a little more interesting.

The Broken Pot: Wow. What a total let down! This young boy tells about his plans to start a new life. He plans to sell the rice he had gathered, and with his earnings he will buy goats, and then cows, so on and so forth. He tells the readers about his dream to marry a beautiful woman and start a family. He acts out a kick with his foot and in the midst of his daydream, kicks the pot which holds the rice and breaks it. It's a pretty terrible build up and massive let down. It's hard not to feel bad for this poor boy.

A Broken Clay Pot
(The Nahmias Cipher Report)

The Cruel Crane Outwitted:  I really liked this story. I think it was interesting that the same animal features in The Lion and the Crane, were depicted in different manners. I think the dialogue in this story fit very well and stayed true to the personalities in the tale. Again, as I mentioned before, I really like the rhyming sections either at the end or beginning of these stories!

Week 4 Extra Reading Diary: Persian Tales

Persian Tales

The Wolf and the Goat: I have a bit of an obsession with goats. Especially, baby goats. Because it is scientifically proven that baby animals are cuter than grown up ones. DUH. This story has very little to do with how cute goats are, but that okay. I do really like the how the goat and wolf's dialogue is in a poetic way, using short phrases in a very descriptive manner. The story is interesting in itself, but I was very distracted by the cute goat at the end. To prove my point here is a very cute video about a very cute goat.

The video about is form one of my favorite news sources, Vice. They just do a great job of further explaining how cute these animals are. 

Susku and Mushu: I really liked the quick back and forth nature of the dialogue in this story. And, it was a lot less depressing than other stories I've read recently. Just like the last story this contained short little parables, which were detonated in italics. I thought this was really interesting. 

Storytelling for Week 4: Full Bellies

After Shah Ali ordered food to be given to the two hungry men and seeing them weep, he reached out and ushered the men into his palace. The two men were continually weeping, partly from sadness and partly from defeat. Ali sat the two men down and asked them to speak about themselves. The old man went first.

"I live in a village to the west of the Capital called Mollaque. I live there with my beautiful wife. We had three children, but they now live in the Capital to the East called Shamaa. They work very hard and make enough money to put food on the table for their families. We proudly have six grandchildren". said the old man with a smile. He continued, "They make the long journey and visit twice a year. We all gather in our tiny house, gather what money we have together and cook a grand meal, dance and tell stories form the past."

Ali and the young man were fond of the old man's story, eagerly waiting on the next word. Ali snapped his fingers and called upon his servant to bring wine, assorted cheeses and fruits. All the while he was giving orders his gaze never left the old man's face. The old man was so entranced by his own story he did not notice an assortment of the finest foods in the land sat down right in front of him. Instead, he continued telling Ali and the young man about his grandchildren and family. When the old man was finished telling Ali and the young man about his life, Ali clasped his hands together and said, "I greatly admire your storytelling! I can tell you have such a beautiful family." Ali turned to the young man and asked him to speak.

"I live to the south of the Capital in a village called Fraque. I take care of my mother. My father passed away during the last full moon. I am strong, so most of my work is laborious and tiresome. Although, I enjoy starting a building and seeing it through until it is finished. I once built a shop for a very beautiful woman and her family in the Capital. I fell in love with her from a distance, but I could never do anything about my love because she was of the upper class." the young man said.

Building Man
(Return of Kings)

Again, Ali and the old man listened intently to the young man's story, hanging on every word. Ali confided in the young man's loss of love. "I too, lost the love of my life. She was taken away by her family from the Capital when I was a young prince." confided Ali.

The three me continued to share stories about their lives and share values about the world. The three men became very relaxed inside the palace. And without noticing continued to eat and drink what was placed before them. They talked and eat well into the night and created a bond to last forever.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I started the story at the end of the original story. The story end by the wicked Shah Ali fives two extremely hungry men a very small amount of food. Basically he taunts and torments them. The two men get upset because they are so hungry and complain that the other is able to eat more of the food more quickly. The story originally peaked my interest because it had to do with food, but after finishing the story it became dark and twisted. To make the characters and general plot more appealing I wanted to shift the focus. So, I had to take a different approach and finish the end of the story and make it a happy one. The story was pretty short so I was able to add life and give characters a personality that shed a more favorable light on all of them. I knew I wanted to make a royal figure more humble and kind, while also giving the two poor men back stories to make them more relatable. The two men talk in detail about their families and their past, which help form the bond between the three men. The story this is derived from is Teeth and No Teeth.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Book: Georgian Folk Tales
Author: Marjory Wardrop
Year Published: 1894
Web Source