Topic Brainstorm

1. In one of my earlier posts, I mentioned how much I liked fables, and I used one of Aesop's for my post. I think I would enjoy working with those. Specifically, I like the creation stories. I was in a Native American Studies class last year, and we spent a lot of time on the stories people told to illustrate how the earth came to be. It's fascinating to see the similarities and differences in creation stories as you look at different cultures. If I went with this idea, I would like to research these stories and see how they show a common ending in different ways. The Four Creations is one of many examples I could use.

The Pillars of Creation. Image: Wikipedia

2. A big part of my life is my heritage, which stems from India. I've read a few stories from India, including the Mahabharata in high school, but it would be cool to delve more into the legends and fairy tales that the country has. I used an Indian fairy tale for my Storytelling post, and I liked it a lot. I'm not sure if I would focus on one specific aspect yet or be more general, but I know I want to draw from a variety of stories. The UnTextbook has a ton of stories that would be helpful.

3. Growing up, I heard a lot of nursery rhymes as I'm sure a lot of us did. So I really liked the Nursery Rhymes unit in the UnTextbook. I would like to read them all and try to recreate some of the ones that aren't as well known. It would also be a challenge to keep the plot of the story, but try to find new words to rhyme and go with each other. If I do this one, I know I would have fun with this one. Sometimes, these rhymes don't make sense, so it'd also be cool to try to rewrite them in a more understandable way.

4. Another big part of my life is my faith. I'm Christian, so I was drawn to the Bible Women unit. It's interesting to see how many women are in the Bible, because we only hear about a few, like Esther or Ruth. I would like to research women like the Witch of Endor and Susannah, whose names are less-known, but still played a vital role in the Bible. It's important to remember them and their stories.

Feedback Thoughts

For this assignment, I read the articles Silence the Critical Voices in Your Head and The Psychology of Comparison and How to Stop. I enjoyed reading both articles a lot. As I'm sure a lot of us do, I'm usually pretty hard on myself when I'm working on something. I liked what Nawaz wrote in the first article about having one positive voice for every 5 negative voices. I realized that the positive feedback means just as much as the negative. I definitely find myself passing over the good words and immediately hooking on to what I need to fix. I liked her example of how most people react when they're complimented. We tend to minimize it, but when we get a negative comment, we are so curious to find out exactly what was disliked and figure out a way to fix it. Nawaz was saying we should also try to do that with the positive instead of brushing those words off. It's also hard to give feedback to others sometimes. I always look for the good, but am too scared to say anything critical. I know that I have to try to help others succeed and that means offering them advice or correcting something. The second article tackled another subject: comparison. It's so easy for people, myself included, to see someone else's success or work and compare it to yours. We measure our value based on other people's successes, which isn't good. It's hard not to, especially when it's something you're struggling with. I always do this with my cousins. They all know exactly what they want to do, and they are well on their way to accomplishing their goals, so often, I feel like I'm behind or that I'm not as good as they are. However, I have to remember that every single person on this earth has different strengths and weaknesses, so I can't use them as my ruler for success

Words to live by. Image: Flickr

Week 2 Story: The Real King of the Jungle

The Real King of the Jungle?

Once upon a time, there was a wolf who lived alone deep in the woods of Alaska. After a brutal blizzard, the wolf was forced to stay in his cave for several days without food. When the storm died down, he finally emerged from his home, hoping to quell his hunger and his boredom. He was walking around the forest, checking his traps for any animals. All of a sudden, he heard a voice in the woods. He cautiously walked towards the sound and saw a large antelope.
"Finally", he thought, "I found my dinner". As he crept closer, he saw that she was crying, and his curiosity temporarily overcame his hunger.
"Why are you so sad?", he asked. The antelope startled at the sight of a wolf but decided he didn't seem threatening.
"Today is my last day on this earth", she said with sadness in her eyes.
"Why, how can you know such a thing?", the wolf asked.
"I stumbled upon a lion caught in the hunter's trap by the river, and I decided to help him escape. I was supposed to find a reason he shouldn't eat me, but so far, I have been unsuccessful. He has been watching me, waiting for me to fail", she replied.
The wolf looked for the lion, gulping as he finally locked eyes with the massive creature on a nearby hill. He knew the lion could easily catch him, as well, so he had to think quickly. He walked up the hill with the antelope.
"Well, look at that. Entree and a free dessert. I knew the antelope would fail on her mission' ", the lion said with a smile on his face.
"It does seem that way, oh intelligent one, but I do wonder. How does someone as smart as you fall into a hunter's trap?", replied the wolf mockingly, covering up his fear.
The lion glowered at the antelope for telling the wolf the embarrassing story.
"I encourage you to stop talking before I change my mind and decide to have dessert first.". growled the lion.
The wolf grew more confident as he realized his plan was working. He taunted the lion, who grew increasingly irritated.
"I bet you wouldn't have been able to escape the trap if the antelope hadn't come along.", the wolf said.
"How dare you doubt my abilities?", thundered the lion. He proceeded to tell the wolf exactly how he would have escaped, but he said he wouldn't believe it unless he saw it with his own eyes, The lion consented, unwilling to compromise his pride. The three animals walked to where the trap was. The lion warily stepped into the hole, hoping his bravado would pay off. It didn't. He fell into the hole.and cursed his luck, for he was not able to escape.
The wolf laughed at him. "It is a good day, indeed", he remarked. The antelope jumped for joy.
"Thank you so much", she exclaimed. "I can finally go home."
The wolf's stomach grumbled as he turned to her with a gleam in his eye.
"Where are you going? Dinner's just getting started."

He got what he wanted in the end. Image: Pixabay

Author's Note:

The original story involves a jackal instead of a wolf, a person instead of an antelope, and a tiger instead of a lion. The tiger convinces a guy to let him out of a cage and says he won't eat him. The guy agrees, but the tiger was lying. He says the man is allowed to ask three things to justify not eating him. No one helped him, but he ran into a jackal on his way back. The jackal also came to the tiger, but pretended he didn't understand how the tiger had gotten out of the cage. In frustration, the tiger jumped back into the cage to show him, and the jackal locked him inside again. I had wanted to keep the characters animals, and I wanted to try to tell the story from another point-of-view. I also wanted to add a small twist to the end with the jackal actually eating the guy. After looking up some information, I found out that jackals don't really attack humans, so I decided to change to a wolf who ate the antelope after "saving" its life. I also changed the tiger to a lion to add more levity to that character. I'm not sure if I like the overall cohesiveness, but for now, it'll have to do. Hopefully, I'll get better as the weeks progress!

Bibliography. Tricksters from Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs. Online source

Reading B: Tricksters

Tricksters from Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacob
I like this story a lot mainly for the jackal's wittiness. I also liked that the characters didn't need much introduction, and the story dove into the main problem. The jackal was the most interesting character, but I actually liked the lion most. As the antagonist, he thought he was the smart one for coming up with the plan to eat the Brahmin, but he ended up back in the cage. He was definitely intelligent, but way too confident. I picture the story happening outside, some tropical forest in India. Jacob used a lot of descriptive words which added to the story. They add some character to the jackal and the lion. Small details like the lion "sharpening his teeth and claws" add more suspense when we're waiting for the Brahmin to return. I think I'd like to add another twist to the story, but keep the main characters mainly the same.

The unwitting lion, the clever jackal, and the poor Brahmin. Image: Myth-Folklore Anthology

Tech Tip: Canvas Dashboard

The Dashboard can get a little frustrating for me. I still have 2 classes that pop up even though I'm no longer in them. Thankfully, I can hide them, but it's still a little annoying. I also like the colors; it helps me organize everything a little better.

Tech Tip: Canvas App

The Canvas App is extremely helpful. It's a pain to try to navigate through tabs and such on my iPhone, so the app was a nice addition. I recommend it, but the notifications can get a little annoying. Other than that, it's great.

Reading Options

1. Aesop's Fables: Another Lion (part of Aesop (English))
I've always liked fables. I enjoyed how there would be a moral at the end of the story and it would be illustrated in such a simple manner. They're fairly straightforward and usually not bad at the advice! With this specific fable, I did have some trouble with the language. The English was a bit hard to understand, but I got the gist. It was interesting, and the randomly capitalized words intrigued me. It may have been for no reason, but I still noticed it. It's quite entertaining to picture the lion's story taking place, and of course, the moral was to listen to your parents. (This is a story my dad would love to hear). I think I would like some sort of moral or something to learn from my stories.

2. Canterbury Tales: The Unknown Bride
When I was in high school, my literature professor had us read several stories from the Canterbury Tales, so I clicked on this as soon as I saw it. I hadn't read this specific work before, but I did enjoy it. I liked that my feelings toward the knight changed as I read on. Initially, I felt bad for him because he had this rope around his neck. Then, I felt angry with him because he was being rude to his wife. Finally, I felt happy that they got their happy ending. I like stories that pull me in and make me feel what the characters are feeling. However I write, I hope that it's filled with emotion.

3. Illiad: How the War with Troy Began
The Illiad was yet another book I had to read in high school. Originally, I was intimidated by the length and language of the novel, but I grew to like it. This version was admittedly a lot easier to read. I think one of the most challenging things about it is the abundance of characters. There are so many people and relationships to remember. While it was a great work, I do think it complicated the story. Obviously, I would like to keep my stories shorter than several hundred pages, but I would also like them to have fewer characters, so the reader knows exactly who everyone is and how they relate to the story.

Arguably the most famous horse in mythology. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)