Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm (Librivox), Part B

I enjoyed Part B of this unit a lot. The stories were ones most people had probably never heard of and were not typical fairytales. Even the one that involves princesses was very different from other princess fairytales.


The Twelve Huntsmen

I thought this story was so beautiful and the ending was amazing! I did have a lot of questions throughout the story, though, like why did she need 11 body doubles and then dressed them up like men? There was never a good reason given for why that was the route the princess chose to check up on the prince. Also what happened to the prince's new bride? Was she just super cool with the prince divorcing her for his huntsman/former lover (who is a woman)? Also how did the lion just know they were women? Was it a smell thing? I would love to maybe give some clarification to these things or maybe write the story from the point of view of the new bride. That would be interesting.

The Twelve Dancing Princesses

This story also had a really interesting premise! I mean princesses that secretly dance at night is super cool! Also this story has a Barbie movie, so it earns bonus points from me. The only problem I had was the ending because it seemed very rushed and I really didn't expect the soldier to choose a daughter or at least a little more after he chose one. The entire story had so much description and reasoning behind everything else that to have the soldier solve the mystery, decide to marry the oldest sister, and then the end seemed really short. I would definitely work on making the story a little more concise and changing what happens to the girls in the end. Also is the place they go to dance outside the realm of reality or is there a king somewhere wondering why his twelve sons always have holes in their shoes? Maybe I'd tell the story from their perspective.

(Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses. Photo from The Movie DB)

Bibliography. Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm, an audiobook recording available at LibriVox based on a Project Gutenberg publication. Links to readings

Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm (Librivox), Part A

All the way back in Week 2's Reading Options assignment I was interested in the Brothers Grimm (Crane) because I liked that while they were still fairytales, they were different from you typical fairytales. I was a little torn on whether to go with Crane or Librivox, but I enjoyed the other Librivox stories that I read, so I decided to try listening to the stories again. 


Rapunzel

I loved the Barbie movie of this tale and I've read a bunch of different versions of it! All the versions have put their own little spin on it though so they don't get boring. I've had trouble coming up with retellings for stories that have many versions so maybe I'll do a diary entry and tell it from a different perspective. Or maybe I could figure out why the witch locked Rapunzel away in the first place. The story never said she was jealous of her beauty and she didn't have magic hair like in Tangled. It would be interesting to see why she wasn't more of a mother to her.

(Photo from Giphy)

The Traveling Musicians

I really enjoyed this story and thought all the animals working together and finding the house was really cute. It was like something out of a movie with a rag-tag gang of unlikely friends coming together for a common goal. It honestly kind of reminded me of Avatar the Last Airbender. If I were retelling this story I would make them all humans or I would listen to the last line of the story and check if they still were in the house after all this time.

Bibliography. Fairy Tales by the Brothers Grimm, an audiobook recording available at LibriVox based on a Project Gutenberg publication. Links to readings

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Reading Notes: Canterbury Tales, Part A

I was first introduced to the Canterbury Tales my senior year of high school. We read a few stories, but I was gone for a golf tournament so I never actually read them. I also read a Storybook from last year that turned the Canterbury Tales into a murder-mystery and it was so interesting! The Canterbury Tales was fun to read because it felt like reading a Storybook for class.

The Franklin's Tale: The Promise of Dorigen

This was my favorite tale out of the three stories from Part A. I originally thought it would be hard to retell or make my own but then the ending asked us "now of these three generous men, which one was the most generous?" and that really made me start to think. That question opens up so many possibilities! There is also the idea to tell the story from different perspectives, like from the perspective of one of the three generous men, or from Dorigen's perspective, or maybe even from the rock's that disappear view. I think this retelling will be really original.

(Photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography. The Chaucer Story Book by Eva March Tappan (1908). Link to readings

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Week 12 Story: Just Jack!


There once was a lad, named Jack, who ran away from home because he couldn’t deal with his abusive father anymore. He hated to leave his true love, the widow’s daughter from down the road, but he promised that one day he would return as a rich man and they would finally marry.

Jack ran and ran until he ran into an old lady in the woods. She thought he looked like a nice young man and offered him a nice salary if he would be her servant which Jack agreed to because he was very hungry. He served the old lady for twelve months and a day, and when the year was up, she brought Jack an ass from her stable. She told him to pull its ear and when Jack did, the ass brayed, and then dropped money out of it’s mouth and into Jack’s hand. Jack thanked the old woman for the ass and rode off into the sunset.

Jack thought about returning home but he felt that he didn’t have enough to take care of his true love, so he began to search for another job. A carpenter thought he would make a good assistant, so he told Jack that if he served him for a year and a day he would pay him well. After the year was up, the carpenter presented Jack with a table that if told “Table, be covered,” would fill up with plenty of food and drinks. Jack thanked the carpenter for the table, put it on the back of the donkey, and rode off into the sunset.

Jack felt that he could return home to his true love now, but since it was dark he decided to stay at an inn for the night and continue his journey in the morning. Jack thought no one saw him pull the donkey’s ear to get money for the room or cover the table, so he and the donkey could eat, but the innkeeper saw it all. That night the innkeeper stole the table and the donkey. When Jack awoke the next morning, he asked the innkeeper to fetch him his donkey and table, but the innkeeper told him that they were his now and threw him out the door into the river.

A man picked him up from the river and asked if Jack would help him build a bridge across it. Jack agreed and the two used a tree to create the bridge. Once the work was done, the man tore off a branch of the tree, whittled it into a club, and told Jack that when it was told “Up stick and bang him,” the club would beat up anyone who angered him. Then the man gave the club to Jack as payment for his help.

Jack immediately went to the inn and commanded the stick to beat the innkeeper until he gave him back his table and donkey. Once he had all three of his magical items, he rode back as fast as he could to his true love! They got married later that summer, serving all their friends and family with their magical table and then riding off into the sunset on their magical donkey.

The End

(Photo from Buzzfeed)

Author’s Note: This is based of The Ass, the Table, and the Stick by Joseph Jacobs from the English Fairy Tales Unit. In the original story, the beginning is similar but instead of searching for another job, Jack heads back to his father’s house and stops at an inn for the night. The innkeeper won’t let him in without payment first, so Jack shows him the cool trick his donkey can do. That night the innkeeper switches out Jack’s magic donkey with a regular one and Jack rides away the next day with no clue as to what just happened. When he gets home, Jack asks his dad if he can marry the maiden and his dad says only if he can provide for her. Jack says he can and pulls on the donkey’s ear, but nothing happens so his dad beats him and causes Jack to leave again. Jack goes through the same cycle: works, gets a magical table, shows the innkeeper, there’s a secret switch, humiliates himself in front of dad, gets beaten, runs away, works, and finally gets a magical stick. Jack beats the innkeeper up with the stick until he gets the ass and table back and when he returns home he finds his father dead. He is now very rich and wants to marry someone, so he has all the maidens in the town come with all their money in their aprons. His love has no money but comes anyways and when Jack sees her he tells her to stand aside because she has nothing. She begins to cry diamonds, so Jack tells the stick to beat all the other girls causing them to drop their money and run away. Jack then gives the maiden the dropped money and tells her she is now the richest girl in town, so he will marry her.

 You can see why I changed a lot of the story because Jack was a real jerk in the original. Like he kept causing his own downfall and then he gets to come out on top? No sir! So I made him much nicer and made his main motivation providing for the maiden.

Bibliography. The Ass, the Table, and the Stick by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890). Link to reading
(Photo from Tenor)

Monday, November 6, 2017

Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales, Part B

I've noticed that these stories love to repeat themselves over and over again. I swear during one of the stories I could hear the lady reading for Librivox losing her will to live. That's how outrageous it was sometimes!

The Ass, The Table, and the Stick

I thought the general concept of this story was interesting and I liked all the items that Jack got in exchange for his work, but man he was stupid to keep bragging to the innkeeper. Also the ending was super weird and why did he beat up those girls for his one true love? She cried diamonds!!! She was richer than all of them!! I would change so many things about this story. Like all the components were there to make a good story but they weren't put together well.

Fairy Ointment

This story was really interesting! Why did the fairies need the ointment though? Can fairies not see other fairies without it? That would be so weird! Also how could Dame Goody know that she was only seeing the pixie with her right eye? These stories repeat everything and take about a million years so why couldn't we get a little scene of her closing one eye and then the other as she went back and forth from seeing the pixie to not seeing him!

(Photo from Pinterest)

Bibliography. English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890). Links to readings

Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales, Part A

I read Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs way back in Week 3, so I decided to give another collection of his stories a chance. I've heard different versions of a lot of these stories before, so that may cause me some issues with trying to make an original retelling because there have already been so many. This unit had audio recordings so I decided to try listening to the stories and it was very helpful! I really couldn't get distracted from the stories and flew right through them.


Cap O' Rushes

This was a cool "Cinderella" type story that was very different for most of the versions I've read or seen. In most stories, the dad loves her unconditionally which causes the stepmother to be jealous and that's why she punishes Cinderella when her father dies. I thought it was great that in this story, Cap O' Rushes definitely earned her rags to riches story. She was in control most of the time by knowing that she was the person who danced with the prince, then making sure the prince's love was real with the ring, and finally getting back at her dad with the unsalted food. 

The Story of the Three Little Pigs

I have a soft spot for the three little pigs because at my high school we did a fundraiser called Senior Serve where groups of seniors would choose a theme then decorate tables and dress up to the theme. You then invite family and friends and you serve them dinner. My two best friends and I chose the three little pigs for our theme! There are of course so many versions of this story but it might be fun to try one myself. I thought it was clever that the wolf tried to get the pig out of the house instead of trying to get into the house, that is until the end of course.

(The Three Little Pigs and our Big Bad Wolf.
Personal Photo from February, 2015)

Bibliography. English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890). Links to readings

Sunday, November 5, 2017

Famous Last Words: My Best Week Ever


I think this is the best week I’ve ever had in this class in term of being on top of things. I mean I’m doing the extra credit so that shows that I actually had time to do it instead of working on the real class work. I just really buckled down and did what I needed to do instead of letting myself get distracted and letting the work pile up. I was better about sticking to my schedule that I set for myself at the beginning of the semester. Like for example, I didn’t have the revisions on my Storybook back by Wednesday (which according to my schedule is the day I do them), so I just moved onto Project Feedback and Blog Comments and saved working on my Project for the weekend. Normally I would just be like well I can’t do anything now! All in all, I was very proud of myself this week.


I’m glad I could show myself that I can get everything done in a timely manner because I’m really going to need to use that this upcoming week! I have a paper due on Thursday, then two tests on Friday, and its Dad’s Weekend so I really don’t want to push a lot of work to the weekend. Luckily, I had to split my latest story for my Storybook into two parts, so I have the other part mostly all written. That is going to save me so much time already! I’m also going to try and start my readings tonight and really stick to my schedule for the week! If I am only able to stick to that schedule once this semester, then this needs to be the week I do it! It would be great if I could get ahead because I’ve been trying to do that all semester, but baby steps, Kelly, baby steps.
(Photo from Make A Meme)


Tech Tip: Canvas Mobile App

I already had the Canvas Mobile App for iPhone installed on my phone because its super convenient. There were no problems with the download if I remember correctly and you just log in with your OU 4x4. I use the app all the time! It has everything that regular Canvas does! I can check my messages and grades, look at PowerPoints and other files, and you can even turn in assignments on the app (I haven't done that yet though). Like I said it's super convenient!

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Reading Notes: Southwestern and California Legends, Part B

I have already chosen a story from Part A to do so the Part B reading was just for fun! These stories were a little longer and were again more creation stories. I enjoyed them all the same though!

The Children of Cloud

This story did not go at all like I expected it to in both good and bad ways. I kept expecting the mother's warning about not stopping on the journey to their father to come up but it never did. The ending was very random because they didn't talk to anyone on their journey so why were they turned into mescal? This myth just kind of seemed like they wanted a myth so baldy about how mescal came to be and why storms travel from place to place that they made this disjointed thing. 

The Boy who Became a God

Now this story was just weird. It seemed like something from a fever dream or an LSD trip or something. It was really disjointed and didn't make much sense. There were crow people and sheep people. I have so many questions. Why were the crow people in the story? Were they the gods or were the 12 deer the gods? Why didn't the older brothers believe the younger one? Also what happened to the brother in law who believed the younger brother? So many questions! I did  think it was cool that the gods taught the young boy so much and then let him tell his people about it because gods don't often do that.

(Resting Navajo-Churro Lamb. Photo from Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography. Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katharine Berry Judson (1912). Link to readings