Reading Notes: Native American Blackfoot Stories, Part A

Two Fast Runners

• Origin story!!! - I love those
• Maybe I could write about other aspects of animals, such as how or why cheetahs got to be so fast, or how certain animals or insects got the pattern of fur that they did
• Also reminded me of the tortoise and the hare a little bit, but with each side outsmarting the other once

The Wolf Man

• A little hard to follow - maybe I could rewrite a part of this to make more sense
• I thought it was a bit messed up that the two wives treated their husband so unfairly and that they even tried killing him
• I may write a story that goes into more depth about each situation with the women
• Ex. Why did the women hate him so much?
• Ex. Why did the man get married to each woman? What drove their relationship? Because apparently they didn't love each other, soooo
• Ex. What actually happened to them at the end?

Source: The Wolf Man, or at least how I imagined a wolf-man to be like if he could switch between the two forms.

The Dog and the Root Digger

• Why did the man hide all the buffalo from everyone else? Just so his family would have something to eat at all times? Or was there an alternative reason?
• Kind of reminded me of the animagus characters in Harry Potter, who could change shape into an animal form whenever they wanted to. Both the dog and the root digger could be like Harry Potter characters in my story, if I decide to re-tell this one.

The Theft from the Sun

• This was an interesting story just because it personified the Sun so much and had the main character not realize that the whole world was encompassed by the Sun at one point or another.
• If I were to retell this story, I would personify something else, such as the Earth, or the grass, or another planet, or even a type of food or something. Something that is very abundant and common and something that I could write a whole story about.

Bibliography: Grinnell's Blackfoot Stories, Part A.

Week 9 Story: The Python of Pune

Long ago, there was a mighty python in the city of Pune, India. The python was said to be enormous, like a dragon. It was said to be one hundred feet long and apparently was curled up in a cave for years. It would only wake when it smelled the flesh of humans. Wild animals still inhabited the area around the cave, but as soon as a human or a group of travelers passed by, the python would stick its head out of the cave and devour them.

One day, a lonely traveler who was exploring different forests in India ended up in the city of Pune. He had not heard the story of the python as of yet, but as soon as he entered the forest, some squirrels came scurrying up to him. 

"Mister! Mister! Do not tread here any further, for a great python awaits you!" 

The traveler was quite surprised. He replied, "Hello little furries! What do you mean, a great python? I have defeated many obstacles in my life, and I am sure I can calm down a python easily."

"No no, mister! You do not understand. This python is not like any other. His body is the size of the entire land, but he is always curled up! You will not see him coming until he has already eaten half of you."

At this, the traveler scoffed. There is no way the squirrels were serious. He thought they were exaggerating, so he went on about his way, despite the squirrels' concerns.

Along the way, he came across a group of cheetahs. They too, were surprised to see a human in the depths of the forest. They began shouting at once.

"Mister, what brings you here?!" "Have you not heard of the tragedies of this area?!" "Retreat back to your home, please, for your sake!"

At this, the traveler was even more confused and surprised. The squirrels had said the same thing, but they were small animals. They could be easily defeated by many things. But cheetahs are extremely fast. If a python lived here, couldn't the cheetahs outrun them, or save the humans by carrying them on their back and sprinting across the forest? The traveler reassured them that he could easily fight off a python, as he had dealt with and calmed down many snakes in the village back home. 

After an hour of trying to persuade the traveler to go back home, the cheetahs finally gave up and decided to let the man see for himself. 

Not longer than half and hour after his encounter with the cheetahs, did the man walk by the cave in which the python was curled up and sleeping. The scent of the man reached the snake, and suddenly the ground shook, as if someone had taken the planet in their hands and jumped with it. He turned, and what he saw almost made him pass out. The python, like the other animals had warned him, was NOT an ordinary snake. His head itself was bigger than the tree next to the cave. With one swift move, he quickly gobbled up the traveler. He had not listened to the animals that had tried to help him, and therefore was given a cruel fate.

Source: The Mighty Python of Pune.

Bibliography: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki) Unit. 

Author's Note: This story was inspired by the Japanese Fairy Tales, namely the story The Goblin of Adachigahara. In it, a goblin disguised itself as an old woman. A priest passing by needed a place to stay, so he asked her for accommodation. She reluctantly agreed, and told him not to go inside a certain door while she went out. He listed to her, but got very impatient so he headed to the back room where he wasn't supposed to go. As soon as he opened the door, he fell back, terrified. In the room, there were piles of dead men's bones. He immediately ran out of the house, and the goblin found him. They ran through the forest until dawn, when suddenly the goblin vanished. The priest then realized he met the Goblin of Adachigahara, a monster he never believed to be real. I decided to change this story quite a bit, but kept the parts where a traveler was passing through a forest and the part where he didn't believe the story of a monster until the end. I decided to make the monster a python, and chose the city of Pune, India just because it started with the same letter as python and it sounded cool :-) I hope you all liked my retell!

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales, Part B

The Goblin of Adachigahara
This story reminded me of some of the Jataka tales, especially the ones about the goblin city. In it, the goblins presented themselves as women and gave home to sailors journeying through the city. Eventually they got married and one of the men realized his wife was a goblin, so he told the others. Half believed him and half didn't; the half that didn't got eaten up the next day. The half that believed him were able to get away. I could rewrite this Japanese fairy tale that I read by combining it with the Jataka tale I just described. Or I could make it to where a man is the goblin, instead of a woman.

I could also make up another name, like "The Monster of Lake _____." Just because we have two stories that describe a monster and where they are from. The Goblin of Adachigahara and the Ogre of Rashomon. I could make up a similar story that talks about a monster from somewhere else, and have a man not believe it. The man could venture out and then come across it and defeat (or not defeat) it. For example, I could do the Python of Pune.

Source: Tatsuta River from The Story of Princess Hase.

Bibliography: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki) Unit, Part A.

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales, Part A

My Lord Bag of Rice
If I were to retell this story, I could create another origin story and talk about how two groups came to hate each other, or I could make up a hate story between two groups of insects, animals, or people! I loved the way the story was told and I could imagine it very clearly while reading. I may also incorporate some of the presents in my re-tell, like the pot that always cooks something fantastic, the silk that never stops, and the bag of rice that always refills itself. I love objects like that in stories so I may make another one! An idea I had is the never-ending hair of Rapunzel; maybe the witch that took her could use that to keep her looking young (like in the actual) and then I could change the rest of the story to coincide with My Lord Bag of Rice.

The Adventures of Kintaro
This story was really interesting because it reminded me of a Hindi movie called Krrish. In it, a man has extreme strength and intelligence. He can do just about anything! His mom keeps him sheltered for fear that someone will try to take advantage of him and make him use his strength in violent ways instead of helpful ones. I could write a story in which these two stories are combined into one! Maybe the disguised woodcutter could be an evil person, instead of a great general, and he could turn Kintaro evil or something (or at least try to). 

Source: From The Adventures of Kintaro, the Golden Boy.

Bibliography: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki) Unit, Part A.

Week 8 Progress

Looking Back
I am very happy with my progress so far! For a few weeks, I feel a little behind on my stories; I think I missed the stories for week 3 and week 6 due to being sick and being very busy with school work, dance practice, etc. However, I think I am back on track now! I'm happy with the way things are going so far. I enjoy reading the stories the most. I love learning new things and just experiencing another culture through words. I haven't used many of the extra credit options this semester, but I think I will use some more of the extra credit options this week because I have some time.

Looking Forward
I want to stay on track for the second half of the semester and even try to get ahead like I am doing right now! I want to avoid falling behind and having to catch up the week after or something like that. I'll try embedding more videos and cool sound effects into my blog posts for stories!

Source: I feel like this quote is very inspirational, especially for procrastinators (such as myself) who find themselves staring at the clock, hoping time will fly.

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

Feedback In
I love the feedback I get from others! I find that it gives me a new perspective on my stories and helps me improve my overall blog and storybook! I like when people give specific suggestions like "maybe this would sound better than this" or "I'm confused on this, maybe clarify it in this specific paragraph." These types of comments help me know exactly what needs improvement in my stories, and those are easy to fix once I know the issue! 

Feedback Out
I feel like I give lots of positive feedback and if I find something that could use some help, I usually slide a suggestion or two in my comment. I love reading other students' stories because it truly gives me a new perspective on the story they were inspired by. I also come across many projects which give me ideas for my stories. It could be anywhere from how they set up a page or in which format they told the story. 

Blog Comments
I love reading other people's introductions because it allows me to connect with them and learn more about everyone and see where they come from. There are some people that I'm friends with, who I didn't know were taking this class, so it's been fun looking at the introductions! I'm happy with my introduction; I feel like I explained myself and my hobbies pretty well (or as much as I can in one post).

Looking Forward
I may try to think of more suggestions for other people, since I want everyone's storybooks and portfolios to be the best version they can be! I usually am just in awe of what people create and write about, to where I don't really have many suggestions. 

Source: This is actually taken from a bigger picture, but I specifically chose this part of the image because I like the way it describes levels of listening. I like that it explained making eye contact, empathizing, and helping others see the issue in a different light.

Week 8 Reading and Writing

Looking Back
I love the reading assignments we do in this class, especially since we choose which stories we want to read from a huge list! It gives us options so that is always nice! My favorite reading has probably been the West African Folktales, just because there were so many origin stories! I like learning about how other cultures explain how a certain object or habit within animals became a thing, so that was really fun. My reading notes help a little when it comes to writing a story, but mostly I just brainstorm ideas during the week or even while I write the story. I am very happy with my class project because I am trying a storybook this semester, while last semester in Indian Epics I did a portfolio. It's an interesting and new experience, and so far it's going great :) My biggest accomplishments are just publishing stories in my blog or in my storybook. Every time I write a story, I feel accomplished at the end because I know I created something original inspired by something from a different culture. 

Source: I really love this A LOT. It's the cover photo for the home page of my storybook and I absolutely cannot get enough of this picture!

Looking Forward
I may try to take my reading notes in a different way, such as in bullet points and try to come up with new settings and new plot stories! I may try to do more modern stories, or even throw it back to ancient times! I may speak about celebrities or college students! Who knows. I like trying new things; sometimes ideas pop into my head and sometimes they don't. I just let my mind wander each week into new possibilities.