Reading Notes: Great Plains, Part B

How the Rabbit Killed the Giant

This story felt somewhat like one that I had heard when I was younger. It seems like it could be in a cartoon so I enjoyed it. I think I could follow the same path of the story but just change certain details and maybe characters. Instead of humans being involved in the story I could make it a bit more realistic by using all animals or even all humans instead of having the rabbit and the giant conversing and the giant ordering the other humans to hunt game for him. I could use a certain tribe where the chief is mistreating his people controlling their lives such as the food they eat and a savior such as a bright young teenage Indian, stand up to the chief.

(A Giant Going on a Hunt: StivesJunior)

Bibliography:

Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson. Link to Reading B

Reading Notes: Great Plains, Part A

Tradition of the Finding of Horses

I was intrigued by the quarrel between the Poncas and the Padouca. I feel I could make a story about when they are at war and provide more of a description of the battles. I would also maybe add specific characters from each tribe to make the story more interesting by explaining a certain traitor from the Ponca tribe. The Ponca seem to be at a disadvantage in the story without having horses but the bow and arrows are what keeps them on pace with the other tribe. There could be a peace treaty between the two tribes and maybe even a marriage but then one day there is a jealous brother of the one who married and he does not like the Padouca. He gathers a small group of men who will eventually kill all the Padoucas except the women.

(A Ponca Indian: Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography:

Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson. Link to Reading A

Reading Notes: Georgian Folktales, Part A

Master and Pupil

This was probably one of my favorite stories that I have read throughout the semester. It is in the Georgian Folktale Units and I wish I would have discovered it earlier to use for a story in my portfolio. I like the different plot twist throughout the story and how the boy ends up getting away from the devil in the very end to go back to his family. I never thought he was going to get away after the father sold him as a horse to the man the boy told him not to sell him to. The father seemed to care far too much about money and didn't seem to mind what the boy had to go through as long as he got his money. I'm sure I could have thought of multiple different ways to change this story, it was a great one.

(Georgian Peasant: TravelBlog)

Bibliography:

Georgian Folktales by Marjory Wardrop. Link to Reading A

Reading Notes: Tejas Legends, Part B

Paisano, Hater of the Rattlesnake

I believe I could add a lot more detail to this story to expand the length of it. I like the idea of the rattlesnake and the paisano starting a war over being the messenger but maybe I could talk about the beginning whenever they were close. The paisano could maybe betray his friend by taking his job and as far as the "war" goes, I could make them have multiple different confrontations instead of them eating the other's babies. I could also describe the setting and provide a little more sufficient background to get a sense of where the story is taking place.

(Roadrunner Searching for Prey: SvsNews)

Bibliography:

Tejas Legends by Florence Stratton. Link to Reading B

Reading Notes: Tejas Legends, Part A

When the Storm God Rides

This was the story that I enjoyed most from Reading A. The story talks about how the hurricane came to be called and how the islands in the Gulf of Mexico were formed during a massive hurricane storm. The storm was caused by the Storm God riding Hurakan on his way to Texas to protect the birds from the killer Indians. I believe I could switch up the story by talking about how certain animals got to where they are from. Hurakan could have misplaced them in certain areas throughout North and Central America. Or maybe I could say something about how Tornado and Hurakan became allies by helping each other wreak havoc on land.

(Hurricane Ivan Hitting Navarre Pier: Daily Mail)

Bibliography:

Tejas Legends by Florence Stratton. Link to Reading A

Week 9 Story Planning: The Doctor and his Rancher

The first thing I would like to do is establish a setting where the story could take place. The Filipino Tales originate from the Philippines so I would like to keep the setting there but go into a little more detail. The Philippines consist of 7,641 different islands but eleven of them consists of 95% of the total land. I could have the doctor live in his own private, tropical island where he has some livestock that a rancher takes care of. The rancher’s name could be Angelo while his wife to be could be named Mahalia. Angelo meets Mahalia one day when he is sent by the doctor to fetch some livestock feed for the cows. The doctor notices how happy Angelo gets when he is sent into town and asks him what the reason for that is. He then explains how he’s been seeing someone but suddenly gets sad in which the doctor then asks him why he is sad. Angelo explains he has always wanted to marry and start his own family but has never had the money to cover for the expenses of marriage. Angelo had been working for the doctor for more than 20 years and the doctor always knew this time would come. The doctor generously gives Angelo a large sum of money and tells him to take his boat and fetch his lover. He gives him instructions of where to go in the city for a nice suit and where Mahalia can get a dress and in the mean time, the doctor goes to look for the priest. Once they are back from the city the doctor already has the priest and ceremony ready to take place. The ceremony takes place and Mahalia agrees to marry Angelo. The next day the doctor tells Angelo he will build a new little house for them on the other side of the island where they can live comfortably and Angelo excitedly agrees. He ends up working for the doctor for the rest of his life and happier than ever. A good moral to this story would be to never think a goal is too far out of sight, or to always take a chance and you never know what may happen.

(Rancher Looking Over his Swine: StockPhotos)

Bibliography: 

Filipino Popular Tales by Dean S. Fansler. Web Source.

Resource Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_the_Philippines

Reading Notes: Filipino Popular Tales, Part B

The Greedy Crow

I like this story since it has a meaning and moral to it at the end. It says to not be greedy and be contented by what we already have which is something that I think is very important. I could write a similar story using a different animal than the crow or even human beings since it is a great life lesson. I wouldn't change the outcome of the story as in how the crow is left with nothing but tiredness from wanting more than what he has.

(A Crow Flying: Pinterest)

Bibliography: 

Filipino Popular Tales by Dean S. Fansler. Link to Reading B

Reading Notes: Filipino Popular Tales, Part A

The Clever Husband and Wife

This story basically involves a servant who works for a generous doctor and wants to have a wife but doesn't see how he since he has no money. The doctor is generous enough to provide the funds for the marriage of his servant and he also gives the servant a lot of gold throughout the next months or years. The servant and his wife both go to the extremes of faking their deaths to get more money out of the doctor. Once the doctor finds out what is going on he laughs it off and takes them back home. I would like to switch the characters and change the ending where the couple get punished for lying to the doctor. Maybe they could even get a real death sentence. 

(Happily Married Couple: Pinterest)

Bibliography: 

Filipino Popular Tales by Dean S. Fansler. Link to Reading A

Week 8 Progress

So far I have been happy with my progression of this class. I have been keeping up with the homework and the schedule I have now is perfect. It gives me just enough time to get my assignments turned in while still keeping up with my other classes. The assignments that I enjoy most are the weekly readings and writing the reading notes. It's kind of fun thinking of different ways to change a story. I haven't really had enough time to do the extra credit assignments but I do get one or two in every now and then. Looking forward I want to keep doing the same thing as right now. Everything seems to be going smooth although I could work ahead.

(Motivation for the Rest of the Semester: Crossing Anaheim)

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

The overall feedback that I have been receiving has been pretty positive. There have been some that have helped me expand my thoughts in writing and given me hints on a different lead. I would say the ones that help me expand my story are the most useful ones. As far as the feedback that I have been giving out, I feel like I've managed to give some good comments. The majority of mine have been positive and I have learned what to look for as I go. The blog comments have been fun. Seeing how people take a story and completely change it is pretty fun to see. I don't mind people seeing my introduction or knowing a little bit about me, but I hadn't realized how many people would actually see it. Looking forward I believe I could keep gaining confidence in my writing which will allow me to provided some better feedback to others.

I chose the image below because I feel what it says is true. We could all improve and grow as people if we accept the criticism and feedback we receive.

(Accepting feedback to grow: Cheezburger)

Week 8 Reading and Writing

Looking back I have really enjoyed reading some of the stories this semester. At first I was doubting my ability to keep pace with the class since my class homework schedule is pretty demanding, but I have found the time to read and write my thoughts. The reading assignments have actually been a little bit of a stress reliever since I enjoy reading some of them. The reading notes work really well in preparing myself for the story writing assignment. I always look back to my notes to remember what I had in mind to write. I'm not sure I can choose a favorite story but I really enjoyed Aesop's Fable and The Iliad. I would like to believe that my writing is improved from where I began since I really never had to write anything about stories since my freshman year of college. I have gained quite a bit of knowledge on how the web works and the different tools that are accessible to me.

My favorite image would have to be the one of the Elves being spotted by the Shoemaker and his wife. The story made me happy and smile as I read it so that is why I chose this particular one.

(The Shoemaker and his Wife Spying on the Elves: Pinterest)

Looking forward I still see a lot of room to improve my thoughts and writing. I've learned that working ahead helps a lot so I will try to get at least a week ahead of the due dates. 

Week 7 Storytelling: Escaping the Hacienda

Once long ago, in a little town that lay in the midst of a valley in middle Mexico, there lived a wealthy family in a hacienda. The owner of the hacienda was a well-respected man throughout the region and the people of the town treated him as royalty. The hacienda provided the town with work and food for the families so it was no surprise that the people of the town were loyal to the owner and would inform him of any news in his interest.

One day, a little boy and his father were walking next to a stream just outside of the town in search of deer tracks. As his father was a little more focused on the tracks, the little boy spotted two horses and quickly let his father know. They both noticed that the horses were not just any ordinary horses, but horses of the hacienda. The father of the boy knew that something was out of the normal since the horses were never ridden to this part of the town. They approached the horses and glanced over beyond them to see the daughter of the hacienda owner wrapped around the arms of a peasant showing affection to one another.

In great astonishment, the father quickly sent his son to the hacienda to deliver the news to the owner. Once the boy got to the hacienda he started shouting for the owner to come out while trying to gasp for air. Once the owner received the news of his daughter, he was greatly depressed and disappointed but in fury at the same time. He decided to wait for the two to get back to the hacienda as the sun was already coming down. They arrived shortly after and the peasant got a hold of both horses to take them back to their stalls. The owner stopped the peasant as soon as he started his walk to the stalls and ordered some of his men to capture him.

Everyone from the hacienda knew what was to happen to the peasant. The number one rule that the owner established whenever the hacienda was made, was that no peasant or villager would be allowed to converse with his family without his consent moreover have any relationship with any member of his family. The punishment for disobeying the owner’s laws was a death sentence. The men placed the peasant against a wall and had three gunmen in front of him ready to receive the execution order from the owner. The owner’s daughter quickly ran to the peasant and latched onto him as to protect him from the gunmen and pleaded to her dad that if he would just banish him from the town, she would accept any man he choose for her to marry.

The owner quickly became delighted by hearing her say this as he had already a person in mind from a very wealthy family. He agreed to banish the peasant from the town and even let him take the worst horse from the stables, for he wanted the peasant to go far away. The daughter of the owner was relieved at seeing the peasant go free because earlier in the day whenever they were together, they had planned to escape the very same night.

When the night came around and the moon was shining bright as can be, the daughter of the owner gathered her sheets and tied them together from her room balcony. As she threw down the end of the sheets, she saw her peasant waiting at the bottom on top of his horse. She mounted the horse and they rode of together, in search of a new life together.

By the time her family from the hacienda noticed she was missing, it was already mid-day and they were long gone.

(Hacienda in Mexico: Wikimedia Commons)

Author's Note:

This story follows the same principle as the story "The Lovers' Leap" by Katherine Neville Fleeson. Both of the stories consists of a daughter choosing to run away with her lover due to the negligence of consent by the father of the daughter. In the original story the setting is in Asia, and I decided to make mine in Mexico. There are numerous stories that my father and other friends have told me where the father does not approve of a certain individual for his daughter, and the man ends up taking her away without consent. It is something that to this day still happens so that is why I decided to base the story in Mexico. In the original story the couple is forced to go without seeing each other for a long time until the father of the girl is convinced that she has forgotten her lover so he makes a feast for her planning to find her a husband. During the feast she ends up running away with the boy but they are spotted so the father and the men chase them onto the edge of the cliff. Thinking they have captured the couple, they both decide to jump with the horse over a cliff and die together. I wanted to switch the ending up to where the couple lives on together and escape successfully so that is what I did in my story. 

Bibliography:

"The Lovers' Leap" from Folklore of Laos by Katherine Neville Fleeson. Web Source. 

Reading Notes: Folklore of Laos, Part B

The Justice of In Ta Pome

This is a story that I could almost do over with different characters and a new god. I liked how the story was based on following the god's command in exchange to receive the chemical they wished for. As I read along I thought the ending was going to be a little different where the Siamese would have gotten the chemical but lost his son forever. I could make the story longer and flip the ending to where the god grants the chemical to the Siamese. After making so many rocks into gold and gathering an enormous wealth, the Siamese decides he wants his son back but it is already too late.

(Gold Nugget from Australia: Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography:

Folklore of Laos by Katherine Neville Fleeson: link to Reading B

Reading Notes: Folklore of Laos, Part A

The Lovers' Leap

This story, as well as the Man in the Moon, were my favorites from reading A. I chose to do this story because I feel I could take the story more in depth. I know a few people and even some friends of mine, that have had similar situations in which the father does not give his consent for the boy to be with his daughter. I have also heard many stories from my father about the old times growing up in Mexico where the boy would steal the girl away from her family and start a family of their own. In fact, my dad has told me that most of the couples around his age or older were only together because of this. I'd like to take this story and have the setting be in Mexico just because I could relate a little more to it and add certain details my father has told me about. I didn't like the ending about how they ended up dying jumping off a cliff together so for my story I would like for the couple to get away successfully and begin their new lives together.

(Lovers' Leap at Rock City Gardens in Tennessee: FineArtAmerica)

Bibliography: 

Folklore of Laos by Katherine Neville Fleeson: link to Reading A