Mythology and Folklore

(Urban Coyote, Bernal Heights from  Wikimedia Commons ) For this reading I chose to focus on the story of the creation of man, as it is a concept I've really enjoyed the theories of over time. Of course there are the standard beliefs for this concept, such as God and evolution, but I enjoy hearing all of the theories. I clung to this particular idea because of its uniqueness. The idea of all of these modern day creatures coming together to form the idea of man is really interesting. I also enjoyed the part of the cunning character outsmarting the remaining ones who seemed to have intelligence and overwhelming beliefs that they were right. It was made clear from the start that Coyote was smarter than the other beings, but they all still believed they could create man better than him. He then showed them why it was he who would shape the image of man. Bibliography Creation of Man by Katharine Berry Judson, from  UnTextbook

(Advice Key from  Flickr )      For this story lab I chose to take the advice to writers option, to look for some advice that may help me in the future. Below are listed some pieces of advice that I thought would be helpful to me in my writing. "There is probably some long-standing “rule” among writers, journalists, and other word-mongers that says: “When you start stealing from your own work you’re in bad trouble.” And it may be true. - Hunter S. Thompson    I chose this quote because I tend to write up similar stories. By that, I mean I tend to write up stories that are based around a moral lesson or can relate to the real world, and don't always look at new options. Words are to be taken seriously. I try to take seriously acts of language. Words set things in motion. I’ve seen them doing it. Words set up atmospheres, electrical fields, charges. I’ve felt them doing it. Words conjure. I try not to be careless about what I utter, write, sing. I’m care

(Woodpecker from  Wikimedia Commons ) For these reading notes I chose to focus on the woodpecker story, "Why the Woodpecker Pecks". I chose to focus on this story because I heavily prioritize strong morals in folklore, and I liked the literary devices used in this story. I enjoy the moral of "moderation" or not overindulging in things. It's a very strong one that can relate to every day life, especially in cases of addictive substances, which are a constant plague that we have in our society. It also uses imaginative figurative language and has a nice combination of onomatopoeia and alliteration with "Tap! Tap! Tap!" in the start of the story. The merging of literary devices is an interesting technique, and is something I'd like to do with my own stories. Bibliography: Florence Stratton, Why the Woodpecker Pecks , from  UnTextbook

(Brown Hen Bird from  MaxPixel ) Author's note: For this story I took the story of the crocodile and the hen and rewrote the ending. I found the ending of the original story to be completely underwhelming, with the crocodile accepting the hen remarking him as her brother simply due to the fact that they both laid eggs. For him to stop his pursuit of her after this moral does not seem true to the nature of a crocodile. So to that end, I gave the story an ending I found more appropriate. The Dumb Crocodile One day, there was a crocodile who was sneaking up on a hen. The hen came to feed by the river bank every day, and the crocodile had been watching her. Just as he was about to close his mighty jaws around her, she yelled out, "Oh, brother, don't!" Taken aback by this, the crocodile stopped, and the hen ran away snickering. The crocodile was furious. "How could she possibly outsmart me!?" he yelled out. "I am a beast far above her, I refus

(American Crocodile from  NPS ) For this part of the reading notes I chose to focus on the story of "Why the Crocodile Does Not Eat the Hen." What I really liked about this story was the strange ending to it. It was not something I saw coming at all. Comparing the crocodile to the hen solely off the fact that they both lay eggs, as well as comparing them to turtles and ducks was a really strange way for it to go. I anticipated that the underlying moral would not be one of family or companionship, but rather one of intelligence. I honestly did not enjoy this ending at all, and would have preferred it to be a case of the Hen outsmarting the Crocodile in order to not get eaten. I think I'll probably rewrite this story and change the ending to fit my own tastes this week. Bibliography: Richard Dennett, Why The Crocodile Does Not Eat The Hen , from  UnTextbook

(Agelenopsis from  Wikipedia ) For this set of reading notes A, I chose to focus in on a specific story, namely the story of Thunder and Anansi. Overall in this story I get a sense of wonder. In general there are lots of fantasy-style elements, which I think tie in well to my own tastes. I have always been a fan of fantasy stories. For example, the idea of a spider forming complex and cognitive thought. The personification of animals has always been a fun idea to play with in stories. Then, a big element of fantasy is that of shape-shifting, like the way Anansi's son turned himself into a fly. Shape-shifting has been used in fantasy tales for generations, such as in the way Loki is able to change his shape in Norse mythology. A final element that I approve of in this story and like using in my own stories is that of a moral. In this story, Anansi learns, in very general terms, to be wise, but also to be generous. If he had shared the food pot with his family in the first pla

(We Can Do It! from  Wikipedia ) I would say I'm pretty happy with my progress so far. My weekly routine has had to adjust a bit to work around my work schedule, but it has not been difficult. I would like to say I'm most proud of my Sun Wu Kung story, and am enjoying the Project assignments. I plan on utilizing the extra credit options more in the future also, as my grade is 3 points shy of an A at the moment. For the rest of the semester I think I just need to keep my head down and focus on the assignments rather than pushing them off like I sometimes do. I missed a few assignments recently and it hurt my grade a decent bit. So going forward I need to not do that again.