Mythology and Folklore

(Eyes Crazy Funny from  Pixabay ) Author's Note: For this story, I chose to recreate the Italian tale of the Man, the Serpent, and the Snake. They key elements of the story are still there, but in this case I chose to replace the characters in the story with humans, and place it in modern day Britain. This gives the story, in my opinion, a more humanistic feel (obviously, I mean, it's with humans instead of animals). The characters of the horse and greyhound are portrayed a little differently though. One key term that is good to know is "bobby". In this case it is not a name, but rather a term that is used in the UK for a police officer sometimes. One day, a businessman was on his morning walk to work. As he strolled by the coffee shop he frequented, he noticed a Crook chained to a nearby lamp post. "Oi, mate, help me out o' this jam wouldja?" The crook asked the man. "Absolutely not you dimwit," the man started, "If...

(The Riddler from  Wikimedia Commons ) Author's Note: Inspired by the section we have had this week based on riddles, verbal puzzles, and paradoxes, I chose to spend some time coming up with a few riddles of my own to share with everyone. I have always enjoyed riddles and brain teasers, so it makes me happy to share a few of my own on here. At the bottom I'll list the answers in order so that people can see if they're right or not! --- I am one, we are two, As I move, so do you. In the light, by my side, In the dark, run and hide. What are we? --- What a bore, what a bore That loudness that's in store Positively agitating Could even drown out a war Restful? Hah, please! It sounds like angry bees! Buzzing away the night and day My mind is not at ease! What is the riddle about? --- Deep, deep, deep A sign of restful sleep Deep, deep, deep After counting sheep Deep, deep, deep A body well at ease Deep...

(OOAK Ken Doll re-root from Flickr ) Author's Note: For this story I chose to take the story "Creation of Man" from Catherine Berry Judson's book. In the story, all the animals come together to decide how to best create man, but they all want man in their own image. They start to create their own renditions of man, but all fall asleep before they finish. While they sleep, the wise Coyote destroys their renditions and finishes his own, creating the image of man. For my story, I chose to retell it in the form of a toy company arguing how to create the next best-selling male doll. I shortened the story a bit to avoid too much repetition, but may extend later on. For this StoryLab I chose to take the advice of one of my classmates and adjust punctuation in a few places to make the writing flow a little better. "We need a new male-styled doll, one that's gonna rock kids all over the world," President Coy said.  His advisers and designers g...

(Vintage Ken from  Flickr ) Author's Note: For this story I chose to take the story "Creation of Man" from Catherine Berry Judson's book. In the story, all the animals come together to decide how to best create man, but they all want man in their own image. They start to create their own renditions of man, but all fall asleep before they finish. While they sleep, the wise Coyote destroys their renditions and finishes his own, creating the image of man. For my story, I chose to retell it in the form of a toy company arguing how to create the next best-selling male doll. I shortened the story a bit to avoid too much repetition, but may extend later on. "We need a new male-styled doll, one that's gonna rock kids all over the world," President Coy said.  His advisers and designers gathered around and all in turn started to put forth their ideas. One of the advisers named Lionel stepped forward first. Not knowing much about dolls, he ...

(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, w...

(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...