Wikipedia Trail: Tattercoats to Pharisee and the Publican

Wikipedia Trail

So this week I decided to try out the the Wikipedia trail extra credit assignment. I wish that I had tried this assignment sooner because it actually turned out being really interesting. Anyways for this assignment I started by looking up the term "gooseherd" on Wikipedia because it was in the story,Tattercoats, that was in my reading for the week and I had never heard of a goose herder. This search led me to the actual Wikipedia page for tattercoats.

Tattercoats Page

The page about Tattercoats basically gave a synopsis of the original story that was written by Joseph Jacobs. Since this name was familiar from all of the reading I decided to go to his Wikipedia page next.

Joseph Jacobs

On this page, I learned about the life of Joseph Jacobs and how he has done extensive work writing folklore. From this page I chose to go to the page on "publicans" because I wasn't exactly sure what it meant and Joseph Jacob's father held that position.

Publican

On this page I learned that a publican was someone who collected taxes, which is not what I expected at all. I also found out that in the Jesus told the story of the Pharisee and the Publican so this is where I went next.

Pharisee and the Publican

On this final page I found out more about this biblical story. The story actually had a great moral that I really enjoyed. The moral of the story was to be humble and to not depend on pride to survive.

(Pharisee and Publican: Credit to James Tisso)

Review: Thanksgiving Edition

Backup and Review

So this is the first time this semester I have backed up my blog, so it was a long time coming! Other than that based on the progress chart I am ahead of schedule and should be finishing the class a bit sooner. This is great because it will give me a bit extra time to study for my finals. Anyways, I was glad I looked through the class announcement page because it gave me some useful information on finishing up with the class. The link to that day is here. I also enjoyed this meme about  Thanksgiving.

(Thanksgiving, credit to Laura Gibbls.)

Famous Last Words: Week 13

Famous Last Words

This Class

So this week in the Mythology and Folklore class I chose to read about English fairy tales, and ended up writing one of my favorite stories of the semester. This whole semester I was excited to read about fairy tales so when this unit came up I immediately knew I wanted to use one of the stories in the unit as inspiration for a story in my storybook. In the reading there were a few versions of Cinderella so I decided to do my retelling of one of the Cinderella stories. The retelling, This is Ever After, ended up being one of my favorite stories that I have written this semester and I am excited to get feedback on it!

Other Classes

In my other classes I have had a lot of success. Usually at this point in the semester I am freaking out about my grades but by studying more consistently over the course of the semester I have no less than a B in all of my courses. In fact, this past week I received all of my midterm grades back and I was pleasantly surprised. One course that I am really enjoying is my intro to drumming class. Although the class was not required for my major I am really glad that I chose to take it. Since I already play piano and some guitar I was very surprised at the difficulty of drums but even though it has been challenging I have learned quite a bit! 

(Drumming, credit to Heyme at pixabay)

Outside of School

Outside of my coursework I have tried to focus more on my hobbies since they usually get pushed to the side for schoolwork. Specifically, this past week I tried to spend time playing the banjo that I got for my birthday in October.  Since the banjo is a six string banjo it has been an easier transition that I expected.

Week 13 Story: In the Ever After

Update: This story has been added to my portfolio! Follow the link to see the revised version.



"Another hard day," August asked with a smile as he climbed into the giant bed.

"Well, I must say raising three crazy kids is way more difficult than herding sheep," chuckled Ella.

August leaned to give Ella a kiss on the forehead but before he could reach her he heard the pitter patter of tiny feet running down the hallway. "Uh oh" he sighed, falling back into his pillow. "It looks like we have another nightmare victim on our hands."

Before he could even finish his sentence their youngest daughter Amelia came flying into the room and jumped on the bed.

"The monsters are back daddy!" she exclaimed as she hid her face in his chest. With a laugh Ella onc explained to her daughter that there is no such thing as monsters and there was nothing to worry about at all.

"Let's get you back to bed sweetie," August said.

"Noooooooo,"  Amelia yelled. "Not without your story, Mommy!"

"Ok, fine" Ella responded lightly. "I suppose I can tell my story."

Once upon a time there lived a happy couple in a great castle. The couple was deeply in love and through the years tried to have many children, but only had a single daughter, Amelia.

"That's my name!" squealed Amelia.

"Yes, sweetheart. Amelia was your grandmother" August said before taking over the story.

Anyways, for years the family lived in the palace full of love and joy. Eventually Amelia fell in love with a young man, and  they married. Shortly after the marriage they announced that Amelia was pregnant, and everyone in castle was elated by the news. While her husband was away, Amelia gave birth to a baby girl. Unfortunately the delivery did not go as planned and even though she did not live to see her only daughter she had time to name her. In grief, Amelia's mom died of a broken heart and the Lord refused to accept his granddaughter. He said that she was the reason for the death of his wife and his daughter and that she was not welcome in his castle. In his anger he told Amelia's husband not to come back to the castle, since nothing was left there for him.

Luckily for the baby girl,  Ella, Amelia had a loyal nurse that took in Ella and tried to feed her and clothe her as much as she could afford.

This worked for years, but in her old age the nurse died before Ella was fully grown.  Ella continued to live on the streets but never became discouraged by her situation. Ella was very generous and she often gave what little she had to other people in need. In fact, one evening Ella was walking through a nearby meadow when a stray sheep came her way. Being kindhearted, Ella leaned down to pet the sheep and told it that she would help it find its shepherd. It took a full day of walking nearby meadows but finally Ella spotted young shepherd tending to a flock of sheep.After Ella returned the sheep to the relieved shepherd they began to talk. The young shepherd explained that he was an orphan and offered Ella a job, helping him with the sheep. Overjoyed with the opportunity, Ella accepted and within the next few weeks the shepherd and Ella became great friends.

One day they were walking through a country town and heard of a grand ball that the King was hosting. Ella, never having been to a ball, greatly wanted to attend but was embarrassed of her shepherds clothes. The shepherd was quick to reassure her and insisted that they go together. "Who cares what we wear?!"  he exclaimed. "We will have fun nonetheless!"
Reassured, Ella and the shepherd began the two days journey to the castle. Not an hour into their journey they stumbled upon a strapping young and gallant man mounted on a grand white stallion. Might I add that he was quite handsome!"

Ella started laughing at her husband's retelling of the story. Giggling she said, "Oh really, he was all that handsome? I remember him looking rather confused and lost. I will take it from here."

So anyways, Ella offered help to  handsome young man. She gave him food and water and suggested that they travel together to the castle. There was an immediate spark between Ella and the man. Even though he was clearly wealthy he was not too proud to ask a commoner for help or to travel with a flock of sheep.

When they reached the castle the young man said he must go, but hoped to see them both at the ball.

After tending to the sheep Ella and the shepherd gathered the courage to enter the great ball, remember that they are still dirty from the fields and smell of sheep. As soon as they walked in the lords and ladies all began to snicker and laugh at these commoners. In embarrassment, Ella turned to run to the door but before she could make it she heard a familiar voice yell, "Wait!" As soon as she turned around she recognized the young man from earlier, only now he had a crown on! She assumed that he was wealthy, but a Prince!?

He ran to her and gave her an embrace before turning to the crowd to explain to them that Ella was more kind than all of them, and they should be ashamed of themselves.

Ella was impressed at the Prince's reaction, but before she could say a word the shepherd stepped forward.

"I have seen this woman choose kindness over bitterness again and again, and now her inner beauty will match her clothes.And as for the Prince, he has proven to be a kind and understanding man. The two of them will have countless blessings"

In an instance Ella's shepherd's clothing was transformed into a beautiful dress and the shepherd disappeared.

Although they never saw the shepherd again, the two truly did live happily ever after.

"Well, it looks like she has passed out," August said while looking at his sleeping daughter.

"I guess it is just that good of a story," Amelia said with a smile.

(Castle Beyond the Meadow, credit to slipdem)

Author's Note
In the original story, Tattercoats, an old lord loses his daughter when she was birthing his grand daughter. He was so upset at the loss of his daughter that he swore to never look at his grandchild and he neglected her. The grandchild had a nurse maid that took care of her but was ultimately forced to live on the streets where she befriended a goose herder. In the end she makes it to a ball with the goose herder and the Prince falls in love with her even though she is poorly dressed. The goose herder then turns her tattered clothes into a beautiful dress. In my version of the story I really wanted to emphasize that Ella truly had a great personality and won over the Prince with more than her looks. In accordance to this, I wanted the Prince to be appreciative of her personality and to be kind as well. Even though this is a fairy-tale I was inspired to create a version of the story that shows the happily ever after, rather than eluding to it. By adding a small narrative of a "here we are now" theme to the beginning of the story, I hoped to capture this.

Bibliography

More English Fairy Tales, Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1894) link

Learning Challenge: Sleep over Studying

Learning Challenge

This week for the learning challenge I chose to read the article Why Sleeping May be More Important than Studying written by Katrina Schwartz. To be honest there has been many times that I have stayed up late to cram for an exam and I have many times felt like going into the exam exhausted does more harm than good. This article definitely confirmed my idea by describing how a good nights rest can be even more beneficial than a late night cram session. The biggest surprise from reading the article was the suggestion that school should start at 10 a.m. to ensure that students have enough sleep. That would be great!

(Sleepy Student, credit to Love Krittaya)

Learning Challenge: Happiness Jar

Learning Challenge

This week I chose to do a Learning by H.E.A.R.T. challenge. The challenge that appealed to me the most was the Happiness Jar challenge since I read about classmate doing the challenge while doing the commenting assignment this week. The premise of the challenge is to write down something that makes me happy every day and then reflect on the writings at the end of the week. I feel like this will be a great challenge because it would make me more aware of the positive things that happen to me during the week. I look forward to this challenge!

(Happiness Jar, credit to Marta Z on flickr)

Growth Mindset: Week 15

Growth Mindset

For this growth mindset post I chose to find some growth mindset cats on pinterest that I really could relate to. The first meme that I enjoyed was the "Study hard, and then take a break" meme. Being a chemical engineering major here at the university I often find myself studying for hours on end and only recently have I found a better system. I found that the way of studying that works best for me is to take a ten minute break every hour so that I do not get overwhelmed.

(Study, Study, Study. Credit to Laura Gibbs)

The second meme that really spoke to me was the "There are many paths to success." Going into college I thought that I was for sure going to graduate in four years, and when I found out that I needed to take five years I was devastated. The idea of my plan being thrown off by an entire year was very scary and I felt like I was a failure in some ways. After some time I realized that taking an extra year really helped me to mature and taking less hours decreased my stress level significantly. This meme reminded me that there really are multiple paths to success and my plan was not the only plan that could lead to success.

(Path to Success, credit to Laura Gibbs)

Growth Mindset: Week 14

Growth Mindset

After reviewing what the growth mindset was last week, I was inspired to dig a little deeper into the concept of growth mindset. Specifically, this week I am exploring how I am using the growth mindset in other aspects of my life outside of school. 

Where I apply Growth Mindset Outside of School

So when I am not studying for exams or completing assignments, I really enjoy trying to express myself in creative and artistic ways. This can include playing piano drums or guitar, or even drawing sometimes. When it comes to doing the best job of applying the growth mindset it would have to be when I am learning something new on piano. Since I genuinely enjoy playing piano it is easy to relax and allow myself to take time and focus on what I am learning rather than get frustrated every time I mess up. Even when I am learning a difficult piece I can usually find a way to embrace the process and be excited for the outcome even though it is time consuming and difficult. I hope that in the future I can apply this amount of patience with myself when I am trying to learn a new concept for class rather than get frustrated when I don't understand it immediately.

(Growth vs Fixed, credit to Jessica Ottewell)

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Growth Mindset: Week 13

Growth Mindset

With finals week fast approaching, this week seemed like a great time to revisit the growth mindset concepts and hopefully find some motivation and advice to carry me through to the end of the semester. Since it had been a while since I have explored the growth mindset I decided to read an article by Saga Briggs titled 25 Simple Ways to Develop a Growth Mindset. In the article I was reminded that the growth mindset is just believing in the idea that I can grow, rather than my intelligence and personality being fixed. 

Out of the 25 ways to develop the mindset I chose a few that really spoke to me. First was the concept of replacing the word failing with learning. Throughout my college experience I have had a few times where I became extremely discouraged from failing an assignment and in retrospect if I had thought of the experience as having more to learn rather than failing I may have been able to handle the situation without getting so upset. Second, was the concept of  paying more attention to the growth rather than the speed. I always try to learn things quickly and have many times crammed before an exam without actually learning the concepts. I feel like it is important to give yourself time to grow rather than rushing a process and ultimately becoming discouraged with the learning process. 

(Grow, photo from flickr)

Tech Tip: Typing Test

Typing Test

So after trying out the typing games and realizing I could use some improvement I decided to get a baseline of my typing skills in order to see how much I can improve in the remaining of the semester. 

Before I took the test at MyHero.com I looked up the average typing speed and found that the general consensus is over 40 words per minute is above average. This being said, I was surprised that my first attempt was 50.88 words per minute with 92.39% accuracy.  The second time I took the test I had an even better score at 97% accuracy and 62.98 words per minute. With this data I was able to set a goal for the end of the semester; to type over 100 words per minute. 

Tech Tip: Touch Typing Games

Touch Typing Games

For this tech tip I chose to try out some typing games online in order to assess and improve my typing skills. Being an engineering major I do not do too much writing, and this translates into not doing too much typing. The first game that I played was the NinjaCat game, and I must say I have some improvement to m ake! I was not terrible at the game  but it was clear that I am not an expert typist. I also tried out the game Typing Alien. I personally enjoyed typing alien more since it reminded me of the old game Galaga. 

Tech Tip: Canvas Calendar

Canvas Calendar

So this week I chose to write about the calendar for canvas.The canvas calendar is a really useful tool that I have used this entire semester to help with time management and assignment reminders. The calendar is particularly helpful because it shows due dates, test times, and more depending on the professor. Since I already use a physical planner and an online daily planner I really focus on using the canvas calendar for assignment reminders only. Even though I already write all my assignments in my daily planner it is nice to have an online reminder just in case I miss something or forget an assignment. 

Reading Notes: More English Fairy Tales B

Reading Notes

As I stated in my last post, I really wanted to read the More English Fairy Tales section of the British and Celtic unit in order to find inspiration for the retelling of a fairy tale since my portfolio does have the term fairy tale in the title. Anyways, in the second part of the reading I really enjoyed the story Rushen Coatie as well as King O' Cats.

Rushen Coatie

The story of Rushen Coatie is yet another retelling of the classic Cinderella story. In this version the fairy godmother is a calf that helps Cinderella, or the Rushen Coatie, get food as well as clothes to attend church where she meets the prince. Like the other classic Cinderella stories, the Rushen Coatie loses a shoe at church in a rush to beat her evil stepmother home and the Prince searches for the owner of the shoe. This version was a bit more gruesome because the  stepmother actually cut off the toes of one of her daughters so that the shoe would fit. If I were to retell this story I may keep some classic aspects like the shoe and the wishes but I might change how the story is written. I could tell the story from a first person perspective or I could do a complete perspective change and tell the story from the side of the actual daughter. Maybe she disagrees with her evil mother and could try to help the Rushen Coatie but in the end gets her toes cut off. 

The King O' Cats

The King O' Cats is not a typical or well known fairy tale but I really enjoyed reading it. The story was about a man who works in a graveyard and saw a funeral for a cat by cats and was freaked out. When he is retelling the story to his wife, who has a cat on her lap, the cat jumps up and shouts that he is the King of the Cats now and runs off. If I were to retell this story I may go into more detail on this secret cat community and maybe even form the story into a comedy about the cats trying to cover up what the old man saw in order to keep their society secret.

(King of Cats, photo from flickr)

Bibliography

More English Fairy Tales, Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1894) link

Reading Notes: More English Fairy Tales A

Reading Notes

For this week's reading in the British and Celtic unit I chose to read the unit over more English Fairy Tales. The title of my portfolio is Fables, Fairy tales, and other Fantastic Stories so I feel like I needed to read about fairy tales to potentially write a story about a fairy tale. The story Tattercoats was one story that I really enjoyed reading and that I could see myself retelling.

Tattercoats

In the story of Tattercoats an old lord loses his daughter when she was birthing his grand daughter. He was so upset at the loss of his daughter that he swore to never look at his grandchild and he neglected her. The grandchild had a nurse maid that took care of her but was ultimately forced to live on the streets where she befriended a goose herder. In the end she makes it to a ball with the goose herder and the Prince falls in love with her even though she is poorly dressed. The goose herder then turns her tattered clothes into a beautiful dress. This story appealed to me because it is a different version of the all too popular Cinderella. I enjoyed this version because the Prince fell in love with her before she was beautifully clothed and I think it sends an important message about falling in love for personality rather than beauty. If I were to retell this story I would possibly tell it as if someone was telling their child a bedtime story. It could be really interesting to even tell the story from the perspective of this Cinderella but make it a retelling to her child about how she met the prince. In the retelling of the story I would probably go into more detail about the herder and rather than herding geese maybe he could herd something more familiar like sheep. This is not a major part of the story but I think it is more relatable if the characters are more familiar.

(Classic Cinderella, photo found at Wikipedia commons)

Bibliograph

More English Fairy Tales, Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1894) link

Reading Notes: Robin Hood B

Reading Notes: Robin Hood

As I stated in my last post, this week for the Celtic and British unit I chose to read about Robin Hood. Not only was this section different in the way it was written, it had very ideas of Robin Hood than I am used to. These ballads portray Robin Hood as more of a villain, which is very surprising. For the second part of this reading unit I found a few stories that could be interesting to rewrite. These include The Bishop of Hereford and The Bishop.

The Bishop of Hereford and The Bishop.

In The Bishop of Hereford Robin Hood disguises as a Shepherd and kills a deer in the Bishop's path so that the Bishop would condemn him for killing the King's deer. When this happens Robin calls for his men and they overtake the Bishop and steal his gold. In the story of The Bishop, the story of The Bishop of Hereford continues. After Robin Hood lets the Bishop run away after robbing him the Bishop gathers men and hunts down Robin Hood. Robin changes clothes with an old lady and tricks the Bishop into taking the wrong person. I think that it could be interesting to retell these two stories as one and to not do the traditional ballad form. Although the ballads are interesting they can be slightly hard to read and I would change it into a normal story. I could also tell it in first person from Robin's perspective or give a better backstory of the Bishop. If I were to retell these two stories as one I could also do a better job of describing the timeline between Robin robbing the bishop and the bishop hunting down Robin. Another idea would be to tell the story as if it was someone telling their child a bedtime story.

(Robin, Credit to Nilfanion, link)

Bibliography

The English and Scottish Popular Ballads,Francis James Child. (1882-1898) link

Reading Notes: Robin Hood A

Reading Notes: Robin Hood

This week for the British and Celtic Units I chose to read the Robin Hood section. I was torn between choosing Alice in Wonderland and Robin Hood, but since I plan to read the full Alice in Wonderland Novel I went with Robin Hood. In the reading I found a few stories that I would be interested in retelling, including Progress to Nottingham.

Progress to Nottingham

In the story Progress to Nottingham Robin is only 15 years old and is already skilled with a bow and arrow. The main idea of the story is that some foresters do not believe that Robin Hood could possibly be that skilled with a bow and arrow since he is so young and so they challenge him to shoot in the King's shooting competition. Robin Hood made a wager with the men and won, but when they did not pay up he shot them all. I was definitely surprised to see him more of a villain type rather than the steal from the rich to give to the poor image that he has been portrayed as. The story was also different because it was written in the form of a ballad in old English, which honestly made it a bit more difficult to read. If I were to retell the story I feel like I could go two different directions. On one hand, I could change the story so that instead of Robin Hood killing all of the men they could have paid up and he could have given the money to the poor. On the other hand, I could fully embrace the more villainous Robin Hood and retell this version of the story out of the ballad form.  I think if I were to keep the villainous version of Robin Hood I could go into more detail of why he was wondering the forest alone at fifteen years old.

(Young Robin, credit to Mike Peel)

Bibliography

The English and Scottish Popular Ballads,Francis James Child. (1882-1898) link

Reading Notes: Extra Credit, Nursery Rhymes

Reading Notes

For the extra credit reading I really wanted to read something that was different than everything I have seen up to this point. I have enjoyed exploring tales from Egypt, folklore from Native Americans, and fables from Africa, but I thought it would be fun to read something that may be more familiar. When I was little, I was read and sung many nursery rhymes, so it seemed like the Nursery Rhyme unit could be both familiar like Little Bo Peep and even surprising like The Lion and the Unicorn. 

Little Bo Peep

Little Bo Peep is a rhyme that I heard many times as a child and it is about a girl who has sheep that get lost, she seeks them out but when she found them they had no tails. I think it could be fun to retell this story from her perspective! This could be the origin story of Little Bo Peep.

The Lion and the Unicorn

One nursery rhyme that I was unfamiliar with was The Lion and the Unicorn. This short rhyme was about a lion and a unicorn fighting for the crown, and the lion beat the unicorn around a village. It seemed as though in the rhyme the villagers did not want their town being destroyed so they offered the lion and unicorn bread to leave. I think it would be fun to retell this story since I would have the opportunity to add so much to it. When I read this rhyme I thought of instead of a literal lion and unicorn it could mean two armies that have a lion and a unicorn as their banner. This of course reminded me of Game of Thrones and since I am such a nerd it would be amazing to add to the story of Game of Thrones. Maybe there is an old tale about a family, the unicorns, that aren't around anymore because the lions beat them so badly!

(Lion Crest, credit to Kareldorado, link)

Bibliography

The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang and Illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke.  link

Reading Notes: Alaskan Legends, A

Reading Notes: Alaskan Legends

This week I chose to finish off the Native American reading unit by reading about Alaskan Legends. Growing up in Oklahoma, I am more familiar with tales from the Plains Indians and I was really interested in reading stories from another region of the United States. Overall, I was really surprised at the emphasis these Alaskan Legends put on the raven. In the reading I enjoyed the story Raven and the Marmot

Raven and the Marmot

In the story Raven and the Marmot, the Raven was flying overhead when he saw the hole of a marmot. Wanting the eat the marmot, Raven blocked the hole so that when the marmot returned it would not be able to escape into its' home. The plan seemed to work because the marmot returned and could not hide in his hole, but the marmot had a plan. The marmot convinced Raven to dance so as a final request and asked the Raven to close its' eyes. The raven agreed and then the marmot jumped between the raven's legs and hid. I thought this was an interesting story because the Raven actually gets outsmarted even though in quite a few of the other stories the raven seems to be powerful and intelligent. If I were to retell the story I could put it in first person for either the raven or the marmot. I could also change them from animals to humans and make the raven a true villain wanting to kidnap the marmot or something along those lines. I also think that it would be interesting to add more details to the story in order to give a better description of the setting since in the original there was relatively no description of the surroundings, time, or origins of the raven or marmot.

(Raven, credit to Philip Henry Gosse)

Bibliography

Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911). link

Week 10 Storytelling: Silent Forest

Silent Forest

Once upon a time there was a young couple, Jay and Catari, that lived just outside a great forest. Their love was as big as the great pines that surrounded their humble home and it ran as deep as the crystal clear streams that flowed out from between the trees.

One cold winter, when the forest was white with snow and the streams were frozen solid Catari became very ill. Jay did everything in his power to save his beautiful wife but no healer could rescue her from her fate. 

In his grief Jay hiked into the great forest to find a place to mourn his wife's death. For hours he wondered through the thick pines and soon the sun began to sit.  As he tried to find his way home he became more and more lost until finally he noticed a change in the scenery. As he looked around he realized that all of the trees around him were dead, and there was no sound of birds or any living being. As he continued to walk through the lifeless forest he found a path that he had never noticed before. As the sun faded in the distance he followed the eerie path between quiet trees until he came upon a decrepit long house with smoke starting to rise from the chimney. Grateful to find shelter just as the sun set, Jay ran into the house and was surprised to see many people huddled around the fire. Even though she had her back towards him he instantly recognized Catari.

"Catari," he yelled as he ran to embrace her. "I can't believe I found you!"

When she turned around to embrace him her face was pale and even though she was near the fire she was as cold as ice.  For a moment Jay saw happiness in his wife's eyes but it almost instantly turned into fear, since she knew what happened to the living when they found this place. 

Catari held the embrace for a second before explaining to him that he had wondered into the Silent Forest. With tears running down her face she told her love that he could only stay for the night. since he was still living.  

That night Catari showed Jay around the village. She took him to a nearby lake to see where the children fish, but all Jay saw was broken down canoes with holes in them surrounding a stagnant pond. The children of the village proudly showed off what they had caught but all Jay saw was skeletons of fish and twigs in the nets.

As the night continued Jay began to realize the truth that his wife had spoken, this place would never be able to sustain a living person.  Even though he knew he could not stay past morning he waited until the sun had nearly rose to tell his wife goodbye. As he paddled away in one of the dilapidated canoes, water began to fill the small boat. Before he knew what was happening the water had overtaken him and the canoe was completely underwater. Unable to breath Jay struggled to swim to shore, and passed out on the bank just as the sun was rising.

When Jay woke he was in the same longhouse as before, but it was strangely different. Instead of being old and worn down the house seemed to be brand new. As he tried to stand he heard to whistling of birds and the laughter of children just outside the door. Confused, Jay stepped outside and saw tall lush green pines surrounding the village. In the distance he saw that the stagnant pond had turned into a gorgeous clear lake. As he turned to take in the scenery he saw Catari running towards him only now she was no longer pale.When she jumped into his arms he felt her warmth and in that instant he realized what had happened. In his panic he had swam back to the shore of the Silent Forest. Since the sun rose on him, he had died and was destined to stay in the ghost forest with his wife from that point on.

(Silent Forest, credit to Jaymantri at pexels)

Author's Note

This story was based of the tale, Chinook Ghost. Chinook Ghost is about how a ghost wanted a wife and so he bought the blue jay's sister and took her to the land of the dead. After many questions and much searching the blue jay found his sister and she was surrounded by skeletons. At night the skeletons came to life and were ghost. The blue jay became mischievous and played pranks on the ghost so they banished him. He ended up dying and when he returned to the land as a ghost everything was in pristine condition, unlike when he went to the land when he was alive. In retelling this story I wanted to emphasize the different ways the land of the dead can be perceived. Specifically, I thought it would be interesting to do Jay's view of the land of the dead before and after he was actually dead. I also wanted a stronger connection between the two main characters so I created a new character, Catari, to be the love interest of Jay.

Bibliography

Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest, especially of Washington and Oregon. Katharine Berry Judson. (1910) link.

Reading Notes: Pacific Northwest B

Reading Notes: B

As I stated in the last reading notes blog for week 10, this week I have chosen to read stories from Pacific Northwest Native American Tribes. For the second half of the reading I found a one story that would be especially interesting to retell. This includes the story Chinook Ghost 

Chinook Ghost

The story Chinook Ghost is about how a ghost wanted a wife and so he bought the blue jay's sister and took her to the land of the dead. After many questions and much searching the blue jay found his sister and she was surrounded by skeletons. At night the skeletons came to life and were ghost. The blue jay became mischievous and played pranks on the ghost so they banished him. He ended up dying and when he returned to the land as a ghost everything was in pristine condition, unlike when he went to the land when he was alive. 

Since it is so close to Halloween I think that this story about ghost would be very fun to retell. If I were to retell this story I could go into more detail about how the land of the dead was as described by the blue jay when he was alive. It would be fun to use very vivid details to describe how the ghost came to life at night and how everything they used seem to be old and broken. This would make it even more interesting when he returns to the land when he is dead and everything seems to be working perfectly. Also it would be interesting to describe the story from the sister's perspective since she is the one that got taken to the land of the dead first. Also instead of starting the story with something as blunt as "the ghost wanted a wife," I could do a backstory on the ghost and the ghost lands.

(Ghost Forest, pixabay)

Bibliography

Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest, especially of Washington and Oregon. Katharine Berry Judson. (1910) link.

Reading Notes: Pacific Northwest

Reading Notes:

This week for the Native American unit I chose to read stories that originated from the Pacific Northwest.  I was particularly interested in the story How the Old Man Above Created the World, but I also enjoyed How Beaver Stole Fire.

How the Old Man Above Created the World

The story, How the Old Man Above Created the World, is the world creation story as told by the Shasta Indians of the Northwest. In this story the Old Man chisels his way through the sky and makes a pyramid of snow and ice to climb down to earth. The Old Man then planted trees and then made animals from the leaves and sticks of the tree. The Old Man then lives in a tee pee that is a mountain until the white men come and then he leaves. If I were to retell this story I do not think I would change too much of the basis of it, but instead focus on the details. When I read the story I thought of it as being very beautiful and mystical and it would be fun to go into extreme detail about the creation story. My favorite part of the original is when the Old Man blew on the leaf and it became a bird and I think that this type of lyrical detail could be further utilized to create some vivid images about the creation.

(Mount Shasta, credit to Michael Zanger, link)

How Beaver Stole Fire

The story, How Beaver Stole Fire, is based a long time ago when trees and animals could walk and speak like humans. The trees were in charge of holding fire and one cold winter the beaver stole the fire from the pines so that he would not freeze. I think this story would be cool to retell because I would get to describe living trees. If I were to change anything I might tell the story from the perspective of the old ceder tree or even the beaver.

Bibliography

Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest, especially of Washington and Oregon. Katharine Berry Judson. (1910) link.

Week Nine Story: Alora's Journal

Update:

This story is now on my portfolio. To see the revised version follow this link!

October 27, 3181

To be honest I am not sure how to start this, so I guess I will start from the beginning. My name is Alora. I am part of an expedition team that travels the universe in search of...something. The Captain hasn't really told us what we are looking yet because apparently we are not fully trained. Anyways, after I screwed up a tiny bit of the last mission and may or may not have nearly died I have been commanded to write in this thing. So here I am. Writing in this stupid journal. Apparently it is supposed to help me "connect" to my gift, but it seems to just be an annoyance so far. 

October 28, 3181

Hey, there. It's me again. Today my assignment is to explain more about my gift and my sisters. Remember, the whole "connecting" bull crap. So I am a dreamer. Not in some optimistic way, more in a I kinda can see the future/past/present in my dreams. My younger sisters are all gifted too, which is why we were recruited for this mission thing. Utarra is a guide. That means if you tell her to find anything, she can create a map in her mind and lead you to it. The only issue is she has to have a connection to the thing she is finding. Next is Artemis, the huntress. She has some amazing skills with a bow and arrow, but is always getting herself in trouble. Finally there is Eva. The all powerful life giver. Although all she has given life to so far is a couple of dead plants and maybe a fly or two.

October 29, 3181

Today was kinda weird. I had a dream about Artemis getting killed on a hunt but she hasn't left the ship since the last mission. I told the Captain and he said there is nothing to worry about. Probably just a flashback to the last mission.

October 30, 3181

Today we start another mission. Thank god, because I am sick of being on this ship. Artemis is supposed to go do some basic tracking on a small planet and observe the wildlife. When she gives us the all clear we are going to do a few training exercises and exploring. It is pretty routine but I am excited to see a new planet.

November 4, 3181

Well, it has been a few days since I have written. The Captain said I needed to write everything that happened to clear my mind. So here is the short version. Turns out that dream I had about Artemis wasn't just a flashback. As soon as she left to do the tracking I had a bad feeling, but I chalked it up to nerves. Usually Artemis sends some results from the tracking within a few hours, but this time was different. It was a full day and we had still heard nothing and I was starting to panic. The Captain told us to stay put but I knew I had to do something. It was easy to convince Utarra to track our sister but the baby Eva was another story. She has always played by the rules and it took us a full hour of threatening and convincing to get her to go to the planet with us.  It was easy enough to track Artemis with Utarra's gift, but the terrain was rough. Really rough. It was a struggle to climb through this weird living forest and with every turn there was some crazy creature. We mostly just ran from them since we weren't the hunters. Anyways we finally found Artemis wrapped in this crazy web thing. Utarra immediately had a breakdown and swore that she was dead. Eva was the real surprise. She was calm and walked to Artemis and placed a hand on her chest. Before we knew it Artemis was coughing and breathing again, but still in pretty bad shape. We brought her back here and got our own wounds looked at too. So that's all I guess. 

(The Ship, credit to Tombud at pixabay)

Author's Note

This writing is based of a story that originated in Congo titled How the Wives Restored their Husband to Life. In the original story there were three wives and each had a gift. The gifts were to dream, to guide, and the bring back to life. When the husband was killed hunting the dreamer dreamed of his death, the guide found a way to his body, and the life giver brought him back to life. In the end the husband chose most gifted wife, rather than appreciating them each.  When I read this story I really wanted to change the husband to a woman and to make them sisters in order to give them more solidarity. In the original story it seemed like a competition and the husband was the judge and I was hoping to make the story more about teamwork.

Bibliography

Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort, Richard Edward Dennett (1898). Link

Reading Notes: Stories from Congo, B

Reading Notes: Part B

For the second part of reading from Congo I had a hard time choosing a story that held my interest. I did not enjoy part B of the reading as much as part A but I still found a few stories that I could see myself rewriting.

The Fetish Sunga

In The Fetish Sunga, there is a great fisherman named Basa who goes to the river everyday to catch fish. Even though he catches many fish every day, he often lies about catching them because he is very selfish. One day, the fetish Sunga grows tired of his lies and invites him to a feast where she makes him mute so that he cannot lie again. If I were to rewrite this story I think it would be interesting to explain what happens to Basa after he becomes mute. When I was reading the story I was wondering if after he became mute did he continue to hide his fish, or did he learn his lesson and begin to share. I think it would be exciting to explain how he learns his lesson and maybe make him return to the fetish to ask for forgiveness.

(Fisherman, link)

Why The Crocodile does not Eat the Hen

In Why the Crocodile does not Eat the Hen, there is a crocodile that tries to eat a  hen every day. Every day as he approaches the hen she calls him brother and this greatly confuses him. One day he finally has to ask Mbambi why the hen keeps calling him brother and he responds that the hen is a duck and the duck loves the water and lays eggs so they are brothers. If I were to retell this story I would focus more on the dialogue between the duck and the crocodile. I think it would be more interesting if the crocodile confronts the duck rather than going to a friend to ask.

Bibliography

Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort, Richard Edward Dennett (1898). link

Reading Notes: Stories from Congo, A

Reading Notes:

This week I read through Stories From Congo and found a few stories that I could retell this week. The stories include How the Wives Restored their Husband to Life, and Another Vanishing Wife.

How the Wives Restored their Husband to Life

In the original story of How the Wives Restored their Husband to Life, three wives each had a gift. The gifts were to dream, to guide, and the bring back to life. When the husband was killed hunting the dreamer dreamed of his death, the guide found a way to his body, and the life giver brought him back to life. I feel as though if I were to retell this story I could switch the husband to a woman and perhaps make the women gifted sisters.  The new addition would have the gift of being a skilled huntress. Instead of choosing a best gift, in my version I could put an emphasis on the importance of each gift and how they worked together.

Another Vanishing Wife

In the original story of Another Vanishing Wife a scrawny young man was tired of being put second to his strong older brother and being mistreated by his family. In response to this he ran away and found a magic canoe that led him to  magical tree in which he pulled a leaf off and it turned into a beautiful woman. The woman changed his appearance and awarded him with wealth and love. The man went against her warning and went to show off to his family. When he did this he lost the wife and his wealth. If I were to retell this story I would put an emphasis on the moral of the story; it is not necessary to impress people who do not care for you. It would be interesting to tell this story from the perspective of the man and to describe how he felt like he had something to prove.

(The Magic Canoe, link)

Bibliography

Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort, Richard Edward Dennett (1898). Link

Week 8 Progress

Looking Back

Although I am on schedule for an A in the course I have not kept my schedule as much as I would have liked to. I had planned on doing extra credit to get ahead but as my other classes have gotten more difficult I have had trouble finding the time to put in the extra work. I have most enjoyed the reading assignments because I have always enjoyed reading. This is a great opportunity to read things that I may not have been  exposed to otherwise.

Looking Forward

I would like some changes for the second half of the semester. I would really like to keep my schedule better and do more extra credit so I can finish the course a little early.

Image

(Keep Moving Forward, link)

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

Feedback In

As the semester has progressed I have found that the usefulness of the comments has continually improved. After the first few feedback assignments I think people really started to grasp the importance of the feedback and since I have received some great advice.

Feedback Out

I think that reading other people's work has definitely influenced and improved my personal work. Just as other people's comments have improved the further we get into the course, I think that my comments and feedback has also. I found the assignment on feed-forward very useful and I have tried to use some of the methods for giving useful feedback since then.

Blog Comments

I really have enjoyed both receiving comments and commenting on other people's work throughout this semester. Reading and commenting on the introductions give me a better sense of who people are than I have ever had in any class. It is also really nice to have people make comments on my introduction and say such encouraging and interesting things!

Looking Forward

As I move forward I feel as though I could try to dig a little deeper when reading other's blogs in order to ask questions and give feedback that could be looked over. If I were to change something about my blog it may just be the format of it so it is easier to follow. After looking at my other classmates' blogs I have seen so many that are truly impressive and I would use some of those to inspire mine.

Image

The reason I chose this image is because it can be very intimidating to receive feedback! When I first learned about giving and receiving feedback for this course I was nervous that it could be hurtful and I was afraid of hurting people's feelings. I have found that by using the right methods feedback is not as scary as you'd think. and it can be extremely useful!

(Feedback, link)

Week 8 Reading and Writing

Looking Back

To be completely honest, when we began this course I was generally overwhelmed. Being and engineering major I had never been exposed to a class in which we get to choose the topics and then are free to be creative and imaginative on assignments. To say the least I have been pleasantly surprised this far in the semester. 

 

At first I would struggle with each writing assignment since it has been so long since I have done any creative writing, but as the semester continues I am progressively becoming more comfortable with my writing. 

My favorite reading so far has been the section on Ancient Egyptian Myth and Legend. I have always enjoyed Egyptian culture and I found all of the stories to be just as interesting as I had hoped. 

Throughout the semester I have found that the key to a good story is great reading notes on the original. The stories that I have been the most proud of usually stem from using my more detailed reading notes to begin with.

My favorite part of the class so far has been the class project. So far I am really proud of the stories I have chosen and even my website itself. This is the first website I have ever created and even though it is not perfect I am happy with the progress it has made. 

My two biggest writing accomplishments, in my opinion, are both in my portfolio. They are The Man, The Moon and Isis and the Secret Name. I really enjoyed retelling the origin story of how a man became the moon because I had the opportunity to change the meaning of the story entirely. I also received a lot of positive feedback from my classmates about the new meaning so I gained more confidence in my writing. When I rewrote Isis and the Secret name I had the opportunity to change the image of Isis from a villain to a real person with honest emotions and motivations.

Image

One of my favorite images that I have chosen is of Isis in my story Isis and the Secret Name. I really loved using this image for my portfolio because I was able to design an entire webpage around the colors and themes of the photo. The original photo is a painting on the wall of a tomb that was discovered in Egypt.

(Isis, image from Wikipedia Commons)

Looking Forward

As I look forward I am excited to see how my portfolio turns out. I am very happy with the stories and formatting I have chosen this far and I hope to keep improving the site until it is something I am really proud of. To improve my work I feel as though I should become more creative and adventurous when retelling the stories. So far I have changed perspectives and themes but I have yet to do a major change of setting or characters.

Week 7 Story: The Stone-cutter and the Wise Woman

The Stone-Cutter and the Wise Woman

     Once upon a time there was a young boy living in a small village at the base of a large mountain.  The boy was quite imaginative and often requested to hear bedtime stories before he went to sleep; his favorite of which was The Man, The Moon. For years, every evening the boy's mother would retell the story of the blacksmith that had wished many times to be something else until a wise woman finally found the perfect version of him in the moon. Since the boy truly believed in the story he would often spend his days climbing to the stream by the mountain and hoping to find the wise woman that could grant wishes.

 As the years went by the boy became older and his imagination and belief soon diminished. His daily trips to the stream began to grow less and less as the young man was now old enough to become an apprentice to his father, the stone-cutter. The young man turned into a skillful stone-cutter and soon gained the respect of the people of the village for his fine crafting. His father was very proud of his progress and within a year gave the young man the entire shop to work in. Although the young man was well respected and skilled, he was never content with his days work.

One morning the young man was taking a fine piece of marble to a rich man's house and when he arrived he was in awe of the lifestyle that the rich man could afford. The young stone-cutter became bitter that he worked hard every day and still could not afford these luxuries. In his jealously the boy thought back to the story of the blacksmith that was able to simply wish to be something other than what he was and exclaimed, 

"I wish I was a rich man. I would not have to work hard every day and go home to the dainty house my parents call a home!"  

As soon as he exclaimed this a strange young woman approached him and said, "Be careful of your wishes, stone-cutter"  and walked away.

Confused about what the woman had said the young stone-cutter walked home. To his surprise he did not find an old home where his house used to be, but rather a lavish mansion full of the finest art and decorations. 

The stone-cutter was happy for his riches for a while, but soon became lonely. After all, his old friends in the village still spent there days working and did not enjoy spending their free time with the stone-cutter since he would constantly brag about his newfound riches.The loneliness deepened until one day a prince with an entire caravan of servants went through the town. The stone-cutter become jealous of the prince since he seemed to be surrounded by friends. 

Once again, in his jealousy he made a wish. "I wish I was a prince! I would never be alone." 

As soon as he yelled his wish he heard the voice of the young woman, "Be careful of your wishes stone-cutter."

In the blink of an eye the young stone-cutter was in a palace, surrounded by servants. Whenever he tried to speak to his servants they quickly responded and only answered with what they thought the prince wanted to hear. The prince soon realized that the servants were not true friends to him, as they were forced to do whatever he said. The prince became even more bitter, deciding that he was better off to be completely alone. The only problem was that he enjoyed the power of being a prince, and so he went to his gardens to contemplate how he could remain powerful but be alone. While sitting in the garden the sun shone onto his face and made the prince have an idea. "I wish to be the sun! I will be alone in the sky but have all the power of its light." 

The young man had barely noticed the servant girl tending to the garden, and was surprised when it was she that said "Be careful of your wishes. stone-cutter." 

Before the stone-cutter could respond he was transformed into the sun. Of course the stone-cutter was not happy as the sun, and he thought about how easy it was to transform to one thing to another. The stone-cutter  began to wish very recklessly and very  often. Each time the stone-cutter transformed he heard the same warning from the girl and each time he ignored her. Finally, after transforming over a dozen more times without finding happiness the stone-cutter had resigned to be a mountain. At least as the mountain he could see the village he grew up in and remember the good times he had with his family.

One cold day the young man saw a stone-cutter climbing up his rock and chiseling pieces off. The young man thought back to his previous life before the wishes and cried in defeat. It was now that he saw what he had to begin with, and without even thinking about being transformed the man quietly cried; wishing only to have his previous life back. Without a sound the young man was transformed back into a man with a chisel in his hand at the base of the mountain. The young stone-cutter cried in relief to have his original form back and did not notice the woman approaching him. 

The woman put a hand on the man's back  and said "As I said, you must be careful what you wish for. A wish for the wrong motivation will rarely turn out to be what you expect."

The young man apologized for all of the times he did not take her advice, and promised to appreciate his humble life from that day forward.

(The Wise Woman and the Stone-cutter, credit to Paul C at flickr)

Author's Note:

This story was based of the Japanese Fairy-tale of The Stone-cutter. In the original story a stone-cutter had heard of a mountain spirit that had the ability to grant wishes, but did not believe in the spirit until he was transformed. His first transformation to a rich man was not intentional, but after he realized the power they possessed he wished often hoping to find happiness in something else. Finally the stone-cutter had been turned into a mountain and was surprised that the stone-cutter was stronger than the rock that made him. He soon wished to be a stone-cutter once again and stayed a stone-cutter for the rest of his life. In my story I really wanted to relate it to the story that I had already rewritten, The Man, The Moon. I thought that it could be very interesting to tie the two stories together but make the motivations of changing very different. In this story I wanted the stone-cutter to make wished not out of respect for something else, but jealousy and bitterness. Because he was not making wishes for the right reasons, he was ultimately unhappy until he realized the worth of his life before the wishes came true. Ultimately, this story is about realizing what you have when you have it and appreciating yourself for who you are.

Bibliography:

The Crimson Fairy Book, Andrew Lang, illustrated by H.J. Ford (1903)

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy-Tales B

Reading Notes B

For part B of the Japanese Fairy-Tales unit I found the most interesting story to be the story of Uraschimataro and the Turtle. In this story a talented young fisherman catches a sea turtle and after it begs for release he kindly places the turtle back in the sea. Years later, the fisherman was caught in the storm and almost dies when his boat is sunk but the turtle he once saved saves him. Instead of taking him home the turtle takes him to an underwater kingdom where he meets with a sea princess and stays with her for years without aging. When he decides to visit his parents he finds them dead as 300 years have passed and the years quickly catch up with him and he dies too. If I were to rewrite this story I may make the princess a mermaid since this story vaguely reminds me of The Little Mermaid. Also, I might go into more detail on where the young man originally lived and the changes that had occurred after 300 years. Maybe there would be cars or machines that he does not recognize and this could make him run back to the sea.

(Sea Turtle, photo credit to Carey de Concha at Wikipedia commons)

The other story I would consider rewriting is the story of Schippeitaro. In this story a young man is trying to prove that he is brave when he learns about a young woman doomed to be sacrificed to the cat demon of the mountain. When he hears of this he asks a prince to borrow his dog, Schippeitaro, and the dog kills the cat demon. If I were to rewrite the story I may make the dog the boys dog so that he gets to keep him in the end. Also, I may do a gender swap and try to make a young woman try to prove her bravery instead of a young man.

Bibliography

The Crimson Fairy Book, Andrew Lang and illustrated by H.J. Ford (1903.

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales A

Reading Notes

This week I chose to read Japanese Fairy Tales for my reading notes, and found a few that I really enjoyed. The first story that I was surprised to see was the Story of the Stone-Cutter. This story was extraordinarily similar to the first story I read in this course, The Man in the Moon. Although they are both stories about transformation that originated in Asia, the stone-cutter story was very different in the sense that the man ended up as what he was originally. I think it could be really interesting to retell this story since I have already told a similar story with a different end. Perhaps in this story the stone-cutter could have heard the tale of The Man, The Moon and sought out the wise woman to transform him so that he could have a happier life. It would be fun to tell the story in a similar way, but rather than make the stone-cutter end up as something else have the wise woman teach him the lesson of appreciating what you already have.

(Japanese Mountain, Katsushika Hokusai)

The other story I really enjoyed from this week was the story of The Maiden With the Wooden Helmet. In this story a beautiful young woman is taught the value of work and her mom advises her to wear a wooden helmet to hide her beauty so she is appreciated for her work. When a young man sees the beautiful girl he falls in love and when he finally convinces her to marry him she cannot remove the helmet. The young man does not care and still wishes to marry the beautiful girl, and after the wedding the helmet turns to jewels. I feel like telling this story would be great because it has an important message. If I were to retell the story I may retell it from the young man's perspective and explain how he appreciates her work ethic and does not care what she looks like.

Bibliography

The Crimson Fairy Book by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1903).

Reading Notes: Arabian Nights A

Reading Notes: Arabian Nights A

This week I was so excited to read Tales from Arabian Nights, since it is already a topic I am interested in. In fact, my topic brainstorm post describes how I own a personal copy of Tales from the Arabian Nights and would be interested in retelling the story of Aladdin and the Magical Lamp. Since the Aladdin and the Magical Lamp stories are in part B of the reading, I found a few different stories that would be interesting to retell. Since all of these stories seem to be stories within stories I think it would be best to combine the story of Sheherazade with another one of the sub-stories. The story of Sheherezade describes how a young woman. Sheherezade, is destined to be put to death in the morning by a bitter sultan so she must devise a plan to save her own life. Sheherezade ends up telling a story soon before she is supposed to be put to death and the Sultan is so intrigued that he grants her life for another day so that he can hear the end of the story the next evening. Each night Sheherezade continues telling stories, and each time a new character from the story she is telling has another tale to tell. This is what causes the "story within a story." Of the stories that she told, I really enjoyed the story of the Second Old Man and the Two Black Dogs. In this story an old man offers a story in to an angry genie in order to save a young man's life. The story is about a merchant who continually gives his brothers money because he is more successful  and eventually they scheme to kill him for his riches. The old man unknowingly marries a fairy and the fairy turns the brothers into dogs to to punish them for plotting the death of the nice older brother. Although I enjoyed the story, if I were to retell it I would go into more detail on the fairy and the role she played in turning the brothers into dogs.

(Arabian Nights, my personal copy)

Bibliography

The Arabian Nights' Entertainments, Andrew Lang and Illustrated by H.J. Ford

Week Five Story: Isis and the Secret Name

Update:

Hello, and thanks for reading my story! This story can now be found in my portfolio at https://sites.google.com/view/sarahsportfolio/isis-and-the-secret-name.

Isis and the Secret Name

Our story began long ago, when the earth was still young and humanity was but a child. For years I watched through the heavens as the world of men fought starvation and disease, and for years the Gods did nothing. One day though, something was different. As I looked onto the the Earth I saw a God among men. Osiris was helping the men work the soil for food and build sturdy houses for shelter. My heart began to flutter, as I had long admired Osiris and his physical beauty but I was surprised to see him be so compassionate. I knew I had to go confess my admiration to him.

As soon as I stepped foot in Egypt the God immediately turned around and began to defend his work, as many God's did not believe it was their duty to help men. "I do not care what you say! I will not come back. The men need my help and....." Osiris fell silent as he saw me, curious thing about a man (even a god), they only shut up when they see something beautiful. 

"Hello, Osiris." I said "I have watched your good work and I wish to work alongside you to help these men." Osiris accepted my offer and over the years we established the great kingdom of Egypt. In this time Osiris and I fell deeply in love, and we were also awarded the love of the people.

This happy time went on for years, and my love for Osiris only grew. I admired that he was a kind and gentle leader, and the people of Egypt praised his good works. One dark day, this all changed. Osiris had a brother named Set, who was known for his destruction and violence. When he approached our door  I warned Osiris to be cautious, but in his kindness Osiris offered a home to Set in our kingdom. I immediately saw the jealousy on Set's face when he observed the love that Osiris had acquired from his people, so I went to the heavens to warn Ra of Set's violent tendency. Ra quickly sent me away, claiming that a Set had no foul intentions. 

By the time I arrived back in Egypt it was too late, Set had poisoned my one true love and had taken the throne for himself. I was immediately overcome with anger, but before I could attack the God of Destruction, one of my hand maidens pulled me back. "Wait!" she exclaimed. "Set is the master of destruction, and would surely defeat you in battle. You must find a better way to defeat him."  Even in my anger I understood that the maiden was correct, and began to devise a plan to defeat Set and save my people.

For days I found refuge in the desert, attempting to devise a plan to defeat the powerful Set. One day I was beginning to get discouraged. How could I possibly save my people when Set is so much stronger than I am? At that moment I saw a small desert viper bite a much larger fox, and I watched as the viper's poison slowly killed the larger animal. This gave me an idea! I caught the viper and enchanted it to be invisible, and gave it a magical venom that could only be cured by Ra himself. If I could get the viper to bite Ra, he would be too weak to heal himself and would have to tell me his all-powerful secret name so that I could heal him. 

The next day I traveled to the heavens to unleash my plan. I had put the viper in a decorative box and offered it to Ra in exchange for entrance back into the heavens. As soon as he open the box, the invisible viper bit the God and the God began to scream in agony. "Save me, Isis! Save me from this miserable end!" he yelled. Calmly I replied that in order to save him I needed his secret name, as only his power was strong enough to save him from the magic venom. In his agony, Ra agreed and whispered the secret name to me. With Ra's power I saved Ra and immediately flew back to Egypt to confront Set.

When I arrived, Set was sitting on my husband's throne. "This is your warning, Set. You have killed my love and abused my people. Leave this land or be destroyed!" Set laughed in my face and stood to me, clearly much larger and stronger. "Oh, Isis, you poor little bird. Without Osiris you are nothing, and without your people you have no purpose. Leave me or be killed like your weak husband."

Without a word I summoned the power of Ra and sent Set flying through the air. When he hit the ground, I used the power of the sun to burn Set until all that remained of him was dust. Although sad over the death of Osiris, my people were overjoyed to be free of the evil God.

With Set dead and my people saved, I then began to plan a way to bring Osiris back to life. But that, my friend,  is another story entirely. 

(Isis, photo at Wikipedia Commons)

Author's Note:

When doing the reading for this week, I really enjoyed both The Secret Name of Ra and The Death of Osiris. In the Secret Name of Ra, Isis is determined to find out the secret and all-powerful name of Ra in order to posses the power that accompanies it. She creates an invisible snake to bite Ra and as he is dying she convinces him that she can save him, but only if he shares with her the secret name. In sharing the name, Isis did save Ra and was able to possess the power that accompanies the name. In the Death of Osiris, Osiris (Isis' husband) was killed by his jealous brother Set. When Set begins to rule Egypt, Isis is forced to flee and finds shelter with a poor woman.  When I read these two stories I immediately thought that the death of Osiris could be the perfect motivation behind why Isis wants the powerful name. In combining these two stories I was hoping to make Isis a stronger and more dynamic character, being motivated out of love and compassion for her people as well as anger over the death of her husband.

Bibliography:

Egyptian Myth and Legend, Donald Mackenzie, link.