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).