Week 11: Essay - An English Major's Dream

I want to begin my essay with a clarification: this is not meant to be a dig at English majors in any way. I found this comic funny because its overt irony. It is ironic in that it is the exact opposite of the stereotypical plight of the English major. The rock star persona this English major seems to have embodied - fighting off the ladies, taking calls from the president, rolling in cash - is humorous because all things that one would never think to attribute to an English major. These particular panels are meant, I believe, to draw special attention to a few very real problems that English majors are doomed to encounter.

First, it is my experience, just from holding counsel with a great number of women on a daily basis, that the ladies do not typically "go for" the English majors - at least the type of ladies that are portrayed in this comic. These "groupies" are representative of women who come to college intent on receiving an M.R.S. degree, that is, they are focused on landing a husband with no real interest in actually getting an education. Getting an M.R.S. degree is something that many women, myself included, often joke about. My friends have often make jokes about lurking around the pre-med club or pre-law club meetings in order to find a man, but you don't often hear women talk about lurking around the English department. If a woman is in college to find a husband (I know they exist, though I've never encountered one) she is likely looking for a rich husband and is more apt to seek out the pre-med or pre-law type, those that typically do end up making a fair salary (once they pay off student loans!) This is not to say, obviously, that there are not women vying for English majors, just not maybe as blindly and indiscriminately as I have witnessed some women go after doctors.

"But what will you do with a degree in English?" I imagine English majors hear this all the time and are probably sick of it. There are, incidentally, a great deal of things one can do with a degree in English or any humanities subject, really. However, with humanities majors in general, I think it is a good idea to go into that degree field with some sort of plan for after college -  to teach, to write, or what have you - or else you may end up working in an area that has nothing to do with your degree, which I imagine would be rather heart-breaking. There are some places of business that only require applicants to have a degree and it doesn't matter in what. It is highly unlikely that an English major is going to feel validated at one of these jobs because it will be highly unlikely that they will get to apply anything that they have learned in their four years of college. And then there are the jobs that do require a specific degree. There are, of course,  jobs that require English degrees, but they are more difficult to come by than, say, jobs looking for business majors, and are, therefore, highly competitive. So it is not impossible by any means to find a job as an English major, but it is difficult, particularly if you desire to work in your field.

While we would all love to believe that one day our knowledge set is going to come in handy at just the right moment - some important official will need a poem analyzed, one of the great American writers will wish to discuss literature with a  worthy, well-read contemporary, or for me, I will be on a game show in which I have to identify the proteins used in DNA replication - the fact is, the extensive knowledge we have gained in many different areas will go largely unappreciated. If you are an English major with an office job, it is not likely that your knowledge of Shakespearean poetry will be used in your everyday life. Not to shatter anyone's dreams, but the president is not going to call asking you to analyze a play. Nothing you learn is useless, for sure, but some of the knowledge we gain just isn't going to be used practically on a daily daily and this is especially true, for humanities majors who work outside of their field.

This cartoon is funny but it is also quite frightening, frankly, English major or not. As a Biology major, I often worry about what I will do if the whole medicine thing doesn't pan out. In a way, this comic illuminates what is the very real fear of students everywhere - the idea of all of our efforts being for naught and the very opposite of this comic becoming our reality. Basically, I'm laughing to hide my fear.

 

 

Image information:

Perks of Being an English Major (image source: Blogspot Cartoon); Leonardo DiCaprio putting on a brave face at the Oscars (image source:Pinterest)

Week 11: Storytelling - The Never-ending Tea Party

Alice shuddered nervously as she stood before the high garden walls only able to imagine what could lie inside. She couldn't help but feel deterred from the whole mission at the idea of facing down one mad person, let alone two! Well, technically, it was one person and one animal, a hare to be exact. At least, that's what the grinning cat had said. Alice shook her head trying to clear it and focus on what she needed to do. This was certainly one of the most risky assignments she'd had working for the Correctors, but it was extremely important that she did the job that she had been sent to do.

The Correctors were a division the top secret Maintenance of the Magical and Supernatural program within the FBI. MMS dealt with everything from control of mythical creatures (so many people had spotted that nuisance, bigfoot, over the years and it really was a hassle to make all of those people look crazy in order to cover up his existence. He was now under close supervision of the Creature Wranglers) to coordination and supervision all interactions between Muggles and wizards to, of course, the overseeing of all the magical realms. Alice had really drawn the short straw on this assignment - no one wanted to visit Wonderland on purpose. It was bad enough that you might fall asleep and wake up in Wonderland in a dream, but venturing intentionally into a land in which a raving queen could cut off your head at any time seemed ill-advised. Perhaps things wouldn't be so dysfunctional in Wonderland once the Queen of Hearts had been stopped. At any rate, Alice thought, she wouldn't know anything standing on this side of the wall.

She expertly scaled the wall and peered over the top edge before pulling herself up onto the wall where she sat hidden by a tree. What she saw below inside the garden walls surprised her. A tall man with an enormous top hat sat across a from an oversized hare at one end of a very long table. It looked as though they were siting down to tea as there sat a tea kettle between the odd pair. There were also settings for tea about every two chairs all the way along the table. The man who Alice could only assume was the Mad Hatter took a sip of his tea.

 "Well, dear, are you going to join us or are you going to rudely creep about in the shadows? You're making us very nervous, you know."

Alice was so surprised at being addressed she nearly lost her balance and fell off the wall. She quickly composed herself.

"I apologize, sir! I'm here on assignment for work, but I'm afraid I didn't expect anyone to be having tea in the garden after midnight," she said, absently checking her watch (as many people are in the habit of doing when talking about the time even when well aware of what time it is) and the words that she had been about to speak died on her lips. She knew for a fact that she had arrived at the garden walls belonging to the Mad Hatter at five minutes to midnight, but now the face of her watch declared it to be six o'clock in the evening.

"Yes, yes, it is always tea time here," said the Mad Hatter tiredly but again without looking up from his tea, "now are you going to join us or not?"

Alice remembered the words of her assignment officer: Don't be surprised by anything that happens there. She shook her head once again at a futile attempt to clear it and jumped off the wall landing silently. Neither the Hatter or the Hare, who had yet to speak a word, seemed impressed. Alice quietly took a seat next to the silent Hare.

"Why doesn't he speak?" Alice asked

"He's a Hare," replied the Hatter in a tone Alice found rather condescending, especially considering the fact that she had apparently just entered into a time warp in which an oversized rabbit was sipping tea. She was about to say so but decided it better to just do her job so she could get out of there.

"So, why-?"

"Why does time stand still here?" the Hatter finished for Alice. He didn't seem mad, Alice noted, just extremely sad and distant, like he wasn't fully aware of his surrounding. "We were asked to do a recitation at one of the Queen's garden parties, but she quickly got angry and accused me of murdering Time, her consort, with my long-windedness. I assured her that my verse may be a bit long, but I was by no means a murderer. It was too late, however, because Time had already become angry, which of course is undesirable because everyone desires to have Time on his side, and he cast a spell on my pocket watch so that the time would never move past six o'clock in the evening."
The Hare sighed and nodded sadly.

"So it's always tea time," Alice said, slowly beginning to understand.

"Precisely."

"Why do they call you the Mad Hatter?" Alice asked somewhat cautiously. The Hatter didn't really seem to be one to follow normal social cues, but it was still a rather rude question to ask someone, "you don't seem mad to me."

"Isn't that what you'd say about a man who never leaves his garden and is always having tea?" replied the Hatter, not seeming the least bit offended. "Now, my dear, why are you here?"

"I've actually come for the watch," said Alice suddenly remembering the goal of her mission. "We believe it is the key to stopping the Queen of Hearts." Alice began to consider. "What will happen to you and the Hare if I take the watch?" she asked.

"I haven't the faintest idea," replied the Hatter, "We cannot leave our party and we do not get many visitors, let alone any who are interested in the watch."

"But what if you die?"

"It would be a change, my dear, and I would welcome any change at all," he said this with a sad distant smile. The Hare nodded in agreement. The Hatter took a very ordinary looking pocket watch out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Alice. "Good luck, my dear. Remember to keep your head about you should you encounter the Queen. People always seem to lose their heads around her."

"Well I'd say my head is on pretty straight," Alice replied somewhat haughtily starting to head for the garden gate.

"Yes, you do seem to have a good head on your shoulders," said the Hatter sipping his tea and with his eyes fixed upon nothing, "but all who meet the Queen seem to lose their heads."

Author's Note: This is a retelling of A Mad Tea Party which is a part of the Alice in Wonderland unit. I decided to use the same setting and characters from the original story but to change up the plot a little bit. I thought it would be interesting to give Alice a reason for visiting Wonderland and the Mad Hatter rather than have her just stumble upon them both. I changed a lot about the Mad Hatter's character. I didn't want him to be outlandish and eccentric but rather I wanted to paint a picture of a man who is slowly coming unhinged by his circumstances and whose lack of sanity is mostly speculation. I tried to convey the idea that his mind is intact, but he has a way of drifting in and out of reality which is why it is not strange to him that he is taking his tea with a giant Hare. The story about the Queen accusing the Hatter of murdering time is basically the same as the original except for the part about Time being the Queen's consort and Time actually casting a spell. In the original, Time simply refuses to move for the Hatter anymore but I thought it would add to the mystical element of the story if there was an actual spell involved. I also tried to use a bit of word play in the banter between Alice and the Hatter, just for fun!

Bibliography: Chapter VII: A Mad Tea-Party. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Lewis Carroll. 1865.
Image Information: Alice in Wonderland (image source: Ben Curtis Jones Gallery )

Week 11: Reading Diary - Alice in Wonderland

Alice and Wonderland
This unit is a little unusual because it skips around the book quite a bit condensing some of the chapters and leaving some out. I've included some of my favorite stories!

Part A: Favorites
Down the Rabbit Hole
I have always loved Alice in Wonderland! As I read, I can't help but use my memories of the Disney movie to provide myself with visuals of the action (it is such a visual story!) In this first story, as it suggests, we see Alice go down her famous rabbit hole. I think it was very interesting how even in the story it says that she never gave any thought to how she was going to get out - that was something I always wondered at as a child. I love the little monologue she has with herself as she fall, quite calmly, down the deep dark well. I've always thought Alice a very strange character as she doesn't seem to wonder at what a typical person would wonder at, at least not to the same degree.


Down the Rabbit Hole (cont...)
I think that this chapter does a good job of capturing the very essence of childlike sensibility that characterizes Alice. When she finally lands at the bottom of the well, Alice finds herself in a room of many doors. She finds a key but the only door that the key will fit is no bigger than a rat hole. She despairs momentarily at not being able to fit through the door but is soon distracted when she finds a bottle that is labeled"drink me." However, Alice is very wise and realizes that she must first check to make sure that the bottle is not also marked poison as well. Of course the bottle could only contain poison if it is marked as such! I love this and the other statements she makes about the things that only wise little children remember from stories. It is comical but it is very true that children due seem to lack the most basic of common sense in many stories and fairytales which Alice has not failed to notice.


Down the Rabbit Hole (end)
After drinking from the mysterious bottle, Alice finds herself no more than 10 inches tall. To her delight, she is small enough to pass through the very small door, However, she soon realizes that she left the key on top of the table and is now to small to reach it! She begins to cry in despair but only for a bit before she sharply chastises herself for being so silly. Suddenly, she discovers under the table a box and inside the box she finds a very small cake on which is written "eat me" she does so thinking that this will cause her to grow taller. She does indeed begin to grow but much much bigger than she had anticipated - much too tall to fit through the small door. She begins to cry once more at her bad luck! The story skips a bit during which time I know from reading the book and seeing the movie that Alice is indeed able to shrink herself back down again and fit through the tiny door at last. When the story picks back up, she meets a large caterpillar smoking hookah on a mushroom.

Advice from a Caterpillar
Now commences Alice's famous conversation with the Caterpillar. He asks who she is and she replies that she isn't quite sure. This seems to annoy the Caterpillar, but if you think about it, this is a pretty existential answer, for how often are we unsure of who we are really, especially if you have spent the day growing and shrinking! The Caterpillar seems to talk in circles, which aggravates poor Alice. The Caterpillar in turn advises Alice to keep her temper.

Advice from a Caterpillar (cont...)
Alice begins to find the Caterpillar a rather contradictory sort. He asks her to recite the poem You are Old, Father William only to have him tell her that she has recited the entire thing incorrectly. She begins to lose her patience again. The Caterpillar does not seem to be able to help her. I think this is an interesting point - just because someone doesn't tell you exactly what you want to hear, it doesn't mean that they can't help you. In this case, the Caterpillar does eventually provide Alice with the information she seems to be seeking. He tells her that eating one side of the mushroom upon which he sits will make her larger and the other side will make her smaller. She chooses a side to eat and is rewarded by growing a very large chin.

Advice from a Caterpillar (end)
Eventually, her neck stretches up so tall that is rises above the trees and is mistaking for a serpent by a mother Pigeon and spends a great deal of time arguing with the bird about whether she is a girl or a serpent. After some time, Alice recalls that she is still holding the other side of the mushroom and can use it to shrink herself again. When she eats the mushroom, she finds herself only 9 inches high.

Pig and Pepper
The next three stories involve Alice's meeting with a very ill-tempered duchess who is preparing a very pepper-y soup for her young baby who is wailing horribly. It is here that Alice meets the Chesire cat for the first time with his all too pleasant grin.

Part B:
I've decided for Part B to combine the separate parts of each chapter into one set of notes for each chapter so as to help the continuity of the story for my notes.

A Mad Tea Party
 This is where we are first introduced to my favorite character in this story: the Mad Hatter. He is accompanied in this story by, of course, the March Hare and the Dormouse. We learn that they are in a constant state of tea time because the Hatter was once accused of murdering Time while he recited for the Queen of Hearts and now Time has refused to do anything for the poor Hatter. Thus, it is always 6:00pm - tea time. Alice joins this strange, eternal tea party and finds herself equal parts intrigued and frustrated by her strange new companions. They are constantly speaking in riddles with no answer (how IS a raven like a writing desk?) and using clever wordplay. That is probably my favorite thing about this story - the wordplay which makes all of the characters seem rather daft or mad, but in reality paints them to be more clever than is initially understood. (Also see A Mad Tea Party (cont...) and A Mad Tea Party (end) )

The Queen's Croquet Ground
We finally are introduced to the crazy Queen of Hearts. I love the way she is described in the story - almost like a petulant child, screaming "off with his head!" every few moments. She invites Alice to play in her game of croquet after Alice stands up to the mad queen on behalf of her royal gardeners who have been painting the white roses that were accidentally planted in the queen's garden red. The game of croquet is very strange - the balls are hedgehogs and the malts are flamingos. The more time Alice spends around the queen, the more sure she is that she will at some point lose her head and realizes that she needs to do her best to stay on the queen's good side. To Alice's great delight, her friend, the Cheshire Cat, makes an appearance (just his head). However, he manages to insult the king and when the king brings the problem to his wife, her very Procrustean solution is to cut off the Cat's head. This sparks a debate - how will they behead a head? (Also See The Queen's Croquet Ground (cont...) and The Queen's Croquet Ground (end) )

Who Stole the Tarts?
A trial commences to determine who has stolen the Queen's Tarts. This scene seems to take place a little helter-skelter - nothing really seems to make sense, which is part of the charm of this story. The judge is the King of Hearts who seems to latch onto the most inane of details presented by the witnesses, the jury is made up of a collection of beasts with slates. Their notes do not particularly seem to pertain to what is happening in the trial. The witnesses called includes the Mad Hatter, the Duchess' cook, and Alice herself! I wonder if the chaos that ensues in this so-called court is meant to be a satire about the proceedings of actual court and how they too can seem helter-skelter or nonsensical. (Also see Who Stole the Tarts (cont...) )

Alice's Evidence (cont...)
When it is her turn to give evidence (what evidence could she possibly have) Alice discovers that she has been growing and has almost reached her full size. This makes her very unafraid of the Queen and she begins to get a little mouthy calling them all nothing but a pack of cards.  When the cards begin to attack her, she wakes realizing that all she has experienced has been nothing but a dream! A wonderful dream! This explains her willingness throughout the story to accept all of the events that are transpiring around her.

Week 10: Essay - Foils

This week, my reading unit was the Legends of the Pacific Northwest. The stories mostly focused on several different characters but there were a few that appeared in multiple stories. Two characters in particular stood out to me: Silver Fox and Coyote. These characters stood out to me because they are apparent foils of one another. The use of a foil is one of my favorite literary devices because it can be used as a very unique method of character analysis. Instead of simply pointing out or emphasizing directly certain key aspects of a character's identity, one is able to examine said important aspects and details through contrast with another character that is, to some degree, the first character's opposite. This allows at times, in my opinion, a deeper understanding of a character than could be gained without the use of a foil. Such is the case with the characters Silver Fox and Coyote.

 

 

 Fox and Coyote

(image source: Professional Wildlife Removal)

 

It is first implied that the relationship between Silver Fox and Coyote will be significant in the very beginning of the first story. In How Silver-Fox Created the World.  it is made immediately clear that the two have nearly opposite views on just about everything. Silver-Fox wishes create the world and make things while Coyote is opposed. We are not told why Coyote would be opposed to creation but I think it speaks to a fundamental difference between the two characters. Silver Fox's eagerness to create and give life indicates a desire for growth and change which highlights lack of such. Coyote, as can be seen in later stories, has a bit of an inferiority complex so it stands to reason that he would not be willing to lend a hand to change and the creation of beings that make take on more importance than he. In this way, this seemingly small detail of the opposing viewpoints of these two character serves to emphasize a major component of Coyote's characterization.

It is not only character traits possessed by Silver Fox that draw attention to important details of Coyote's character, but the other way around as well. Though he does not appear in many other stories as Coyote does, there is still important information about Silver Fox that we glean from contrasting him Coyote. For example, Coyote seems to be a nervous character, always questioning and second guessing everything Silver Fox does or creates. This lack of confidence and overwhelming insecurity not only foreshadows aspects of Coyote's character that will be revisited in future stories, but also strengthens the perception of Silver Fox as a character of confidence and self-assuredness. It would have been simply to merely state that Silver Fox was a possess great confidence and a strong will, but I believed it to be more effective the contrast between the two characters to emphasize Silver Fox's strengths by showing Coyote's weakness.

There are countless methods of characterization, both direct and indirect. Creating a separate character, however, for another character to be set up against, is in my opinion, the most  interesting, and therefore most effective method, because through gazing upon a character right next to another character that has many qualities directly opposite of said original characters may allow a reader to gain important insight of a character concerning details that may have otherwise been overlooked.

Bibliography: "How Silver-Fox Created the World." Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest, especially of Washington and Oregon. Katharine Berry Judson. 1910.

Week 10: Storytelling - The Maiden and the Mad Magic Man

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful young maiden. She had many young suitors throughout the land, but the maiden was very picky and had her heart set on marrying the king's son. However, she knew that she was not a suitable match for the young prince because her parents were but humble peasant farmers and had nothing to offer in terms of a  dowry except for a few skimpy sheep and a sick looking cow. Every night, the maiden wept into her pillow, wishing that something or someone could change her circumstance so that she may be eligible to marry the prince. One night as she sat weeping on her straw tick bed, there was a great flash of light and there suddenly stood before her a strange looking man with a top hat and erratic green eyes. The maiden was so surprised she couldn't even scream. She stared at him open-mouthed until the man finally spoke.

"Hee-hee-hee! Goodness, milady, you spend so much of your time jabbering jabbering jabbering that you can't catch a man, and now you don't have a word to say. Hee-hee-hee!"

The Mad Magic Man (image source: 32 Learning Journey)

The maiden blinked. He had said all of this so quickly that it took a maiden a moment to process what he had just said.

"Who-who are you?" she asked slowly

"Me? I'm just your average, everyday, run-of-the-mill magic man. And you, I presume, are an owl? Who-who-who! Hee-hee-hee!"

The maiden was so stunned by this strange little man that she could not find her voice to speak. The man seemed to sense this and continued.

"Could it be that I am the answer to your sad little prayers? I am here to make all of your dreams come true, missy! I can not only make you into a princess, but I can also make the princey-boy fall in love with you. For a price, that is."

At that moment, the maiden finally found her voice.

"Name the price! Anything I have, it's yours! Just give me my prince and my happily ever after!"

"Hee-hee-hee!" The magic man laughed maniacally, "My my, aren't we desperate. Alright then, dearie, here's my price: your first child with your little princey-poo belongs to me."

"Done!" said the maiden almost before the magic man had finished speaking. She smiled to herself, commending herself for striking such a deal. What did she care for children? She would have her prince and that was all that truly mattered. The magic man smiled deviously and gave one final cackle before snapping his fingers. The maiden suddenly found herself standing before her beloved prince as he knelt down in front of her with a ring in his hand. The maiden smiled, triumphant, certain that she now had everything she had ever wanted.

Some time after the now queen and her prince, now the king, were married, the queen gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. Much to her surprise, she loved the boy instantly - no mother loved her son better - and the promise she'd made already far from her mind, was forgotten completely in the midst of the all consuming love she felt for her child.

The next day, it was announced that the queen had a visitor. The queen ordered that the visitor be received in the throne room. She entered the room holding her child, whom she never let be more than a few feet from her, and much to her horror and surprise, there stood the mad little magic man with a malicious grin stretched across his face. At once, the memory of the man and the promise that she had made to him flooded the queen's mind, and she let out a scream. The mad magic man only smiled wider. The queen turned on the spot and ran as fast as she could, clutching the baby to her chest. She ran from the castle and through the woods as fast as she could. Finally, when she felt that she couldn't run anymore and was sure that the magic man was not following her, she slowed her pace. It suddenly occurred to the queen that the sudden flight may have frightened her poor child. She looked down at the bundle in her arms, ready to comfort the baby, before realizing that the baby was gone - all she held was a bundle of blankets. The queen let out a choking gasp and collapsed right there in the middle of the woods. She never returned to her husband and was never seen again. It is said, however, that if you go to the woods where the woman lost her child, you may catch a fleeting glimpse of an old woman  wandering the wood and singing a lullaby to the wind.

THE END

 

Author's Note: This is a retelling of the story An Indian's Vow to the Thunder Gods from the Legends of the Pacific Northwest Unit. In the original, an Indian woman is told in a vision that she must give up her first born child to the Thunder Gods. When she fails to do so for love of the child, the Thunder Gods strike the child dead, claiming his life for their own. I decided to put the story in a fairytale setting because the original reminded me of the story of Rumplestilskin. In fact, I even used the Rumplestilskin character from the show Once Upon a Time as the inspiration for the magic man character. I added on the entire first part of the story about the woman wanting to marry out of her class in order to give a reason for her to owe her child to someone. I also changed the part about the child being struck dead when the woman did not comply with the agreement because the idea of a child dying was a bit too macabre for me.

 

Bibliography: "An Indian's Vow to the Thunder Gods."  Myths and Legends of the Pacific Northwest, especially of Washington and Oregon. Katherine Berry Judson. 1910.

 





Week 10: Reading Diary - Legends of the Pacific Northwest

Legends of the Pacific Northwest Unit

Part A: Favorites
How Silver-Fox Created the World
This was one of the most unusual creation stories I have read thus far. Instead of some fantastic supreme being creating the world, in this story it is done by Silver-Fox with the help of his companion (slash servant?), Coyote. Silver-Fox and Coyote live in the sky above that which was only water. Silver-Fox goes behind Coyote's back and begins to create the world (Coyote is against this for some reason). Throughout the actions of Silver-Fox to create the world, his character is made increasing unlikable - he is bossy, superior, and sneaky. There are many arguments between Silver-Fox and Coyote about how the seasons should be divided and what type of food should be provided on earth. I imagine that Silver-Fox and Coyote will continue to be opposing forces as I continue the reading.

Three Coyote Stories
The Creation of Mankind: the rivalry between Silver-Fox and Coyote is reintroduced - Silver-Fox makes people out of sticks and Coyote wishes to do the same and tries to do as he saw Silver-Fox do, but his people turn into wood-shavings when he touches them
How Coyote Got His Cunning: Here we meet Chareya, the Old Man Above, who is also attributed with creation in these folktales. He tells the animals that in order to rank them, each would be given a bow and the length of the bow determined which animal was the most important. Coyote resolves to stay awake so he can get to Chareya first and get the longest bow. He falls asleep, however, and is the very last animal to get his bow. Taking pity on the Coyote, Chareya grants the now unimportant the most cunning of all the animals.
How Coyote was Killed: Coyote decided he wanted to travel the sky world. He is, after much pleading, able to convince Star to take him into the sky. As they travel, Coyote becomes very cold because he is very high up in the sky world and Star is not warm like Sun. He falls back to the earth and is squashed flat.
Coyote seems to serve as the hardluck comedic character in these folktales, the foil of the clever Silver-Fox.


How the Old Man Above Created the World\
This unit contains multiple creation stories which is very interesting. They don't all exactly align which makes me wonder how it was decided which creation story was the true one within this culture. In this story, Chareya, the Old Man Above creates a hole in the sky so that he can get down to the earth and so that the sun can shine and melt the mass of ice and snow that is the earth. After the earth is melted, he creates animals from sticks and leaves and  makes the grizzly bear to be master of them all. The Old Man lives in an ice teepee because he comes to fear the grizzly he has created. The story ends with the coming of the "pale-face" the White Man. According to the story, after the White Men came, the Old Man went away. This paints an interesting parallel of how the culture of the Native peoples of North America slowly went away with the coming of the European colonizers.

How Beaver Stole Fire
This is my favorite story from this unit thus far. In this world, all living things are personified including animals and even trees. The Pine Trees it seemed held the secret of fire but refused to share it with the animals. Without fire, the animals nearly froze to death come winter. Beaver decides to steal the fire from the Pine Trees while they are holding council. The action following, the Pine Trees' pursuit of the thief gives a bit of an etiology of the geography of the Pacific Northwest - where certain trees stand today, is where each tree gave up in its pursuit of beaver. Old Cedar chased Beaver for the longest but eventually gives up at the top of a very high hill atop which, to this day, he stands alone.

Chinook Wind
This story reminded me a bit of the Hatfields and McCoys and the generations long feud that existed between the two families. Here, the two rival families are the Chinook brothers, who cause the warm wind to blow, and the Walla Walla family, who causes the cold wind to blow. They decide to finally hash out all of their differences in the form of the wrestling match. Whoever loses must have his head cut off. Coyotes is set to be the judge but he cleverly fixes the contest so that the Chinook brothers would fall and so they are all killed. One of the Chinook brothers leaves behind a son and wife and the wife tells her son that he must avenge his father's death when he grows older. Meanwhile, the Walla Walla brothers are wreaking havoc in Umatilla where his grandparents live - they constantly make the cold wind blow and steal the fist of Young Chinook's grandparents. Young Chinook is able to outwit the Walla Walla brothers so that they can no longer steal fish from his family. They challenge him to the same wrestling match that his father had fallen in, but this time, Coyote fixes the contest in Young Chinook's favor so that a balance could be restored between the two winds.

As-ai-yahal
This story gives several etiologies, but the most prominent is the etiology for summer and winter. As-ai-yahal tricks the East Wind, who freezes the earth so no one can obtain food, into believing that melting water is herring so the Wind stopped blowing and the snow and ice melted giving way to a much warmer season.


Three Raven Stories
The Origin of Daylight: The cousin of the Raven, Gull kept the light of the earth in a small box which he guarded carefully. That was the only light on earth. So Raven tricks his cousin into opening the box by causing a thorn to be stuck in Gull's foot and claiming that he cannot remove it without light.
Owl and Raven: Owl, who is close friends with Raven, makes a dress for Raven but Raven refuses to sit still as Owl tries to fit the dress. Annoyed with Raven, Owl, dumps the contents of a blubber lamp all of the white dress of Raven, and since then Raven is black all over.
The Spell of the Laughing Raven: A pair of moccasins is stolen and in a series of events, makes its way into the hand of grizzly, who is killed by Old Gray Wolf for possession of the moccasins. Because Old Grizzly was killed, the Klamath Lake People fight the Northerners while Raven laughs and laughs.


Woodrat and Rabbits
This story is surprisingly morbid. The jist is that Woodrat challenges several rabbits to a quarrel and when they refuse he quarrels with them anyway ultimately killing 5 of them and eating them with is other. Eventually, Woodrat and his mother are caught and burned to death. Morbid as it was, I liked the sudden turn the story took. It was unexpected which made the story that much more interesting.

Why There are no Snakes in Takhoma
This is a sort of a version of the flood that is required to reset creation after the creator becomes disgusted by its wickedness. However, there is a twist in that it is the animals, not mankind, that need to be reset. A medicine man shoots arrows into a cloud to make a chain for all of the good animals to go up to escape the flood. However, it is discovered soon that some bad animals as well as snakes are trying to ascend. The medicine man breaks the chain of arrow causing the bad animals to fall back to the earth and be drowned in the flood.


Part B: Favorites

Cry-Because-He-Had-No-Wife
This story was a bit difficult to follow - it has so many different twists and turns and parts that seem somewhat disconnected from the rest of the story. However, it was a very interesting story, nonetheless. A boy is known for crying day and night because he wishes for a wife. He starts on a tremendous journey to find the girl that will be his wife. He must outsmart a giant, get past a deadly cliff, and then outrun a great horse that guards the girl's house. He does all these things and is able to marry the girl, after which, he has a man's body. The two then travel back to the man's home and must use different types of whips in order to get home on the horse. This story in its entirety made me think of a Greek Epic like the Odyssey in which the hero must encounter several strange obstacles and characters throughout his journey. Some parts of the journey were difficult to understand completely like the bit about the whips.

Two Thunder-Bird Stories
The Golden Age: This story tells of how the Tinne people lost their immortality because they failed to obey the Thunderbird. As long as they kept a sacred arrow given to them by the Thunderbird, they would not have to die, but eventually, they use the arrow and they have to die like everyone else.
Origin of the Thunderbird -  we learn here where this mystical Thunderbird even came from.
The Thunderbird was created when the south wind catches a whale and cuts it across the back instead of longways. The whale turns into a bird which was the Thunderbird

An Indian's Vow to the Thunder Gods
This story was a little sad. It reminded me of the story of Rumplestiltskin but without the happy ending. A woman promises to give her first child to the Thunder Gods as a tribute, but after her son is born, she is overcome with joy and love for the boy and forgets all about her promise. Eventually, the Thunder Gods strike the boy dead, finally claiming his life as their own and the woman mourns heavily and as she ages, her story comes to be known through the sad song she sings about her loss.

Chinook Ghosts
In this story, a group of ghosts decide they wish to have a wife and thus take away Blue Jay's sister Ioi. Blue Jay goes to the land of the dead which appears as a large village where the men are skeletons, the people of the village fish for leaves and branches which are their trout and salmon, and the canoes used are old and worn. Blue Jay proves to be a menace in this world and the ghosts command Ioi to send Blue Jay home, Blue Jay does not follow his sister's instructions and dies on the way back. Now that he is to be a resident of the land of the living rather than a visitor, he can see the town as those living see it: full of men, not skeletons, actual salmon and trout, and new gleaming canoes. This was a very interesting twist to the story and it was cool to note the contrast drawn here between life and death especially to those who are not dead yet.

The Memaloose Islands
This is another story involving a visit to the land of the dead by one who is not yet dead. A maiden loses her husband and visits the death island to find him. She and her father journey by canoe and once they reach the island, the maiden steps out on the shore where she meets her husband but her father returns. The maiden and her husband dance all evening and they fall asleep. When she awakes, the maiden discovers that she is actually in the land of the dead rather than just on its shoes and flees back to her own village. Eventually, a baby is born to the woman, half human half spirit, and the woman's father wishes for his mother to meet the baby. He warns his mother not to look upon the child until it is ten days old, but predictably, the old woman cannot wait and gazes at the child who promptly dies. This angers the spirits and from then on, living people were not able to visit the land of the dead. This was interesting to me and I wondered if it had some sort of symbolic meaning, like people who were in the habit of living in the past learned how not to do so.

Coyote and Grizzly
The story begins with Old Grizzly becoming ill from eating too many Indians (talk about morbid!) and so she sends for Coyote as a medicine man. But Coyote decides that it is really in everyone's best interest for Grizzly to just die. He tells the grizzly that she is sick from eating too many Indians and she becomes angry at this for some reason, jumping up to chase him. Coyote runs from Grizzly all the time taunting her and finally tricks her into crossing a bridge which cannot support her weight. She falls and drown and Coyote is able to go back and tell his people that he has killed the troublesome Grizzly. Throughout this reading, I've sensed that Coyote has a bit of a complex - he needs to feel important which I suppose arises from his low rank derived from his story in the beginning of the reading.
Coyote and the Dragon
This is another testament to Coyote's apparent inferiority complex. He resolves to kill a dragon that had been plaguing the countryside. The dragon can only exist in the darkness so Coyote ropes down the sun to draw the dragon out of his lair, then releases this sun so that the dragon is killed.

Week 9: Famous Last Words - Accepting Defeat

I'm still recovering from my weekend. I was in the homecoming assembly (Wizard of Oz group, black chick in the front - maybe you saw me!) which was pretty darn exhausting, and don't even get me started on that devastating game Saturday. It just was not my boy, Money-cutt's day. But I've moved on from that! I mean, it's not like I've been sulking all weekend, dreading facing my co-workers on Monday (who, despite the fact that they live in NORMAN, are predominantly Pokes fans.) Nope, I've put on my big girl pants and I'm taking the advice on one Mr. Daniel Radcilffe.

Is there anything we can't learn from Harry Potter? (source: Flikr)

 

Anyways, all dashed Big 12 Championship dreams aside, this week has had a lot of highs and lows. This week has really been all about learning to accept defeat. I finally decided to cut my losses and go ahead and drop the Biochem class that has been plaguing me all semester. The thing was, since I changed my major to Biology Pre-PA (oh hey, guys, I changed my major to Biology Pre-PA) I didn't actually need biochem anymore and since I wasn't doing well in it (which is an understatement) the only thing it would do for me was drag down my GPA. I stuck it out as long as I could, but man, Kenny Rogers got it right when he said "you gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away." So again, I was forced to don my big girl pants and make a decision. That was bittersweet because though I hate, hate, HATE to admit defeat, not having that class killing me everyday is a huge weight off my shoulders. Now that midterms are basically done, I'm living in a sort of eerie calm until the next wave of tests hits. Hopefully, this time around will be less stressful as I am hoping to try out some new study techniques...and hopefully stay on top of my work so I don't go into that I have-a-week-to-learn-five-chapters-of-material panic. Remember, guys: all study tips are appreciated!

Week 9: Essay - For the Love of Reading

 

My dream realized (image source:Verbo.se)

I love reading. Sometimes I feel that I may love reading too much because sometimes, I read almost to the point of becoming antisocial. Reading and writing are both things that come naturally to me now, but it wasn't always that was. I was a bright child, according to my mom, but sometimes my brain seemed to function strangely when it came to certain things. My vocabulary was extensive, but my mother worried that I would never be able to tell time, because I struggled with it so much. I was a great speller, but if you asked me to read something, I would tell you that I did not know how. My mother was baffled. I went on "not knowing how to read" until one of my mother's friends explained to me the connection between spelling and reading.

"When you spell a word," she asked, "can you see the word that you are about to write in your head?"

I told her I did.

"Did you know that that's reading?" I had not known, but from that moment on, I was aware that I could read, for I had always been able to, I just needed someone to explain it to me.

Knowing that I could read is not what engendered the love of reading I have today. In fact, I was pointedly uninterested in books at all. My mom bought them for me and I cast them aside, preferring to watch T.V. or play with my toys. Then one day, my mom said she was going to stop buying books for me altogether, saying that maybe I just wasn't going to be a reader like she had been as a little girl. I don't know why, but this was insulting to me for some reason. It was as if she had issued a challenge and I couldn't back down. My mother hit me hard with the reverse psychology, and from that point on, I was a "reader." In a way, I suppose you could say that my love for reading stems from a innate desire to be like my mom.

Reading became a part of my identity then, and has remained as such today. I was that kid who could more often than not be found with my nose in a book. I would read on the bus ride to and from school rather than socializing with my peers. I've noticed that I have maintained this mentality of the years as there are times that I have to force myself to put down a book and go out and socialize. If given the choice of going to a party on a Friday night and staying home with a great book, I would choose the latter. Ironically, my mother, who lamented the fact that I didn't read the books she bought me as a young child, began to hate buying me books because I read through them so quickly (I've never been much of a library person - I like to own my own books), and thus bought me a kindle so at least I could get books for cheaper. I got funny looks in elementary school because I would use words like "vex" and "queer" which I had read in books and were not part of the typical eight-year-old's vocabulary. I do the same thing now, trying out interesting words I've found in books, and often mispronouncing them because I've only ever seen them written. Clearly, reading early on as made an impact on who I am today.

I've never quite understand people who say that they don't read, and I've come to realize that its because reading is such a major part of who I am. It pains me how little I get to read these days, but the fact that I don't get to read for pleasure very often makes what little bit of reading I do get to enjoy that much more of a treat.

Week 9: Storytelling - The Rabbit Brothers

Linus the rabbit had a large family. He had eight brothers and five sisters. With all those siblings, Linus often felt overlooked and unimportant, especially when his brother, Alexander, was around. It was no secret that Alexander was the favorite child of all Linus' siblings. He could jump the furthest and the fastest, he had the most beautiful, sleek coat that seemed never to get dirty, and he was very clever. It was well known in the forest all of the tales of Alexander outwitting and escaping all manner of predator. Mother and Father were always bragging to the other rabbit families, and any other animal that would listen, about what brilliant son they had, and you could be sure that they weren't talking about scrawny, perpetually muddy Linus.

Alexander the rabbit (image source: Grit)

"You would think that they had only one son!" Linus grumbled to himself, bitterly, as he watched his father animatedly retell the latest of Alexander's triumphs to his other siblings, who seemed content to worship Alexander like everyone else he knew. He burned with rage and envy and resolved to kill Alexander.

 "Let them brag on their dead son then!" he said with a smirk.

Early the next morning, Linus went deep into the woods to work on his plan. He decided that, rather than get his own paws dirty, he would create a helper that would kill Alexander for him. There was said to be an enchanted tree in the heart of the woods that not only itself had magical powers, but gave magic to everything that fell under its shade. Linus used the dirt from under this tree mixed with water from the little brook at its base to create a monster that he would be able to control. When the monster was finished, it had the face of a rabbit, with the sharp teeth of a wolf, the deadly talons of a hawk, and the long, muscular tail of a snake.

"Since this monster has the qualities of many of our natural enemies, Alexander will shake with fear!" Linus cried happily, "There will be no brave triumph in this story! He will die a coward's death begging the beast not to rip it apart with its claws, impale him with its teeth, or strangle him with its tale."

Now Linus need only command the beast what to do! He approached the monster with confidence, and no fear - why should the thing that owed its creation to Linus turn on its master? Just as Linus was about to open his mouth to give the command, however, Alexander appeared out of nowhere, jumping from his hiding place in a brush to surprise his brother.

"Ho-ho, so you aim to kill me, do you?" cried Alexander, "We shall see about that!"

Alexander prepared for a fight, but the shock of the sudden appearance of his hated brother combined with the fury at having his plan discovered was too much for Linus' weak, bunny heart. He died instantly. Seeing that his brother was dead, Alexander hopped quickly back home, leaving Linus' monster behind him.

When Linus didn't return later that day, his family began to wonder where he had gone. Not wanting to disgrace his brother's memory by telling of his planned betrayal, Alexander told his family that Linus had mentioned something about visiting the Enchanted Tree. The family set out to the tree to find the lost rabbit. There under the tree, they discovered the lifeless body of Linus while his very own monster nibbled at his remains. Not wanting this beast to harm the rest of his family, Alexander quickly sprang into action, catching the distracted monster off guard, and killed the thing. For weeks, all anyone in the forest was talking about was Alexander's heroic defeat of the dreadful monster. What a shame, though they said, that he did not discover the creature before it killed his brother, Minus. What a shame for Minus, indeed.

Author's note: this is a retelling of the story Nukunguasik, who Escaped from the Tupilak from the Eskimo Folk Tales unit. In the original, Nukunguasik one day discovers one of his brothers whispering to a Tupilak, a monster of the wizard brother's own creation, to go and bite Nukunguasik to death. I decided to make the characters animals just to give the story my own little twist. In the original story, it is not stated explicitly why this brother is bent on killing Nukunguasik so I decided to fill in the holes using a classic Cain and Abel type rivalry, telling the story from the perspective of the jealous brother so you could really understand how he felt about his brother. I also added the last bit, about Alexander's triumphant defeat of the monster being the talk of the community to create an element of irony in that Linus' plan to destroy his brother ended with the exact opposite of the desired result - Alexander continues to be great hero, and Linus is barely remembered.

Bibliography: "Nukunguasik, who Escaped from the Tupilak." Eskimo Folk Tales. Knud Rasmussen. 1921

Week 9: Reading Diary

Eskimo Folk Tales Unit
Part A: Favorites

The Coming of Men
This creation story was different from most of the other creation stories that I have read in that it leaves many phenomena within the story itself open to speculation. For example, in the beginning of  the story, the Earth falls down from the sky, but there is no account for how the sky came to be. From the earth came up little children who lived on the from the earth until a woman (no one knows from whence she came) sewed clothing for the children and brought them up, and so men grew to be a race. However, in these early days, man did not know how to die and there was no sun, so the Earth was crowded and dark as man grew old but no one died and there was no sun to give light. That is, until a great flood came and took out many of the men after which two old women saw that it was good that men could die. One of the women wishes for there to be light and that man would be taught how to die. Both of these things are granted. I think the ambiguity in some of the aspects of the story makes the story more interesting because it leaves room for storytellers to add in their own bits and pieces to the legend. Since this likely began as an oral history, it is possible this is what happened.

Nukunguasik, who Escaped from the Tupilak
I noticed that this unit, unlike other units, does not seem to follow the story of one or even a few central characters - we meet many who, although share some characteristics, have distinct stories. Here we meet Nukunguasik, who is one of many brothers and has no wife. One day, he stumbles upon one of his brothers creating a monster - a Tupilak - which is to kill Nukunguasik. Nukunguasik sneaks up and takes his brother by surprise, literally frightening him to death. When the brother does not return from his hunting, the other brothers become worried and set out to find him. They find him and the spot where he died being nibbled on by the Tupalik. Nukunguasik goes on to live for many more years. This story was a bit macabre but I found it entertaining nonetheless. It is unclear from the reading alone why exactly Nukunguasik's brother set out to kill him, but it is implied that it is due to some sort of vengeance.

The Woman who Had a Bear as a Son
I think I can say that this story is my favorite that I've read so far. The story begins with a hunter who we are told occasionally brings home a bear so that he and his wife frequently eat bear meat. He one day asks if she would like to have a bear cub. I was unsure if the man meant for the woman to eat the cub or if the hunter felt guilty at likely having killed the cub's mother and meant for his wife to tae the animal in as her own. Whatever the man's intention for the woman, she does the latter and grows to love the bear cub as her own. It becomes something of a sort of town pet, played with by all, until the bear grows so big and strong that it can no longer play without hurting people. This is when the men of the town decide to make the bear their hunting companion. They soon learn that they will have to disguise the bear's scent to protect it from other hunters, so they make the bear a collar out of plaited sinews and the bear becomes a wonderful hunting companion. The woman cautions her bear to always be kind to man, and not to seek to harm them unless he is harmed first. One day, the bear comes home with a dead man. His fellow hunters say that the men belonging to the dead man's hunting party encouraged  the bear to kill the man because he would not let the bear alone. The woman begins to fear for the bear's safety if he stays with her and tells him sadly that he must leave her. Before the bear leaves, she streaks one side of him with oil and soot so that she will always know him when she sees him. I like that this story encompasses the many facets of human nature - the kindness of the women, the empathy of the hunter, the greed of the man that opposed the bear - it shows that man has many faces. Men are not completely good or bad.

Qalaganguase, Who Passed to the Land of Ghosts
Here we meet an orphaned boy named Qalaganguase who is a sickly boy with no strength in his legs so he must remain in his home while others go hunting. While he is alone, he is often visited by ghosts who always leave before the hunters return home. Among the ghosts that visit him in his solitude are his sister and his parents. His parents convince Qalaganguase to come with them so he goes with them to the spirit world and is never seen again. This may have been to show how death is a better fate than loneliness or missing one's family.


 The Insects that Wooed a Wifeless Man
This story was a little strange but it was entertaining to read. There were a few parts in the story in which I was a bit confused about what was happening. We are first introduced to a wifeless man. The idea of the wifeless man has been a recurring theme in this unit. I am not sure what implications this title has associated with it in this culture, but I think it's fair to assume that it is not a title of honor. This wifeless man in particular was known for chasing down girls who fled from him and sleeping too late to go hunting.  One day, waking at sunset, he hears a man yelling for help and rushes to rescue a man who has overturned his boat. The man turns out to be magical, and repays the wifeless man by granting the man the ability to hunt one beast of his choosing. As long as the man keeps a secret the origin of his skill in hunting this particular creature, he will possess the ability to hunt it and well. So the man becomes a skilled seal hunter and eventually takes a wife who is, at first, impressed by his hunting ability, but soon grows weary of only ever having seal. She nags him endlessly asking why he only brings home seal and he ultimately tells her, which of course, looses him his ability to hunt. The wife runs off when the man can no longer provide for her and he runs after her. Here is where I began to get confused with the story. She escapes through a crevice and he waits for her. While he waits a series of insects come out and ask him to take each one of them as his wife, but he refuses them all, mocking them. Eventually, his wife calls to him and he squeezes through the crevice to her and they are husband and wife again. She lulls him to sleep, and when he wakes, he is alone again. I was not sure what to make of the insects and the wife escaping again other than that it added an interesting twist to the story.

Part B: Favorites

Papik, Who Killed His Wife's Brother
There is a little bit of a murder mystery in this story. From the title, we assume that Papik did indeed murder his wife's brother, but it is never explicitly stated in the story. The two men, Papik and his brother-in-law, Allaq, are hunting companions though Allaq's talent far surpasses that of Papik. Papik grows jealous as the days pass and here the story basically says that one day Allaq disappears. There may be doubt in the reader's mind about whether or not Papik actually committed the crime implied, but there is no doubt in the mind of the old woman who is Allaq's mother and Papik's mother-in-law about what has happened to Allaq. She vows revenge and then drowns herself in the sea so that she may take her revenge as a ghost. Some time passes, and Papik grows to forget his mother-in-law's curse and he returns to his hunting. He has taken position at an ice hole when a monster overtakes him. He knows the monster is Allaq's mother. He and a group of people from the nearby town are able to escape but the monster relentlessly pursues them until finally it falls on Papik, ripping him limb from limb. This is supposed to show the proper consequence of killing other men without due cause. Murder is something this culture does not take lightly, apparently, which is a great contrast to the flippant attitude toward death many of the other mythologies seem to take.

Patussorssuaq, Who Killed His Uncle
This story, too, demonstrates the consequences of killing someone unjustly. A man by the name of Alataq is married to a woman named Kugkat, who is known to be very beautiful. Alataq's nephew, Patussorssuaq, who is also married, livees with Alataq and his wife. Patussorssuaq greatly covets Alataq's wife and plots to get rid of Alataq in order that he may assume his wife. Alataq, decides one day to go on a great journey and to take his wife with him. Patussorssuaq, overcome with fury at the idea of Kugkat leaving, kills his uncle on the spot. Kugkat sees this and flees to the land where her parents live. Patussorssuaq gets it into his mind to also kill his wife so that she is out of the way, but she flees, leaving Patussorssuaq without either of the women he feels belongs to him. Eventually, however, he does track down his aunt and takes her as his wife, but she soon dies. His misfortune is soon doubled when he attacked by a fox, who is really the spirit of his vengeful uncle. Patussorssuaq is killed brutally, thus (hopefully) deterring the reader from the act of murder without cause.

The Wife who Lied
This is not the first story to involve a lying wife. Such a character appeared briefly in a story from the first half of the reading, and she met such a immediate punishment, that from the title, I knew this was not going to be a good story for the uAntrue wife. Navaranapaluk was married to a man from a different tribe than hers and is taken to live in her husband's land. She decides to go, one day and visit her people, and she fabricates a story to make her people believe that she is treated badly in her marriage. It is not stated why she does this - the story never implies that her marriage is an unhappy one, so it is unclear why she seeks to destroy her husband. Her people, taking pity of her, set out for her husband's land and kill the women in the area (the men were out hunting) there save three women who had hidden themselves cleverly. When the men return to see all of the women dead, they devise a plan to kill the people responsible. They slaughter Navaranapaluk's people and two of her enemies carry her off, dismember her, and leave her to die. This may seem a harsh punishment for lying, but I think it shows how speaking falsely can ultimately cause despair and anguish in many forms.

Atdlarneq, the Great Glutton
In a different story, we see a woman who is punished for her infidelity, while her lover is left off the hook. This story shows, however, that this culture recognizes that not only women are to blame for infidelity. Atdlarneq is a great hunter and always bring home seal from his hunt. One day while out on the sea, he sees three beautiful women emerge from a house, and he resolves to go to them. They receive him warmly giving him a great feast. Then, the husband of the three young girls returns home. This is where the story gets interesting. Instead of killing Atdlarneq on the spot (which is what I was expecting to happen) the husband sustains the role of welcoming host, serving Atdlarneq more and more food that he is obligated by the husband to eat. He would have eaten himself to death had he not preceded the meal with a grass stalk. Nonetheless, Atdlarneq learns his lesson and never ventures that way again.

Angangujuk
The thing that stuck out about this story to me was not the actual plotline, per se, but rather a small detail. In the beginning of the story, a woman looses track of her son. What stuck with me, though, is that she doesn't really seem to show much concern for the child, Angangujuk, but rather fears her husband's wrath upon losing the boy. This, to me, demonstrates the view of women and children as property belonging to a man rather than person. Ultimately, we discover that the child has been taken by a couple who and the boy's father happen upom their dwelling as they are arguing about whether or not to keep the boy. The father quickly retrieves his son, but when they return home, they are greeted by nothing and no one.

Tungujuluk and Saunikoq
I liked this story because it was a bit more light-hearted that many of the tales up to this point. I feel almost as though the  unit is getting darker and darker as I read, so this was a refreshing change. Both Tungujuluk and Saunikoq are shape shifting wizards and can turn themselves into a walrus and a bear respectively. Saunikoq soon grows jealous of Tungujuluk because he had a son and Saunikoq does not and he begins to plot evil against Tungujuluk. He sets out to kill the son of Tungujuluk and just as he is about to, the son runs home to his father. Saunikoq follows in his bear form, frightening Tungujuluk before he remembers that his neighbor can change himself into a bear. To get back at the bear-man for mocking them, Tungujuluk steals Saunikoq's bladder float basically out from under him in his walrus form. He brings it up at meal time that evening and all present have a good laugh, but Saunikoq is so ashamed that he is never seen again. This story was a bit difficult to follow and I found myself having to read several parts over and over again, but still I enjoyed it. No one was murdered (though it was intended) and I love a good trickery.















Kanagssuaq

Famous Last Words - The Art of Studying

One word: Midterms. I feel as though my schedule has gone all sorts of topsy turvy throwing all of my energy into studying. Add that to a weekend in which, lets be honest, not a lot of work got done, and that makes for a pretty hectic Monday. No regrets, though, because OU/Texas weekend was fantastic!

There's only one!

 Luckily, I'm almost done, so I'll be able to breathe at least for awhile. This past week of extensive studying has had me beginning to really analyze my study habits and methods. For me, unfortunately, studying for exams is a bit of a process of trial and error which typically involves me studying for a test with a specific approach and then altering my method depending on how well I do on the exam. I haven't really come across very many study methods that translate effectively across all classes. For some classes, I've found that making study guides is super helpful, for other classes that doesn't work as well. Some classes, I can study and annotate the book directly and do well, but for other classes, the professor seems to pull questions out of nowhere for a test. There are, however, a few methods that I've discovered (some fairly recently) that I think are pretty universally effective. To name a few:

Charts:
So last week, I had a Molecular Bio Midterm and a Organic Chem Lab Midterm. Studying for both of these exams consisted of constructing a number of charts and tables. My format for these charts is typically to have a column in which I name the term or concept, explain the process or system, identify the materials or machinery involved, and explain why this concept is significant. I feel that this is a good way to begin to organize and think critically about different concepts I am introduced to and am rather unfamiliar with.

Flashcards:
This may seem a little elementary, but I believe this to be, hands down, the best way to memorize any type of information. Enzymes and their functions? Flashcards. Greek gods and their Roman counterpart? Flashcards. Amino Acids? Flashcards. They haven't let me down yet! However, I use them as a tool strictly for memorization, usually to supplement full comprehension of a subject. Understanding how replication in a cell proceeds is a lot easier when I know the different enzymes and proteins involved and what each one does.

Drawing Pictures:
I am a huge visual learner, so drawing pictures of different processes and elements (even if I'm just copying a figure out of book) helps me to better understand what exactly is happening. In Biology, I used to draw out every cell cycle because actually writing it down in my own hand helped me retain the information better.

These are just a few of the methods I tend to use when studying. There are others, naturally, but these seem to be work across multiple subjects. Something I've noticed that I struggle with in terms of studying is studying for multiple exams in the same week. I've improved over the years, but it seems that there is always one subject to which I don't devote enough attention which may or may not cause my exam score to suffer. For that I hope to possibly gain some insight from my fellow classmates. Last week I had one midterm on Wednesday and one on Thursday. I didn't begin studying for the Thursday exam until after my Wednesday exam had passed. This worked out for me this time, but perhaps you have a better method.

Happy Monday, Everyone!
(Boomer Sooner)

Image information: Personal photo of me and my roommate at the OU/Texas game (source: Facebook)

Week 6: Storytelling - Crying for Nothing

One day, I was taking a walk in the park when I found my path blocked mother and her young child. From the looks of this mother - young, utterly exhausted but trying to appear as if she had it all together - I gathered that this was her first child. She was squatting down next to her child, a toe-headed cherub girl of about three or four years old, who had plopped herself down in the middle of the walking path and was wailing, loudly, and refusing to be comforted.
"Are you hungry? Are you sleepy? Are you hurt?" the mother moaned, as if she had already asked these questions several times before I'd approached. The child did not answer, only continued to weep and wail as if she had not heard her mother at all. "I don't understand," continued the unfortunate mother, "what are you crying for? Why won't you tell me?"

(image source: BlogSpot)



Sensing the woman's desperation, I chose this moment to step in.
"Oh she's just crying for nothing," I said to the mother kneeling down so that we were eye level.

"What?" replied the woman in utter exhaustion. She looked at me as if she had genuinely forgotten that there other humans on the planet apart from her and her daughter at that moment.

"You see," I began, "there was once a princess who lived in a small kingdom so small that she was able to walk to the kingdom neighboring her own on either side to visit her princess friend regularly. The two princesses often spent time together in one of the two kingdoms. One day, the princesses were visiting in the first princess' palace when two men were brought into the great hall. One of the men was adorned in fine clothing inlaid with gold and fine jewels. The other wore a threadbare garment that looked to be made from sackcloth. The first man announced that he and his companion, Nothing, had come seeking wives to take home to their native land with them. Despite his unimpressive appearance, the first princess suddenly felt a burning love for this Nothing that she herself could not explain. Nothing felt the same burning passion for the princess the moment he laid eyes on her, and the two decided to be married. The other princess laughed at the foolishness of the first princess for surely she would only know misery and poverty if she married this pauper. They chose to become the wife of the first man, cloaked in all his finery. 'His wealth must be greater than that of my own father,' she said to herself, 'I will live a very comfortable life, indeed, with this rich man!'" By this time, the child had stopped wailing and was merely sniffling as she stared intently at me with wide eyes. I continued.

 (image source: Boston.com)

"After the two princess were married to their respective suitors, they all began the journey to the men's native land. When they arrived, both princesses were surprised to find that the man adorned in the fine clothing lived in a dirty, ugly, run-down hovel while Nothing, in his peasant garments, lived in a lush palace. It seemed that the two men had switched their clothing for fun! The second princess was greatly distressed to discover how she had been tricked as well as inherently wicked nature of her new husband and wept openly when the first princess visited as they were accustomed to doing. The first princess, troubled by her friend's misery, decided to ask her husband if the second princess could come to stay in his palace for a time. Nothing, being a kind-hearted and sympathetic man, obliged, so the second princess came to live at the palace.
"After living at the palace for a few days, the second princess sent word to her husband that she would not be returning to him. Her husband grew very angry and blamed Nothing for stealing his wife away. In his rage, the jealous husband killed Nothing while Nothing was visiting the man in his little hut. When the first princess discovered that her beloved had been killed, she wept bitterly. Not wishing to stay in the palace which held nothing but memories of her fallen husband, she began to roam the countryside. As she roamed, many of the children in that region noticed the princess as she walked and wept, and they inquired of her why she mourned. She told her sad story to the children and they, in their childish empathy, began also to weep aloud with the unhappy princess."

The child gave one final sniff and finally allowed her mother to pull her to her feet.
 "So you see," I concluded standing up straight, "whenever a child is crying for what appears to be no reason, it is said that the child is crying for nothing. Isn't that right?" I asked with a wink, turning to the child. She nodded solemnly, wiping her eyes.

"The princess appreciates your sympathy," I said to the little girl, "but she wants you to be happy now."
The girl nodded again and reached for her mother's hand. Thank you, the mother mouthed over her shoulder, a look of the sincerest gratitude in her eyes as the two walked away. I smiled in reply. I turned and walked the direction from which I had come, suddenly not much in the mood for a walk. I pulled out my cellphone and dialed my neighbor's number.
"Hey Chrissy," I said when she answered, "I actually don't think I will be able to babysit your daughter today."

The End

Author's Note: This is a retelling of the story Anansi and Nothing from the West African Folktales Unit. I used the storyteller perspective in order to use the story to explain a phenomenon - the inexplicably inconsolable child - and in a somewhat humorous manner. The original story is told from the perspective of the jealous husband, Anansi, who is a known trickster. It is not stated explicitly that the women that he and Nothing find to be their wives are princesses, but I figured if anything could get a little girl to stop crying, it would be a story about princesses.

 

Bibliography: "Anansi and Nothing." West African Folktales. William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair. 1917.

Week 8: Reading Diary

In reading back through my reading diary posts,  I've noticed I follow a sort of pattern. First, I typically do not take notes over all of the readings. I try my best to pick out which stories contribute (in my opinion) the most to the reading as a whole. There are, however, some weeks in which I take notes for nearly all of the stories. When I leave out stories, it is usually because the theme translated through a certain story has been repeated multiple times (I do take notes on theme repeat stories in order to draw conclusions about central themes within the reading as a whole, but typically for one theme-repeating story) or because the action in a certain story is somewhat transitional in that it contributes to the content of following stories, but can be summed up in a few sentences within the notes for a following story. Sometimes, however, every or most of the stories contain some distinct significant element that I feel I will need to remember for either my weekly essay, or for my storytelling post.

 Another feature of my reading diary posts thus far is that I tend to go back and connect previous reading with the reading I am currently doing. For example, many of the readings I have done thus far involve creation stories, so I have briefly made note of the similarities and differences in a few of the mythologies concerning creation. I also make note of similarities in theme, characterization, and portrayal of human nature. I think it is important to be able to make connection while reading so as to perhaps gain an understanding of how mythology and folklore across different cultures can all be linked to one another. Also, by making connections between my weekly readings, I am able to retain what I have read from week to week. We do a lot of reading in this class, obviously, not to mention the reading I do for my other classes, so thinking back to previous readings and trying to somehow make it applicable to what I am currently doing is a helpful tool in remember all of the cool information I have learned thus far.

When doing my diary posts, I typically try to add commentary to what I have read in addition to a short synopsis of the action within each story. I find this helps when writing other blog posts for the week, particularly my essay. Giving commentary for each story really helps when picking out an essay topic for the week. I try to make note of recurring themes, archetypes, and morals which are all subjects that can be easily expanded into an essay. Some weeks this is more difficult than others because sometimes I'll run across stories in which the theme is unclear or there doesn't appear to be a moral. In these cases, I do my best to try and discern and analyze these elements so as to gain a better understanding of the story and the unit as a whole. It is difficult, but I believe it allows me to walk away from the reading with a greater clarity of the unit, and sometimes, the culture from which the reading derives.

Overall, I would say my reading diary posts are relatively well done and thought out. If they weren't I suppose, I wouldn't be able to use them as a guide for my other class posts.

Week 7: Famous Last Words - My Fellow Writers

Four days, that's all I have to make it through this week and then I get to go to OU/Texas.

This is my mantra for this week. Come on, guys! We can do it!

BOOOOMER! (image source: Flickr)

This week, well really every week, I've been utterly blown away by the writing of my fellow classmates. I mean, wow! I read some of it and think to myself, how are you not a published writer? Then again, I suppose some of you could be. In that case, I'm always on the look out for a good book, you guys!

Reading others' work, it's next to impossible not to play the compare game, but I've learned that it's really unfair to compare my style to that of others. I have noticed that there are a few elements that I would say make a particular story "great" in my humble opinion. I've listed a few below:

Setting
When I have a real sense of the place in which the story is taking place, when I can hear the crunching of leaves underfoot, see the extravagance of the palace, or hear the rushing of the stream, I am immediately drawn into a story. Setting description can be made or broken with -

Details, Details, Details
Now, obviously we've only got about a thousand words with which to create a story so I'm not saying you should go all Charles Dickens with your details, but I do think it definitely adds to a story to add a certain amount of depth to a story.Once again, this may be difficult to achieve in a storytelling post, but I say for a storybook story, go for it!

Some Sort of Quirk
Whether it's an unconventional perspective, storytelling format, or you've gone with an unexpected setting (whether time or place) I am always wowed by some of the interesting spins I've seen in you all's stories. I think seeking to throw some sort of twist into a storytelling or storybook story without fail makes for a captivating post simply because it catches the reader by surprise. The unexpected is always great when reading a story.

This is (once again) all in my humble opinion. I've encountered some extremely talented writers and feel privileged to have my work critiqued by you all. I look forward to reading more!

Happy OU/Texas Week!

Horns Down! (image source: BlogSpot)