Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Reading Diary B: British Isles Unit

Who Stole the Tarts? Was one of my favorite stories from the second half of Alice in Wonderland.  My favorite part of the story comes towards the end when the White Rabbit unrolled the scroll that read, “The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts, All on a summer day: The Knave of Hearts, he stole those tarts, and took them quite away!”  There was another part that really stuck out to me in this story and that was when the Hatter took a bite out of his teacup.  “…looking uneasily at the Queen, and in his confusion he bit a large piece out of his teacup instead of the bread-and-butter.”  As I finished reading, I remembered how much I enjoyed this part of the story and the movie.  It also reminds me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory where Willy Wonka takes a bit of the teacup in the movie.  It’s ironic since he also plays the Mad Hatter in the new Alice in Wonderland as well. 
I think these stories were brilliantly written.  The dialogue between all the characters seemed very realistic and the use of such short remarks seems like something I would hear in a normal conversation about whether someone is guilty of something or not.  In the second part of the story it goes on to say:

“I didn’t” the March Hare interrupted in a great hurry.
“You did!” said the March Hare.
“He denies it,” said the King: leave out that part.”


The short conversation made me laugh and it was just fun to read.  Like in the first half, I really enjoyed all of the images that went along with the stories and thought there were a lot more images in this particular unit than in previous ones which I enjoyed.  

Mad Hatter, Alice in Wonderland

Monday, March 30, 2015

Reading Diary A: British Isles unit

One of the stories I really liked in the first half of this unit was Advice from a Caterpillar.  I remember reading stories of Alice in Wonderland as a kid and of course I saw the movie as well.  It was helpful when reading the stories because I could associate them with images I remember from the most recent movie.  In this story, it was really easy to see how the characters developed. 

I also really liked the second part of the story.  I particularly liked the way the story was structured.  There were a lot of images and I liked how it went back and forth between anecdotes and images. 

My favorite story was that of Pig and Pepper.  These two were my favorite characters from the movie and I was looking forward to reading these stories in this unit! 

I really enjoyed all of the stories in this unit, at least the first half anyways!  I am really excited to use one of these stories to for my storytelling post this week.  I am not sure what story I want to use yet but I am hoping I find one in the second half that I like as well. 


I thought all of the images attached to the stories were really fun too!  Like I mentioned before, it was easy to associate stories with the movie and the images made it even easier too. 

Alice in Wonderland 


Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Storytelling: Week 10 Strange Pie

The contestants all lined up, waiting to register for the most prestigious pie eating contest.  The contest always drew such a large crowd and number of participants due to its large prize.  Whoever ate the most pies in four minutes would be awarded a brand new Corvette. 

Registration ended and the contestants were patiently awaiting their pies to begin the contest.  The pies were brought out one by one, each pie having a different and unique flavor. 

What the contestants didn’t know ahead of time was that the pies were not the normal pies they thought they would be.  In previous years, there were the standard apple pies, banana cream, key lime, blackberry, chocolate mousse, and peach.  This year, the tables were turned and the pies weren’t their normal household favorites. 

The announcer stepped up in front of the crowd and shouted, “Welcome, welcome to the pie eating contest!  This year, we’ve done something different with the pies and we think you’ll be surprised,” he said.

“Prepare yourselves audience and contestants.  Under your seats you will find a description of all of the pies this year.”
As the crowd reached under their seats, the look on their faces was pure disgust.
The paper read:
This year, we will be replacing all tasty pies with ones less appealing.  Continue reading for a full list of this year’s pies.
Instead of apple pie, we are serving a delicious siracha pie – spicier than you could imagine

For the banana cream pie, we are having a mayonnaise and whipped cream pie

Key lime will be turned into a cactus puree pie

Blackberry pie has transformed into a hearty eggplant pie

Our traditional chocolate mousse will instead be a pepper blend pie – with jalapenos, bell peppers, and most importantly, ghost peppers

And just because we don’t want to be too mean, peach pie will remain the same.
Thank you for your participation and support of this year’s contest.

It was time.  The contestants were to begin eating the new pie creations.  Once the whistle blew, the contestants were off to a hesitant start.  One brave participant stuck his fork right into the siracha pie, took a bite, and threw up immediately.  Several others tried but had the same experiences.  No one could keep it down.  For the next four minutes, no one touched any of the other pies until the competition was officially over. 

Since technically no one ate any of the pies, the grand prize belonged to no one.  There the Corvette sat, in perfect view of all the contestants, without a new owner. 


While the contestants were upset about their defeat, they all agreed that the new car wasn’t worth it.  Why they decided that it wasn’t worth it, no one knows.  I mean, come on, it’s a new Corvette.  Suck it up.  Eat some siracha pie.  

Pie eating contest - Huckleberry Festival


Author’s Note: This story was based off of Mole Wins theRace with Coyote and the Other Animals in the Apache Unit.  In the original story, animals were competing in a race in order to marry a woman if they got to the finish line first.  In the end, the mole ended up marrying the woman while the other competitors had no idea and continued running towards the finish line.  I chose this story to retell because I liked the idea of a race or competition of some sort that had a big prize.  I changed the foot race into a pie eating contest because I thought it was more fun and changed the normal pies to gross ones because it’s not something I have ever heard of before and thought it would be interesting and different.  

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Reading Diary B: Apache Unit

One of my favorite stories from the second half of the unit was Coyote Tries to Make His Children Spotted.  Like many of the other stories I’ve read in this unit, I really liked the beginning and then it made quite the turn.  The story was about how a coyote wants his children to be spotted like the deer’s fawns.  The deer tells the coyote that the reason fawns have spots is because they stand by a fire and the sparks give them spots.  It seemed like a cute story to begin with but then turned dark when the coyote tried that method with his children and they were all burned to death.  I think I might consider retelling this story so that it isn’t so sad. 

I have noticed that the reoccurring theme throughout this unit seems to be death.  I also liked the story Coyote Kills the Prairie Dogs.  Even though the story was dark, I liked that it was centered on a dance.  I liked that a Wildcat was introduced towards the middle of the story because it added an extra character. 

Another story I liked was Coyote and the Mexicans.  I liked the set-up of the story and the way that all of the dialogue was separated into their own lines.  It made the reading flow smoothly and helped show which character was talking. 


Still, I thought all of the stories were strange but in a good way.  The stories were different than most that I’ve read so I’m glad I got to read a variety of different types of stories.  

fawn in a field

Monday, March 23, 2015

Reading Diary A: Apache Unit

This week I decided to read stories from the Apache Unit.  

Even though The Culture Heroes and Owl was a very strange story, for some reason, I liked it.  When I first read the story, I didn’t think it would turn out the way it did. In the story, when the companions wanted something to play with, I thought the story would be a fun story about some new type of toy that they came up with or made in order to entertain themselves but then it quickly changed as I kept reading.  Towards the end, the story got a bit repetitive with only minor changes each time. 

One of the other stories I liked was Naiyenesgani Rescuesthe Taos Indians.  This story was similar to the first one I liked in that it was pretty repetitive as well.  Different from the first one, the second story was more repetitive at the beginning instead of the end of the story.  One thing that I found interesting in all the stories, this one especially, was all of the different names and spellings of names.  Most of them I don’t know how to pronounce.  I think if I were to retell any of these stories I’d come up with much simpler names. 


My favorite story of the first half was definitely The Monster Fish because it reminded me of a story that I retold a couple of weeks ago.  My story was about a lake monster which kept me interested in this story as I kept reading it.  I think I might choose this story to retell but I’d have to put a very different spin on it so it differs from my original storytelling post.



Fish

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Essay: North America Unit

Though I thought that the stories that I read for this unit were good reads, I wasn’t too fond of the topic for this week and next week, Native America.  I think I would have liked the opportunity to read more stories from other units and write about them more.  For all of the other weeks, I wrote an extra reading diary post because I thought there were so many good stories I wanted to explore them all.  For this unit, I found myself digging for stories that I liked.  I know this is personal preference but after I finished all the readings in my particular unit, I felt that I gained more knowledge and learned different and better techniques to use when writing my own stories.  With that being said, mission accomplished.  It isn’t that I didn’t enjoy the unit, it’s just that there were other ones that sounded more appealing to me, personally. 

Overall, I just felt a little less creative.  As for how the stories were structured, I thought it was great, as usual.  The overview for the British North America unit contained information that I wanted to know before reading all the stories but I wish I had known more about who Haida, Shuswap, and Inuit peoples were.  It was nice to be prepped on what the language of the stories were like because I prefer when the stories vary in style, it helps keep it interesting. 


Like with every unit, it is all set up so nicely that it is very easy to navigate through the stories and go back to the ones you really liked to read again and potentially use as your storytelling post.  Especially in this unit, with the stories being a little shorter than others, it allowed for more creativity in storytelling posts because you can elaborate more and branch out from the original.  

Inuit Peoples

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Storytelling Week 5: The Tree

Once upon a time, there lived a poor man Paul.  Born into poverty, money and wealth was something he had never known.  He had a wife and three children and as a poor man, he was a beggar and would walk around the village, asking for any food he could have to feed his family. 

He went door to door for weeks and received enough food to get by but as the weeks turned into months, the food became scarce.  He knew he couldn’t keep up the unknown of whether or not his family would have food for much longer for it was not enough for his family anymore. 

One day, Paul saw an old, cranky man who had lived in the village for sixty years and there, he overheard the man, who owned one hundred acres of property in the village, say he had an announcement to make the following day at noon. 

Hearing this news, Paul was going to return the next day at noon to see what the landlord had to say, hoping it might be something that would help his family.  Though Paul knew his hope was a little far-fetched, he had no other options. 

So the next day, the landlord came out to make his speech.  Little did Paul know, the landlord was looking for someone to do a task for him and in return, he who completed the task would be granted a great reward.  

Paul asked, “Sir, what is the task you need done?  I am willing to do anything.” 

The landlord replied, “I am in need of someone to go fetch me an apple from the tallest apple tree far away in the forest. This is a tree that no one can miss.  It is the tallest, biggest, and most plentiful apple tree anyone has ever seen. 

Though I know no one has ever been able to climb it, since the land out there has a history of being haunted by the dead who roam there, the man who picks the apple will be granted ten acres of my land.  There, you will be able to live rent free forever.” 

Paul knew that no one had ever been able to climb the tree alone or dare to wander that far in fear of the ghosts, but he also knew this was his only chance at saving his family from the poor, begging life he was living.  Terrified of the unknown, none of the other men accepted the challenge to make their way out to the tree and get an apple, except for Paul, whose desperation kept him motivated.

And so, that night, Paul walked out into the depths of the forest, into the land where ghosts roam, to find the apple tree and grab just one apple for the landlord.    

Paul was on the lookout.  Though he had never been afraid of ghosts before, the stories he heard about the ones here made him weary.  As he searched and searched for the tree, he never once saw a ghost anywhere.  Onward he searched until - there it was. 

When he finally saw the tree, he knew the landlord was right.  It was the tallest, biggest, most plentiful apple tree he had ever seen.  There was more fruit on the tree than he could have ever imagined.  He knew this was enough to feed his whole family for months and months. 

“If there were some way that I could build a home out here, my family and I would be set.  I don’t have the money or the resources to build a home, but this tree would provide enough food,” he said to himself. 

But Paul was torn.  He knew there was a decision to make.  If he returned the apple to the old man, he would have a place to live but no food and if he didn’t return the apple, he would have enough food but no place to live. 

As he paced, thinking about what he should do, he saw a small hole in the trunk of the tree that was barely visible from the tall grass surrounding it but once he pushed aside the grass, the hole was even larger than he thought.  

Intrigued, he took a closer look and saw the most amazing thing. 

Inside the bark of the tree was the safe haven he was looking for.  It was like an underground bunker, safe from the harsh weather, big enough for his whole family, and inside the tree that produced enough fruit for his family to survive. 

Because no one else volunteered to climb the tree for the landlord, he knew that no one would come looking for him if he did not return and with that in mind, he decided not to go back. 

Back at the village, Paul’s family was anxiously awaiting his arrival.  They wanted to be there when Paul was granted the land, so that they could all celebrate together.  They knew that Paul was not one to be afraid of ghosts and they all knew he would be victorious and face the danger.  But as they stood there, they overheard yelling in the near distance. 

“That ignorant beggar!” exclaimed the landlord.  “I knew he couldn’t do it.  No one ever has!  Paul and his family will never live on my land!” 

Overcome with fear after what they heard, the family left the village and began searching for Paul.  They made their way to the apple tree, unafraid of anything or anyone they might run into, including the ghosts.  This was last place they knew he’d be. 

Panicked, the family yelled for Paul.  “Paul!  Paul!  Are you here?  We’ve looked everywhere!  Please, if you’re out here, come to us!” 

Paul heard the cries of his wife and kids and came running out of the trunk of the tree. 

“My family!  I have found shelter for you, here, inside this tree.  It will protect us and feed us for years to come.”  “Out here in this wonderful land, there was no sight of any ghosts, no fear, nothing to scare us away!  The rumors of ghosts had to be untrue or maybe they knew the plea of a desperate man and decided to let us stay without conflict.”   

His family was overjoyed. 

With tears of happiness in her eyes, his wife said, “We can’t believe you have found somewhere for us to live and provide for us.  We can’t thank you enough!”

“Before we go inside, there’s just one more thing I need your help with,” said Paul. 

So before they went inside, with the help of his family, Paul climbed the apple tree and tossed down six dozen apples to his kids. 

Together, Paul and his family were set.  He found an unexpected place for his family to live without having to put up with the demands from the landlord. 

There they lived, together, protected, and far from hungry.  




Apple tree

Author’s note: This story was based off of the original story, The Story of a BrahmadaityaI decided to keep small aspects of the original story but change many of the details.  In the original story, the Brahman, who in my story is Paul, was a poor man who overheard a man in the village say that he was willing to give away ten acres of land if someone would go get him a branch from a very haunted tree.  Those who had gone before had died and never returned, so none of the others wanted to try except for the Brahman.  When he finally gets to the haunted tree, the ghosts, instead of hurting the Brahman, actually helped him and allowed him to take a branch so that he could have a place to live.  He returned to the landlord with the branch and from there, was granted the land he was promised.  I decided to only retell the first portion of the story because I liked it best and really wanted to put my effort into retelling it.   I really liked the original story so I wanted to keep some of the original aspects of the story.  I thought the story was an interesting ghost story because it didn’t turn out the way you’d expect.  Typically, you don’t think of ghosts being helpful but in the original, they were.  In the original, the Brahman was so brave and also desperate for help that he was willing to do anything and I wanted to keep that aspect in my story.  I wanted to change the story from supernatural to a more realistic story so, I changed the focus from a tree branch to an apple tree so that it would serve the purpose of providing Paul with food for his family.  Part of my inspiration for Paul finding a hole in the tree came from Alice in Wonderland.  There, Alice falls down the rabbit hole and here, Paul finds a hole in the tree that leads to another "world" for his family, a safe haven.  

Bibliography:
Folk-Tales of Bengal by Rev. Lal Behari Day with illustrations by Warwick Goble (1912).