Week 6 - Unit: Tales from the Congo

Reading Diary B:
The Gazelle and the Leopard:
Did not make any sense to me, it went back and forth and I read it several times.  Couldn't make heads or tails of if the leopard was careless or the gazelle.

The Fetish Sunga:
This was a story about a greedy man who managed to catch many fish, but refused to share with his relatives.  The fetish Sunga heard of this and asked one of her servants to bring the man.  Once he was there, she laid out a large feast and wine.  But he was afraid to eat and said that the smell alone had satisfied him.  The fetish Sunga pressed him further and he finally drank all the wine.  Then she made him speechless.  From that day on he had to request everything by sign.

Reading Diary A:

How the Wives Restored Their Husband to Life:
This was a very interesting story.  He told of a man, Nenpetro, who had 3 wives.  Each of his wives had a special gift.  The the wives and their gifts included: Songa'Nzila - The Guide, Ndoza'Ntu - The Dreamer, and Fulla Fulla - The Raiser of the Dead.  These wives were ceaselessly hungry and Nenpetro went out to hunt for them.  On his final hunt, he was killed by an Ox.  Ndoza'Ntu dreamt he was dead, Songa'Nzila guided them to his body, and Fulla Fulla brought him back to life.  Once Fulla Fulla had brought him back from the dead, they all prepared meals for him.  They wondered whose home Nenpetro would visit first.  They made him choose by which meal he at from first.  Nenpetro said that while Ndoza'Ntu had dreamed where he was and Songa'Nzila had guided them to him, it was Fulla Fulla who gave him life.  Therefore, he ate from her pot.

The Jealous Wife:
This story was really good too, but very sad.  A man had two wives, one younger and one older, and each of his wives had a child.  The husband had gone into the bush to trade and he bid his wives to take good care of the children while he was gone.  The older wife was jealous of the younger wife's son because he was smarter and more clever, so she plotted to murder the child in it's sleep.  She crept to the place where the child usually slept and stabbed him.  The other child ran and took refuge at a neighbor's.  The next morning the wife went to "admire her handiwork" and discovered that she had murdered her own child.  She picked up her dead child and ran into the bush.  The husband and neighbors went out to search for her and finally found her singing to and rocking the child. They took her prisoner and poisoned her and scattered her ashes to the winds.

The Wicked Husband:
Ok, I'm noticing a theme here.  I'm liking the gory stories.  I'm weird, right?

In this story, a husband and wife are fighting about pine nuts.  The husband says she uses too much and the wife explains she has given it to relatives whom she cannot refuse.  The husband acts like an ass and drags her into the forest to help him with the pine nuts.  Then, once in the forest, he places her on a table he had made and cut off her arms and legs.  Then he left her there.  The prince eventually heard of this and brought the woman to him, where she died upon arrival.  The prince accused the husband of the crime and sentenced him to die.  So, he placed the husband underneath his dead wife and placed them both on the fire!

--what a way to go!!!  He so deserved it though...grumpy-butt!

Women of the Congo, 1885

Bibliography:
How the Wives Restored Their Husband to Life.  Web Source: Wives Restore Husband
Reading Unit: Tales from the Congo.  Web Source: Stories from the Congo
Image: Women of the Congo, 1885.  Web Source: Women of the Congo
The Wicked Husband.  Web Source: Wicked Husband
The Gazelle and the Leopard.  Web Source: Gazelle & Leopard
The Fetish Sunga.  Web Source: Fetish Sunga

Week 5 - Storytelling: Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

Once upon a time, there was a lonely sheep, Jula.  She wished she had other sheep around, but alas, they were all gone.  Suddenly, one day Jula saw a group of sheep come over the top of the hill.  Jula decided to approach them and introduce herself.

"Hello.  My name is Jula.  Are you lost or are you going somewhere specific?"

"Hello, Jula.  I am John.  This is my wife Carrie and our two children, Brian and Samantha.  We are traveling from our pasture home, as there is no more grass and there are no more of our sheep kin."

"Well," replied Jula, "There is plenty of grass here and I too am all alone and would welcome the company should you decide to stay."

Brian and Carrie discussed this for a moment and decided they too would welcome the new relationship and decided to stay, at least for a while, to see if the family could be happy here.

One night, Samantha woke from a deep sleep to an odd sound.  She got to her feet and decided to investigate the sound.  She looked around and saw her father, mother, and brother all sleeping soundly, but she didn't see Jula anywhere.  As she walked through the pasture, just a few yards from where her family still slumbered, she saw the skin of a sheep!!!!  She was horrified!!!!  A wolf must've gotten to Jula!!!  Samantha ran over to her sleeping family and woke her mother.  She led her mother to the sheep skin.

"Oh my goodness!!" exclaimed Carrie.  "This is horrible!  We must wake the family and leave quickly before we meet the same fate as Jula!"

The woke John and Brian and explained what was going on.  Brian was scared and was more than ready to leave, but John was a different story.  He told his wife, "we do not know for sure what, if anything, has happened to Jula.  We should wait until morning and make our decision then.  The  children are tired and we do not know where to go from here!"

Carrie told her husband, "we did not know where we were going when we found this pasture.  We are not tied to this land and will certainly find more sheep and greater pastures, but we must leave NOW!! We must keep our children safe.  And if you do not wish to leave, we will be forced to leave without you!"

Carrie, Brian, and Samantha left immediately, but they kept a watchful eye out for wolves as they made their way through the pasture and on to a new, but yet unknown, home.

The following morning, John awoke and walked over to the empty sheep skin.  He realized he should have left with his family.  He missed them immensely and was lonely without them.  Just as he turned to take his leave, he heard a strange, yet somehow familiar, voice.

"Where are you going, Brian?  And what has happened to your family?  Where are they?"

Brian turned and saw a large wolf glaring at him with hungry eyes.  "Jula?  Are you Jula?  What is going on here?"

"Well, Brian, I am the one who 'pretended' to be the sheep, Jula.  My real name is Snowfire and I'm sure you can see that I am a Great White Wolf.  There used to be an immense heard of sheep on these lands, but I slowly devoured them one by one.  I was becoming very hungry and was about to move on when you and your family came to me.  Unfortunately, your wife and children realized something was amiss and fled.  It is unfortunate for you that you did not heed their warning and leave with them.  I am going to kill you, John.  And when I am finished with you, I shall catch up to your family and devour them as well.''

John didn't know what to say or do.  He knew he could not outrun the wolf, but he thought his family might have a big enough of a head start that Snowfire would be unable to catch them.  He certainly hoped, for their sakes, that this was true.  John sighed and said to Snowfire, "Well, if you're going to consume my flesh, there is no sense in prolonging the inevitable.  But you will NEVER catch my family.  They are swift and strong and extremely clever.  The next time you lay your eyes on a wolf, you had better ask yourself....'is this truly a wolf, or are they sheep in wolf's clothing come to exact their revenge?'"

This made Snowfire uneasy.  She found it hard to believe that sheep could be as cunning as a wolf, but she certainly wasn't going to back away from her food source.  She shook the doubt from her mind and replied to John, "You are wasting my time and your threats will not deter me from my goal," said Snowfire.  "Now, you might want to close your eyes - this will not be pleasant!"

Wolf In Sheep's Clothing

Sheep In Wolf's Clothing

Author's Note:

I chose to retell the tale of The Wolf Aunt.  In this story, a man and his family have a hard time surviving.  One day while he is in town selling goods, a woman approaches him and claims to be his long lost sister.  After a short visit, she insists he bring his family to live with her.  She tells her alleged brother that she has plenty of money to support them all.  He brings his family to her home.  As a way to say thank you to the newfound aunt, the mother and daughter bake a treat to take to her.  When the daughter peeks through the aunt's window, she sees her turn into a wolf and devour a man.  She tells her mother what she saw and the mother insists that the family leaves.  Of course, the father refuses.  But the mother, trying to protect her children, waits until nightfall and sneaks her children out and they return to their home.  The next morning, the man confronts his "sister" and tells her what his family said about her being a wolf.  The following morning, she comes to her "brother's" room as a wolf and asks him, "how should I devour you? Feet first or head first?" 

The moral of the story, essentially is trust those you know well and be suspicious, at least for a bit, of newfound relatives.  They may have ulterior motives.

Bibliography:

Image: Wolf In Sheep's Clothing.  Web Source: Wolf-Sheep

Unit: Persian Tales.  Web Source: Persian Unit

The Wolf-Aunt.  Web Source: Wolf Aunt
Image: Sheep In Wolf's Clothing.  Web Source: Sheep-Wolf

Famous Last Words - Week 5 - Surviving Stats!

Well, this week did not start off as well as I had planned.  My daughter was sick over the weekend, so I did not get as far ahead with this class, or catch up in my other classes, as I would have liked to.  So, needless to say, when this week started I was running to catch up and not making any headway.  BUT….. I sat down the other night and got a good deal done in our Mythology-Folklore class for week 5, so I am very much caught up now (and I did it quite quickly too).  This makes it easier for me to breathe because IF I get behind again I can think to myself, “Michele, it didn’t take that long to get caught up and then ahead of the game in Mythology-Folklore, so CHILL OUT!”  Plus, knowing that it won’t take sooooo long to get ahead of things in here gives me a bit of breathing room in my other classes. 

My Sociology of Violence class is extremely interesting, but I’m a senior and it’s an upper division class so there is an enormous amount of reading that needs to be done in there.  So, this weekend I will spend catching up on reading, making notecards, and getting my notes from lecture and reading typed up to make it easier to find things when I need them for studying purposes. 

(Is anyone detecting a Type-A Control Freak Personality?) 

My Social Statistics class is giving me some worry.  I’m excellent at math and (I’m a geek, I know) I enjoy solving problems.  However, (big BIG however here) we’re getting into the Central Limit Theorem which has multiple formulas and ways of expressing those formulas that I’m worried I won’t be able to keep them all straight and remember that  is the mean of some variable and that is the mean of the population.  Sooooo, we shall see if I survive the semester!  Because if I don’t, it doesn’t look good for Grad school, because we’ve got to take another stats class, but this time it’s ADVANCED Social Statistics …. YAY!!!!!

Studying College Student

Bibliography:

Studying College Student image.  Web Source: College Student

Collage Tech Tip

I used PicMonkey to create a collage image for my storybook and it turned out this was a tech tip too.  So here's my image.  My storybook is Cherokee Campfire.

The Wolves, Campfire, Stories

Bibliography:

Wolves image.  Web Source: The Wolves 

Campfire image.  Web Source: Campfire 

Stories image.  Web Source: Stories

Week 5 - Unit: Persian Tales

Reading Diary A:
I loved the story of The Goat and the Wolf.  I like how the wolf is conniving and very good and weaseling to get the upper hand in the situation without having done any real work himself.  But I like even better the fact that he gets his "come-up-ins" in the end and is outsmarted by the mama goat!!

Okay, The Wolf-Aunt was a FANTASTIC story!! A man and his family have a difficult time eking out a living.  One day he happens upon a woman who "claims" to be his sister.  He, of course, believes her.  She asks them to move in with her and she will take care of them.  However, when they get there, they eat so well they come back from their emaciated states and discover, inadvertently, that the "aunt" is really a werewolf who is only fattening them up to eat them.  When the wife tells her husband this, he does not believe her (silly husbands).  The wife and children flee in the wee morning hours one day, but the husband stays.  He confronts his sister about this and the next morning she comes to eat him, asking him "shall I eat you from the head down or the feet up?"  (shiver)  Great Story!!!!

Reading Diary B:
The Hemp Smoker's Dream is craaaazy!! I had a hard time keeping the character's straight as they were Chinese-type names.  Additionally, since it was being translated, I think a bit was lost in translation.  But if I get the gist of the story correct, a man who enjoyed smoking hemp (ha ha) got really baked and fell asleep under the barber's hands.  He had a dream of ordering the King of China to give "hemp-boy" the King's daughter for marriage.  He finally wakes up when he smacks the barber and realizes it was all a dream.  SERIOUSLY, NUTSO! but good.  I chuckled quite a bit.

In The Story of the Wolf-Bride a man had enough money to obtain a son.  So he did.  But he was told that his son would be torn apart by wolves.  So the father dug out an underground chamber.  The boy was educated and when it was time he was procured a wife, his cousin (of course).  The celebration of the wedding lasted 7 days and 7 nights.  When the man and woman were left in the underground chamber alone, the new bride turned into a wolf and tore him to pieces.  Then the bride turned back into a woman and sat there until morning.  When the women came the next morning and saw the boy's body, they asked the girl what had happened.  She said she did not know.  All she knew was that she turned into a wolf, tore the boy to pieces, and then turned back into a girl.  The moral of the story was, whatever fate has in store for us, it cannot be avoided.

Wolf - Photo by Arturo de Frias Marques

Is it obvious from my notes above that I love wolves?  Well, I didn't used to.  My daughter adores wolves she has so much wolf paraphernalia in her room she could open an exhibit at the Smithsonian.  It is through her that I have learned to appreciate and love wolves.


Bibliography:
The Wolf and the Goat.  Web Source: Wolf v Goat
The Wolf Aunt.  Web Source: Wolf Aunt
Reading Unit: Persian Tales.  Web Source: Persian Tales
Wolf Image.  Web Source: Wolf Image
The Hemp Smoker's Dream.  Web Source: Hemp Dream
The Story of the Wolf-Bride.  Web Source: Wolf-Bride

Week 5 - Essay - Ease of Reading

Well, based on my reading experience at the Ease of Reading post, most of the readings were relatively simple to read. The jokes that gave me the most trouble were #6 and #9. These both were written in entirely capital letters and no spaces. Number 6 had no punctuation whatsoever and #9 had periods only. You would think that adding the periods would provide an easier reading experience; however, I found this was quite the opposite. In #6, the lack of periods seemed to give my brain "free reign," if you will. I'm sure our brains have learned from our elementary school days that a period indicates the end of a sentence and our brains don't even have to think about it anymore, it is just a given. So, the lack of any periods let me read the passage as one long sentence, providing a fluid read. However, in #9, the indication of a "stop" cut into my brain's creativity to fill in what was missing making it much more difficult to read.

Based on my experience with this exercise, I found that apostrophes were the most helpful. For example, in #9, I had periods to guide me where to stop, but I did not have apostrophes, so my mind kept wanting to put an “s,” or something like it, at the beginning of a new word instead of where it really belonged, with the prior word. That was what I found most difficult about #9 to read and exactly why #9 was the most difficult for me.  

There is something I wonder about, though, as I finish this assignment.  I would be willing to guess that not everyone has the same problems with the reading sample as a I did.  While I do 100% expect everyone to have a problem reading at least 1, I suspect that some will have trouble reading 5 or 6 or maybe 10 or 11 of them.  While our brains work in chemically the same way, we have been shown through artists, sports, engineers, chemists, literary geniuses, etc., that no 2 brains really compute things the same way.  We all have our own little things we understand on an extraordinary level and other things that we just, to be frank, suck at!! I believe that this exercise will demonstrate that reading is no different.  

Papyrus of Ani - showing cursive hieroglyphs

Bibliography:

Egyptian Hieroglyphs.  Web Source: Hieroglyphs

Technology of Writing: Ease of Reading.  Web Source: Ease of Reading 

Week 4 - Essay: My Thoughts on Arabian Nights

So, as is obvious from my title, I read the unit on Arabian Nights.  I will admit that I had no idea of what to expect, but I really enjoyed it.  I've heard of Scheherazade before and I actually danced the ballet Scheherazade when I was dancing.  However, I had never read the story before.  I really enjoyed the fact that this was a complicated storyline.  It was not complicated in a way that would make it difficult to follow, not by any means, but it was complicated in the fact that everything was not just black and white and there were multiple layers to the story.  Scheherazade is a girl who is determined to stop the Sultan's killing of every new bride he takes, which he takes a new girl every night.  In her plot to do so, she begins to tell a story.  But within this story, there is another story.  And....within the second and third story there is another....The Sultan is so intrigued and wants to hear the end, that he stays her execution.  If I remember correctly from the ballet, Scheherazade tells 1000 tales and lives 1001 days to tell those stories.  However, in her telling of the tales, the Sultan had fallen in love with her and spared her life.  You know, in this current time and place in history we always think we have the best of everything; the best books, technology, etc.  However, I feel that this story really proves that great authors were working long before our time.  To be creative and complex enough to create this type of story with so many different facets to follow, but all anchored to the main character of Scheherazade, I mean, come on... THAT'S AMAZING!!! Again, anyone who happens to read this essay and has not yet chosen their week 3 or 4 reading unit, I would highly recommend this one! The reading went by so fast and it was interesting and entertaining to read; not boring at all.

Svetlana Zakharova - Scheherazade

Bibliography:
Svetlana Zakharova in Scheherazade.  Web Source: Dancer Scheherazade
Un-Textbook unit, Arabian Nights.  Web Source: Arabian Nights

Week 4 Storytelling: The Sociopaths Next Door

Salina was a horrible woman.  She was a liar and a manipulator and she was quite skilled at both of them.  She despised everyone except for her son, Fasa, whom she groomed to be just like her.  Although she despised everyone, she had to pretend to like people in order to get them close and to use them.  Her husband, Chuck, was stuck between a rock and a hard place.  He was married to a horrible, lying woman, but she was his wife.  One day, a neighbor, Jessica, dared to disagree with Salina regarding the deviant actions of her son.  Fasa had been on the property attempting to destroy private property and Jessica merely wished for Fasa to stay away from the property.  Salina was so enraged that anyone would call her, or her son, out on their behavior and lies that she turned Jessica into the liar and manipulator by spreading lies throughout the small town.  It got to the point that no one in the small town would talk to Jessica, as Salina had skillfully and industriously changed the events of the story to benefit her own malicious intentions.  One day; however, someone else in the town caught Salina in a lie and began to question all the other "facts" that had been given to her.  This occurred again with another local, until the entire town began to realize that it was not Jessica who was malicious and evil, but Salina.  Finally, Salina got what was coming to her.  She lost her place on the town council and the entire town ostracized Salina as the "True Liar."

Author's Note:
I was retelling the story of The Story of the First Old Man and of the Hind from the Arabian Nights' story of Scheherazade.  In The Story of the First Old Man and of the Hind, a man was manipulated by his wife.  The husband adored a slave boy so much that he raised him as his own.  The wife was extremely jealous of the slave boy and his mother, so much so that she turned them both into cows.  The husband ordered a cow to be brought for slaughter for the meal & unbeknownst to him, he would be killing his son or his son's mother.  This is how incredibly treacherous the wife was.  Luckily, someone informed the husband of his wife's treachery and the son was spared.  But, as punishment his wife was turned into a hind (a deer).  I switched this story around by having the treacherous Salina metaphorically turn Jessica into a liar, when in fact it was Salina who was the liar.  I thought a metaphor instead of real witchcraft might work for this story.

Above - Fallow Deer Buck
Below - Calf & Cow

Bibliography:
The Story of the First Old Man and of the Hind.  Web Source: The Hind
Image: The Calf and the Cow.  Web Source: Calf&Cow
Image: Fallow Deer Buck.  Web Source: Deer (Hind)

Famous Last Words - Week 4

This week has really gotten away from me.  The long weekend through me off my game for the week.  I had so many quizzes and assignments due this week along with a plethora of thick reading assignments, that I've fallen behind.  I HATE to be behind.  I've also lost a bit of my "work ahead" loveliness in here because of those other things.  Additionally, my first exam in Cherokee is tomorrow morning and I am feeling so NOT prepared!!!

I'm frantically trying to get things done before the end of Friday and I have so many appointments that I have to keep, I don't have a single moment of free time.  Hmmm....maybe I just won't sleep tonight!!!????  No, NO NNOO!!!!  I have allergy testing tomorrow.... and an exam.. must be rested!!

Does this post sound like frantic rambling, ah, good, mission accomplished!  I have accurately conveyed my feelings of stress ...... weeeeee

(deep calming breath)

Ok, so I will complete my tasks for today and just take it one assignment at a time.  Once this day is finally over, I will study for my Cherokee exam and prey to the Great Spirit (Cherokee) that I can accomplish this with A's!!!

This weekend I really need to stay on top of things and get a lot of work in classes done ahead of time so that these don't sneak up on me like this again!!  I will also make an effort in the future (very near future) not to spread myself too thin with all of these appointments and social things!!!

Secretly; however, I am looking forward to the one social event I have planned for this evening, it will give me time to hang with ladies my own age, having fun, eating, talking, and free my mind and calm myself down to a focus where I can function!

Stressed Student

Bibliography: 

Stressed student.  Web Source:  Stressed Out Student

Comment Wall

Leave yo' comments below .......

Week 4 - Arabian Nights

Reading Diary B:

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp (1-6):

This is the only story in the second half of the reading, so it's the only one to make notes on.  I've always wanted to read Arabian Nights, and this is probably as close as I'll get.

Of course everyone knows the Disney version of Aladdin, but this one told by Scheherazade is quite different.  The vizir (as Jafar was) is not the one looking for the lamp, but a magician from Africa.  (the cave still exists)  Aladdin still sees the princess and falls in love with her at first sight, but first she marries someone else.  And even though the magician was thwarted the first time, he comes back for the lamp, taking it from Aladdin's home from his wife (the princess) while he is hunting.  Guess what?  He summons the genie...you weren't seeing that coming, were you?  It's complicated and definitely bears another read before attempting this one for "storytelling."

Aladdin

Reading Diary A:

Just as a note, as I have not gotten any further at the time of my typing this than the story of The Two Black Dogs, I like the fact that Scheherazade is telling this story with multiple layers to save her life and the story is layered with stories trying to save the life of a merchant...Nice little twist!

Scheherazade:
I LOVED this introduction story.  It gives a fantastic background on Scheherazade herself and the time in which she lives.  She vows to stop the Sultan's ritual of marrying a woman one night & having her strangled the next morning; due to a broken heart and being scorned by his first wife whom he loved more than anything.  Scheherazade is a very intelligent, brave, and beautiful girl....we should all strive to be so AWESOME!

Scheherazade

The Hind:
This was a fantastic story as well.  I like how this story is a layer to the first.  And I know that the next story is also another layer.  This story was getting close to making me cry.  To learn that the wife was so manipulative and to turn her husband's son and his mother into cattle, only later to be slaughtered.  UGH!  I was glad she received the same treatment and was turned into the deer, although she did seem to get off a little lightly.

The Hind



Bibliography:
Myth Folklore Unit: Arabian Nights.  Web Source: Arabian Nights

Twitter Widget Tech Tip

Tweets from https://twitter.com/MicheleDuggie/lists/family

Week 3 - Storytelling: Brad, the Absentminded Wannabe Prognosticator

Brad was a man who was obsessed with seeing signs of the future in everything.  When he went out for walks, he would look for signs in the wind moving through the trees, the dogs barking behind fences, and the honking of the car horns.  He would go for long walks that would take him anywhere and everywhere.  Many times he would finally come out of his obsessive thought process only to look around and have absolutely no idea where he was. 

One day, Brad went for one of his sign-seeking walks.  He was staring at the sky, the homes, the trees, and the traffic, everything except where he was.  Unbeknownst to Brad, he had wandered straight into a construction zone.  As he walked, the pavement under his feet turned to gravel.  Suddenly, Brad found himself plummeting down into a large pit and at the bottom was a grinder breaking the stones into smaller gravel.  If he fell too much further he too would be ground up.  He grabbed and desperately tried to find anything to get ahold of to slow and stop his fall.  Finally, he managed to find purchase with his hands and dug in the toes of his shoes.  He knew he wouldn’t be able to hold on for much longer and he became frantic, fearing that his end was near.  Sweat began to bead up all over his body and his hands were becoming slick.  Brad yelled and screamed for help for what seemed like an eternity.  Just as he was beginning to think that death was eminent, faces appeared at the top of the gravel heap.  Construction workers were lying down and offering their hands for help.  Brad was terrified of letting loose his hold on the gravel, afraid to fall, but he knew if he didn’t reach out he would certainly die.  He quickly pulled his hands from the gravel and desperately reached up for the hands of the construction workers above him.  Then, he threw up his other arm and was pulled from the pit.  As he lay there on the gravel, catching his breath and calming his heart rate, not understanding how he got into that situation in the first place, a construction worker asked him,

“Did you not see that pit, man? You could’ve been killed.” 

To which a second construction worker replied, “Yeah man! You’ve got to pay more attention.  Where was your head?” 

Brad was confounded.  How could he have been so distracted as to not see that death pit?  While he was looking around, trying to find signs for the future, he was completely oblivious to the things going on around him now. 

The Astrologer from Aesop (Winter)

Author’s Note: This was from Aesop (Winter).  The story was “The Astrologer” where a man was constantly looking up into the stars trying to decipher the future.  While he was walking one day he fell deep into a mud pit and became stuck.  His cries for help called the villagers to his aid and they pulled him from the pit.  They asked him what he was doing, paying so much attention to the future in the stars that he was paying no attention to the what was here on Earth.  The moral of the story was, “take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves.”  I liked this story  because it is so true how people are frequently thinking about what they want to do or are going to do in the future or how many material possessions they want in the future that they forget to look around and appreciate the things they have now and appreciate where they are now.  

Bibliography:

Book: The Aesop for Children

Author: Milo Winter

Year Published: 1947

Web Source: Aesop (Winter)

Image:
The Astrologer.  (image).  Web Source: Aesop (Winter)

Week 3 - Famous Last Words

Alrighty..... Week 1 of actually school is officially over and the second week is about to begin.  There is so much reading for me this semester and it's already started.  Thank God I love to read, huh?  

I have finally gotten a handle on this Myth-Folklore class online.  I think I've gone 3 or 4 whole days without e-mailing professor Gibbs with any more questions... yay me!! I practically live on the MLLL3043 page with the weekly assignments and make myself a "to-do" list of the assignments and check them off as I go.  I am about halfway through the week 3 assignments for this class, which makes me happy because there are a lot of assignments and you never really know how long they are going to take for you to complete until you're done; and by then it's too late if you're approaching the deadline.  I am finding that I get a bit confused with which week I'm working on, since I'm working ahead.  That's another service my little "to-do" list provides; it keeps me straight on which week I'm working through.  

I've found reading all of these stories and myths, etc., is really interesting.  I read Aesop (winter) this week and enjoyed every single story, some more than others, obviously.  Last week I read Ovid I, which was really interesting as well, although I found with that unit there were a few stories I did not care for, whereas with the Aesop there weren't any that I didn't like.  

It's also been fun reading others' stories as well.  I haven’t had the opportunity, obviously, to read everyone’s stories, but the ones that I have read I’ve been very impressed with.  I wonder if they all have to really struggle to come up with an idea for storytelling the way that I do.  I’ve posted before on my blog that I am not the most creative person in the world, so the storytelling and the creative work on our blogs requires some time on my part.  I’m hoping, though, that as the weeks progress and as I read more fellow students’ storytelling posts, better ideas and more creative juices will begin to flow. 

Throes of Creation by Leonid Pasternak

Bibliography:

Writer - Throes of Creation.  Web Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writer