Week 13 Story Planning: The Big Bad Wolf

Bibliography: D. L. Ashliman, Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales, Link.
Caption: A wolf. Link.

Story Planning: I really liked the wolf character in the Grimm Brothers' stories. I noticed him in (obviously) the Red Riding Hood story and also in the story with the seven children raised by their mother who goes to run some errands and the wolf eats her children while she's away. I liked the wolf because he had such a defined character and this is something I immediately knew I wanted to use in my story. I want to give a backstory of the wolf and hopefully explain why he's the way he is. He is deceitful and hungry, but he didn't know any better because that's the way he was raised. In my story, I intend to tell about the wolf's story. I plan to explain his rough childhood and his parents' stories, because I think that there should be an explanation for why he's not very nice. I think it'll be interesting to give his back story and will make people pity him more, because he always ends up dying in the Grimm Brothers' stories, which I don't think is always fair. This way, the readers will sympathize with the wolf more and will understand his story. I plan to explain how his parents taught him to be deceitful and were never loving, supportive parents so he hates the children with supporting parents (or grandparents, for Little Red). The Wolf was raised with a lot of other siblings (way too many), and his parents never gave him any real attention. His older brothers bullied him and he was always bullied at school too. He didn’t have very many friends because his older brothers were notorious for picking on anyone and everyone. The Wolf was a solitary child who liked gardening and music, but eventually gave both hobbies up as he got older due to his brothers’ bullying.

 

Week 13 Reading Notes: Ashliman Part B

Bibliography: D. L. Ashliman, The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales, Link.
Caption: An illustration of the cat and the fox fable, Link.

Reading Notes: I like the characters of the cat and the fox, how the fox is extremely narcissistic and gets caught by the dogs whereas the cat is able to escape the dogs with its one trick. I feel like a very common theme in the Grimm's brothers stories is an evil mother. In Aschenputtel, the step-mother is evil and mean. In the story of the children being turned into the fish and the lamb, the mother is again evil and enjoys hurting the kids. This is a very common character and I think would be interesting to use in my story. The Mount Simeli story is very interesting and feels a lot different than other Grimm brothers stories. They usually include kids and some sort of lesson. The Mount Simeli story teaches to not steal, but I think it's interesting that it doesn't actually include any children. I think that the duration of life story was very interesting and would be a good story to write about. It would be interesting to write a story about a man's life and how he is passing through each of these different stages of his life, through the years of man and donkey and dog and monkey. I did not like the story about Death and his messengers, so I do not think I will write a story about this.

Week 13 Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm Reading A

Caption: Rumpelstiltskin illustration from the original story. Link.
Bibliography: D. L. Ashliman, The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales.

Reading Notes: I really like the play and the banter between the cat and the mouse in the first story. I think it keeps things light and fun which I really appreciate. I really liked the story too about the wolf who ate the children but the children were saved by the mother and the wolf drowned in the river. I think it is an interesting story and reminds me of Red Riding Hood in a way, which I like. It would be fun to write a story with these characters in a different way somehow. I like the deceitful wolf and I like the strong-willed mother. I don't particularly like the story about the seven ravens as much because I don't think it had a very strong ending. It's interesting that the Little Red Cap story is so similar to the one where the wolf eats the seven children. The wolf in both cases is very deceitful and is ultimately killed by filling his stomach with stones. I really like the character of the wolf and think I will use him in my story somehow.

Week 10 Reading Notes: Eskimo Folk Tales Part B

Something that I really like with native american stories is how they personify certain animals and certain features, like the wind and the weather and what not. This is something I hope to keep in my story. I particularly loved this quote: "when any man killed his fellow without good cause, a monster would come and strike him dead with fear, and leave no part whole in all his body". I plan on using this somehow in my story. I think that perhaps I'll write about a world in which the justice system is based on this instead of the normal punishment we usually equate with crimes. I think it's really interesting. Ok yeah I really like this theme they have of punishment befalling people who harm others. Another quote I really liked: "Thus punishment falls upon the man who kills."Yeah, I definitely want to write a story about someone who harms someone and the punishment is more along the lines of the punishment in the Inuit stories. It seems a little crazy that all of their stories are relevant to people getting the punishment that they deserve, but I also admittedly like it a bit and plan on using it in my story as well.





Bibliography: Knud Rasmussen, Eskimo Folk-Tales, http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/03/myth-folklore-unit-eskimo-folk-tales.html .

Caption: An Inuit Woman. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inuit .

Week 9 Reading Notes B: California and Old Southwest

Caption: The Sierra Nevadas. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sierra_Nevada-terabass.jpg .

Reading Notes: California and Old Southwest

I particularly liked the story regarding the creation of the Sierra Nevadas by the animals and the personification of the animals. I like that the story is written with no humans and only with animals as the main characters. I also like the personification of things that are not usually personified, like the wind and the clouds. I think that it adds an interesting piece to the story because this is something that isn't normally seen in other stories from other peoples. I think it would be interesting to take this creation story but apply it to a different area, or a different people. I could apply this creation story to the whole world, or to a different region. I think I like applying the creation story to the whole world and personifying the different creatures and to the wind, earth, fire, and water. 

Bibliography: Katharine Barry Judson, Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest. http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/03/myth-folklore-california-and-old.html . 

Week 8 Growth Mindset

Caption: A motivational message written in scrabble pieces. https://pixabay.com/en/photos/motivation/ .

I think that I'm particularly good at finding motivation inside myself and applying that to the things that I do. I'm a very driven person and I have no problem finding the motivation to do things. I think I'm also very good at pushing myself, not just in my studies, but in life, too. I've always been a dreamer and tend to often come up with big things I want to do. However, because of my good motivations, I'm usually pretty good at achieving the things I strive for too. One thing I think I could definitely improve on is taking more risks, particularly in school and in this class. When it comes to my storytelling, I tend to stick with what I know I do best. I write in the same style every time and I never switch my storytelling perspective. One thing I am not very good at also is asking a lot of questions. I tend to take feedback well, but am bad about asking for it from people.

Week 8 Reflections

Caption: Chalkboard Writing. http://pernillemelsted.com/kurser/story/ .

Reflections: Looking over my reading notes from the course thus far, I still quite like the choices that I've made. I've learned more about stories that I'm already familiar with while also I've read new stories that I wasn't familiar with before. I've had a wide array of reading choices and that was really my goal for me this semester. As far as my stories go, I'm pretty proud as well. I tend to always write in third person omniscient though, and this is something I'd like to break. I really enjoy reading others' stories when they're written in first person, and it's something I admire, but don't feel entirely comfortable doing, so this is something I'd like to work on. I think I've done a good job in giving feedback on stories. I notice quite a few little mistakes in others' writing and this is something that I hope to be more careful about in the future. I think I'm pretty good about proofreading and double checking my work, but it's something that I should put more emphasis on. I really like my storybook idea. I love the german language, and will actually be spending my summer studying abroad in Leipzig, so this is something that is near and dear to my heart. I really like my premise for my storybook and am looking forward to including more from the german language into this course.