Week 13 Reading Diary: Italian Popular Tales

This week I decided to read the Italian Popular Tales unit and specifically focus on my favorite story, Catherine and Her Fate. I was immediately drawn to the story based off of the title because I enjoy stories and tales that have a message, especially when it comes to the idea of fate. I think fate is such a strong concept and I believe in fate and knowing that there is a higher power that has it all planned out for me.

I thought it was so clever to have the women be Catherine’s Fate. In many fairy tales I have read this semester there have been spirits or people who represent inanimate characteristics of the person’s life. When Catherine’s Fate asked the question: “when would you rather enjoy your life, in youth or in old age?" I thought to myself what would be the answer I would give. I think I would agree with Catherine and choose old age. If I choose youth, I would know that hard times would come in the future and it might be hard to enjoy myself in youth. But, in youth I could struggle and know that good is to come in old age. Although, Catherine suffered this torture from her Fate for seven years, which seems like a very long time!

It was amusing that the mistress tells Catherine to ask the mistress’s Fate to tell Catherine’s fate to stop the torture. It is such a strange concept to think that they are asking their Fate to be changed. I believe that we have some control over where we end up in life- going to school, getting a job, etc… but ultimately it a all part of a bigger plan we can not ask to be changed.

I LOVED the ending where the only thing that equaled the weight of the silk was the crown. Therefore Catherine must be made queen.

This was probably my favorite story I have read this semester! 

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After reading the introduction about The Three Goslingsbeing like the tale of the Three Little Pigs I was intrigued as to how the Italian story would compare to the version I grew up hearing. I made sure to keep an eye out for this story as I was reading the unit, and decided to focus my diary post on the comparisons and contrasts to the classical version I know.

The first thing I noticed was the absence of the word “Little” in the title. It made me wonder if this tale would not be as kid friendly as the tale I know.  

I had to look up what a Gosling was. (Google search tried to point me in the direction of Ryan Gosling- but I do not think that the fairy tale includes the actor). A gosling is actually a young goose, and makes sense as to why there would be three young geese who were afraid of the wolf. I thought it was interesting that the three main characters, the geese, were different than the characters I know, the pigs, but the wolf was still the enemy in both stories.

Another difference was the way in which the three main characters went about building their houses. The Goslings started off building the straw house for all three of them to live in, but the eldest kicked out the other two and sent them off crying. In the story I know of The Three Little Pigs, the pigs choose to each individually build their own houses.

There was also no house of wood or brick in this tale. The first and second goslings build their houses of straw and hay, and the third uses iron and rocks.

The ending was by far the biggest difference! The Three Little Pigs tale ends after the other two pigs flee to the last house and the wolf cannot blow over the brick house, so they all survive. This Italian version has the last gosling trick the wolf into sticking out his tongue, which the gosling burns with hot water and kills the wolf. The gosling then cuts open the stomach of the wolf where the other two goslings are still alive. I think this ending is especially interesting in comparing the tale to The Three Little Pigs because throughout the semester I have seen how stories from other places can be more violent and gruesome then the tales I know.

Week 15 Writing Review

I really enjoyed how we were encouraged to explore different writing styles that fit our personal writing style. You gave ample suggestions in how we could transform the original tales into our own; such as switching the narrator, making it in present day, making it a diary post, etc. It allowed us to really see how different storytelling aspects can be used to tell the same story. I chose the storybook and am happy with my choice. I enjoyed having total creativity in the stories, but they all tied together. Although, it may have seemed easier to just edit my old stories in the Portfolio option, I am glad that I chose to create new ones with a central theme. The comments I found most useful were the constructive ones. I know that we all want to compliment each other on the creative work we did, but I found it useful when students told me something was confusing, or something could be expanded upon more to make it more dramatic. Those comments were the most helpful because it really helped me to see how a reader interprets my story and how the writing can be enhanced. I do think this class helped to improve my writing immensely! I do not write much in my major, and will not write much in my career. My career consists of writing abbreviations on medical charts and simple daily notes of patient progress. There is not much room for creativity and elaboration because it all needs to be in plain language for anyone to understand. For next semester, I advice the students to explore with the different writing styles. Don’t just always retell the story in the present day or switch the narrator. I struggle with poetry, but I wanted to try it out on a storytelling post one week and actually enjoyed it! I would suggest taking this class as an opportunity to expand out of your comfort zone with your writing.

Week 15: Reading Review

Overall, I really enjoyed this readings for this class. I thought the variety kept me on my toes and never feeling like I was reading the same thing over and over, as in many classes. Sometimes reading ten articles on the same topic or subject can get very repetitive, so it was nice to know in the class I would always have something new. And the ability for us to choose from the untextbook was very nice. I have very different interests from a lot of people in the class, as I got to see through their storytelling and storybooks, and it allowed us to each create our own “textbook” filled with only things that interested us. The overall balance between reading, writing, and commenting was difficult in the beginning but I learned the best strategy for me. I liked to do only half the reading and take notes and then do the other half, rather than read it all at one time. Sometimes I felt my comments got repetitive and maybe commenting on 3 people’s storytellings was a little excessive. My suggestions would definitely be to stay on top of it. Get the readings, storybook, and essay done by Monday or Tuesday so you can get the weekend stuff started on. Another suggestion I have might be to get rid of the essay blog post. I felt as though sometimes I was struggling to come up with a topic. My diary already covered much of the information from the unit so I did not want to be repetitive, and then I found myself just writing about random things that I was just writing to write. I think you did a great job including images and so that is not an area that needs to be improved on. Some of the introductions could be expanded upon. I thought you did a great job in the Ovid units of explaining any significant animals or symbols. Making the anthology units sounds like a great idea!! I know I would really enjoy being able to compare Hawaiian love stories to Japanese love stories. Another idea I had would to be a free choice week. After reading some of the storybooks, I really wish I would have had the chance to read the Hawaiian unit but the week had already passed. It might be nice to have a week where students can go back and pick one or have the option to pick a new unit.

Week 12 Essay

This week for my essay topic I decided to focus on the different styles of poems and rhyming. I remember learning them in elementary school but have since forgotten them. The English Nursery Rhymes unit utilizes many of the different rhyming patterns, so I thought the essay this week would be a great opportunity to review them. 

One of the patterns is the ABAB pattern. This is where the first and third line rhyme and the second and fourth line rhyme. This is often called the alternating or interlocking rhyme scheme. An example of this rhyme scheme from the English Nursey Rhymes unit is the nursery rhyme Simple Simon. It reads:

Says the pieman to Simple Simon,
"Show me first your penny."
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
"Indeed I have not any."

Another scheme is the AAXA pattern. This style has all lines rhyme but the third. This seems to me like it would be a bit harder of the patterns to write because you have to time the out of place word to fall into the third line of the rhyme. An example of this type of pattern can be seen in the Tales section of the Nursery Rhymes entitled Babes in the Wood. It reads:

MY dear, do you know,
How a long time ago,
Two poor little children,
Whose names I don't know,

The pattern AABB is a very commonly used in rhyming because it is an easy pattern to follow.  The first two lines rhyme and the third and fourth line rhyme. An example of this type of pattern is present in the common nursery rhyme Rock-a-Bye Baby.

HUSH-A-BYE, baby, on the tree top;
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock;
When the bough bends, the cradle will fall;
Down will come baby, bough, cradle, and all.

 

Rock-a-Bye Baby nursery Rhyme, source: blogspot

A strategy used to break up the monotony of having multiple lines in a row rhyme is to follow the XAXA pattern. In this pattern, the first and third lines are “wild cards” that do not rhyme with each other or with lines two or four. This pattern is not as common, but there was a nursery rhyme I found that utilized this pattern. The nursery rhyme reads:

Jack's mother came in,
And caught the goose soon,
And mounting its back,
Flow up to the moon.

Another pattern to add some interest is to end the last line with a non-rhyming word and following the AAAX style. In this pattern, all of the first three lines rhyme with each other and the last line is the un-like line that does not rhyme. This pattern can be seen in the nursery rhyme that reads:

You shall have a fishy,
In a little dishy;
You shall have a fishy
When the boat comes in.

Week 12 Storytelling: Simon and Sylvia

Man alone in Bar, image source: blogspot

Simon longingly admired Sylvia from across the bar.

Her perfectly curled blonde hair shimmered in the florescent lights hanging from above the bar. She leaned over the bar and laughed as the bartender poured her another martini- her third one of the night if Simon had counted right. He noticed how her perfectly white teeth shone from beneath her full lips and that there was a slight smudge of rocket red lipstick on her front tooth. With her tight black pants and low-cut blouse, Simon noticed every curve of her body. She came to this bar, just a short walk from her building, after work about three nights a week to enjoy martinis. Simon noticed she liked them extra-dry and always asked for an extra olive. He felt like he knew more about this woman than he knew about any other. And he had never even spoken to her.

If only he had the courage to tell her how he felt. It drove him to despair to watch her night after night and know she had no idea how he felt about her. Was she secretly longing after him too?

Sylvia had always noticed a shy man in the corner watching her a couple nights a week at the bar.

The man was normal enough: messy dark brown hair, light brown eyes, and a somewhat crooked nose. He had never approached Sylvia, and seeing as he was not her type at all, she had never acted on his clear display of watching her as she drank her martinis after work. She did not know his name, and she really had no desire to. She was honestly somewhat creeped out by his constant stares but knew he could be of no harm in his denim shirt, faded cords, and loafers. He kind of reminded her of her grandpa.

It was a Thursday night and Simon had suffered through a particularly rough day at the office. His boss would not put him on a project that he clearly deserved to be a part of. He had dropped his coffee all over his lap this morning and went through the rest of the day with a big stain on his pants, to which his coworkers would not stop giving him grief about. When the clock struck 5 pm on the dot, he was out of the office and walking down the street to the bar. He was secretly hoping that Sylvia would be there already martini in hand.

Simon took his normal seat in the corner of the bar and ordered a double vodka-soda. He needed a double after the day he had. And to his disappointment, Sylvia had not arrived at the bar for her normal martinis. Simon closed his eyes and gulped down the drink. He debated whether to get up and leave right then, but decided another drink was well deserved for the pain he suffered at work. He ordered another double vodka-soda and went back to his seat in the corner right when Sylvia walked in the bar.

Sylvia took her normal seat at the bar and asked Bill for her regular. She took off her coat and scanned the bar to find the man sitting in the corner looking at her again. She turned back to face the bar and started on her first martini of the night.

Simon admired how beautiful Sylvia looked today. He wanted to approach her but did not know how. With the two drinks swirling around in his system, he decided he could go up to the bar and pretend to order another drink and "accidentally" bump into her. He got up and walked to the bar. He was about to bump into Sylvia and place his plan into action when he chickened out. He couldn't do it. Now he was standing at the bar with no excuse. He had to order another drink. So he asked for another double vodka-soda and returned to his seat in the corner. Ashamed by his failed attempt, he downed the drink.

In his misery of a day and now failure of talking to his long-time lust, Simon decided it was time to leave the bar and go home. As he stood up his legs felt wobbly beneath him. The drinks had hit him hard. His vision started to blur but he could still make out the beautiful woman sitting at the bar. He decided, with the help of the liquid courage, he would go up and introduce himself. It was now or never.

Sylvia watched as the creepy man walked towards her at the bar. He was staring right at her, not even being subtle, as he stumbled around the tables.

"I like you. You beautiful. I have watched you long time over there. Please be mine. Go on a date with me?" muttered Simon.

Sylvia was appalled. She could not help but laugh.

"You clearly have had too much to drink. You are acting like a clown. You should probably go before you make a bigger fool of yourself," responded Sylvia as she turned to the bar and ignored the sad excuse for a proclamation of love from the drunk man in the corner.



Author's Note: For my story this week I decided to retell one of the nursery rhymes from the Loves and Matrimony section. The original is only 12 lines long. It includes a boy named Simon asking Sylvia if she would be his and Sylvia responds that she would give up her crown rather than marry a clown and tells him to go. This short exchange between the two provides enough information to create a story, but allowed me plenty of room for elaboration.

Bibliography: The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897).

Week 12 Reading Diary: Nursery Rhymes

Nursery Rhymes- Tales: Many of the tales I had actually not heard of before. I did recognize the Jack a Nory tale. My favorite part of this reading was focusing on the different rhyming patterns of the different tales. Some had rhyming words at the end of every other line. Some rhymed each line except one. And some rhymed in each line for a given set. I think the rhyming pattern plays an important role in how the tales are interpreted. Choppy rhyming with a random line set in that does not rhythm crates a somewhat anxious flow. While a tale that rhymes every other line seemed to be more up and down and sing-song-ish (such as in Simple Simon).

Nursery Rhymes-Proverbs: The first proverb starts off with very formal and old language such as the inclusion of the words “thou” and “twill.” My favorite one started “a man of words…”  The reason I liked this proverb so much was for the way it was written with every other line following the same basic structure. There was a beginning line that said “And when the…” and the next line reads “It’s like a…” This continues throughout the proverb with each line building on the other.

Nursery Rhymes- Riddles: My ALL TIME favorite unit because I love riddles. I thought these riddles particularly hard because they were very short with little information to reach the conclusion. I am glad the answers to the riddles were included or I would have gone crazy trying to figure them out. After reading the answer, I often said “ohhhh I got it” but some I did not draw the connection to (like the walnut).

 Nursery Rhymes- Paradoxes: I was unsure what to think when first starting this section because I did not know how paradoxes would be presented in a nursery rhyme. Some I found silly like the one about apple-pie and ink and what we would drink. Others I really enjoyed. One I enjoyed the most was the one about the Guinea Pig. Even though it was simply stating the opposite of what he did, it was written in a way that made me enjoy the simplicity of it.

Nursery Rhymes- Charms and Lullabies: I enjoyed reading Peter Piper because as a kid I always loved reciting it to impress my friends. I also recognized the Bye, Baby Bunting rhyme but I can not pin-point why it sticks out to me. And, of course, Rock-a-bye Baby was included.

Nursery Rhymes- Games: I did not think to include some of the rhymes in the games section that were. I am familiar with the rhymes of The Three Pigs and Hickory Dickory Dock, but have never played them as a game. I enjoyed the instructions included as to what the children act out during the nursery rhyme.

Nursery Rhymes- Jingles:  The jingles section included Hey Diddle Diddle which is one of my favorite nursery rhymes and am glad there was an illustration to match. In reading it now as an adult and analyzing it as a part of this class, I do not see the real meaning in it. I enjoyed it as a kid, and still do, but the dish and the spoon at the end are very random. Many of the others I had not heard of or recognized. Many involved cats, which I thought was interesting.

Nursery Rhymes- Love and Matrimony: I was surprised to see Jack and Jill included in the love and matrimony section, but I guess that the interpretation would be that Jack and Jill loved eachother. I greatly enjoyed the rhyme that started with SYLVIA. It started with Simon’s proclamation of love for Sylvia and the next part included her response where she said she would rather “give a crown than be married to a clown.” When reading her response, it made me giggle at her directness. The other interesting rhyme was the one which included the man asking the woman to “walk with thee” which she would not until he offered her his key to his chest of silver and gold (his wealth). How typical?

Nursery Rhymes- Natural History: My favorite of this section was the Cuckoo rhyme which explaines, by each month, the migration patterns of the bird from April to August. Short, but also nice, was the rhyme “THE cock doth crow, To let you know, If you be wise, 'Tis time to rise.” This is the premise behind the expression “waking up at the rooster’s crow” I was intrigued by the version of Baa, Baa, Black Sheep because it was not exactly the version I grew up saying. The last lines are changed from what I know as “one for the little boy who lives down the lane.” I think I like my version better because it is happier instead of the boy getting none and crying.

Nursery Rhymes- Accumulative Stories: I have always loved the accumulative stories and these nursery rhymes did not disappoint. It is interesting to compare them to other tales, specifically the Japanese tales, where the accumulation stories were very dark and often included death and betrayal. The first story was very repetitive and not my favorite accumulation story, but the second nursery rhyme was great! I love when the dialogue becomes the accumulation as the narrator comes up to different people and adds on to the experience just before.

Week 11 Essay: Wisdom in the Looking-Glass

This week after reading the Through the Looking Glass Unit, I decided to focus my Essay topic on the idea of wisdom. I also throw some random ideas in about the idea of wisdom as we age.

Throughout the stories, especially in the last stories QueenAlice and Shaking and Waking, we see where the idea of wisdom is tested through riddles. The Red and White Queen are constantly asking Alice questions of what should be simple addition and subtraction but they add a twist to it. A dig minus a bone is a temper. Because when a dog loses his bone he is angry and what is left is his temper. The frog in this story also tricks Alice when she is trying to have someone open the door when she knocks. The frog replies by asking what the door is asking for it to need to be answered.

These concepts stretch our idea of wisdom. We often get stuck in the tradition wisdom that addition and subtraction are easy athematic equations. Rarely would someone answer a subtraction problem in the way that the Queens present them to Alice in this story. It goes to show that we can often become so narrow-minded in our interpretation of certain things. We let our wisdom be filtered or focused on the real and not the abstract. I think the riddles in these stories try to show us that: that we have wisdom and imagination but we must stretch ourselves to think in that abstract way. It is not natural to us.

I also found it interesting as I was reading the story to think about the wisdom I gain from the story now vs. when I was a kid. As a child hearing about Alice in Wonderland I thought about a magical cat and this great kingdom, which was pretty. Now, I realize the depth of the story and the message it was trying to convey. It is interesting to see how our perspectives change as we age. 

Alice in the dream-like world, illustration by John Tenniel