Week 3: Famous Last Words

I feel that my storytelling writing this week based after The Fairy Frog from the Jewish Fairy Tales unit was one of my best. I really enjoyed writing this story because I liked the central message of the Jewish fairytale I decided to retell. The moral was “if you obey the wishes of the dying you will be rewarded,” and I was able to easily expand on this and make a new story out of it with the two kings. As heir to the throne, the oldest son gives up his rightful position as King in order to obey his father’s wishes. He is then rewarded and made King of a new land. I think it also shows that if you are dutiful and follow without doubt you will be rewarded. As a Christian, I believe this correlates to our relationship with God. If we serve him as he wishes and follow his way, we will be rewarded with eternal life in heaven. 

         I also think Savannah did a great job on her storytelling post this week. She took the story of Cupid and Psyche and made it into a poem called The Girl Who Couldn’t Die. She expanded on the way that Psyche tries to kill herself by adding different scenarios. In the story Psyche only tries to commit suicide by jumping from the tops of cliffs into rivers. I like how Savannah expanded the story to include different scenarios. It added more interest to the story rather than reading the same scenario over and over again. The story held my attention the entire time and I was wanting to speed through to see if she lived, died, and if she found love. I also loved the rhyming of course. The ending was great and I appreciate the irony. After she decides she does not want to die, she tragically gets struck by lightening and dies anyways. It reminds me of the book My Sister’s Keeper where she sues her parents to have rights to her own body and not donate any more organs to her younger sister with cancer. Her sister wants to die and no longer wants her sister to donate her organs. She wins the case and the right to her own body and no longer has to donate her body parts to her sister under her parents order. However, on the way to the hospital she dies in a car crash and her sister gets her organs anyways. 

Portrait of Cupid and Psyche (1843) by Jeane-PierreSaint-Ours

(the story Savannah based her story on) Source: wikipedia

Week 3 Essay: My Writing Career

 

My typical essay writing setup (with coffee of course) Source

Being a student gifted in the areas of math and science, writing has always been a struggle for me. I believe I have great ideas and thoughts but always have a hard time expressing them. I also hate the formality of grammar, most likely, because I do not understand all the rules of commas and punctuation.

            In high school, I was part of the Gifted and Talented program where we focused on creative thinking and writing more so than the other English classes. We often did verbal analysis of literature through class discussions, inner-outer circles, class debates, and reenactments of scenes. We wrote papers, but it was not the core focus of the class. Each Friday, we had “Deeper Reading Fridays” where we analyzed song lyrics, music videos, and current poems. Our reading curriculum included books such as Water for Elephants and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo along with the classics like The Great Gatsby and Brave New World. The writings that surrounded these readings were not your typical essays. Often we would do short stories or recreate the central themes and symbols of the readings in a new original story, much like we do in this course. I enjoyed this type of writing rather than long essays or short analytical essays such as those we had to write for the AP exam. 

            Coming to college, I had one credit of my English and Composition done from passing the AP test and only needed one more course. I took an expo course titled Food and Power and loved the curriculum. I am a foodie at heart and a self-proclaimed chef so this class covered material I was interested in. That was the only reason I was able to endure that class. The ten page research essay and analytical essays were not my favorite, but at least I was writing about interesting material. My ten-page paper analyzed the culture of wine and I found it very interesting. Since this course, I have not written anything of that length in my college career. I am a Health and Exercise Science major and most of my classes are science courses with labs. There is not much writing and I am thankful. Most of my writing for my major is in my elective classes where we do one page analyzes on research articles in the field. Although I am glad my major does not require much writing, I am thankful for the skills I was able to learn in high school. 

In my future profession I will no do much writing. As a physical therapist you often have to write notes to the physicians documenting a patient’s progress in rehabilitation, but most of these notes are shorthand medical terms.

Storytelling Week 3: The Two Kings

In the land of Jalip, there was a young prince named Rashin. He was everything a young boy was expected to be: rambunctious, competitive, and just a tad cocky. As a prince, he was given everything he wanted, and he expected nothing less. His servants did not enjoy his presence for they were constantly running around the land at his beck-and-call. When he wanted lamb soup for dinner, the lamb from the nearest pastures would not meet Rashin's standards. No, his servants had to venture far off into the nearing lands where the pastures were larger and the herbs were fresher. Rashin was self-centered and prideful. Many people of the land hoped he would never become King. But Rashin's greatest desire was to be rule as King.

One day Rashin was called by his father, the King, to discuss the royal throne. Rashin was the eldest son and the rightful heir to the throne. His younger brother Nanweh only succedded him by ten months, but he would not be King. The King sat Rashin down and sighed.

"Rashin, you know that I love you, my son," started the King. "But I do not believe you are the fit choice to be King when I shall pass. I know you are the rightful heir, but many of the wisemen in the land have confided in me terrible things will happen to the people of Jalip if you should rule."

"But father," stuttered Rashin. "I do not understand why I cannot be King. What worries the wisemen? And if I shall not be King then who will rule?"

"The wisemen worry about your demeanor," said the King to his son. "They worry your selfish atttude is not fit to serve the people of the land. It is thought Nanweh would become King and rule once I die. He has a warm heart and already serves the people of the land. He understands the responsibilities that being King brings. I do not mean to destroy your spirit, my boy, but I ask when the time comes that you pass down the rule to your brother and let him be King."

Rashin was heartbroken. He knew he could be selfish and take advantage of his servants. He had never gone into the center of town and spoken to the people of the needs of the land and how he could help serve their needs. But, he never thought he would lose his chance at being King. Of course, the only way Nanweh could be King is if Rashin willingly gave up the throne. He decided right then that he would never give up his rightful name as King of Jalip.

Two years later when the King passed away, Rashin remembered his dying father's wish that he would pass down the throne to Nanweh. He quickly pushed the idea aside and walked out to publicly accept the crown and be declared King. As the crown was placed on his head, Rashin felt an overwhelming rush of guilt wash over him. His father had served so selflessly and with such honor. Rashin knew he could not do the same. He would be a disgrace to his father's name and ruin all of his progress during his rein. It was with this guilt, that he passed the crown to Nanweh and allowed him to be named King of Jalip.

Rashin was devastated. He watched Nanweh rule and how the land flourished under his command. He locked himself in his room in the palace and would not speak to anyone. Months went by and Rashin was still upset at giving away what he desired most: to be King.

One day, Rashin decided he could no longer stay hidden in the palace in shame. He could no longer watch his brother rule the land he always thought he would. So, he packed up a pack with clothes and food to last for a week and set out on foot to start a new life.

Days later when he was almost out of food and his clothes had been torn to rags from trees and brush, he ran into an old man who was aimlessly wandering in the forest. The man had been plagued with a loss of memory and could not remember where he had come from. Rashin decided that he should help the man for it was almost sundown, and an old man should not be wandering alone in the forest at night. The old man pointed him in the direction where he believed he had come from.

The two walked for hours, and just as the sun was about to set they came upon a hill where Rashin saw a huge golden palace down in the valley. The palace was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Rashin's eyes lit up at the beauty of the palace. He turned to the old man and saw his eyes were just as bright.

"My home," exclaimed the old man. "You have brought me home young man and for this I am eternally grateful."

"That palace is your home?" questioned Rashin.

"Yes, my boy. I am the King of Thorine. You must come to my palace and let me feed and cloth you for bringing me back," said the King.

Rashin followed the King to the palace where he was gifted with the finest silk robes and fed the best lamb soup he had ever tasted. He could not believe he was dining in such an amazing palace.

The King took Rashin aside after he had eaten and spoke to him in private.

"My young boy, I am eternally grateful for what you have done," began the King. "You helped a stranger and were selfless in your actions. As you can tell I am very ill and will soon be gone. With no sons to pass down the throne to, I need someone I can trust to rule my land when I am gone. I choose you. Please accept my offer and become the new King of Thorine."

Rashin dropped to his knees and broke out in a grin and also into tears. As he looked up at the King, Rashin could have sworn he saw his father's ghost standing behind the King nodding in approval.

Golden Palace of Thorine, source: DeviantArt

Author's Note: This week I decided to retell the story The Fairy Frog from the Jewish Fairy Tales Unit. In the fairy tale, Hanina was told by his parents to buy a gift from the market no matter the cost and he purchased a box with a frog in it. The frog ate all of their food and made Hanina and his wife poor, but they continued to feed the frog as his parents' dying wish. The frog grew to be huge and began to talk saying: “Because ye obeyed the wishes of the dying and did not question me, ye are now rewarded."  Hanina and his wife were given jewels, and money, and the gift of incredible knowledge. For my story, I focused on the message the story presents of being faithful and dutiful and the rewards you shall receive because of it.

Bibliography
Book: Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends 
Author: Gertrude Landa
Year: 1919
Source: Sacred Texts

Reading Diary Week 3: Jewish Fairytales

This week I choose the unit Jewish Fairy Tales. I wanted to expand my knowledge this week and I had no prior knowledge of Jewish fairy tales before doing the reading this week. I really enjoyed the stories and they were easy to follow along with and interpret the meaning within each tale.

The Giant of the Flood: The story of the Giant, Og, and Noah serves to show the importance of loyalty and keeping your word. Moses killed Og after many years of being Noah’s faithful servant “for breaking his word to Father Noah.” Some details I found interesting were the inclusion of how Noah was very fond of the phoenix and therefore said it shall never die. As we know, the phoenix can be resurrected from its ashes and therefore does not die. I also enjoyed the part of the tale where Og sacrifices the animals and relates the amount of wine drunk to the actions of different animals.

The Beggar King: I enjoyed this story of King Hagag very much because of the strong message it sends about humility. In his wrongdoing by betraying the words of the Holy Bible, he is betrayed and forced to live like a beggar. When given the throne back, he kindly declines because he has seen the need of the beggars and wants to help. It is true selflessness and the purest form of humility. It reminds me of on of my favorite quotes from To Kill a Mockingbird: “You never really know a man until you understand things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” King Hagag was knocked of his “high-horse” by spending time truly being a beggar and then ruled kindly and justly because of his experiences.

The Quarrel of the Cat and Dog: The story of the cat and dog tells the story of how cats and dogs came to be enemies to this very day. The cat, pussie, and dog, doggie, set off on their own ways searching for food and the cat almost sets the dog up for failure by swearing that the two will never cross paths again. The dog believes his strength will be beneficial but the cat relies on his wit to flee to Father Adam’s house in search of food and shelter. The story makes the cat out to seem deceitful, and even though I am a cat-lover, I did not like the cat in this story.

The Water-Babe: This story tell of how Moses arrived to the King and was then tried for apparently being evil and trying to take the thrown. Of course he is just a baby and the Princess is telling him the wrongdoings are just playful acts, while others say they are acts of evil and betrayal against the King. Although the King loves Moses, he puts the baby on trail and tests him. I think we can all relate to this situation where we have our beliefs and stick to them until someone starts “putting ideas in our head” and makes us question everything.

From Shepherd- Boy to King: This story relied heavily on the idea of prophesies. The young shepherd strayed from safety and was put into dangerous situations where he had to escape a unicorn and a lion. The reason he was able to escape these creatures because of the aid of a deer that was sent to save him, for he was to be King someday. It is a fairytale that serves to explain the divine timing of God and his plans.

David Escaping the Lion, Source

The Magic Palace: I truly enjoyed this story and its message. The poor man did not want to borrow clothes or let his friends know about his horrible situation because he did not want their pity or charity. He wanted to “work among strangers so not to be beholden to anyone.” I think that this is such a strong character trait, especially in today’s world where we almost expect others to rush to our aid in time of need. An Arab man comes to him, proclaiming he will be his slave, and gives him a way to make money to feed his family by building a palace. I like to think the poor man is rewarded for his determination to provide for his family without expecting people to help him.

The Sleep of One Hundred Years: In each story, the character and actions of the people humble me. The selflessness of saving his food and water in case someone needed it more than him, shows just how un-selfish he was. I believe that it was for this reason that he was spared the misery of seeing Jerusalem destroyed and was able to sleep until better times.  Of course, when he awoke one hundred years later he realizes he does not fit into this new world and feels out of place. I think it also serves to show us that although we have tough times and we suffer and we hope for better, sometimes we need to be content with what we have and the situations we are in.

King for Three Days: Two of my favorite quotes I have encountered while reading for this class so far came from this passage as Godfrey asks for Rashi to bless his venture to kill the Jews and capture Jerusalem. "Blessings are not in the gift of man; they are bestowed by Heaven — on worthy objects," answered Rashi. He goes on to say “I seek not to peer into the future to assure my own safety." And I really love this message. I think that it is hard for us to focus on the present day and not worry about what the future holds. We constantly want to know what will happen in the future: if we will get married, get a job, live until we are 100 or die tragically tomorrow. I think that it is such a strong message that Rashi brings to us in this story: we do not need to find safety in the future but find safety in our faith and blessings of today.

TheHiggledy-Piggledy Palace: When I first read the title of the fairytale I was not sure what to expect. I thought maybe there would be more of a mystical/magical element to the fairytale. I am guessing the name of the fairytale comes from the “spooky” element of the King being plagued by the ghost as he tries to pursue Sarah.

Rabbi’s Bogey Man: This story was a fun fairytale and reminded me of Frankenstein. The storyline was very similar to fairytales or stories I would hear as kid growing up. The fairytale still has a message, though. The Rabi realized through the bogey-man’s disobedience and uprising that only God can create man. Man was meant to follow and worship God because he created them. The Rabi created the bogey-man and therefore he worshiped his creator, until he started to rebel.

The Fairy Frog: This was by far my favorite story of the unit. It was fun and light-hearted and had the fairy tale quality I enjoy. But there was also an important message to be taken from the tale. The frog, Adam, declares: “Because ye obeyed the wishes of the dying and did not question me, ye are now rewarded." The message that I took from the tale is that if you do not question God’s plan and you obey him, you will be rewarded with the ultimate gift: eternal life in Heaven.