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

Week 11 Storytelling: The House

Crying Baby, Source: flickr

Out of the blue, there came a loud crying from across the room.

The mom turned around just in time to see her daughter Lilly flailing about and crying hysterically. She was helpless and alone. The mom needed to be by her side immediately in order to comfort her daughter. She flew to the other side of the room so swiftly it was as if she floated. It was all a blur; she did not even know how she got from one side of the room to another. She was only concerned with comforting her crying daughter. Apparently, she had managed to knock down her husband in the process. He was not happy and covered in dust from the fall. The mom called to her husband that he must come to their daughter’s side as quick as he could.

The dad made his way to the daughter’s side, a little more slowly than the Queen, as he was recovering from the fall. On his way to the other side of the room, he noticed how filthy he was from the dust. He was appalled at the thought of a man being so filthy. His face squished together in a look of most discontent as he began to clean his clothes, skin, and hair of the dirt.

As he made his way to his daughter’s side, he could see why Lilly was crying. He took one look at her, and he was so shocked he fell over again.

The dad finally recovered from fainting and looked again at his daughter and then to his wife. The look in his eyes told his wife everything. They both looked at each other completely frightened.

Lilly had been crying for quite some time now. And rightfully so. Her body was covered in red dots all the way from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. She was rubbing all over as if she was trying to get out of her own skin.

Luckily, the dad was a doctor. The mom advised him to take notes on what he saw. He pulled out a pen and pad of paper to write down his observations. He noted the feverish look to her pale skin. Next, he wrote down where and how many red dots covered each portion of Lilly’s skin. He kept writing until it was clear he had no more to write.

The mom looked at his notes and was thoroughly confused. It all seemed like gibberish to her. The words could have been written backwards or in a different language for all she could make out of what her husband wrote. She was intrigued by his observations of their daughter and how he would cure her, but she could not comprehend any of the scribbles on his page. She just had to have faith that he knew the meaning.

 

Author’s Note: I decided to take the story of The Looking-Glass house and recreate it to be a realistic story. In the original there is a King and Queen chess piece who make their way to the Pawn (their daughter Lilly) and try to comfort her. Alice carries the Queen to the pawn, and because the Queen cannot see Alice, she is surprised how she gets there so quick. The King falls into ashes (falls into dust) and Alice then tries to clean him. He is again appalled at being in the air and cleaned by something he can’t see. The King decides to document his story in a memorandum of his feelings (doctors notes) and then writes the JABBERWOCKY poem. But, because it is in a looking-glass house the writing is backwards and Alice can’t understand it (just like the queen can not understand the medical notes). My story stretches the original but has the same essential plot line. My story just removes the “mystical” element that the Alice stories encompass and makes it a common story. 

Bibliography: The Looking-Glass House. Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll (1871).

Week 11 Reading Diary: Looking Glass Unit

This week I decided to focus on the Looking Glass unit and specifically the story entitled the Looking-Glass House. It seemed the most interesting to me how Alice ponders this glass house and how it appears.

Illustration by John Tenniel

She is explaining to her cats how she wishes she could see what was behind the fireplace. She ponders “I want so much to know whether they've a fire in the winter: you never CAN tell, you know, unless our fire smokes, and then smoke comes up in that room too — but that may be only pretense, just to make it look as if they had a fire.” You can really imagine the young Alice debating these ideas. When we are young our imagination is vast and you can see that as Alice tries to find any explanation for the smoke. She also finds it amazing how when she holds up a book. They hold up one in the other room. She does not understand the concept of a mirror, as many children don’t, and believes some other people are on the other side doing exactly as she does.

I took the time to look up the definition of looking glass and there were multiple. 1. A mirror  2. Being or involving the opposite of what is normal or expected. The first was an obvious one. But I think the second is important to this story too. Nothing in the story of Alice in Wonderland or Alice and the Looking Glass is normal or expected.

Her imagination continues as she melts into the looking glass room and explores what is in there: talking pawns, and kings, and queens. The fire in the fireplace is not just a fire but a volcano! The king and queen cannot see or hear her which I found interesting. The words of the poem are backwards as I expected from the looking glass element of the room. 

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The Queens, Illustration by John Tenniel

One of my favorite quotes comes from the beginning of the story Queen Alice. It reads: “if you only spoke when you were spoken to, and the other person always waited for YOU to begin, you see nobody would ever say anything.” I love this quote for the message it presents. If you always ask for permission to speak, then nothing ever gets spoken. The Queen then later makes another point about speaking that is very important. Alice tries to change her answer to a question but the Red Queen replies: 'when you've once said a thing, that fixes it, and you must take the consequences.” It is true that, although, we can apologize for the things we say, we can never truly take them back. We must face the consequences of our words.

The story continues with these types of riddles where the Red and White Queens quiz Alice on her mathematics skills and trick her with their cleverness. When you subtract a bone from a dog, Alice said nothing is left but the queen says that, the dog will be mad and therefore his temper will remain. An unusual answer to a mathematics question. The riddles continue with a frog who is perplexed when Alice asks who is to answer the door. The frog asks “What’s the door been asking of?” and at first I did not understand this riddle. But, then I realized the frog was spinning the wording to mean that if someone is to answer the door then the door must ask something. I enjoyed this story for the play on words and riddle-like aspect of it. It made me realize we often look so one-sided at things and do not realize the many ways that different people can interpret the same thing.

Week 10 Essay: Analyzing the Rabbit

Rabbit hides in brush as he plans his next trick, source: wikipedia

This week in the Cherokee myths unit, I noticed that every story included in the set of 26 stories included an animal. Some animals were reoccurring; such as the rabbit. And others had smaller roles in single stories. For this weeks essay blog post I decided to focus on the importance of animals in Cherokee culture. I specifically decided to focus on the role of the rabbit who constantly is tricking and fooling the other animals to get his way.

The rabbit is in multiple Cherokee myths and is always the trickster. He is jealous of the otter for having the best fur, so he tricks him into jumping into the water and steals his coat. The possum supposedly had the best tail, and the rabbit got jealous so he had the grasshopper cut off the fur. He is jealous of the deer and wants to win the set of antlers, so he tries to cheat in a competition. When he is bitter about losing the competition, he then tricks the deer into letting him shave his teeth down so that he can no longer eat anything but plants. The rabbit is always jealous of the other animals for what they have. He can not stand not being or having the best looks, so he constantly tricks the other animals. I found it somewhat strange it was a rabbit, because to me, rabbits do not seem like the typical cunning and sly animals. The myths and stories I always heard about rabbits were usually little bunnies. As in the “Tale of Peter Rabbit” and “The Tale of Benjamin Bunny” where you end up feeling sorry for Peter after he gets chased out of the garden and his clothes taken away. I did not find myself feeling bad for the rabbit in the Cherokee myths because he was very rude and hostile towards the other animals.

            There seems to be only one story included in the set where the rabbit is on the other end of the tricks. The Tarapin fools the rabbit in a race by stationing other Tarapins that look identical to the real one throughout the course. The real Tarapin is near the end of the course and he crosses the finish line before the rabbit. In this myth, the rabbit was fooled and not doing the fooling. According to the myth, rabbit stew is prepared and scattered on the path the night before a game so that the other players become tired and lose the game just as the rabbit did. I found it interesting that in this myth the rabbit somewhat gets revenge for all of his other tricking he does in the other myths.