Reading Diary Week 4: Arabian Nights

Scheherazade: This story serves somewhat as an intro to the unit and does a great job of setting the stage for stories to follow. I could tell from the beginning when Scheherazade asked her father to let her marry the King, knowing her fate to be killed, that she was a clever girl with tricks up her sleeve. I was interested in why she would make such a big deal about having her sister there to tell a story. Originally I thought the sister would help her to escape. The intro did a great job of leading into the telling of the story of the merchant and the Genius.

The Merchant and the Genius: I enjoyed the back and forth between the telling of the story of the merchant and the genie and the story of Scheherazade trying to stay alive. I began to see how Scheherazade drags on story with new characters to stay alive. It also ends with the old man beginning his tale: the first story within a story.

The First Old Man and of the Hind: This story told by the old man to save his life from the genie shows one of the ultimate portrayals of: you get what you give. His wife was an evil woman who turned his son and slave into a cow and calf. A fairy was able to tell the man that these were his son and slave and helped turn them back in exchange for his son’s hand in marriage and that the wife be punished. Her punishment was to be turned into a hind (deer) and therefore she “got what she gave.”

The Second Old Man and twoBlack Dogs: This story begins with the second man inside the story begins and tries to say his story is more magnificent than the first old man’s. One quote I do not agree with as the one brother reprimands his brothers for having no money states: “you traveled and what did you gain?” I think you gain so much when you travel and experience new things even if you may be poor and not gain money. This man’s story ended with  his fairy wife turning his evil brothers to dogs as punishment for betraying him; much like the first man’s story.

The Fisherman: This story begins with a new story entirely because Scheherazade  could not remember the third old man’s story. I liked the description of the story and how the genie emerges from black smoke out of lamp on the shore. It is what I envision in my mind when I think of a typical genie story. I was surprised by the twist in the story that the wish granted to the fisherman is his choice to choose how to die.

Greek King and the Physician Douban: This story within a story within a story is to teach the genie about trust. I knew from the beginning there would be trouble when the king promised the physician he would make rich if he could cure him. As the King begins to get better from the regiment of the Physician, his vizir becomes jealous and tries to convince the King the physician must be evil. It brings out a good point that jealousy causes us not to trust.

The Husband and the Parrot: I thought the use of the parrot was interesting because parrots only tell the truth. He used parrot as a way to check on his wife. The vizir becomes even more unlikeable in this story as he says “when comes to the life of a King it is better to sacrifice the innocent than save the guilty.”  This statement really made me think about how we do protect the high and mighty, but at what cost?

The Physician’s Revenge: The King is actually being persuaded by the vizir that the Physician is a bad person just trying to betray him. It made me think of the idea that we always assume the worst in people. The King is so easily swayed that the physician must be evil even though he has no reason to. The Physician then made a point by killing king with poison to “see how cruelty and injustice are punished.” At this point the genie starts sharing the story about Imma and Ateca to save his life (just as all the others have).

****At this point in the reading I really understood the importance of storytelling. Telling stories saved these people’s lives. The intrigue of wanting to know what the story entailed kept the storytellers alive. It shows just how important the gift of storytelling is and how captivating a great story can be.

The Sultan and the Fish: I was honesty surprised the fisherman did not cast his net for a second time after receiving such a good net of fish the first time. It seems unlike our selfish nature to always want more and never be pleased. The description of the palace the man who is half human and half black marble stone was magnificent. The imagery allowed me to see a clear picture of how majestic the palace was, even to the Sultan. And so another story begins….

The Young King of the Black Isles: The wife of the young king turned him to stone after he asked his wife to stop mourning the loss of another man, who she seemingly loved instead of the king. She turned him into the half man and half stone that he is now. It is another story where the wives are inherently evil. She does get what she has coming for her and is split it two. The young king becomes heir to the sultan and the fisherman gets much money. Everyone seems to get what they deserve in the end which has been a theme throughout the entire stories so far. 

Young King of Black Isles, Source: Blogpsot

Aladdin and the WonderfulLamp 1: Aladdin is exactly as how I remembered in the story of the Disney movie: a young, foolish boy. I do feel bad that he was tricked by the evil man who claimed to be his uncle in order to find the lamp. Although in the beginning I did not like Aladdin because he would not live up to his father’s potential even after he passed, I did end up having pity on him as he was trapped in the cave for being fooled by the magician.

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 2: I understand Aladdin’s first wish to escape from being trapped underground, but his second wish for food somewhat surprised me. I believed that he would ask for more than just something to eat. When the mother said that she wanted Aladdin to sell the lamp because she wanted “nothing to do with devils,” I knew that this was foreshadowing to something awful happening in the future. You begin to see Aladdin’s selfishness as he demands the princess be his by sabotaging the marriage to the Vizir’s son even though the princess is frightened beyond belief. We see in this story how Aladdin begins to abuse the power of the genie, even though it is in the name of love.

Aladdin and the WonderfulLamp 3: I felt bad for the princess that no one would believe her of the terrible events happening in the night, and that her future-groom wanted nothing to do with her because of the horrible events. I love the detail of how the princess “set out on a carpet” because it reminded me of the magic carpet ride in the Disney movie Aladdin. One of the last lines really struck me: “Aladdin had won the hearts of the people by his genie bearing.” It shows that he had won the hearts of the people through deception, laziness, and material things.

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 4: I was pleased to see at the beginning that the magician was making his way back into the story and there would be trouble for Aladdin in the future. The magician took away everything Aladdin had gotten from the genie: his wife, the palace, and his money. Now the people of the town pitied him, when just days before they had worshiped him and asked the Sultan to spare his life. “He saw plainly that all his misfortunes were owing to the loss of the lamp”- it is sad to see that everything he had in life came from the luck of the lamp and not his own doings or character.

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 5: I was happy to see that the princess and Aladdin actually were lovers, even if he won her hand in deception. Aladdin and the princess begin devising a plan and I got hooked into the story. The poisoning of the magician by sipping his wine also reminded me of a typical Disney movie storyline.

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 6: I am honestly happy there was more to the story than just the magician dying and everything being okay. The twist of having a younger brother equally evil added interest to the story- and for the sake of Scheherazade- extends the story even longer. I was appalled that the genie was so distraught by the request for the Roc’s egg and he finally puts an end to granting the wishes of Aladdin and tells him of the disguised magician. Aladdin kills the magician and they live “happily ever after” just like a fairy tale should end.

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

Famous Last Words Week 2

This week I was really “into” writing my storytelling assignment and was happy with how I was able to recreate the story of Mars and Venus with a modern twist. I enjoyed drawing parallel’s between the drama of the Greek Gods and Goddesses and the drama we experience today. It seemed quite easy to find similarities between the stories of Greek mythology and stories I hear in the news or pop culture. I liked being able to take the basic plot-line of the story but transplanting it into modern New York City.

            However, this week instead of focusing on my writing in the “Famous Last Words” post, I want to focus on a post I read from one of my fellow classmates. The blog post for storytelling week two by Paula was one of my favorites I have read. She choose the Cupid and Psyche unit for this week and her recreation of the story was amazing. The language between Venus and the how she speaks to the mortal in the story really captures how Venus holds herself above everyone else. She speaks down to Psyche and immediately casts her aside as insignificant because she is human. Paula really did a great job of capturing Venus’s character traits in the story. You get a sense of how jealous, vengeful, and prideful Venus is. Venus cannot stand the fact that Psyche has these gorgeous eyes and gets jealous. It is not just that Psyche should not have such gorgeous eyes, but Venus should. She wants them for herself. She then comes up with this brilliant plan to punish Psyche for trespassing on the blessed land by taking her sight away. Psyche said she wanted to see the blessed land so her punishment will be to never see again: the punishment fits the crime. But really, Venus just wants the eyes for their beauty. I think that Paula did an exceptional job conveying the character of Venus in a new story. She really captured what the storytelling blog post is all about. 

 

Psyche Before The Throne Of Venus;  photo by Henrietta Rae; source:ArtScroll

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.

Week 2 Essay: Analyzing Ovid 1 Unit

I am so happy that I started the semester with the Ovid 1 Unit but the only downfall is having the other units interest me just as much as this one did. I have always been interested in Greek mythology and decided it was a good place to start the semester. The first story of Deucalion and Pyrrha was not my favorite. I found myself getting somewhat confused and had to re-read certain parts of the story to make sure I was getting all of the details correct. The notes were definitely helpful. It was nice being able to read a little summary with hints to look for in the story. For example, in the story of Io I probably would not have picked up on the creation of the peacock. However, since the notes in the beginning mentioned it, I knew to look for the details in the story. I can honestly say that all of the other stories I enjoyed. The second half of the reading seemed to contain the more dramatic and exciting stories, in my opinion. The stories contained more symbolism and imagery that drew me into the stories. I feel like I knew more about the personality of the characters in the stories like Echo and Narcissus. I never knew the creation of the peacock, the echo or coral and found these as some of the most interesting things I learned. The only thing I would have maybe liked to have in the notes is the explanation of different symbols: whether physical or colors. My overall goal for the class is to expand my knowledge of the cultures of different people and lands through the use of myths and folktales. Although I knew many of these myths already, I gained new insights from the stories this time around. I think I would like to do another Greek mythology unit next, but also do want to break away from what I am already familiar with. I recommend this unit to anyone who wants to gain more knowledge about Greek mythology and fears it might be too complex for them to understand. The notes by the professor and the language of Tony Kline, the translator, were simple to read and easy to follow. Overall, I am very happy I started with this unit because it was nice to have content that was somewhat familiar to write about as I navigated how to write the blog posts and assignments. 

Juno and her sacred bird, the peacock: Source