MythFolklore Storybook Topics Brainstorm

Topic: Mermaid Stories from around the world
Comments: When I thought of mermaid stories, I used to think of Disney's The Little Mermaid. When I was in middle school, I had the opportunity to read the Grimm Brothers' version of the story and it was completely different from Disney's version.
Possible Stories: I searched the Un-Textbook for Mermaid stories and found the Hans Christian Anderson version. I also searched Sacred Text Archive and found some stories about sirens as well. I didn't realize there were so many different mermaid and siren stories.
Sample Stories: I searched the Sacred Text Archive and found an interesting story about a king who promised a mermaid his first born son.
Bibliography Information:
Sample Story: The Mermaid and the Boy
Book Title: The Brown Fairy Book
Book Author: Andrew Lang
Year: 1904


Topic: Fairies
Comments: I have always loved Fairies, Nymphs, and Elves. I am very interested in learning about the different types and interpretations of Fairies from around the world. I know that there are many different types of Fairies and I am excited to learn about how Fairies vary from culture to culture and region to region.
Possible Stories: I found some cool stories about the Peris (Fairies) from Turkish fairy tales. I also looked at Sacred Text Archive and found some cool Irish and Scottish Fairy stories. I also found some things about Fairy revenge that would be fun to write about.
Sample Stories: I found an awesome story about Water Fairies who disguise themselves as gold rings floating in the water and capture women and children.
Bibliography Information:
Sample Story: Water Fairies
Book Title: Scottish Fairy and Folk Tales
Book Author: George Douglas
Year: 1901

Topic: Elves
Comments: As I mentioned above, I really love Elves. My favorite Elves are the Elves from The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books/movies. I love that they are tall and graceful as opposed to the more common imagining of Elves being tiny creatures.
Possible Stories: I know that there are many stories of Elves from around the world. I look at Sacred Text Archives and found stories about Scandinavian Elves and French Elves from Brittany. The story about the Elves from Brittany described the Elves' rituals and dancing.
Sample Stories: On Sacred Text Archive, I found a story about French Elves from Brittany. The story describes them as mischievous little creatures whose song and dance lures in humans who hear it and make them dance and sing until they cant any longer. The king and queen in the story are afraid that they will be lured in by the Elves' song until they discover that the wooden spoon that the king is holding wields some magical power over the Elves.
Bibliography Information:
Sample Story: The Hunchback and the Elves
Book Title: Folk Tales of Brittany
Book Author: Elsie Masson
Year: 1929

Topic: Witches
Comments: As a Harry Potter kid, witches and wizards are a big deal to me. I remember watching this movie called The Witches and being slightly terrified but completely intrigued. Anjelica Huston was one scary witch when she took off her "human face." I also liked watching movies about good witches. Practical Magic is one of my favorite movies! I've always wanted to dress up as a witch for Halloween and fly off of my roof like Sandra Bullock did in the movie.
Possible Stories: I found a book called Aradia (The Gospel of the Witches) on Sacred Text Archive that claims to be the real sacred text of traditional witches from Italy. There were many more stories about witches and witch craft but I couldn't quite narrow them down to one that I would want to use.
Sample Stories: I searched Sacred Text Archive and the Un-Textbook and found a cool story about two girls and an old witch who hire them as servants. I found the story interesting because it felt like a combination of Hansel and Gretel and one of Aesop's Fables because it involved a witch in an oven and it had a hidden moral towards the end of the story.
Bibliography Information:
Sample Story: The Old Witch 
Book Title: More English Fairy Tales
Book Author: Joseph Jacobs
Book Year: 1894

(Illustration by John D. Batten)



Extra Reading Diary: Aesop's Fables (Jacobs)

Aesop's Fables (Jacobs)

 

As you may be able to tell, I greatly enjoy Aesop’s Fables. I do not know why but, I am really drawn to Aesop’s simplistic stories. There is something about the way the fables are easy to understand yet they still teach significant life lessons. These lessons have a way of relating to not only a younger audience but an older audience as well. One of my favorite things about Aesop’s fables is the use of animals as the main characters. My favorite character from this particular part of Aesop’s Fables is the fox. In all of Aesop’s stories, the fox is almost always the trickster. I love the character of the fox because no matter how hard he tries to trick others, there are times when his antics backfire.

Although cats are not my favorite animals, I really enjoyed the cat storied from this unit. My favorite cat story from this unit is, The Cat-Maiden. I love the fact that this is a story about shape-shifting! As soon as I read it, I instantly thought of Professor McGonagall from Harry Potter (I am a huge Harry Potter fan. Hufflepuffs unite!). I’ve always thought it would be cool to be able to shape-shift into another animal. The reason behind Venus changing the cat into a maiden was great. The question of whether or not a person can change their nature is a great one to ask and using the platform of a shape-shifting cat was a great way to present this topic to both young children and adults alike.  

(Professor McGonagall in cat form)

Storytelling for Week 2: The Popular Boy, the Punk, and the New Girl

Moving to a new school can be hard; especially when you are a freshman in high school. MaKenzie McDonald didn’t know what to expect on her first day at Aesop High School. She had seen many movies about the drama that surrounds high school and what upper classmen did to freshman. “Will they chase me and paddle me the way the upper classmen did in that really old Matthew McConaughey movie?” Kenzie thought to herself. Putting silly thoughts behind her, Kenzie bravely walked inside and found her first class. As she entered Mrs. Pettigrew’s US History class, Kenzie couldn’t help but notice all of the other students laughing and talking to their friends.

“You look scared out of your mind,” said a voice coming from Kenzie’s left. Kenzie quickly turned around a saw a tall guy with bright red hair and two tattoos on his arm.

“If you keep looking like a scared little church mouse, the upper classmen are going to eat you alive. So, I’d work on that if I were you. I’m Casen by the way.”

MaKenzie took a long look at the boy and decided that with his eyebrow piercing, intense gaze, deep voice, and Metallica shirt, he was definitely not someone she wanted associate herself with. Without saying a word, Kenzie scurried off to an empty seat on the other side of the room. When the bell rang, Kenzie rushed out of the door hoping to avoid the boy with the rooster red hair. In her haste, she ran right smack into someone.

“I am so sorry!” MaKenzie said. Looking up she saw the most beautiful boy she had ever seen.

“Not a problem,” the boy said with a smile.

“Gosh, he has the cutest smile, Kenzie thought.

“Here, let me help you up,” the boy said while extending a hand to Kenzie. “I’m Calum. You must be new here because I would most definitely remember someone as beautiful as you.”

Kenzie, by some miracle, stood up on her jelly legs.

“I, I’m MaKenzie. I, I’m new here,” she stuttered nervously.

“Well MaKenzie, I know we just met but, as president of the student council, I am required to know everyone in the school; especially someone as gorgeous as you. Why don’t you meet me in front of the school after classes and we can go someone to get to know each other.”

“Sure,” said a beet red MaKenzie.

As MaKenzie ran off to class, Calum turned to his friends and said,

“I can’t believe that girl actually fell for it! I swear freshmen are so gullible! I can’t wait to see the look on all of their faces when we round them up outside of the school and throw raw fish at them.”

“Classic!” replied one of Calum’s flunkies. The boys turned and laughed their way to class. Little did they know a boy with bright red hair heard every word of their cruel prank.

                At the end of the school day, MaKenzie ran out of her class and headed straight to the front of the school. She tightly clutched her binder to her chest as she nervously waited for Calum. After 5 minutes of waiting, she spotted Calum coming towards her. Just as he was about to approach her, a tattooed arm grabbed her and pulled her into another room.

“What are you doing!?” Kenzie yelled.

“Saving you from your eminent embarrassment,” Casen replied. “That Calum kid is bad news!”

“You’re wrong!” Kenzie shouted. “He is nice and sweet and he was about to take me out on a date.”

“Is that so?” Casen questioned. “If he is so nice and innocent then why is he torturing those freshmen?” Casen pointed at the window.

 Kenzie looked out of the window and to her horror she saw Calum pelting a group of freshman with raw fish.

“I can’t believe someone as sweet and attractive as Calum would do something like this,” MaKenzie said. “And you! You who look so intimidating actually helped me after I ignored you,” she said quietly with her head down.

Just then, Casen looked MaKenzie in the eyes and said, “Never judge people, by their looks.”

(Do not trust alone to outward appearances)



 

 

Authors Note: This story is based on  The Cat the Cock, and the Young Mouse  from The Aesop for Children with illustrations by Milo Winter (1919). The story is about a young mouse who ventures out on his own for the first time. While out, he runs across a barnyard cock and a cat. The mouse finds the cock frightening and the cat welcoming. As he is about the approach the cat, the cock makes a noise that scares the mouse and causes him to run away. When the mouse tells his mother of his adventure, she warns him about the dangers of the cat and tells the young mouse that he should never judge a person by their appearance. Although we may not do this intestinally, it is easy to jump to conclusions about someone who we do not one just based on how they look. There have been research studies conducted that show just how much physical appearance can influence people’s thoughts. I chose to write in this style as a way to help the audience follow along with the dialogue without confusion.

 

 

Reading Diary B - Aesop's Fables (Winter)

Aesop's Fables (Winter)


The Ant and the Dove This story was about how the Dove saved the Ant from drowning and in return, the Ant later helped the Dove. The moral of this story was a kindness is never wasted. I connected to this story because, my roommate and I were talking about how sometime it may seem that you are always kind to people but, those people may not always be kind to you in return. Although this may be true, you should never stop being kind to others but like Aesop said, a kindness is never wasted.


The Cat the Cock, and the Young Mouse This story is about a young mouse that comes across a rooster and a cat. The mouse judges his feeling for these two animals based off of their looks. To the young mouse, the rooster looks frightening while the cat looks fluffy and harmless. Frightened by the rooster's yell and ran away before he had a chance to talk to the cat. The mother mouse then explains to the young mouse that the cat was their enemy and that you should never judge people by their looks. This story reminded me of something I learned in one of my psychology classes. Naturally, we do tend to judge people by their appearance. Studies have shown that people who are seen as more attractive, are also seen as more trustworthy.

 

(illustration by Milo Winter)



Aesop's Fables (Winter) - Reading Diary A

Here are some of my favorite stories from the first half of Aesop's Fables (Winter).

 The Young Crab and His Mother was a simple story but I really enjoyed it. The story was about a young crab that walked sideways. His mother told him that he was walking wrong so, the young crab asked her to show him how to walk. When she tried to show him, she began to walk sideways also. The moral of the story was, do no tell other how to act unless you can set a good example. I connected with this because when I was younger, my older cousin always told me, do as I say not as I do.

Belling the Cat. This story was about mice who were trying to find a way to be able to detect when their enemy, the cat, was near. After much debate, a young mouse suggested that they put a bell on the cat. The idea was great, but the problem was the execution of the idea; who would bell the cat? The moral of the story was, it is easy to say something should be done, but it is harder to do it. I really liked the moral of this story because it applies to everyday life a great deal of the time. My friends and I always have some sort of idea or plan that we feel is great but, find it difficult to execute.


The Travelers and the Purse. I really enjoyed this story about 2 traveling friends who find a purse filled with gold. One friend tries to claim the purse for himself but, when an angry mob came, he tries to say that he and his friend both found the purse. The moral of the story was, we can't expect anyone to share our misfortune unless we are willing to share our good fortune as well. I have had many friends that have done this. Two of my friends and I found a cell phone but, we I tried to say that we all found it, they quickly said that they found and that I did not. When I told the principal about the phone, he decided to give me a reward for turning it in. My two friends quickly said that we all found the phone so they could get the reward too.

(illustration by Milo Winter)