Week 14 Review

For this final blog post, I wanted to check up and review everything. I feel like I have learned a lot in this semester, about myself as well as my writing. I think this image below is a great depiction of not only the semester and life in general. Life really is like a camera. We should focus on what is most important to us and learn from our mistakes as well. It is also important to not give up after something goes wrong. This semester has had a lot of ups and downs, so this was a good reminder to push through and that there are other opportunities out there.  

(Sylvia Duckworth Image)

Tech Tip: Weather Widget

I added a cool weather widget to my blog! Norman weather has been crazy lately so I thought this would be a fun thing to add. It's at the top of my blog if you want to check it out.

Heres the link on how to add it.

(My blog) 

Class Improvements

I have really enjoyed having this class this semester. I feel that it has allowed me to expand my writing skills I felt that I was alway learning new information. After reviewing the future planning suggestions, I really liked most of the ideas!

Change Review Weeks to Planning Weeks: 
I liked this idea! I think a bit of both review and planning would be good. I feel that a planning week would involve another week of changes being made, but that might be thinking about it wrong? I think when I first started this course, it would have been very helpful to see more of the overlay for the course and actually set my schedule to follow it.

Expand on the Story Planning Option: 
I also liked this idea of being able to plan my story options. I think it would be better so I could maybe get some feedback before even beginning to write.

Create more audio recordings: 
I didn't mind this idea. I think sometimes it is better to listen to stories out loud rather than read them all the time.

Create Writing Tutorial Videos: 
This would have to be my favorite idea! I am not the best at writing, so I think it would be helpful to actually see someone explain things. Sometimes I get lost following a bunch of written directions and things can be better translated by video in my opinion.

Creating Thematic Reading Units: 
I thought this was clever! I like it because I feel like it would help to organize things a little better. Jumping from story to story, it would be fun to see what kind of mysteries people write one week or another theme for another week. It would give people a set type of idea to follow.

Story Week 14: The Frog Kiss

Long ago there was a Princess named Hannah wandering through the tangled woods. She was a free spirit and loved to go off on her own. She always felt lonely and longed for something more in her life. One day, when she was playing with her ball in the woods, she accidentally dropped it into the murky waters down below. Devastated, she sat there and cried thinking about if she would ever get it back. The ball was expensive, and she had taken it from the King, her father. Worried what he would do, she cried for help. Maybe someone would come to her rescue..

Splashing the waters to look for signs of life she yelled, "HELLOOO is anyone out there?"

After waiting for a few minutes, Hannah hadn't heard anything from down below. She thought maybe she had frightened all the creatures... That was until all of the sudden a frog hopped up and sat beside her.

"What's wrong? You seem so sad my dear", the Frog exclaimed.

"Wretched creature I have lost a precious treasure that I took from my father."

*Hannah was grossed out at the sight of the ugly and slimy frog, but she was desperate*

"Oh my! Well, you are just in luck. I can help you solve your problem if you can help me solve mine.."

"I'm begging you Frog! You are my only hope. I will give you whatever you want."

Remembering this, the frog dove deep down into the waters to fetch the ball and return it to the beautiful Princess. Ever so thankful, she jumped with joy with all of her excitement. As she thanked the frog and was about to leave the frog began to speak.

"Princess, will you kiss thy lips of mine?"

Hannah thought about how gross the frog kiss would be, but was very thankful for what he had done. She lets her fears go past her and leaned in for a kiss.

*boom*

Long story short, after the kiss, the frog turned into a handsome young man. The Princess was in disbelief. She had never seen anything like him in all of her life. Falling head over heals for him, she asked him how he had become a man. Before this, she was grossed out at the thought of him.

"With your kiss I have come back to my human life. I was a human long ago until a spell cast me into an ugly frog. All I needed was the kiss of a beautiful Princess to grant my wish."

Princess Hannah was starstruck. She wanted to bring back the handsome man back to meet her family and thank him for what he had done for her. Although the man had wanted to go back with the girl, he had to tell her some bad new.

"Princess I must not go with you. For I am bound to the woods by the spell. You have restored my humanity, and I wish more than ever that you would stay with me here."

Not sure what to do, the Princess looked for signs all around her. She knew that if she stayed with the man she might not ever see her family again. She also knew that if she left, she might lose the love of her life...

(The Frog) 

Author's Note: The original story that I got my inspiration from was called "The Frog Prince".  I kept some of the storyline about the princess losing her ball, but changed the outcome for the most part. I added some dialogue as well just because I wanted to try something new. I changed the ending to where all it took was a kiss to change the frog back into a handsome man.


Bibliography: Brothers Grimm LibriVox

Tech Tip: Google Timer

For this Tech Tip I thought I would try out the Google Timer! I am a very big procrastinator, so I thought that I would time myself for writing my stories and notes this week. I also get off track very easily, so if I know I am in a crunch to get things done then that might help me. I have never really used a timer before for my work, but I usually know how long that I have

(Google Timer) 

What I enjoyed most about this timer is that I was able to set however long I wanted to go for and that it could either be a timer or a stopwatch. It was also easy access to get to as well. I think it is a lot more simple than setting a timer on my phone, just because my phone can be a distraction too. 

I would recommend this to other students trying to stay on task and get things done in a timely manner! 

Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm; Part B

"The Queen Bee" was an interesting story. From the title of the story, I expected something completely different than what it turned out to be. The story had to do with three brothers, one of which was picked on, but he stopped the other brothers from doing some horrible things to creatures. The older two brothers ended up turning into stone after they couldn't complete a task, while the other brother was able to receive help from the creatures that he had saved. I like how the ending tied everything together and the bee was able to tell which had the honey. I think if I was to make changes to this story I would maybe make it about three girls on an adventure, just because of the title. I also think the two brothers should have stayed into stone. That would have been funny.

"The Fox and the Horse" was another  story that from Part B that I enjoyed. It made me mad in the beginning, however, when the owner stopped feeding the horse after all the horse did for the owner. The owner, in my opinion, deserved to have something bad happen to him. Maybe I would have had the lion come back to eat him after the horse rounded him up. I also like the unexpected friendship that was formed with the fox and the horse. Maybe I could also go further into detail about the friendship that they did have. The story didn't elaborate much as to why the fox decided to help the horse out.

(The Fox and the Horse) 

"The Willow-Wren and the Bear" was the last story I wanted to mention in my notes. I like the idea that these animals were part of some type of royalty. I think it is funny that there were Queens and Kings and that the bear had to respect the birds. As the story continued, I liked that the battle was with the animals in the air and the animals on the ground. I was expecting the larger animals to win, but thought it was clever that the animals that flew were able to outsmart the larger animals to get what they wanted.


Bibliography: Brothers Grimm LibriVox

Reading Notes: Brothers Grimm; Part A

"The Frog Prince" was a very cute story to read. I thought there were so many changes that could be made to personalize the story. The whole story deals with a princess that loses her ball in the water. She asks a frog to help her retrieve it. The frog does so, asking the princess for a favor and she agrees thinking it was a silly request of the frog. After the frog does as he is asked, he goes to the princess expecting to get what he asked for. At first, the princess is hesitant, but soon agrees to what the frog asked. After a few days of living with the frog, he then turns into a handsome prince one morning and they live happily ever after. I thought about a few changes that I could make to the story. The whole story I was thinking of how the prince actually turned into the frog? Maybe I could do a little back history on what happened to him. I also thought about making the princess a frog instead of them living happily ever after. Not all stories have happy endings for everyone.

 (The Frog Prince) 

Rapunzel was the next story that I read from Part A. I hadn't read the story in a while so it wasn't super familiar with the beginning of it. I thought that the story was a bit different than I had remembered. There are a few different changes that could be made to the story after reading it. I wish I had heard more of what happened to the parents and maybe even about Rapunzel's childhood. That would be different and new aspect. I also would have liked to go more in depth to what made the person want to keep Rapunzel trapped and what they did with the hair. 

"The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean"was another story from the Brothers Grimm section I enjoyed. It was about three completely different items that escape "death", but not being cooked or used to cook something. The three set out on a journey to another country to repair themselves, but ultimately were not too successful when they tried to cross a bridge. The straw and coal were injured as well as the bean. The story ends, however, with the bean being repaired. I think I could make the story continue with another adventure and them somehow meeting up again. 

Bibliography: Brothers Grimm LibriVox

Story Planning Week 13: The Headless Prince

For my story planning post I wanted to focus on the story called, "The Headless Princess". There is a lot to this story that I think I would do to change it. For starters, I would call it, "The Headless Prince". After reading the original story, I thought that the boy should end up getting his head chopped off and that he should be of higher status, such as a prince. Most of the stories in this series had to do with some bad fortune to women most of the time, so I felt like the roles should be reversed.

In the original story, there is a Princess who is able to take her head on and off. She only does so in the privacy of her castle. The boy catches her taking her head off. This is where I would change things up a bit. After the boy catches her doing so, he goes and spreads the word. This is then where I would make things a little more interesting happen to the prince. In the original story the princess dies, and tries to get revenge on the boy for watching and he called her a witch. I think that I wouldn't make her evil, but just have her teach the boy a lesson not to invade other's privacy.

For the beginning of the story,  I think I should also talk about why the princesses head is detachable. Was she born that way? Maybe. I feel like it could be some type of legend. Maybe the princess caught someone else doing that so it could end up being some type of spell that is cast upon whoever watches. Maybe the king and queen were evil to the princess in the earlier years of her life.

I also thought may be this could be some type of love story between the princess and the boy. Maybe they somehow end up together after both of their heads are chopped off. I think it could be kind of romantic in a way. They might end up different from everyone else that they know, but at least they have each other.

(Headless princess)

Bibliography: Russian Fairy Tales by W.R.S. Ralston

Reading Notes: Russian Folktales; Part B

For Part B, I enjoyed reading The Headless Princess. I was expecting something entirely different than what the story turned out to be. I thought that the princess would have her head chopped off or something in the story. The story already has her with her head attachable and detachable. That would be so weird if people could just take their heads off and on. I bet I could add a back story to why her head was chopped off in the first place. In addition, I liked how it did involve a neighbor who spread rumors about her. When she died, the kid had to read stuff to her that terrified him, but he listened to the granny and stayed safe. Eventually, they told the king that the princess was evil and the boy was rewarded. Seems very interesting that he was rewarded for something like that.

The Warlock was another good story to read in Part B. I liked how this time it was the father that had died and he left special instructions to his sons after he was dead that their wives needed to do. He had three sons and left special instructions for a cross to not be laid on him. The sons wives would be sent in to spin wool. The first two wives were tricked and strangled by the father. The third wife, however had better luck as she decided to not be fooled and bring a cross in. When he tried to strangle her, she set the cross on him and he died and she was left with treasure. Maybe I will add more to the story of what happens and what the cross on the father really represents?

The last story I wanted to take notes on was called "The Two Friends". I wasn't sure what to expect, but I thought the story was a bit strange. It had to do with two friends who promised they would invite the other to the wedding even if someone was dead. One of them was dead, but the other still went to his grave to invite his friend. His friend ended up somehow tricking the groom into drinking and a few hundred years had passed. I wonder what could have made his friend do this? Was it jealousy? I should add to the story to make for something more interesting.

(Grave site)

Bibliography: Russian Fairy Tales by W.R.S. Ralston

Reading Notes: Russian Folktales; Part A

The first story for Part A was quite interesting. I read The Dead mother and there were aspects that I like and didn't like at the same time. I felt like it was a change from all of the other stories I have read and could eventually be turned into a scary movie or something. The basis of the story has to do with the mother dying during childbirth and her "ghost" coming back to feed the baby and keep him calm at night when no one is around. When the nanny starts to notice this, she notifies others and they seek out waiting for what is to come. I find it interesting that they do catch her in the act and suddenly the baby is dead. Maybe there is more to the story? I think I could try to add some dialogue to this story or  I would rewrite the ending to explain more of what was happening.

(Pot of Gold) 

The next story started off with another couple and the wife dying... I hope there isn't a common theme of that. Maybe I'll make the husband die to give the female a stronger role? Anyways the rest of the story I actually enjoyed very much. The poor man whose wife had died just wanted someone to help him bury his wife. He went to the pope was turned down because he did not have any money. Somehow the old man acquired a pot of gold and went back to the pope and asked him again. The pope accepted this time, but still questioned how the old man got the money. The pope talked with his wife and decided to rob the poor old man. Things didn't turn out so well for the pope as he took the money, but his disguise ended up being stuck to him. I like the idea of karma happening. The poor man seemed to be very good and realized that he had survived before being poor. Maybe I will do a story with a lesson about being greedy?

The final story that I want to discuss is The Bad Wife. At first I really liked where the story was going, even though maybe I should create a story called "The Bad Husband", since they seem to devalue the woman's character. I did like how whatever the man said, the wife did the opposite. I think there could be a lot to add from a story based off of one like this. After she got tricked into going into the forrest I got a little confused. I think I would make a completely different ending and have her trick the husband into it? I could also make her into a better character and not into a Demon like the story makes her out to be.




Bibliography: Russian Fairy Tales by W.R.S. Ralston

Story Planning: Week 12

I've never done a story planning post before so this might be a little interesting... I have included my notes from the first story that I read with more detail. The story I chose from my section was "The Rose Tree". The story started off very subtle, then got a little interesting.

The gruesome part really disturbed me. It had a stepmother chopping off her stepdaughter's head. The stepdaughter seemed a little naive. I think in my story post I would include more dialogue and more of a reason for the stepmother to do so. I also though about having the children (since the stepmother also had a son) change identities.

Even though it would be really sad, I think the boy should dress up like the girl to make it seem like they are playing a trick on the stepmom. She was very fond of her son, so I think it would be interesting to add a part about her thinking it was the daughter instead of her own son. I think I could build some type of moral out of the story that way. The stepmother would then feel really guilty about learning the truth of what she had done to her son.

The stepmother also had them eat the daughter for dinner, so I was really disturbed by that part. I think I would get rid of that and maybe have something more evil happen to the stepmother. I do like the idea of her just regretting what she had done to her own son though.

Another idea I had to have the father more involved and go after the stepmother for doing that to a child. I know revenge isn't always the best, but if someone did that to my child I would be mortified. I also wanted to add some more dialogue and description to the story.

(The Rose Tree)

Bibliography: English Fairy Tales

Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales; Part B

(Henny Penny)

I thought the first story for Part B was very cute. I also thought it was a little confusing with all of the names that the animals were given. It made me laugh every time I had to read the names over and over again though. Things then started to take a turn for the worst when some of the animals heads got chopped off. I was not expecting that. Maybe for one of my stories I should just throw something in the readers are not expecting and make them cringe a little. I probably would not make the names so confusing though, I feel like everything got very repetitive and was getting annoyed.

The next story was quite interesting. I don't really know why, but I have not liked the names of the characters very well. I think they should have included characters with more of a background or meaning to why they named something the way they did. I felt like there wasn't entirely a moral to the story either. I don't think I would choose to write something like this.

The next story I enjoyed until the end. Reading Jonny-Cake reminded me the of the old riddle. I was hoping the story would go more in to detail from the song and it did to an extent. The story also felt slightly repetitive again which I didn't care much for. The ending was again surprising and sad. I felt bad for Jonny-Cake, but also felt like he was bragging throughout the story. I think there are a few things I could do with this story to make it interesting.


Bibliography: English Fairy Tales

Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales; Part A

The first story in this section was pretty interesting. There were some parts that I thought went together and some that I didn't. At the end I was trying to figure out the moral of the story and if it even really had one. The story begins with a daughter betraying her mother and eating pies that she is not supposed to. It then transitions to her getting to marry the king. Most months with the king would be glorious, with the exception of a few bad days in between. During those bad days she struggled with what she had to do. Help came along the way and they tried to make things difficult for her by having her try to guess their name. I think if I was to change up the story, I would try to make a connection as to why this person wanted her to guess their name. Overall, it was a fairly good read.

I enjoyed The Rose Tree, the second story a little better. Although it was gruesome, there was somewhat more of a moral to the story than the first one. If I was make changes, I would maybe have the daughter and son deceive the stepmother somehow and have her end up killing her own son and then face the consequences that way. I liked the description in the story as well. I felt as if I was able to picture everything, as cruel and unusual as it was. It still creeps me out that some of the stories I have read have someone being killed and then their body eaten by those people. I am disturbed by the fact that a human would have the heart to do that. Maybe I would take that part out.

(The Rose Tree) 

The next story was kind of funny! I enjoyed how things kept adding on to the story to make things seem crazier. It would be a fun twist if I made something mess up in the chain of events happening. I feel like the lady went through so much to get a pig to do something, but overall I liked the idea. 

The last story I liked from Part A was the cat and the mouse having  conversation. I think in my writing I should include more dialogue. I like how nonchalantly the story ended with the cat eating the mouse. It would be funny to do a role reversal and have the mouse eat the cat. Not ideal, but would be very interesting. 

Bibliography: English Fairy Tales

Week 11 Story: Grendel

Far away in the land of Daneland, lived an unusual creature. Not many knew what to think of him, for he was unlike anyone people had ever seen before. Rumors flooded the land that it was an evil beast out to get everyone. The monster-like human was known as Grendel. Hair grew from every inch of his massive stature. His build was mighty and although he did not intend to scare people, the way he looked frightened those around him. Grendel was an outcast, and for that he stayed isolated.

His isolation made him a more reserved character. Grendel never thought of himself as mean, but the people of Daneland made him more protective over himself. There were many days and nights that people came after him because of what he looked like.

Grendel's mother knew what her son was going through, so early on she taught him how to defend himself. He trained unlike any other and had to always be prepared for battle. Grendel tried to do nice things for the town and offered to defend Daneland, but the people were still too afraid of him and ridiculed him for the way he looked even more.

With low self-esteem and no friends, Grendel resorted to his isolated home. Grendel and his mother had to build it far away from civilization so that they would not get terrorized on a daily basis. The house was cozy to them, but to outsiders, it was dark and cold. It looked as if it was an uncompleted puzzle. The house was patched together with parts from all over and gave off a feeling of fear to those that were around it because it wasn't exactly like their home.

As years went on, Grendel got extremely lonely which transitioned into his anger for people that weren't accepting of him and the way he looked. He didn't understand why society was so fearful of him and even after trying to change his appearance, nothing worked. He grew back his hair after shaving almost immediately and his build wouldn't change no matter how little he ate. The combination of people afraid of him and him not being able to change had a huge impact on his life.

What triggered his rampage was the people of Daneland taunting him. Grendel then devised a plan. He thought that maybe he could terrorize the people so that they would stop making fun of him and not allowing him to do the things he wanted to do. In planning out what he would do, he hoped that in doing this no one would get harmed, but that they would make him the protector of their land instead.

Well... things didn't go as well as what was anticipated for Grendel. He was right about the people being fearful, but that made them dislike him even more. They wanted Grendel dead, and would do whatever it took to make that happen. This is what led to the people of Daneland to send the wanderer off to find someone to fight the mighty Grendel.

This is also what led to the Beowulf coming to fight Grendel. Maybe if Beowulf really knew what Grendel was going through things might have turned out differently for him...

(Grendel the mighty)

Author's Note: After reading the story of Beowulf, I was inspired to tell the story from a different perspective. In the original story, we do not learn much about Grendel or why he is causing havoc towards the Danes. In this story I wanted to explain why Grendel was so angry. I feel like for every underlying anger there is a reason behind it. Grendel was feeling like an outcast and society didn't help him to be a part of it. The moral of the story is to be accepting of other people and to not judge a book by its cover. Although Grendel went around terrorizing people, the whole situation could have been prevented.

Bibliography: The Story of Beowulf by Stafford Riggs

Reading Notes: Beowulf; Part B

Part B continues the story with Grendel coming to attack Beowulf. Grendel is depicted as this great huge beast. It appears that Beowulf is not yet prepared for the battle. They begin to fight in Heorot, with the scene being set as something dark and mysterious. I like how the author was able to make the scene more realistic. I think that is exactly what my stories need, so that people become more invested in what I am writing.

(Grendel)

The battle between Beowulf and Grendel went back and forth, each causing havoc on one another. The fight was very gruesome, but in the end, Beowulf was able to pull off the unthinkable. I think if I was to write this I might change what happens a bit. What if Grendel won? What if he made Beowulf his slave? That might be a fun twist to not always see the hero win. 

The story continued and Beowulf got much praise for his victory. That didn't last long, however, as news came that there was still a monster out there. The monster still causing havoc was Grendel's mother getting revenge over her son. Beowulf thought to himself to go after the mother alone. I think it would be interesting to tell the story from maybe the mother's point of view? I like the idea of explaining the problems that her son was facing and go in depth as to why he was acting crazy. 

The end of the story was victorious for Beowulf, as he was able to defeat the mom and the people were overjoyed for the victory the Danes received. For a period of time, Beowulf went back to his land and eventually ruled over it when king died. No one had come to challenge Beowulf for a while even though he had a lot of enemies. Eventually, towards the end of the story, Beowulf had to battle a dragon and was unsuccessful. He was still remembered as a great hero and was celebrated by his people. 

Bibliography: The Story of Beowulf by Stafford Riggs

Reading Notes: Beowulf; Part A

The story begins setting the scene of Geastland. This area had a ruler named Hygelac. I think it my story I need to put a little more focus into setting up my characters and giving them fitting names and qualities. The intro continued with a great description of the land and the creatures that lived there. There were seamstress and and other creepy characters that make for a spooky kind of story. I like how well the descriptions were attributed to each character and the scene, making it more realistic to imagine being there. I need to work on that in my writings and include better descriptions.

There were many youths, or rather younger men, that were under the Kind Hygelac. One of the men under him was known as Beowulf. Beowulf is appointed the thane of the kind (his uncle). Beowulf had a strong stature, but also had much to learn from the king about war and hunting. Many people were envious of Beowulf because of how close to the king and queen he sat at the feast. People though that he didn't deserve it. Although he was strong he was somewhat "cowardice".

The story continues with a wanderer coming to sing about troubles going on in their land. The wanderer (also a minstrel), pulled out a harp and sang and sang about a monster named Grendel. Grendel brought a great amount of destruction to the land and the people feared him.

All while the wanderer was singing, Beowulf was thinking to himself that he could take on the terrible monster known as Grendel. He then proclaimed that he would go to the land of the Danes and serve as their king to defeat the great Grendel. People didn't know whether to laugh or to cheer.

(Beowulf proclaiming his fight) 

People were then excited for the bravery that Beowulf showed. I think if I am to change the story around, I should maybe change up Beowulf's character or make him a girl fighting for battle. It would be interesting to see this through a female perspective. I could also tell the story through the monster Grendel. That would be an interesting point of view. 

Continuing with the story, Beowulf then prepares for his journey to defeat the great Grendel. Special stuff was made for him and he was also sent with an army of people. I think the story could be made different if Beowulf just fought with what he had himself or with his wits. 

Bibliography: The Story of Beowulf by Stafford Riggs

Week 10 Story: The Girl and the Wild Dog

Ever since Molly was a little girl, she longed to have a companion. She wanted someone to make her feel safe and secure no matter what she was going to. As a child, however, she was not allowed to have a companion among her people, as they were thought to be dangerous and it was not allowed. Because of this rule, Molly lived an unhappy lifestyle filled with sadness.

One day, when Molly was older, she decided to leave her tribe to see what the world had to offer. She knew that if she stayed cooped up with the same people and same rules, that she would be filled with regret. With that thought in mind, Molly packed up her essentials and vanished from all of the people she knew to seek her companionship that she desired. She didn't entirely know what she was doing, but Molly thought that the unknown would be better than what she already had.

The first several days on her own were rough. Molly was lost and didn't know exactly what direction to go or what she was going to encounter. She slept on the cold rigid floor of the outside world through the dark nights and was afraid of the creaky noises. She questioned her decision to leave her tribe, as loneliness was starting to creep back in to her life. There was no way she could go back, too, even if she was able to find her way. The people would not be so forgiving. In her thoughts as Molly continued her journey, she noticed from the corner of her eye that there was a creature following her. A little bit scared, Molly knew not to make any sudden or quick movements as to scare off what was behind her. Devising a plan, Molly was able to climb a quick tree to get out of harm's way. Once up the tree, she noticed the most adorable little animal lost in her tracks.

Molly called out to the creature and he seemed timid and unsure of what to do, so she became brave and climbed down from the tree to get a closer look. When Molly locked eyes with wild dog, she immediately knew that she had found what she was looking for. The calmed the dog down and asked it what it's name was. He told her his name was Charles, and that he got separated from his dog tribe. He seemed to have had a hurt leg and asked Molly for some assistance in helping him to get back home, saying that there would be some type of reward if she was able to. She agreed and the two were on their way.

Searching day and night, the two companions were able to finally reach their destination and find the dog's tribe. The wild dog gave the girl a slobbery kiss and wagged his tail with excitement for helping to find his family. Molly was unsure of what to do now, but Charles comforted her and asked her to make a wish. After she made the wish, a special ceremony was performed and she became a dog with Charles. They lived a long and happy life together with puppies and security.

(Wild puppies)

Author's Note: I was inspired by one of the stories from the Native American Marriage Tales called "The Dog-Husband". The original story was way different then the one I am telling and had to do with after the dog and the girl were already together. I also changed the original story, but still isolated the girl from the tribe like she had been. Molly is looking for a companion throughout the story and encounters a dog when she is lost. She helps the dog find his way, and is welcomed with open arms into his tribe. I like happy endings as well, so I gave the story one!

Bibliography: Native American Marriage Tales by Stith Thompson

Reading Notes: Native American Marriage Tales; Part B

The first story in Part B was called "The Dog-Husband". I was excited to read the story because it started off strong, but personally it was a little different than I anticipated. It began with a girl and a dog and at night the dog would turn into a man to sleep with the little girl. Eventually the girl got pregnant and the towns people were not very happy with what happened. The town people destroyed everything and left the girl behind with the puppies she gave birth to. I think I should change the ending of the story if I decide to use this as inspiration for a new story. The ending was a little confusing to understand. The puppies became human again somehow and caught whales. There was also a Crow involved who brought the people back to the town? Not my favorite story, but there are some good ideas that can come from it.

(Puppy running) 

The next story was "The Youth Who Joined the Deer". The story began with the a hunter that had two wives. He was very fond of deer and liked to go hunting. One time he went looking for a deer that he saw the tracks in and came across a woman who wanted him to be his husband. He was then brought back to the Indians and had sex with the woman when he was not supposed to. I didn't like ending to this story very much either. The husband felt bad about leaving his other wives, but this new woman told him to not worry very much about it. Later on in the story he went out hunting and killed some deer. Their bones brought them to life somehow. I liked that idea of bringing the bones back to life as something. I would make a lot of changes to this story to make it flow better. Some aspects were good, but I would maybe add more dialogue.

The last story I wanted to mention for Part B was "The True Bride". I actually enjoyed this story. It had to do with somewhat of an evil stepmother and step sister. The stepmother sent out the other daughter to find berries in the snow even though she knew that berries did not exist in the snow. The daughter went out anyways and got help from her brothers and returned with berries and new clothes. The stepmother wanted the other daughter to do the same, but instead the daughter was rude and did not come back with nicer things. There are a lot of things I could do with the ending of the story. I like the idea of an evil stepmom and stepsister. Happily ever after fairytales are very fun and I think I could do a twist to maybe make the stepmother less evil after something bad happens to her.


Bibliography: Native American Marriage Tales by Stith Thompson

Reading Notes: Native American Marriage Tales; Part A

The first story in this reading was very interesting. It was called "The Piqued Buffalo-Wife". The beginning of the story started out with a buffalo-cow trying to find his human father that helped his buffalo mother and bring them together. The buffalo-cow had to go through a few trials to find the Indian man that did so and he was able to identify him correctly through all the people. When he brought them together, the human father was not supposed to use fire around the mother, but he did so one time when he was angry and the mother and son disappeared. The father felt remorseful and had to go through a few trials to try to find his buffalo-calf son and see if he could correctly identify him. The man was able to pick his son out a few times by different signals, but on the last trial, he was not successful. The father was then trampled by the heard and eventually they found his bones to give to his family and they turned into human being. I thought that this story gave me a lot of different ideas for my own writing. I like the different trials of identification, and also how the buffalo was trying to bring the human father together with the buffalo mom. I also liked how they turned into human beings after.

(headdress of the Matoki Society)

"Bear-Woman and Deer-Woman" was the next story in Part A and I thought it was cool how they were still mixing humans and animals. The into made it seem like something was not going to be successful. These two woman were wives of Chickenhawk men. From the story it seemed that the families of both of these woman were very close. That was true until the Bear decided to bite of the Doe's head and burn it. When the Bear returned, the Doe's children were skeptical and knew that that was their mother. The Bear made them not worry too much about it and so they went of the play with the Bear's children. The Doe's decided to kill the Bears and take them back to the mother Bear and tell them that they were skunks that they killed for dinner. The mother Bear believed them, and then someone mentioned that she was eating her own children. They called her out for killing a person then eating her children's hands. This story was a bit weird, but I like how had a twist and I was not anticipating what was going to happen. I think I could incorporate something like this into one of my stories, by thinking of a weird twist.

The last story that I felt inspired by was, "The Eagle and Whale Husbands". The story had a unique concept to it. There were little girls playing by the shore with eagle bones and whale bones. I thought that part was kind of weird, but could be fun to have random animal parts lying around that transform into other things. The girls then wished for a husband, one an Eagle and the other a Whale husband. Their wishes came true and they were then taken off with an Eagle and a Whale. The little girls did not like this and tried to escape because they felt trapped. They were both successful, but the animals were not. The animals ended up dead. I think it could by creative to continue a storyline with this and have the children trapped and something more happening to them instead of just allowing them to escape. It would have been cool if they turned into the animal or something.



Bibliography: Native American Marriage Tales by Stith Thompson

Week 9 Storytelling: Mescal Pecker

Long ago, woodpeckers used to be Indians. Hidden among the tall rugged trees in the Texas woods, there was a noise heard throughout. The noise was loud and sounded almost as if someone was knocking on a door.

"Tap! Tap!"

The sound made many ponder what was actually happening. What were these tiny birds and why did their pointy beaks make constant sound on just the wood of the trees? Legend has it that these birds were part of an Indian tribe whose parents went out looking for their children, but what they don't entirely know is what happened to their children.

In the Texas woods, lies a plant known as the mescal plant. The plant had magical powers that the Indians did not know about. When people were around them, the world would be much more lively. Things would happen that people did not know about and could not remember. After much observation over this plant, it was told that people should not go near it for fear of what would happen to them. If they did, however, there would be many consequences faced.

The Indian children played among the woods, and knew the rules of the woods. One child, however, took it upon herself to not follow the rules. She was curious and wild, with a heart that wandered. He careless mind took her to the mescal plant. It was so vibrant and green with a mind of its own too. The pointy leaves from the plant tempted the small child to go even closer. The child had also brought with her a group of friends to also see the plant. Some were more reluctant than others.

"Are you sure we should do this?", yelled one little boy.

"I think we should ask our parents", screamed another girl with brown hair.

"Will we get magical powers?", asked another curious boy.

The girl whose idea it was lied to her friends and told them that she had received permission from their parents and that the plant would give them magical powers. What the girl did not know, however, was that there was a magical spell that was put on to the mescal plant.

The children heard the sound of knocking and followed closer to the plant where they thought it was coming from. Soon, they were in another world of their own. Life was a as carefree as the girl anticipated, but a little too carefree at that. They saw things they never thought they would. It was like a never ending dream. Anything they that they were thinking was brought to life.

Everything was going just fine until the children started to hear the knocking sound appear to get louder and louder. All of the sudden, the children started to feel feathers appear and their nose began to lengthen. In the blink of an eye, the children were turned into woodpeckers. They thought it was still part of the dream that they were in so they went along with it.

Soon, the children got tired of being a bird and wanted to go back to their original life... Little did they know that they would be trapped as a woodpecker knocking on trees to find their way out. Their lives became more of a nightmare than a dream from disobeying the orders.

This is why you hear the tapping of woodpeckers trying to find their way out.

(Mescal Plant) 

Author's Note: My inspiration for this post was from the Tejas Legends story, "Why the Woodpecker Pecks". I liked the idea of the story leading up to a greater meaning. I changed the original story up a bit and gave it new ending. In the original story, the children go near the mescal plant that they are not supposed to go to. The parents of the children also go looking for their children and are turned into woodpeckers. I thought it would be a fun twist to have the children be punished and trapped as woodpeckers.

Bibliography: Tejas Legend by Florence Stratton

Reading Notes: Tejas Legends; Part A

The first story was called "When the Storm God Rides". The story takes place along the shore of Texas by the Gulf of Mexico. It involves a storm God, known as Hurakan, who scared the Indians that lived among the land. They also called Hurakan the "thunder bird". I think it would be cool to incorporate some type of God into my writing. I feel like the story is interesting because it describes how the Indians didn't really know what a storm was, so they thought it they were being punished or and hid in fear. The Indians liked it better when the God was away. There was conflict with the Indians that lived there and another tribe who came using weapons. Eventually they prayed for the Storm God to help them and when he came, it was like a hurricane blowing through. Islands were created after for animals and plants specifically.

The next story I enjoyed was "How the North Wind Lost His Hair". The origin of the story was explaining Spanish moss. The story begins with the north wind being afraid of the south. I like that emotions are given to things that usually aren't able to give expression to themselves. That is something I could use in my story as well. The two winds did not like each other. Instead, many people liked the warm south wind as opposed to the cold north wind. The north wind kept blowing, causing spring to not occur. Finally, the north and south winds went at it and younger south wind was able to overpower the old north wind and in doing so he ripped his gray hair out. That is where the Spanish moss came from. I think it would be fun to tell a tale that all connects.

The last story for this part that I really enjoyed was called, "Why the Woodpecker Pecks". I thought it was interesting that the Indian children found a natural source of a psychoactive drug. Even though they weren't supposed to use it, they were still tempted by it and bad things happened. The families were turned into woodpeckers to go find them and never ended up finding them. I think there are a lot of great ideas that can come from hallucinogenic things. I could do a twist on this story and try to incorporate another Tejas Legend with it.

(Wood peckers and tree) 

Bibliography: Tejas Legend by Florence Stratton

Week 8 Growth Mindset

I have had a lot of growth in this course that I have seen since the first week. I feel like my mind has drifted more from being fixed to the growth aspect. I have pushed myself to set goals and constructively take feedback and learn from other people. I think my weakness throughout this course have been my ability to open my mind to write more creatively. I struggle sometimes when writing my story. I also think that I play it safe and take the easier options just because of time management. I need to be better at setting my priorities. I have not followed along with my schedule this semester, just because of other things coming up. Towards the beginning of the week I try to get a lot of things done, but I struggle at the end of the week with things I have left. I can definitely use this class to work on the weaknesses I have by following more of my schedule and working on time management. Having a lot of classes at once can be difficult, especially with so many assignments due during one period of time. Staying focused will help me with this weakness to not procrastinate and to get things done. I love how this class has given me so many options and choices instead of one fixed schedule. I think it has helped me to grow and not stay fixed on just one subject. In addition, I have also been able to see so many aspects of writing and learning.

(Growth Mindset) 

Week 8 Reflections

Reflecting over the first half of the semester, I think I have made some good choices regarding the reading assignments that I have chosen. This class has allowed me to read a variety of stories from different parts of the world. I have been able to see some similarities and differences in the styles and types of stories that have been told. Along with that, this class has allowed me to become a more creative reader and writer. One of my favorite readings was "The Life of Buddha". I knew a little bit about the story, but not the whole aspect of it. I think the story itself allowed me to be creative with my story that I wanted to tell. There are so many twists that I could have added and it was definitely a fun read. For the reading notes this semester, I have found them more helpful to analyze the different stories. It has allowed me to take a moment and pause to brainstorm different routes that my new story could take or different ideas that could inspire an entirely new story. I have never really taken detailed notes on different stories, so I have found them very helpful. I think I am improving each week that I have to do them, which is great. Thinking about what I want to read in the weeks to come, I am excited for the Native American Section. Before moving to Oklahoma for college, I did not know a lot about the history of Native Americans and how vital they are to society. They were very creative people, so I can only just imagine what their stories will be like!

(Native American Stories)

Throughout this semester, I have definitely written more stories than I ever have for any class. Although sometimes I struggle to be creative and write, I have enjoyed the challenge of writing them. I have never considered myself a writer, so these stories have tested my ability. I think I am happy with what I have done so far considering I do not do a bunch of creative writing. With that being said, however, I think there is a lot of room for improvement. I want to write stories that draw people in and use vivid detail. Hopefully the my stories will keep improving each week!

For my storybook, I am very happy with my topic of choice. I think it will be somewhat challenging to keep up with new and creative stories that stem from a certain topic. I love animals though, which I think will be fun to make them more realistic and humanized. I like the concept of a Law and Order case for animals. It is one of my favorite shows on TV and it will be exciting to have new cases each week.

When I read other peoples stories, I admire a lot of the different qualities that people use. I like the dialogue and description. I think that my stories could use more of that. I think at first my comments on other people's stories weren't as detailed as they are now. I have improved on that aspect. To provide better feedback in the future, I think I should use the suggestions that you have provided.

Reading Notes: Chinese Fairy Tales; Part B

For part B, the first story that caught my attention was the Fox-Fire. It had to do with a farmer stealing something from a fox. What the fox had was very powerful, and in time it gave the farmer great abilities. The farmer became very wealthy and had many powers. One evening, however, the fox came back for what was rightfully his and stole his power back from the farmer. I think there are a lot of things that could have been added to make this story more interesting. I did like the fact that the farmer had the power of invisibility. I think it would be cool to make a character invisible in one of my own stories. Supernatural powers are always fun to play around with and give to different characters.

(Fox)

The next story I enjoyed from this segment was called Retribution. It was about a boy watching the accidental death of a water boy. He saw it from his window and did not say a word when the body of the boy was found. Although the death had been accidental, there was a man that saw it and did not report it to anyone. The boy didn't report it either. Years went by and nothing was said, then the boy who was now grown, saw a figure that looked like the man that had died. He discovered it was more like a spirit that lived there. Things took a strange turn as the boy accidentally killed the man who witnessed the water boy's killing. I think it would be interesting to cycle a story for turn of events such as this one.

The last story from this section that I would like to touch upon was about the maiden who was stolen and trapped at the top of a building. The building was called a pagoda. The maid was stolen by a cyclone and brought to the top of the building. The man seemed normal and nice, but gave her an ultimatum. She refused to go with the man she did not go. He then held her there hostage, but brought her everything that she needed to be successful. She stayed up there for a while, as the man had trapped and made it impossible for her to get down. Every day that he came to visit, he asked if she would like to go with him, but she refused. One day, the man accidentally left the window open and she was able to look down below. The man transformed into some weird creature and she cried out for help. Since she was so high, no one could hear her. Instead, she threw down her clothes hoping that someone might find her. Her family did, and eventually came to her rescue and injured the man that stole her. I think it would be fun to add on to this story or change it up a bit. I thought about making it more drastic and saying that something happens to the man that stole her.


Bibliography: Chinese Fairy Tales

Reading Notes: Chinese Fairy Tales; Part A

The first story in Part A was very interesting. It was about a princess who had bad luck and had to choose someone to marry. She chose to marry a beggar who had good luck. Although her parents (mainly her father) did not approve, she was sent off with the beggar anyways and lived a rough life with him. Eventually, the beggar decided to go off and look for his fortune, while the wife stayed in their hut and in a horrible lifestyle. Eighteen years later, the beggar returned, but this time he did not look the same and was instead a king. The wife did not recognize him, but stayed loyal to her husband. The king finally told her who he was and they went off to live in the castle. The happiness didn't last long though. The wife suddenly got ill and died. I think that this story could be taken in a new direction. I could switch the roles and give the girl good luck and the guy bad luck. I also like the idea of a happy story and then suddenly turning something in the wrong direction. That would be cool to do to my readers. I might have to include something like this in my next story!

The next story about daughters, their father, and cave creatures. The story starts off in one direction, as the father finds seven eggs, but wants them all to himself and not for his daughters. The daughters end up eating all the eggs so the father is unhappy. The father takes some of his daughters to "grandmas" house, or so he tells them. They actually end up being left in the woods to fend for themselves and to not get eaten by a fox or a wolf. The daughters somehow outsmart the fox and the wolf in their own cage and end up killing them. They find their jewels and then the father finally comes back because he misses them. This part of the story I didn't necessarily like all to much. I think if I was to change it, I would definitely change the ending up so that the dad doesn't get any of the jewels. I think it would be hard to forgive my father if he left me to die in the woods for eating an egg. I would like to maybe make him have some karma.

The last story for part A that I enjoyed was about a dog and a cat. Their owners had owned a gold ring and whenever they had that, they had enough wealth to live. They did not know this, so they ended up selling the ring for a small amount of money and eventually went poor again. Their dog and cat suffered as well because they were not fed. Then, the dog and cat came up with a plan to get the ring back. They would use a mouse to go retrieve it. They did this, and used each other for help. When they finally got the ring and were bringing it back, however, the cat went off with it and brought it home because he was able to get home quicker. The cat was rewarded by the parents and they were mad at the dog because they thought the dog did not help at all. This is why they think dogs and cats are not friends.

(Dog and cat) 

Bibliography: Chinese Fairy Tales

Tech Tip: Canvas Notifications

For this Tech Tip, I decided to set up my Canvas notifications for my classes. After downloading the Canvas app, I have been getting a lot of unnecessary notifications for when people post their discussion and for when a teacher uploads a document. I thought this would be a good lesson for me to learn how to set up and configure things just how I want them to. I really just want to receive notifications for when a grade has been added and when a teacher comments on something. I usually check canvas out daily for each of my classes so I don't want random notifications. After watching the tutorial, I found it helpful that I am able to customize my Canvas to receive notifications for certain things only. It was helpful because it allows me to minimize the notifications I receive for unnecessary things. I would recommend setting this up!

(Grade marking) 

Tech Tip: Google Site Image

For this tech tip, I explored the Google site for my storybook. I am somewhat challenged when it comes to working on a new site I have not seen before or been familiar with. I am still somewhat struggling with making my site look "cool". I see other people's sites and wish I could figure out how to format things to get to how I want them to look. I think the Google site is very easy to work with. Putting in a picture wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. On my introduction to my storybook I added a picture of the Amazon Jungle. I'm still trying to figure out if I am able to get a picture in the background and how to work with different fonts.

Week 6 Storytelling: Zarro and the water

Tiki was King of the land for hundreds of years. He was very well known and had eternal life. He had lived to see lives changing during his time as king. Tiki also enjoyed the finer things in life, such as the prettiest women, great big feasts, and commanding his servants around. What Tiki enjoyed the most was the array of women he was allowed to chose from. He was allowed to have multiple wives, but wasn't entirely satisfied as his wives would soon get old and eventually die, while he stayed young and everlasting. The king called upon his servant to find him an eternal love.

"Zarro", the king yelled, "If you can find me eternal love, then I will denounce my thrown unto you. Your fate lies in the hands of my happiness."

Not sure quite what to do, Zarro was off to find what the king was looking for. He hiked up mountains and through the desert storms, asking, hoping, and praying for any sort of sign that would lead him to what the king was wishing for. Zarro was poor servant, and this was a once and a life time opportunity for him to become something other than that. He loved the people of the land, and desired fame.

Twenty nine days passed, and the servant still had yet to find someone for the king. He thought to himself that there must be someone else out there with eternal life. Although he thought this, there was nothing he could do except wait for a sign.

Suddenly, Zarro was stopped by an old man on the streets who said he could help with him with his problem. Without hesitation, Zarro agreed.

The old man was a fisherman and had many tricks up his sleeve. Not many people had heard of him, but he felt bad for the servant and wanted to offer up his services. He led Zarro to his boat and took him on a fishing adventure.

Zarro had never been to the water or on a boat, so he was nervous. All his life, he only knew of the land to be safe. He didn't know what the waters contained so people of his kind stayed away from it. Trusting the old man and wanting to be successful, he went on the boat anyways.

While on the boat, Zarro and the fisherman had a nice conversation. The fisherman told him stories about the water and what lies beneath. All of the sudden, the fisherman threw his fishing rod into the water. They waited ten minutes to before something finally caught the hook. Reeling it in with all his strength, the old man pulled a fish out of the water. Zarro was in shock. He had never seen anything so wonderful, he did not want to let that moment go.

What happened next was magical to Zarro. The fisherman somehow was able to turn the fish into the most beautiful lady in all of the land who had eternal life, or so he thought. Zarro was so thankful for what the fisherman had done and he led the girl back to the king for him.

The king, Tiki, was overwhelmed and happy that he had finally found someone to share life with. Zarro was then made the king of the land, while Tiki went off to be with the girl.

Little did Tiki know that the beautiful girl would lead him to the water where he would later die and drown. The king didn't know much of the water, but saw how the girl transformed into a fish and thought he could do the same...

(Fish in water)

Author's Note - I got the idea for my story after reading multiple stories from the Nigerian Folk stories. I thought they all very interesting and different at the same time. Most of the stories began with a king having several wives, so I thought I would make mine similar in that way. The moral of my story is that looks can be deceiving. The fisherman isn't who the servant thought he was going to be and the girl isn't who the king thought she would be. The servant and the king had no idea what the water was like nor had they ever really explored it. The story worked out well for the servant, but the king was unsuccessful at living eternally happy with the fish. I though I would include some type of animal my story because most of the folk stories did and twisted things to where I didn't think something was going to happen.


Bibliography - Nigerian Folk Stories by Elphinstone Dayrell

Reading Notes: Nigerian Folk Stories, Part B

The lightning and thunder story was a good read. I like how the central focus for Nigerian Folk Stories focuses on attributing certain things for why they are the way they are. For instance, in this lightning and thunder story, thunder was the mom and lightning was the son causing destruction. The lightning was always causing havoc and burning things down and the thunder was yelling at her son for doing so. They were eventually banished from town and were sent to another place where they did the same thing and that is why there were sent so far away into the sky. They couldn't harm anyone from there. Bringing things to life from nature would make for an interesting story! There are so many takes I could make a spin off of.

(Lightning storm)

The next story I enjoyed in Part B of the reading was about a hippo who no one knew of his name. The hippo had many wives and threw many feasts for people. During his feast, he asked if anyone knew his name and no one knew the answer. Eventually he made a deal that if someone knew his name he would go live out his days in the water. The tortious snuck his way around the hippo so he could get one of his many wives to call him by name. This fold story is another one of those legends for why hippos stay in water. Thinking I could do something like this story about another animal or so.

The last story that I wanted to comment on was about two birds that were competing for the king. The king promised that he would make whoever could endure pain the longest chief of his tribe. Two different birds were both up to the challenge. One was larger and therefore thought of himself more fit than the other. The other bird was not fit, but rather very witty. They had to build a house and go seven days without food. The smaller, but wittier bird skillfully planned his house to where there was a whole he could go in and out of to get food. The king inspected it and didn't notice the whole. At the end of the seven days the smaller bird had been able to get in and out of his cage and get to food, while the larger bird had died. He became the chief appointed by the king. I like how the story transitioned into why these types of birds are hard to shoot. They are small and witty.

I very much liked reading through these different stories. They were all similar and different at the same time. There were reoccurring instances of some characters and some similar themes. What I think I could use to make my own story might possibly have to do with creating why something does or is the way it is. I could also alter one of the stories. Stay tuned to see what I come up with this week! 

Bibliography - Nigerian Folk Stories by Elphinstone Dayrell

Reading Notes: Nigerian Folk Stories, Part A

The first story for this weeks reading caught my attention fairly quickly and caught me off guard. It was about a king who was successful and well liked and hated at the same time by his people. He got what he wanted and any pretty girl that he wanted as well. A neighboring town did not liked the king and wanted him killed, so a witch agreed to do so. This witch turned herself into a pretty girl and deceived the king by poisoning his food that she made for him. All the sudden the story got gory and she sliced the kings head off when he was poisoned. Her town was able to then defeat the king's town as they were not prepared. I think if I was able to give one of my characters a supernatural power that would make for an entertaining story. I have always liked the idea of tricking others to think you are someone else. Secretly in my own mind I wish I could do that.

The next short story from the reading had to do with a bat and a rat. The central theme was jealousy, and ultimately the rat tried to do what the bad had done to make his soup just as good. In the end, the rat lost his life and the king sent people after the bat. I enjoyed how the end of the story led to the reason that bats only come out to feed in the dark. They have fear that something will happen to them. Maybe for my story I could use something like this and lead up to something normal.

The third story in this first half of the reading

Bush rat 

was about a daughter who disobeyed her parents and wound up marrying someone that she shouldn't. At first, I thought surely something was going to happen to the girl when she went off with the skull who borrowed things to appear handsome for her since the skull was from an evil land of spirits. I thought the moral of the story was going to be that you should listen to what your parents tell you, otherwise something bad might happen. It seemed bad, but then she was sent home because she was kind to the skull's mother. I didn't quite know what the moral of the story was then, but I liked how I thought something was going to happen then something else happened instead.

Following that story, the next one I really enjoyed reading was about a king and a cock's daughter. The king was able to get any girl that he ultimately wanted and had many wives. He heard of the cock's daughter and that she was beautiful, so he wanted her. Seeing as how the cock was poor, he had no option but to present his daughter to the king, although he warned the king that she still contained some qualities of a cock. This part I though was especially interesting because I think it would be fun to add qualities to humans that people don't expect into my story. As the story goes on, the cock's daughter eventually becomes the favorite and the other wives are jealous. They then expose her qualities and embarrass the king so that he gets rid of her, and their plan works. When the king finds out it was a set up he gets rid of the wife that planned it and she ends up poor and homeless. The king himself eventually dies because he is unhappy that he sent the cock's daughter away.


Bibliography - Nigerian Folk Stories by Elphinstone Dayrell

Week 5 Storytelling: The Buddha(s)

It came through a mystical dream on a breezy summer night. Unlike any other dream before, the mother, Maya was awoken. Maya had that gut wrenching feeling that something great was coming. She had waited all her life for this one moment...

Maya was married to King Suddhodana. They lived happily and healthy in their castle ruling over the land. They were good people and did much for their people. The King and Queen were connected on a spiritual level as well and could feel what each other were thinking.

King Suddhodana could feel the excitement that his wife was feeling and knew they were destined to have something great join their little family in their lavish lifestyle.

Although the King and Queen were good people, they lived their life enjoying all things wonderful. From fine dining to maid services to everything in between, they never really had any struggles. They helped the poor and worked with communities, but were never challenged like others that lived in the towns they ruled over. They had power and felt that what was coming would make them even stronger.

Just after the dream had come, Maya learned that she was pregnant. The King and Queen were ecstatic.

"This is a God sent gift to us. He has chosen us as the worthy ones to be the bearer of all things great through our child", the King exclaimed to Maya.

As the birth neared, all the sudden Maya had another dream. This dream was not like the coming of something great experience she had in the first dream. She woke in fear, as tears trickled down her face.

"What is wrong?", Suddhodana whispered.

"God came to me in a dream. He said where there is good, there is also evil. I fear for my pregnancy and what is to come", Maya cried back.

Weeks went on and Maya was nearing her pregnancy. The King wanted everything to be wonderful and for Maya to be showered with gifts and all things great. He ordered the servants to prepare for the birth of what they thought would bring them great glory.

It happened... But not quite as how they anticipated things would go.

A maiden came running to King Suddhodana yelling, "We come with some news. Two sons have been born, twins."

In a world of shock, the King did not know what to think or what to do. How should she feel? These dreams his wife was having had to have meant something. He went to go see his beautiful baby boys and give names to them. Gazing into their eyes and addressing them for the first time he said, "You shall be called Siddhartha and you shall be Hiddhartha."

As a great hermit came to welcome their sons into the world, he had a worried look on his face. He picked Siddhartha up and smiled. When he picked Hiddhartha up, he got a bad vibe from the child and set him back down. The hermit said, "Be careful, for life isn't always what it seems."

Not sure what to do or what that meant, Siddhartha and Hiddhartha were raised in the lavish lifestyle that the King and Queen provided for them. They knew eventually, that only one of the boys were going to be destined for greatness.

(Siddhartha and Hiddhartha) 

Siddhartha wasn't like his brother, he rejected the nice things and was always helping the people. He wanted to get away from the life he was provided and to get out into the world on his own. Hiddhartha, on the other hand, was a greedy boy. He enjoyed the expensive things in life and wanted nothing more than to take over with power.

The King and Queen were became very worried. Their sons were nothing alike. One wanted nothing to do with their fancy offerings and merely wanted to help the people. The other wanted power and was only worried about himself.

King Suddhodana called for God, "What must we do? We are lost and want our people to be safe under the chosen Buddha. Give us some guidance and we will be ever so thankful."

Siddhartha spent his days meditating and searching for the true meaning of life. He found that through prayer and practice life and death were connected. Hiddhartha thought he knew everything already and that he would be the chosen one. He didn't care about the connection or the people.

When the time came Siddhartha became the chosen one, the true Buddha. Although Siddhartha did not want the lifestyle, he had a way promoting peace and prosperity. Hiddhartha was sentenced to live under the teachings of his brother. Siddhartha would eventually come to teach the world nirvana. Only the good will prevail the evil.



Bibliography: "The Life of Buddha" by Andre Ferdinand Herold; Web Source 

Author's Note: The original story was about the life of Buddha. Siddhartha was born to a King and Queen who wanted nothing but the best for their son. He was hidden from the bad parts of life, but ultimately wanted to adventure. Although his parents were not pleased, Siddhartha went on his journey as a hermit and found nirvana through meditation. In the original story, his mom passed away and he was left to her sister. In my story, I made a twist in the fact that two sons were born instead of one. They were sort of competing to become the Buddha, but it is a chosen position. Siddhartha was the good son and his brother Hiddhartha was evil. In the end my story has the message that good outweighs the evil in the world, but that good and evil are accompanied by eachother.