Reading Diary B: Russian Folktales

Myth-Folklore Unit: Russian Folktales

The Fiddler in Hell 

This story was so great! As I'm sure you've noticed by my other posts, I love stories with happy endings.  The fiddler was incredibly clever with his trickery of the strings and it was great that the bridge could be built and the man sent to Heaven. I'm not so sure how the fiddler just tripped into Hell, though...or why the baby was born. But alas, it was a great story that I truly enjoyed reading. The style was also easy to read, making it even more enjoyable and easy to get caught up in.

 

Fiddler. Source: Wikimedia

The Soldier and the Vampire

I love this story's ending as well. Even though the middle wasn't great and the Warlock was creepy, it turned out well because everything that went wrong was made right in the end. The style was once again easy and wonderful to read.

Reading Diary A: Russian Folktales

Myth-Folklore Unit: Russian Folktales

Friday 

This story made me laugh. I kind of wish that Mother Friday would not allow work on Fridays in the life I'm living. Alas, I must complete work and contribute to society every day of the week. This would be an interesting story to expand upon for storytelling this week. 

Woman spinning flax. Source: Flickr

Wednesday

This is how I feel that Wednesdays would be if they were a person. Cruel. This story also made me laugh. I thought about how I feel on Wednesdays...mid-week...cruel ways. I enjoyed the days of the week and their personality matches. Putting personalities to inanimate objects and subject matters is interesting and creative.

Reading Diary B: Fables of La Fontaine

Myth-Folklore Unit: Fables of La Fontaine

Frogs 

The rhymes in this confused me, mostly because of the inconsistent rhyming pattern. I like how it rhymes, but I like a more stable and predictable pattern when I'm reading. The first story was quite theatrical, which I enjoyed. However, I'm not too fond of frogs in general.

The God Mercury; Hercules  

 I enjoy reading stories that rhyme! It makes them flow a certain way in my head and it makes them more fun to read. They also keep my attention longer than other stories. However, I'm not too fond of the violent end. I always enjoy happier stories with more uplifting endings, which is reflected in my own storytelling.

(illustration by Osius)

 

Reading Diary A: Fables of La Fontaine

Myth-Folklore Unit: Fables of La Fontaine

Foolish People

I liked the Hen With the Golden Egg. It reminded me of Willy Wonka and the part with the Golden Geese. However, I don't like how the hen died in the end. I think I'll rewrite this story this week and have the hen escape death but the 'meanest of men' may not have such a great fate...

Hen. Source: The Untextbook

Foxes and Wolves 

I love reading about wolves since I started my storybook about a wolf. I like seeing the different character development between stories. It's so interesting to see that in most of them, the wolf is a trickster and/or cunning and maybe not in the best of ways...and maybe not always the brightest. This story is no exception.

Reading Diary B: Aesop's Fables (English)

Myth-Folklore Unit: Aesop's Fables (English)

Wolves (Smart)  

My storybook is about wolves, so of course I chose this one to write about in my reading diary! I find it really cool and interesting that all of the wolves (at least 98 percent of them) are pretty much similar from fable to fable. It makes the wolf's character development really strong. Even though there are multiple wolves, they're all extremely similar and their personalities transfer from story to story. There is no exception here!

Birds (Smart)

These were fun to read and the image here really got into my imagination when I was reading the first story. Vain is definitely what I see when I look at this image and it's definitely what I saw when reading through the first story. 

 

(illustration by Weir)

 

 

 

Reading Diary A: Aesop's Fables (English)

Myth-Folklore Unit: Aesop's Fables (English)

Fables about People (Boothby) 

It's really cool how the fables that are so popular are told through this way. I really liked reading them and seeing how others depicted the stories that I have heard time and time again ever since I can remember. I also appreciated the little notes that described the story so I could get the point and understand which one it was depicting.

 A Lion and a Man (L'Estrange)

 I love Aesop's Fables because of the moral they include at the end. I like to read those first and then read the story to understand more about what the author is trying to accomplish. It's fun to see the creative paths taken to end up at the moral, especially in this one. 

(illustration from Bewick's Aesop)

 

 

Reading Diary B: Nursery Rhymes

Myth-Folklore Unit: Nursery Rhymes

 

Nursery Rhymes: Jingles 

The words used for these rhymes are so fun. The way they're written and the way words that wouldn't normally be in stories are used make these creative rhymes fun to read. I especially liked hey, diddle diddle because I knew this particular rhyme from when I was younger. It'd be fun to re-write something I have known for almost my entire life for my story this week.

Nursery Rhymes: Relics

It was fun to see the rhyme What are Little Boys Made of? I had seen and heard this growing up and it cracked me up to read it again. The Rain, Rain Go Away was fun to read again as well. These are fun and quirky little rhymes that I enjoyed reading again.

 

(Wikipedia: What Are Little Boys Made Of?)

Reading Diary A: Nursery Rhymes

Myth-Folklore Unit: Nursery Rhymes

Nursery Rhymes: Riddles

These were so fun to read! Each one was different, yet each had that playful and joyful quality. I tried to know the answer each time, but it was difficult for some of them. Mostly all of them.

Nursery Rhymes: Games   

I knew some of these, which was neat! It was also fun to read the new ones I haven't seen before. There isn't much substance at first, but when you dive into these rhymes you can find a lot.

(Wikipedia: How Many Miles to Babylon?)

Reading Diary B: Myths of the Cherokee

Myth-Folklore Unit: Myths of the Cherokee

The Owl Gets Married
Question 1: Why can't she hunt herself?
Question 2: Woah. Living with her already?
Question 3: Why do the Cherokee myths seem to always have something gross and/or violent?
I don't really like flesh, and that ending freaked me out. In my stories, I don't want the reader to feel uncomfortable.


The Rattlesnake's Vengeance
Uhm, I hope that I'd marry someone that would never consent to my death. Especially to a bunch of snakes. Also I wish that songs could heal people. If this were true, her death would not be in vain. These stories creep me out and give me uneasy feelings.


The Bullfrog Lover
These stories are so odd to me, though I'm not sure why. I've read weirder, but these freak me out for some reason. They aren't bad, but they haven't been my favorite weekly readings. This one is no exception. But then again, I'm not too fond of bullfrogs.
 

(bullfrog) 

Reading Diary A: Myths of the Cherokee

Myth-Folklore Unit: Myths of the Cherokee

How the World Was Made 

This is a really in-depth and interesting tale about how the earth was made. I appreciated the detail in the story telling. Though this didn't quite keep my interest the entire time, it was still a good story. I want my stories to be this detailed but still be thrilling for the reader to read.

The Rabbit Goes Duck Hunting 

I really don't understand the point in this story. Also, it was a gross image I got in my head when they author described the rabbit eating its own fur. I want my readers to come away knowing why I told the story and have them glad that they read it.

The Deer and the Rabbit

Stories like this are so interesting - how animals get to be how they are according to folklore and myths. However, at first when they decided the winner would get antlers, I thought about a jackalope and wasn't sure who was going to win! This kept the story interesting and allowed me to read it without losing interest.

(deer)

 

Reading Diary B: Tejas Legends

Myth-Folklore Unit: Tejas Legends

Why Hummingbirds Drink Only Dew 

Hummingbirds not drinking the water they bathe in is probably smart for their health. I relate to this story because I feel like that's how my friends would act in bets. Making and playing sneaky tricks to technically win, but maybe not in the most ethical way. It's cool to see that even though he was sort of tricked that he still stayed true to his word, though! The hummingbird seems like a good character who probably (and hopefully) learned his lesson about gambling.

How Sickness Entered the World 

This story legit freaked me out and made me uncomfortable. Imagining that many snake eggs and thinking of one next to me was gross. And that they hatched sickness - how awful. The storytelling and creativity was good, but I didn't like the story.

Maidens Who Broke a Drought

Though this was a sad story of the girls ending their human lives, it was cool to read about how they were transformed and honored forever. Again, like I stated in my reading diary A, I love to read about how different people and cultures talk about how things come to be and/or exist...though these in the Tejas Legends have been more sad than happy.

(beebrush)

 

Reading Diary A: Tejas Legends

Myth-Folklore Unit: Tejas Legends

 Why the Woodpecker Pecks

I appreciate how easy this was to read. It kept me entertained and never bored. I also love stories like this - it's always fun to see how different people and cultures describe how things came to be and/or exist. Also...him eating the plants sounded like a drug experience. But I guess interesting stories come out of that, too!

The Cloud That Was Lost

This intro was really great - it had my imagination going. I could really see the clouds bumping into each other and curling up at night. That sounds so nice right now! I also felt so sad for the cloud - I'm not sure why I have such an emotional attachment to a cloud, but this story is great. Poor cloud - but you can always see its beauty in the flowers, so that's neat.

(Wild phlox)

Grandmother River's Trick

This one got to me because of the garfish. I had been to places growing up that had garfish and the thought of them scared me so much. Ha- the beginning of this story definitely didn't help that! But I did like the end. All of the fish got to be happy and free from the garfish. It'd be fun to tell this from the fishes perspective.

Reading Diary B: Filipino Popular Tales

Myth-Folklore Unit: Filipino Popular Tales

Why Mosquitoes Hum and Try to get into the Holes of our Ears

(land crab)

I love that the story has nothing to do with the title until the very end. It kept me engaged the entire time and wondering how it related to the title. Though it was frustrating to not know, it was a great and interesting storytelling technique.

The Lost Necklace

The thought of a crow with a necklace cracked me up. Probably because of my lack of sleep, but my imagination found it hilarious. How rude of the crow, though...and a tattletale. I'm sure the hen didn't mean to lose it and she had been looking all day for it. If the crow was so worried about it, the crow shouldn't let anyone borrow it. Also how weird. To eat someone's children because you lost a necklace. Like...what...the crow is an odd and disgusting character.

Why the Ocean is Salty

An ocean of tears - how depressing. Most of this story was really sad. I don't like sad stories. However, I did think that the picture chosen for this was really cool. I've never seen mounds of salt.

Reading Diary A: Filipino Popular Tales

Myth-Folklore Unit: Filipino Popular Tales

The Three Friends: the Monkey, the Dog, and the Carabao

(macaque, photo by thinrhino)

My first thought was that them taking those items was strange for hunting purposes. What good would kitchen utensils do? The monkey was very clever, but it's unfortunate that his friends were killed. The monkey always seems to be the clever character in many of the stories I have read this semester, which is a cool similarity.

The Wicked Woman’s Reward

How unfortunate and sad for the baby girl - to not be wanted by her own mother or father simply because she was a girl. So much that her mother planned on stealing the boy and was killed. Also why would she replace the baby with a cat? Also why would he kill the woman when he didn't even know if it was her fault? And what if the baby were to be found? It was also really creepy that the river smelled good from the dead woman's body. I didn't really like this story, but I do admit that it was quite creative. Why would he be remorseful and then do the same thing by killing someone else?

The Monkey, the Turtle, and the Crocodile 

What a rude monkey. Also I love this moral. Never trust a new friend or an old enemy. This speaks to me because I am way too trusting of new friends and sometimes I trust old enemies. I forget and forgive and believe in change, which sometimes doesn't work out for me in the end. It's a good moral to remember - always be cautious.

Extra Reading Diary: Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang) - Reading A

Myth-Folklore Unit: Japanese Fairy Tales (Lang) 

 

The Two Frogs

Two frogs. Source: Wikimedia

How often we trust ourselves when we might not know all of the facts. These frogs are silly. I think it was wonderful that they wanted to help each other out and I love the story of how they met. I always find how people meet interesting. There always has to be the right circumstances, but everything always falls into place. It's interesting that the frogs didn't complete their journey after traveling so far already. Why not keep going if you're already halfway there? These frogs were so alike and it was interesting to learn about these characters.

 

The Stonecutter

I appreciate the conversational tone this story is written in. It made it easy and interesting to read. The story itself was also great. I like the lesson that the man learned in the end. If you're greedy, you'll always want more, no matter how much you have, when you might've had all you truly needed to begin with.

 

The Cat's Elopement

I love how happy this ending is! Stories with happy endings are my favorite to read because they leave me with a happy feeling in my heart. I don't like reading stories with sad endings. The cats ending up together in the end was great. It was also wonderful that the princess promised to never separate them and kept that promise. And the fact that she married someone who shared those feelings brought much happiness all around.

Reading Diary B: West African Folktales

West African Folktales

Why the Moon and the Stars Receive Their Light From the Sun

It was interesting to read how they became the moon, stars and the sun. However, I don't know how he knew that the dragon was hungry or that the fiddle would make him go back down to earth to dance. It seemed as if he had never seen a dragon before in the beginning and now he has all of the dragon knowledge. I learned that in my stories, I want there to be a clear explanation for each event and to know how one thing leads to the next.

How the Tortoise Got Its Shell

(African tortoise)

Before reading this particular week's readings, I had never seen "determined" used as an action verb, which I thought was interesting. I also found it interesting that he had to fight for the wine instead of paying for it with money- my roommates wouldn't be happy if that were the case. They would get into a lot of fights for sure. These stories also amuse me in how they turn out. I never see the ending coming on how they actually get their shell, or how the moon and stars actually get there. But I like it and it keeps me interested until the end.

How Mushrooms First Grew

How were they able to go back and make a farm without anyone punishing them for being highway robbers?
Sometimes I just need to read the story and not think too much into it.
The brothers gathering the mushrooms is also kind of scary to think about. What if they were poisonous mushrooms? But I guess someone had to try them first for people to find out they were poisonous.

Reading Diary A: West African Folktales

West African Folktales



Spider. Source: Wikimedia

How We Got the Name "Spider Tales"

I really appreciate how Nyankupon was honest and upheld his condition in the end. I also appreciate how clever Anansi was. The whole time I was thinking that there would be some sort of trick and that something would happen in the end with the creatures the spider caught, but everything turned out how Nyankupon said in the beginning. The characters were very straightforward in this, which I liked. It was also an entertaining read.

The Squirrel and the Spider

This story just made me upset for the squirrel. I'm glad the squirrel lost the crops. He never deserved them in the first place. It would be interesting to tell a story about the squirrel and give him more character development and a happy ending to his sad story.

The Grinding-Stone That Ground Flour By Itself


The spider is always so frustrating. I don't like his character. How I feel about his character is how I feel about spiders in general. His cousin was right to not be tricked by him, but the spider never listened. However, I also think it was wrong of his cousin to not try to help the rest of the village. He didn't need to profit, but to watch his friends and family starve without doing a thing was also not very attractive for a character to do.

Extra Reading Diary: Arabian Nights - Reading B

Myth-Folklore Unit: Arabian Nights

This was one long story, but it was split up into multiple sections and I decided to include my favorite parts in this reading diary post.

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 1

Aladdin and the Magician. Source: Wikimedia

This writing style is fantastic. I like how it keeps the reader engaged and wanting to read more. I also appreciate getting to read the original story, as I have only seen the Disney version. I also like how it cuts off the story before the second part. It leaves so much suspension in the writing and for the reader's imagination.

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 4

This magician has a lot of spite, rage and jealousy. I like how the author truly dove into each of the characters in this story. The development is incredible and really allows the reader to get to know the characters individually and how they work together as a whole. However, this part of the story made me sad because Aladdin lost his entire life. The princess' father was absolutely married into his money and fortune, which was quite unfortunate.

Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 6

It seems like the evil wickedness never ends. I enjoy and appreciate that the end of this story was positive and that Aladdin and his wife ended up happy and together. That's rare in a lot of the stories I have read so far, so it was nice to see that happen. Overall, I enjoyed reading this story. Though it was long, it was entertaining from beginning to end. I liked the style because it was easy to follow and to read.

Reading Diary B: Santal Folklore

Reading Diary B: Santal Folklore

The Tigers and the Cat
The story of how the tigers ate the raw meat was interesting. I got frustrated when the tigers blamed the cat for doing something they could've contributed to and helped out with. I also was upset when the tigers killed the dog in the end. If I were to use this as an inspiration for my story, I would change the ending. I don't appreciate how the tigers won in the end. However, I do like the writing style as it was easy to follow. The only downside was that it jumped around a bit.

A Fox and His Wife
I really like the fox's wife in this story. She has great wit but does not boast about it, even when asked. The fox, however, does and does not have a bit of wit to save their lives. She saved both of them and her children, which took a great amount of not only wit, but also courage. I want to write a story with her character in it.

Fox. Source: Wikipedia

The Brave Jackal
I included this story because I didn't really understand it at first. The writing style was confusing and I had to reread it multiple times before I even slightly comprehended it. My mind might just not be comprehending quickly or even comprehending this style, but I learned that I need to make my writing clear and concise for my readers. I want them to understand everything on the first attempt and not have to reread anything.

Reading Diary A: Santal Folklore

Reading Diary A: Santal Folklore

Ledha and the Leopard
I like this story because of the range of characters. I have mixed feelings about Ledha because he is clever, but stayed in the forest without telling anyone. I don't like his sister because it did not mention of her ever going to look for him. I don't like the leopard because he's ungrateful. However, the crow in this story is very clever, which I like. I also appreciate that Ledha went back and helped the buffaloes in the end. I don't think this story is titled well because the leopard exits the tale rather quickly. Ledha and the Buffaloes would be a better name.

The Monkey and the Girl

(Hanuman Langur Monkey)

I included this story as one of my three because of the way it was written. It's more of an example for myself of how I don't wish to write. For me, it was hard to follow, which made it hard for me to stay engaged and entertained. Also this story was really sad and strange. If I were to use this as inspiration to my own story, I would change the outcome and a lot about the original story itself.

The Jackal and the Crow

This story reminded me of the story "The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly". I used to read that story as a child, which is why I liked this particular one. However, the jackal really irritated me, which made me dislike the story a little bit. I do appreciate that in the end he got what was coming to him. But I feel bad for all of the creatures he met in between.