Reading Notes: Beowulf (Part B)

In this section of the reading, Beowulf has many battles. Consistently, his enemies use magic. The nature of the magic in this legend is really interesting: There are spells to deepen sleep and to sense the plots of faraway foes. I wondered how Grendel came to be, because his "mother" seemed so different in nature than him. She was magical, so I wonder if she created him by some unnatural means?

A painting of Grendel by J. R. Skelton. (Wikimedia Commons)

It turns out that the picture I found for Part A of Beowulf fighting a dragon came from his final battle. At first, I was surprised that Beowulf died during his fight against the dragon, but the more I think about it the more I feel that a "warrior's death" is fitting. Especially with the emphasis on his bravery, it's only a fitting end.


Bibliography. The Story of Beowulf by Strafford Riggs. Web Link.

Reading Notes: Beowulf (Part A)

I was excited to read the legend of Beowulf this week because it should give me material for my storybook. I need some terrible monster for my character to battle with, and it seems like Grendel will be a great point of inspiration. Part A of this reading served to build tension around what is bound to be an exciting battle between Beowulf and Grendel.

A painting of Beowulf fighting a dragon by J. R. Skelton (Wikimedia Commons)

One thing I noticed while reading this story is the value that is placed on bravery. Especially evident in the exchange between Beowulf and Unferth, courage is the most admirable quality in this to those who established this legend. Beowulf is very strong, but he's kind of mocked for it. It's his bravery that wins him respect.

Bibliography. The Story of Beowulf by Strafford Riggs. Web Link.

Week 10 Story: How Rabbit Got Long Ears

One morning, just after sunrise, Rabbit found himself hungry for breakfast. The plains were rich with grasses, but Rabbit was very choosy. He wanted only the best grass to eat. He hopped around in search of quality grass, but everything he found was mediocre. Rabbit eventually saw Coyote and Fox talking in the distance. He wondered if they might be talking about top-shelf grass, but didn’t dare approach and risk his life to these predators. This was when Rabbit had small ears, and he couldn’t hear the two from his vantage. Rabbit decided to pull on his ears to stretch them out. The stretching hurt Rabbit, but he made his ears a medium length: long enough to hear the conversation between Coyote and Fox.

Rabbit could hear coyote ask, “Fox, this is a very specific question out of character for my species, but have you seen any good grass lately? I’m asking for a friend.”

Fox replied, “Coyote, you don’t have to be shy with me. As a matter of fact, I have found some prime grass! I’ll have to whisper the location to you, it’s in a secret place. Last time I found some good grass, Rabbit ate it all.”

Very quickly, rabbit stretched his ears even further so he could hear Fox’s whisper. Now, they were very long and stuck up like sprouts.

Fox whispered, “The best grass is just north of here, across the river.” Coyote thanked him and the two animals began another conversation completely unrelated to vegetation.

Rabbit was very happy with himself and hopped north. At the river, he stopped to look at his reflection in the water. His ears were very long now, but he rather liked the new look. Soon he found the promised grass, and ate his fill until he fell asleep happily.

This is why Rabbit now has very long ears.



Author’s note: In the Native American mythology of the Great Plains, animal species are personified as single characters. In this week’s reading, there were a few “origin stories” of some animals’ defining features. My story plays on existing stories of Rabbit, who tends to be sneaky, crafty, and a little self-serving. I decided I’d make up a story explaining how Rabbit’s ears got to be so long.

Bibliography. Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson. Web Link.
Photo: A rabbit eating grass, taken by M. L. Haen. Wikimedia Commons.

Tech Tip: Word Count

For this week's Tech Tip, I added a word counter to Chrome (the extension can be found here). I think I knew that this tool existed, but I hadn't decided to try it out until I saw it as an optional Tech Tip. I can see it being incredibly useful, as previously I would prewrite my documents in Google Drive because of the included word counter. Now, I can write my blog posts and comments directly on the page!

I tend to do alright with word count, and whether I go over or under depends a lot on how much I have to say. My stories naturally tend to be longer when they have more elaborate plots or need deeper exposition. Usually, when I'm getting close to the minimum word count, I ask myself how I plan to wrap up the story. Sometimes I'm not even close to a stopping point though!

There are 160 words in this blog post. :^)

Tech Tip: Embedded Youtube Video

Below, I've (hopefully) managed to embed a Youtube video for this week's Tech Tip. I chose a video that I found recently and that made me laugh, so I hope you enjoy!

Tech Tip: Bookmarks

For this tech tip, I explored bookmarking in Chrome. One thing that I learned is that you can create sub-folders for your bookmarks to more efficiently organize them, but I don't think that I use enough bookmarks for this to be terribly useful.

I use bookmarks sparingly, and I already have all of mine on the bookmark bar! Something I've learned about myself is that I can get very easily distracted by bookmarks for social media, games, etc. I keep my bookmarks reserved for websites relating to work and school, which helps me stay on track when I need to be working. For everything else, autocomplete usually does the job!

Tech Tip: Einstein Generator

This week, I used this website to make the above image. The quote that I placed on the blackboard comes from Frank Ocean's Blonde, which I was listening to while I made this!

Reading Notes: Native American Hero Tales (Part B)

Traditional moccasins, featured in many of these myths. (Wikimedia Commons)

The first story in Part B was downright spooky. The way in which the boys' mother was killed was Joker-esque, and the fact that the unborn children survived the death was unnerving. The story was also interesting in its structure because the father kept telling them what not to do, even surely realizing that they had disobeyed him at all past points. I think I'll write a story for this week from his perspective!

I commented in Part A on the observation that murder is seemingly allowed but not appreciated in some of these stories. This trend continues in this section. Instead of exact punishment, killers in these myths are subjected to elaborate plots for vengeance.

Overall, these stories feel very loose, especially in the way they deal with magic. It almost seems like anyone can perform at least some sort of magic act without exposition. This makes the stories feel a little dream-like and unpredictable.

Bibliography. Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson. Web Link.

Reading Notes: Native American Hero Tales (Part A)

A bluejay, one of the heroes in this reading. (Pixabay)

I enjoyed this week's reading because it rode the line between realistic and supernatural. Many of the obstacles faced by the heroes were won with wit and the help of others, while others were won with supernatural aid. Sometimes, I was confused by the motivations of characters. For example, I don't know why the Unnatural uncle was allowed to kill any boy he wanted unless they could fight back.

I especially liked "The Attack on The Giant Elk and Great Eagle". It was refreshing to have a story in which the hero is rewarded for persistence in the face of failure. Many times he had to try four times before he was successful in performing part of the plan, which is in contrast to most hero stories of near-immediate success.

Bibliography. Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson. Web Link.

Tech Tip: Motivational Poster

As a tech tip this week I made a motivational poster using this website. I wanted to inspire myself to finish the semester strong!

Photo source: Pexels

Reading Notes: Great Plains (Part B)

Compared to the first part of the reading, this reading had more stories about animals and how they came to be the way that they are. The rabbit seemed to have a consistent character, usually tricky and self-confident. When I write my own story this week, I think that I'll make it about the rabbit.

A rabbit. (Wikipedia)

There were also a number of ghost stories in this section, but they weren't as much guides for the afterlife as they were horror stories. Ghosts in these myths tend to be antagonistic and fear-inspiring. I was most surprised to learn that in at least one legend, ghosts can be shot and wounded. I was confused though, because a shot to the leg appeared to wound the ghost's head.

Bibliography. Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson. Web Link.

Reading Notes: Great Plains (Part A)

This week we're reading Native American myths, and I chose to read stories from the Great Plains. I share a name with one of the tribes! Most of the legends are origin stories, dealing with either the history of the natural world or the history of social traditions. The latter stories read a lot like instruction manuals for how people should behave.

A picture of the Great Plains (Flickr)

I was especially impressed by the number of ghost stories and the diversity of explanations. It seems like becoming a ghost is an inevitable part of the afterlife, and whether you're allowed ghostly lodging or are doomed to roam the earth is dependent on your actions in life. In some cases it depends on the circumstances of death, and in others it depends on the completion of rituals.

Bibliography. Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson. Web Link.

Week 9 Story: The Ever-Shrinking City

Once there was a well-populated fortress city surrounded by acres of open savanna. The people of the city didn’t know much of keeping livestock, and preferred to hunt for their food. For generations this was very lucrative. Bands of hunters would travel the surrounding region with falcons and dogs, always bringing back plenty of meat.

A falconer on a horse. (Wikimedia Commons)

After a while, these hunts would begin to return less and less meat for the city’s population. When at last the once-plentiful large game was made extinct, there was much bickering among the city’s leaders. Some suggested a new vegetarian diet. Others wanted to pack up and move to some untouched land. At last, a magician offered a solution.

“By my magic, I can make this city—and everyone in it—a quarter of the size that it is now. A family might then survive a month on a single prairie dog.”

There was widespread agreement that nobody would be able to tell the difference between the old and new sizes except where hunting was concerned. After all, there were no nearby cities to contend with. So the population agreed that the magician should shrink the city. When he did, all was well for years. People feasted on rats and prairie dogs, but otherwise carried on as though nothing had changed.

Eventually, even the small mammals were driven to extinction and again the city went hungry. The people appealed to the magician to use his magic once more, so that the city would be a thirtieth of its original size. This way, they could live on the plentiful bugs and worms. The magician agreed, and again the city had plenty to eat once the people grew accustomed to eating insects.

Of course, the hunters, with their tiny falcons and dogs, were so effective in their work that there were soon be no bugs to be found nearby. The magician had unfortunately by then drowned in a puddle, so there was no option left but to become a tiny nomadic hunters, clearing distant lands of bugs and vermin.



Author’s note: the Chinese myth “The Little Hunting Dog” features a travelling band of tiny soldiers who hunt down flies and other bugs. The story doesn’t give any explanation about where they come from, so I decided to offer a backstory. The ending of my story is consistent with a common theme of the Chinese myths that I read, which tend to have a “and that’s that” abrupt closing.


Bibliography. The Chinese Fairy Book, edited by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens. Web Link.

Reading Notes: Chinese Fairy Tales (Part B)

Today's reading was thematically similar to Part A in that most stories didn't have a moral message, and were instead just depictions of supernatural events. Many of the stories seemed to end abruptly with a twist, as in the "fox fire" story.

The stories that I enjoyed the most were those which left a lot up in the air. "The Night on the Battlefield" and "The Little Hunting Dog" both included zany supernatural events with little to no explanation as to why. I think this method of storytelling best captures the "otherworldly", because I think we're more drawn in by what we don't know than what we know.

Several stories featured ogres, which seemed much like demons. I thought for sure that the story of "The Maiden Who was Stolen Away" would end up with a Shrek-like ending, but it looks like ogres are reviled enough in these myths that I got my hopes up for nothing.

A Chinese ogre mask. (Flickr)

Bibliography. The Chinese Fairy Book, edited by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens. Web Link.

Reading Notes: Chinese Fairy Tales (Part A)

I was surprised that many of these Chinese fairy tales have no discernible moral message. The story about the father who leaves his daughters in the mountains ends up with a happy ending for everybody, leaving no indication that the father learned any kind of lesson.

The story of "The Panther" was amusing for two reasons. First, it was heavily reminiscent of "Little Red Riding Hood", to the point that there must have been some cross-cultural influence in one of the two stories. Second, the ending of the story called to mind a Tom-and-Jerry-esque skit of physical humor as the panther falls for one pratfall after another.

Lastly, it was interesting that in two of the stories there were said to once have been ten suns. Both stories offer distinct explanations for how the suns were brought down except one, which begs the questions of which story came first or why the ten suns were so significant in myth.

A statue of Guan Di, god of war (Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography. The Chinese Fairy Book, edited by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens. Web Link.

Week 8 Progress

While I feel good about my progress, my work schedule has become a little "last minute" for most assignments. I definitely have not been following the schedule outline that I set up at the beginning of the semester and instead tend to do things on their due date. That said, I've done every assignment except for one writing, and have done plenty of extra credit to make up for it.

Now that we're in the home stretch, I'm thinking about taking a week to really focus on this class and crank out a lot of the work. I think that over spring break I can do the last 4 weeks of readings, which should take a huge load off the rest of the semester.

A motivational quote. (Wikimedia commons)

I found the above picture while searching for something about motivation, and think it captures my mindset. A lot of stuff has to get done whether that's now or later, so it might as well be now!

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

I think that the feedback in this class has been helpful not only as a way to get critique of my writing, but as a motivator to do well. The grades in this class are based on completion, and I'm honestly not sure that I'd be motivated to give it my all if not for the fact that other people in the class read my work. That said, the critiques themselves have also been helpful, as I can get a gauge of what's working and what really isn't.

I think that I have been able to give honest and sincere feedback on other people's stories. I think that if I struggle its in giving constructive feedback instead of flat praise. It's really easy to tell someone they did a great job and really hard to offer suggestions for improvement. Overall, I think I've struck a decent balance and hope that the other people in my class get something out of my feedback.

Blog comments have been a fun way to get to know the personalities behind the stories. I think getting to know our classmates has helped us in the other areas of the class. I do think that, to a degree, the introductions are effective in helping us get a sense of one another. I'm not sure that my "online" personality is the same as my "in person" personality, but it counts for something!

I think that I'm on the right track with my feedback and comments and will strive to continue giving quality thoughts to others about their work. As far as my blog goes, I do think that I'll continue to do "tech tips" as the ones that I have done have made my blog better (and have given me a grade buffer!)

A quality cat meme from Growth Mindset Resources.

We were asked to find an image that captures our thoughts on the importance of feedback. The above image is a great example, and speaks to the importance of feedback as a collaborative exercise by which we help each other reach new heights.

Week 8 Reading and Writing

I've enjoyed most of the readings that I've done in this class, and I think that a big part of that is the freedom to choose what we read. There's been a couple times that I've started a story only to pick another one halfway through. So far, my favorite story has probably been the legend of Rasa Rasalu. I think his adventures are hilarious because of how wildly powerful he is. The reader is made to feel like the world is just a playground for this guy.

A painting of Psyche and her adoring crowd, created by Luca Giordano (Wikimedia Commons)

I definitely have a soft spot for the classical paintings inspired by greek and roman myth, so I liked the opportunity to see a lot of those over the two weeks that we covered this mythology. Above is one that I think is especially cool!

Looking ahead, I think I want to really seek out readings that help me to write my storybook. I'd love to base more of the creatures and magic on existing mythology! I've started to do that already, but there's always room for more.

Week 7 Story: To Trap a Tanuki

A tanuki in a forest. (pxhere)

A lone traveler on his journey through a forest once encountered a tanuki sleeping against the trunk of a tree.

"What luck!" he said to himself, "If I capture this wily beast, he will have to teach me his magic."

So the traveler drew rope around the tanuki's limbs before it could wake up, and as the tanuki was roused from slumber he hung the magical animal from a low branch.

The tanuki spoke angrily after assessing its situation, "Man, undo these restraints! Do you not know that we tanuki are endangered? I fear you will face a great fine if you intend to slay me."

The clever traveler called the tanuki's bluff, knowing these creatures to be clever and dishonest. "Nonsense! I don't intend to slay you, but I demand you teach me your transformative magic before I let you go."

The tanuki thought briefly, then smiled wide. "It's a deal, Man. First, I will teach you how to transform into a fox."

The tanuki taught the man a secret motion and incantation, and no sooner did he try it for himself than he became a fox. the foxy traveler howled in excitement, "Oh wise tanuki, teach me another form!"

"With pleasure, but I first ask that you free me from this uncomfortable position."

The once-man-now-fox undid the knots that bound the tanuki to the branch, and it gracefully dropped to the forest floor. "Thank you, kind Man. Now, I will teach you how to become a hare."

As before, the traveler copied the motions and incantations taught to him by the tanuki and so became a hare. He excitedly spoke, "Friendly tanuki, you've taught me much. If you show me but one more form, I will be content to let you sleep."

The tanuki grinned mischievously, though the once-"once-man-now-fox"-now-hare didn't notice. "For your final lesson, I will teach you how to become a bird."

Just as quickly as the hare followed the instructions and became a bird, the tanuki lept forward and gobbled up its winged prey. Licking its lips, it returned to sleep, muttering softly about the foolishness of men.



Author's Note: Tanuki are real animals also called "raccoon dogs", but they hold a special place in Japanese myth as magical tricksters with transformative powers. In the original stories, tanuki transform into everything from kettles to human beings, and are always causing trouble. In my story, I blended in an "Icarus-esque" moral lesson about quitting while you're ahead, especially when dealing with something as dangerous as a tanuki.

Bibliography: The Crimson Fairy Book by Andrew Lang. Web Source.