Elizabeth DiSalvatore - Myth-Folklore

Author's Note: This story comes from a Bengali folktale. Ghost are so prevalent in Bengali culture, that there are several types of ghosts that are responsible for different actions. It is believed that the spirits of people who could not find peace in the afterlife or died of unnatural deaths such as murder, suicide, or accident, remained on Earth.  In  The Story of the Brahmadaitya   by Rev. Lal Behari, a ghost is indeed a main character.  In this particular story, the "Brahmadaitya" is a ghost of a Brahman who dies unmarried. From my research, I discovered that a Braymadaitya is one of the most popular kind of ghost in Bengal and are believed to be benevolent. In this story, a poor Brahman befriends a Brahmadaitya who helps the Brahman become prosperous and in the end the Brahmadaitya's duties are accomplished and he ascends into the heavens, and everyone lives happily ever after. This story ends the same way many of the Bengali Folktales do, with the ...

I love animal tales and fairy tales! My Story book is about Italian fairy tales, so I thought it would be good to have other regional fairy tales to compare them to. These will also give me examples of how to write my own. These stories come from "Persian Tales" which was translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer. The Wolf and the Goat was a fun ready! Especially because it is a parallel to a Brothers Grimm story. Most of Brothers Grimm's stories come from the Pentamerone, a collection of Italian fairy tales. This story reminded me a little bit of the wolf and the three little piggies. Goat Source: Flickr The WolfAunt is an exciting story about a werewolf! This story is based in Iran. I noticed that this story started out the same way as The Wolf and the Goat  with the phrase "Once upon a time there was a time where there was no one but God". This story also ended with the same phrase "And now my story has come to an end, but the sparrow neve...

I continued to read stories from Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas. The Tiger and the Cat   is a story or maybe you could call it a legend about why tigers and leopards now eat raw food and dogs. It was a very interesting story that was all over the place. This story was helpful for gaining information on how to write about tigers, for they are going to be the main characters in my story this week. The Elephants and the Ants was a funny, short story. The story tells what the lesson is at the end. I found it very peculiar. However, I am learning a lot about the culture of the Santal by reading all these short stories. A common theme is that the stories either teach a lesson or explain why something is the way that it is in current day. The Elephant and the Ant Source: Holtz Images 

I chose reading from the Santal region, for they were known to have stories filled with animals and tricksters. The first story I read was Ledha and the Leopard which came from Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas. This story was all over the place, and I could not predict where it was going. One minute Ledha was being hunted by a leopard and the next by a woman who found his hairs in the river and decided she wanted to marry him. I enjoyed reading it, but I think coming up with a story this complicated would be very challenging for me. The Oilman's Bullock was another interesting story. The bullock asked to fight the king's elephant to win his master some money so that his master would set him free. The animals fought, but it was a very short descriptive fight. I wonder how the story would be different if the fight was longer and more specific? The bullock won, but then the story ended abruptly saying he died a month later. Just when I thought these s...

From reading many stories of the Bengali culture, I noticed a common theme - most of the stories contained ghosts. I decided to look up the significance of this on wikipedia . Turns out, ghost play an important rule in Bengali folklore. Even in contemporary stories such as movies and televisions, ghost are often incorporated. It is believed that the spirits of people who could not find peace in the afterlife or died of unnatural deaths such as murder, suicide, or accident, remained on Earth. It is also believed that other animals and creature can be turned into ghost after their death. The common word for ghosts in Bengali is "bhoot" This word also means "past". Ghost are so prevalent in Bengali culture, that there are several types of ghost that are responsible for different types of actions. In  The Story of the Brahmadaitya   by Rev. Lal Behari, a ghost is indeed a main character. The author's notes explains the "Brahmadaitya" is a ghost of a Bra...

I used imgflip.com to make this meme. This was a lot of fun, and I plan on using memes more often now that I know how. What a fun was to earn extra credit! Spongebob's face says it all!

As I read through the rest of the Bengali unit, I discovered that the antagonist in most of the stories was a woman, and more often than not involves ghosts. In The Ghostly Wife   by Rev.   Lal Behari Day, a ghost hides the Brahman's wife in a tree and steals her clothes and pretends to be the Brahman's wife. Eventually he notices and brings someone to get ride of her and find his wife. I liked that this story, unlike many of the others, did not have any deaths and it ended happy. In The Story of the Brahmadaitya by Rev. Lal Behari, a ghost is indeed a main character. A "Brahmadaitya" is a ghost of a Brahman who dies unmarried. A poor Brahman befriends a Brahmadaitya who helps the Brahman become prosperous and in the end the Brahmadaitya's duties are accomplished and everyone lives happily ever after. This story ends the same way The Ghostly Wife does, with the phrase "The Brahman lived happily for man years, begetting sons and grandsons". I think...

I chose to read stories from the Bengal region of India. The Ghost-Brahman   by Rev. Lal Behari was an interesting story! I enjoyed the dialogue and the plot with a twist at the end. I enjoy trickster stories, and I think writing one based on this model would be enjoyable. The Boy whom Seven Mothers Suckled    by Rev. Lal Behari Day, was honestly horrendous! There was so much carnivorism in this story, its repulsing! While I enjoyed reading it, I will most likely not be writing a story like this one, for I think it would be challenging to come up with a story with so much tragedy inter-twinned. 7 Mangos from The Boy whom Seven Mothers Suckled story. Source: Food and Love Images  

https://sites.google.com/view/italian-fairytales/home Italian Vineyard Source: Wine Folly

Animals All Aboard Source: Cobble Hill  Bibliography: Genesis CH. 5-11, Kings James bible Author's Note: I took the biblical story of Noah's Ark and wrote it from the animal's point of view. In the original story, God is unhappy with humanity and comes to Noah who is favorable. God gives Noah detailed instructions on how to build an Ark and He makes a covenant with Noah. Noah obeys God, and himself, his wife, the rest of his family board the ark, and a male and female of every pure creature on early board the ark. It rains for 40 days and 40 nights, and every living creature on early who isn't on the boat perishes. The flood last 150 days, then the ark is docked until the Lord summons them all off the ark. God then promises never to destroy the earth again. He reminds Noah of his domain over the animals, and instructs all living creatures to be fruitful and multiply. I decided to write this story from the animal's point of view.  Animals All Aboard  One ...

I love the Ellen show. However, I am always busy at 4pm when it comes on. YouTube is always quick to put up Ellen's best videos. I did not know how to create a YouTube Playlist - but thanks to this week's Tech Tip I now know how to! I made a short playlist of Ellen Videos!  <iframe width="400" height="400" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AcMmLmvOYTo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> I have only used YouTube to upload videos for school assignments, though I wish I was funny and creative enough to make my own videos! I have not created playlist in the past, but I look forward to doing that in the future now that I know how. For the most part, I just use youtube to look up music videos and movie trailers. I also use it to study. If I am confused on a topic, I YouTube it to find videos to help teach me. Now I can make playlist of good instructional videos!

The readings from this unit were very different from the first half of the readings. I was familiar with the biblical readings of Noah, but I was not familiar with the ones from The Legends of the Jews   by Louis Ginzberg. The Holy Book is a story from Ginzberg's book about how Noah was given the knowledge to build the ark. This story was interesting to read and compare to the biblical story. The Inmates of the Ark ,  another story of Ginzberg's, described how the animals came to Noah and his ark. This story will help me in writing my story from the animal's point of view.The next chapter,  The Flood , is an account of the time spent on the ark during the flood. It provides insight to the challenges that occurred on the boat, and how Noah had to feed some animals during the day, and others at night. This information can be used when writing my account of Noah's ark. Animals Approaching Noah's Ark Source: LDS Media Library 

The Ark ,   The Flood , & After the Flood   and other stories about Noah   from Genesis, King James Bible: I enjoyed reading about Noah's story. I was reminded of all the activities I did when I was younger in Sunday school to learn about the story. In Sunday school the story seems full of life, and focused less on the amount of death that occurred. Rereading stories as you age is valuable, for you pick up on different elements of the story. I think it would be interesting to write this story from the animal's point of view. I would write dialogue between the animals, and give their perspective during this story. I will enjoy switching between different animals and their thoughts on the flood and the environment they are placed in on the ark. The Ark in Space - Source: Wiki Images 

I had so much fun reading through Italian Fairy tales! I read several from The Pentamerone. Most of them involved animals, which is an element that I really enjoy! The She-Bear    was a fun read! A dying queen begs her husband to only remarry if the women is as beautiful as she was. After many years the King decided that he could only marry his daughter because only she was as beautiful as his first wife. The daughter did not want to marry her father so an elderly woman gave her a chip of wood that was suppose to change her into a bear. When she was summed to marry her father she ate the piece of wood. While the daughter was in the woods, she met a prince who was astounded by her gentleness and he took her home. One day, the daughter took out the piece of wood and the prince saw her and fell in love. The princes mother did not understand why he loves this bear, and ordered the bear to be killed. However, the servants were also taken with her gentleness and released her into...

The Fall of Man  by Michelangelo - Source: Wiki Images And I thought, "I shall depict both scenarios in my painting. One of temptation and one of protection." So I painted a tree as the focal point. The branches would represent good and evil. On the left I painted a serpent man, calling out to Eve, tempting her to join him in the knowledge of good and evil. On the right I painted an angel, guarding Adam and Eve from the tree. I debated placing a sword in her hand, for most angels are not thought of with a sword, but in the end decide it was appropriate. I gave her a soft face, one that a loving mother would give a son after he made a mistake. Now I need to paint Adam and Eve on each side. In the light I painted Adam first. To keep in context of the story, he would need to be naked, but not ashamed of his appearance. I painted the sword the angel was holding up to Adam's next. Adam's face showed a look of remorse as his head turned away from the tree. I pain...

I have enjoyed reading stories from The Forgotten Book of Eden ,  edited by Rutherford H. Platt, Jr (1926).  The story, The Beasts of the Creation , was my favorite one to read. The story starts with Adam and Eve weeping to God and forming a parental type bond with Him. God has pity on them and reminds them that He has not forsaken them. Adam pleads with God and tells Him that he is terrified of leaving the garden, for surely the beasts of the world would devour him. God reassures Adam that He is in control, and commanded all the beasts to be familiar with Adam and Eve. All the beasts, except the serpent came to Adam and Eve. After leaving the garden Adam and Eve noticed a river that came from beneath the tree of life. Adam and Eve were at an all time low and considered falling in that river to remove themselves from creation and end their lives. The chapter ends here. If you did not read the end of the chapter, you would think that this was a morbid end to a story a...

For this week's reading I decided to dive into the topic of Adam and Eve and the creation. For part A I read The Creation and The Fall from Genesis, King James Bible . The rest of the stories were from The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg (1909). I found the story The Ideal Man   very interesting, for it described Adam in far more detail than any version of the bible I have read. The story talk about Adam's decedents, describing features of Adam that they inherited, but none of them compared to him. Even his wife Eve was "but an ape compared with Adam". The story continues to tell the story of God breathing life into Adam, and placing all these responsibilities on him. This story gives Adam a lot more credit than the Bible does, alluding that it was Adam who vented language, writing, named all the animals, and even decided which part of the world people would inhabit! I think it would be fun to write a version of the Creation story of Adam and Eve from Mi...

I enjoyed this assignment, for constructive criticism is something that I think everyone needs to practice learning from. I found Eight things students should do when they make a mistake   interesting. I think all of the information was relevant to students, and should be taught to us our freshman year. Topics like "Balance is key" and "Find a support group" are critical things to learn starting your freshman year, or even before in high school. Perhaps my favorite piece of advice from this unit was "Proceed with kindness". It suggested that we talk to ourselves the way we would give advice to a friend. I liked this because I feel like we are all often too hard on ourselves. I also enjoyed The Psychology of Comparison and How to Stop it.   We live in a world that is constantly comparing each other, especially on social media. It is hard to stay focused on your own goals and not feel as though you are not good enough because you don't get as many l...

For my project I think I am going to go the Portfolio route. I am interested in too many different areas to narrow my scope. I am excited to read about many different cultures and write my own stories! I love studying other cultures and will probably write a story based on a different culture for each post. Below are the four topics that have caught my eye. I have studied abroad in Italy twice now, and my family is very Italian. Therefore, I think I would enjoy writing at least one of my stories based on Italian culture. I have found several of the Italian Popular Tales interesting! I think it would be fun to combine several of the popular tales into one story! I had so much fun writing Trickster stories that I would like to include another one of those in my project. For this story I think I will base it off of S tories from the Congo.  As I said last week, I have been very interested in that region since I recently watched a movie based in that region. I would enjoy researc...

The Shark, the Sting Ray, and the Manatee Once upon a time, a shark was caught in a fishing net. The greedy shark belly rolled and belly rolled but only seemed to make his situation worse. In despair, he let out a large sigh knowing that he indeed was stuck. A charming Sting Ray came swimming by. "Sting Ray, help me out of this net would ya?" yelled the Shark. "Why would I do that?" the Sting Ray yelled in response. "You always bully people of my kind and act as though you own these waters." "Oh dear, I am so sorry you feel that way. I promise I do not mean to come off that way. If you help me out, I promise I will be more kind and leave all of you and your buddies alone for as lone as I live!" the Shark pleaded. The gluttonous shark wailed and besought help from the Sting Ray. The charismatic Sting Ray was too easy to win over. Once the Shark said that he would be more kind and leave him and his buddies alone, the Sting Ray foolishly be...