Elizabeth DiSalvatore - Myth-Folklore

The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales    continued. The Fox and the Cat   was a short little story. I think I would have fun rewriting this one too! These characters reminded me of the fox and the cat in the tale Pinocchio! Death's Messengers   was another interesting tale. One thing I have liked about these stories is how easy it is to picture them as cartoon stories. In the first sentence they talk about a giant with dialogue and I can immediately picture a giant stomping around and saying those words. I would love to learn to write like that! I also found the last few stories of this unit over Adam and Eve a fun comparison to the Adam and Eve unit I read earlier in the semester. Pinocchio Source: Wiki Images

I enjoyed reading these stories, for my story book involves many of the Grimm Brother's stories. I enjoyed researching them and their stories, so I thought it would be fun to read some more of their stories like the ones in this unit! Little Red Cap (Hood) Source: Wiki Images   The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales    was full of fun stories. As I read them I could picture them being turned into a cartoon, like many of their stories have been! I see what Disney has brought so many of his stories to life! When I read the title " Little Red Cap"   I wondered if this story was the inspiration of Little Red Riding Hood. As I continued to read the story, I discovered that my acquisitions were correct!    This story was almost identical to the Little Red Riding Hood we know today. I had never thought about how ridiculous this story was in the past, but this time I did notice that there was a moral to the story - to stay on the path and not to...

Alice and the Queen Source: Pixabay  The way Alice talks to herself is very comical. When reading the  Advice from the Caterpillar    sections, I was entertained by the caterpillars character. He was different than the movie, but also displayed some of the same character traits. There were so many new characters int he sections following. I did not remember them being in the movie. My favorite part of this reading was the Mad Tea Party . I enjoyed reading the bickering between Alice and the Mad Hatter. Alice and the Hatter have such strong personalities, it was very entertaining to read their conversations.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. I enjoyed reading this old story again. When I was little I was not a fan of this story, mostly because I found most of the characters to be scary. However, reading this story again made me appreciate this story. I found it interesting how much Alice talks to herself. Her personality in this story is very different than the films make her out to be. I am still brainstorming what I am going to do for this story. Alice and Wonderland is such a long story I am not sure how I will write a short one. Alice and the Rabbit Source: Pixabay  

This week I am reading stories from Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson. These are part of the Native American Marriage Tales unit. These stories were wild!!!  There were many parts of these stories that were absurd such as a girl being taking by an eagle and escaping by tying s string of baby bird's wings together to get down to a kayaker who took her home to her family ( The Eagle and Whale Husbands ).  One story, The Fox-Woman  was of a fox that transformed into a wife when he went into this man's house, and she did all the chores. The man caught the fox one day and they decided to live together until the man questioned the fox-woman's oder. The fox was offended and left, never to return. This story was short and would be fun to rewrite later this week. If I were to rewrite it, I would use two different animals and come up with a lesson that is suppose to be learned from the story. Writing a story about an animal/human being with a human is ...

These stories also all come from  Myths and Legends of Alaska ,  edited by Katharine Berry Judson. The readings from Part B were much shorter than the ones in Part A, but not any less exciting. These stories still discussed creation of people and legends that describe different environmental behaviors. For example, The Boy in the Moon was a story about how the moon and sun was created. I think this story would be a fun one to rewrite because it is short and explains a story of something that it relatable to all people. The Wolves and the Deer is a story about why deer are now afraid of wolves. There was a feast and they both say each other laugh. The wolves notices that the deer had no teeth and the deer noticed that the wolves had sharp teeth. This made the wolves eager to eat the deer and the deer afraid of wolves. This story was short, and the dialogue was comical. Alaskan Moon Source: Pixabay Images

The stories I read this week come from Myths and Legends of Alaska , edited by Katharine Berry Judson. The first four stories were all parts of   The Raven Myth . This was a very interesting creation story. Man came from a pea pod on the beach and the creator was a man that had the ability to turn into a Raven. The Raven created Woman and all the animals. The Raven taught the people how to sleep and eat. He also taught them about each animal, and which to be careful of. More men fell fro the pea pod, but he took them to a different place and taught them how to hunt. These stories were very entertaining and a fun legend. I would love to research this legend more! I am not sure I would want to write my own story based on this because it is so long and complex, but I loved reading it and I can't wait to research it some more. The Raven seems to be the "God Like" creator in most of the stories. One story, The Flood  , is a story about when the Raven got angry and decid...

For this weeks reading, I decided to explore readings from the Congo. These stories all came from Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort which is a collection of stories collected in the late 19th century by R.E. Bennett. These stories were full of motifs and many stories involved the wife as the main character. One of my favorites was How the Gazelle Got Married . Many of this tales from the Congo were about discovering the Princess's name in order to marry her. In this story, a dog and his master try over and ever to discover their names. It was entertaining and a fun read! The Wicked Husband was also a fun one, but boy was it wild! A husband got mad at his wife, and took her to the woods and cut off her arms and legs and left her there. Eventually, the King heard rumor of this and ordered all the husbands to bring their wives to him. When the husband could not they had him killed and then cooked both him and his wife over the fire. MORBID!!! My favorite story from this secti...

I am continuing to read Nigerian Folk Tales in order to obtain a better understanding of them for my story writing next week!  These stories come from  Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria  by Elphinstone Dayrell. I have thoroughly enjoyed this Nigerian Unit! These include many animal tales, which are always some of my favorite. I love that these stories tell what animals have a certain behavior, like why hippos live in water or why worms live underground . The tale of the worms is a story about ants vs. worms, where the ants lost and were scared of all living things so they retreated under ground. Sometime tales will have several titles because they tell of many animal behaviors. One story told of why elephants have small eyes, why worms are bling, and is also referred to as The Elephant and the Tortoise.  Perhaps my favorite story to read an animal behavior that was explained was Why a Hawk Kills Chickens.    This story was full of personality, attri...

I have loved the stories from this unit! These stories come from  Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria  by Elphinstone Dayrell. These folk stories are interesting because the tend to tell a story of why something is the way it is today. The first one I read,  The Lightning and the Thunder   was an a story about a mother sheep (thunder) and her son (lightning). This story explained why there is thunder and lightning and why it all occurs in the sky. This story might be one that I choose to rewrite with other characters. I enjoyed  The Affair of the Hippopotamus and the Tortoise .  This story explained why the hippo lives in water. I would enjoy writing a story that explains why something is the way it is today. A lot of these stories involve a Hippopotamus, so when I write my story this week, I believe that I will use Hippos. I am not sure what reason I am going to try to explain via folktale, but I do know that hippos will be involved. Another st...

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...

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  

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 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...

While I enjoyed all the stories, perhaps the one that was most engaging to me was the Trickster story. Trickster stories are fun and show a lot of personality! With my minor in IAS I love reading about different cultures, and I think that it will be fun to compare and contrast Trickster stories from different regions and cultures. The Tiger, The Braham, and the Jackal  was a fun read from a famous folktale of India. I enjoyed how descriptive this story was. I could picture the emotions of the character. For example, when the Braham was nervous the author describe him as "his knees knocked together with fright" and I could picture the Brahams stature. I think it would be fun to write a Trickster story, and I might try it out this week! The Tiger, The Braham, and the Jackal Source: Illustration by John Batten   Since I was a kid, I have always loved Fairy Tales. They are full of adventure and there are many different versions based on culture and region! I enjoyed the ...

I enjoyed skimming through many units for this assignments. There are so many options it is going to be hard to pick one! I am interested in reading some Italian Popular Tales due to my heritage and the amount of time I have spent studying in Italy. The unit over Saints and Animals also sounds interesting to me. I am not catholic, and have always found the idea of Saints hard to understand, so I would like to see what I would learn through units in this story. I also love animals, so why not read some stories that use animals for explanation. Lastly, I enjoyed the unit over The Congo.  Recently, I watched a new movies called Tarzan - the one with real people, not the Disney one - and it took place in the Congo. This movie provoked my interested in the historical era of this film. I started to research this time frame for fun, and I found it very interesting. I would like to see what folklore is out there about this era! Tarzan Source: Flickr  images