Myth-Folklore Fall 2017

        From the first story in this section, I liked the idea of a kind person getting the best out of life. I'd write of three brothers, two handsome but cruel, and the third ugly but kind. The most beautiful woman in the land would draw their eyes. Though the handsome brothers tried for her hand, the kind one would win it instead.         I did not like that the prince/king in the second story betrayed his beloved. If I wrote of this, I'd have him be loyal and anger his father. Or he would betray her and she would exact her revenge. I'm not sure what the purpose of the eleven clones was.         For the next story, I'd write about the witch's perspective instead of the couple's. I'd write a sort of prequel, giving the background of the witch. I'd explain how her love had hurt her when she was young so she holed herself away and took out her anger on other lovers who came near. (Sad Witch in the Woods, Source: Flickr )         I generally lik

        In "The Frog Prince," I do not like that the princess tried to betray the frog in this way. I would rewrite this in one of two ways. In the first, the frog would be a witch/wizard who would punish the princess when she refused to hold up her end of the bargain. The other option would be to make the princess kind and thoughtful. Without doubt or hesitation, she would've brought the frog back to her palace upon the return of her ball.         It would be fun to rewrite "Rapunzel" in a more modern setting. I'd have a young couple in love be forbidden by the girl's parents. Years later, they would be reunited and able to overcome her parents' ill wishes.         In my opinion, the story of "The Straw, the Coal, and the Bean" would have been better if the characters were people or animals. I would've written it as three animals escaping a hunter together, but the bickering of two of them ended up getting them killed. The last w

        The first story was very repetitive. These types of stories tend to annoy me a little bit. Most of the story is just repeated terms or names. I think it's supposed to sound nice and rhythmic, but it's not for me. I would rather have more plot.         The next story was better. I thought it was strange that the older sisters let Molly go on these dangerous missions for them. I would make it so that the older sister was the one taking care of her younger sisters. This would make more sense as to why the girl felt obligated to take care of her siblings. I did not like that she intended for the wife of the giant to be harmed. She had never expressed bad intentions toward the girls. And what kind of king sends a little girl to steal for him?? Surely, he is rich enough if he has a kingdom.         I really enjoyed the story of Mr. Fox. It had a flow and rhyme to it that was very satisfying. I liked that the protagonist found what her fate would be before it was too lat

        The second story reminded me a lot of my story, Goldenrod. Both of the girls have beautiful golden hair and wicked stepmothers. I wish the girl in this story could have lived to get her revenge. The idea of coming back as a bird to finish her unsettled business was interesting.         In another story, a woman kills her sister because her husband lusts after her. I would love to write this as a sort of ghost story. The sister haunts her sister for her actions for the rest of time.         The story of Tom Tit Tot was very similar to the one of Rumpelstiltskin. It would be fun to combine parts of each into something new. I'd love for a normal woman to offer to help the girl instead of an odd creature. This woman might be infertile and unable to have children, so she asks the girl for her first-born child in return for saving her life for 30 days. I always wondered what that little man wanted with an infant human.         I thought Cap o' Rushes' father was a

        Mr. Murphy Johnson had the biggest farm in the county. Every year, his crops outnumbered his neighbors, and they were better quality too. He made lots of money from this and used it to build a beautiful home on his land. His wife died when his son Thomas was born, so he raised the boy all on his own. Tom was as cute as could be, but there was always something a little off about him. He was dumb as dirt. When Tom grew into a young man, his father gave him seven cows to take care of. Tom did a nice job of caring for the cows and the land. He would surely make a good farmer. Mr. Murphy passed away shortly after this, but Tom continued on with caring for the farm.         The neighbors knew about Tom's impairment and thought it would be easy to take advantage of him. Surely it wouldn't really hurt anyone because Tom's father had left him so much money and land. One morning, Mr. Glen, the neighbor from the south side of the farm, was looking at the cows. He asked Tom fo

In the first story, a farmer needs someone to plough his fields. A mysterious man shows up and offers to do the job for a fair price. He has an odd way of going about his work and then tries to scam the farmer out of his crops. I like the mystery of the man and still don't entirely understand him. I also like that he tried to trick the farmer, but that he was not able to do so in the end. I might turn this story around where the farmer is the one in the wrong. The next story is of a nice humpbacked man. The fairies like him and remove his hump. Another humpbacked man hears of this, but he is not kind so the fairies give him another hump instead of removing one. I'd like to write this as a story of a kind person with a physical deformity who saves the life of a surgeon- like pushing him out of the way of a moving car. The surgeon would repay this person by fixing their deformity. The following story is about a boy who runs away from home and lives with beings similar to

The first story was very sad. A king's wife dies after giving him four children. He remarries her sister, but she is so jealous of his love for his children that she turns them into swans. They reverted back to their human forms right before they died. I did not think the second wife's jealousy was enough to make her want to harm the children. They were her niece and nephews. I could rewrite this as the children being wicked. I could also have the children play a prank on their stepmother, and in her anger the she changes them into swans. I would want the children to be able to return to their human form earlier in this scenario than the original story. The next story told of a man with unending hunger due to a beast residing inside of him. A scholar was able to lure it out with temptations of endless amazing food. I thought about writing of an overweight man with an insatiable hunger. His wife finally becomes tired of his constant whining for more food and cuts him open.

        The first story is a sort of story within a story. I like this style usually, but this one did not impress me. It was about a boy and girl who were the only humans in an entirely animal world. The boy was angry at the sun so he caught it in a noose. The dormouse, a huge creature at the time, was given the task of freeing the sun and almost all of him was burned away in the process of chewing through the noose. I liked the idea of two siblings being alone and sort of lost in the wilderness. I might try to combine this with the trickery of the coyote. Instead of the boy being angry with the sun, he could be mad at the coyote for tricking him.         The second story is about how a fisher brought summer, fall, and spring to an originally bitter world of winter. He opened a hole into the world above ours where it is always warm. He was killed for the act and remains in the stars. I like the idea of an origin story for the seasons. I might make up my own. I could write that me

        In the second story, a man is determined to fight the powerful north wind. He wins and the moral of the story is that "Cheerfulness and courage can overcome even the North Wind." I felt that the man was foolish to think he could overcome something so powerful. Everyone and everything fled from this force and he believed that he was better than all of them. I know that attitude and confidence go a long way, but they have their limits. I would rewrite this with the man losing and learning his lesson of being overconfident.         The third story is about two children who get stuck on top of a big rock. Many animals try to reach them, but are unable. The worm is able to reach them and bring them to safety despite the other animals' doubts. I like the idea of the small and the bullied saving the day. I would like to turn this story into one about a group of boy scouts. They get lost in the woods and none of the big popular boys are able to figure out a way home,

Edit: This story has been transferred to my Portfolio . Click here to view the most up to date version.         Once, there was a beautiful baby girl born to a kind couple. They adored her and she grew up knowing she was loved. She was named Goldenrod for the color of her hair. Around the age of ten, the girl's mother died of a mysterious and unknown disease. Her father traveled much and quickly remarried so the girl would not be alone. He specifically chose a woman with children so his daughter would have someone to play with. This stepmother and her children were very cruel to Goldenrod. She grew into a young woman in this way. One day, the stepmother complained that she was very hungry and ordered her stepdaughter to kill a deer for their supper. The girl did not know how to hunt, but took a small dagger and went into the woods anyways. She knew there was no reasoning with her stepmother.         While in the woods, Goldenrod encountered a handsome man. She explained her

        I did not like, in the first story, how the village left the girl to die even though her pregnancy was not her fault. The story says the dog laid with her without her knowledge every night. I would change this so that they did not abandon her, but no one wanted to marry her as she was seen dirty for lying with a dog. She would live alone on the outskirts of the village and the others would only notice her and her family when the whales built up on the shore.         Of the second story, I liked the idea of revival and being able to sustain others with your own body without dying. It would be an interesting piece to use in my story, but I'm not sure what else to do with this tale. I really didn't like the way the man left his family for another one when he just happened across them in the woods. I think it would have been better if it had been a trap, and after luring him away from his family, the deer turned the tables and killed the hunter.         I understand t

        In the first story, I did not like the man. It clearly says that he took advantage of the buffalo-cow. If she had been a human, this would be called rape. Later, he tries to hit her with a stick from a fire. I would love to change the ending of this story. After the wife and child fled, and he pursued them, I would write that the child did not help his father. I would not have him be revived. Let him be trampled to death! Let the woman/buffalo-cow and her child live in peace.         In the next story, there was lots of senseless murder. I'm not sure why the characters had such hatred for one another. It would be fun to write this as a kind of diary entry of one of Doe's children.         The next story is about a beautiful girl who is wanted by a couple different men. They are not good to her, so she has to run from them. I would write this in a similar, but more modern way.  A girl lives with her father and many brothers. Several men propose to her, but knowing

        In one of the small plains of Oklahoma, an old woman dwelt in a dilapidated shack. Every person who lived in the area knew her to be a cannibal. They spread rumors of how those who enter her shack never depart. Youths were told stories of her stealing away bad children in the middle of the night. Her reality was far from their tales. She was once a beautiful woman with a kind husband and wonderful children.          One night, long ago, they were all murdered. Bandits broke into their home, gathered them together in the back room, and slaughtered them. No one was near enough to hear their screams. The woman's soul was unable to pass into the next world due to the hate and terrible violence of the crime. Her family passed on, but she was trapped there. Part of her curse to remain among the living was her inability to reenter the room where she died. She could not even set her family to rest in the ground. The bodies of her loved ones rotted slowly and their blood dried ont

        In the first story, a priest stumbles upon the home of a goblin/old woman, although he does not know this. He asks for shelter and is instructed by the goblin to not peer into the back room. Curiosity gets the best of him and he find the bodies of the goblin's victims in the room. He escapes in the nick of time. I was confused as to why the goblin/woman tried to convince him not to stay with her. Surely, if she had wanted to eat him, she would have done everything in her power to keep him there. Also, why did she sit and speak with him civilly and mysteriously instruct him to stay away from the room when she knew this would pique his curiosity. It would be interesting to write this from the goblin's/old woman's perspective to uncover her motivations.         The second story tells of a knight who fights an ogre and severs its arm. He worries it will come for its arm, so he hides it away in a strong box, vowing to never show anyone. The ogre disguises itself as

        In the first story, a king asks for help from a hero to defeat his enemy. The hero agrees and does his job. The king rewards him with several incredible gifts. I like the idea of bestowing gifts that keep on giving. I could write a story of a homeless girl who begs for money. A woman offers her money in return for her labor. She requires the girl to farm, cook, and sew. When she learns these tasks, she has skills which she will be able to use to earn money for the rest of her life.         The second story tells of an incredibly strong boy who lives in the woods with his mother. A man with connections to the military offers him an honorary position to put his strength to good use. I would like to rewrite this as the story of a very intelligent little boy in a rough area. His family has little money as his mother is single and can't find good work. He knows he can't afford college and plans to work to help his mother. A man notices his intelligence and offers a scholar

        I'd say I've kept up with the work in this class pretty well. It's hard for me to stick to a strict schedule because the load for each course changes each week. For example, if I have an exam on Friday, I might try to get my story done earlier in the week so I have more time to study Thursday night. The assignment we had due for Wednesday this week was actually the first post I've forgotten to do. I had two exams that day, so I think I was just a bit distracted. I haven't taken advantage of the extra credit yet, but I think I will this week to make up for my mistake. I wish that I had gotten a week ahead when the semester first started. I'm a bit stressed doing the bare minimum now, so I'm not sure if I could work ahead at this point. (Image Information: Midterms Source: Flickr )         I might try to do more extra credit in future weeks. I'd also like to try to work a little bit ahead when I have free time, but I'm not sure when th

        For the most part, the feedback comments I've received have been helpful. Most people try to say something nice, but also point out things that could make my stories better. Sometimes I'll get one that suggests I do something I've already done or asks me to explain something I've already explained. These are less helpful because I know the reader wasn't really paying attention. I do try to go back and see if I can make the object of the comment clearer.         I try to do for other students what I like them to do for my posts. Point out nice things, but also gently suggest edits that could make a post better. I do get ideas from other stories sometimes, especially for ways to write a story. I often just rewrite a story, but other students get more creative and continue the story, or make it something completely new.         I like the laid-back feel of this class. It makes it easier to socialize with others without pressure. The introduction posts make it

        So far, I've really enjoyed this class. Most of the readings have been really interesting. Sometimes, I get in a hurry to do my reading notes, and I don't enjoy reflecting on the stories as much. When writing my reading notes, I try to think about aspects of a story that I enjoy and write them down. Then, I can think of an outline for a story I might want to write, which I make note of for future reference.         I really like the way my project is going. I thought it would be a lot more stressful, but it's very laid back and I get plenty of feedback and time for editing. I think the first story turned out pretty well. I'm excited to see what else I can come up with for my next one. I like the way that I don't have to focus on a certain topic with the portfolio. I would rather spend my time editing a story to make it the best it can be than try to find a way to fit all of my stories together seamlessly.         One of my favorite images that I've u

Edit: This story has been transferred to my  Portfolio . Click  here  to view the most up to date version.         The scholar awoke in the middle of the night to a stinging pain all over his body. When he tried to sit up, he found that his effort was met with resistance. The stinging got worse each time he wriggled or tried to sit. He lifted his head and looked down at his body to find it wrapped in tiny wires. The little men were back. They had restrained him while he was sleeping and now held the wires in place from each side of the bed. There were hundreds of them. The wire cut into his skin leaving little red marks.         The king of the ant men screamed out, “we’ve got him now!” and raised his little toothpick of a sword into the air. He proceeded to order his men to light a fire under the scholar’s bed. He struggled against the wire again, thinking how ridiculous it was that he might die here by the hands of these minuscule beings. The fire started slowly, but the men kept