Gracie

The People of the Ravens In the deep forrest of the Alaskan mountains lived the people of the Ravens. These people were brought to life through the wisdom and magic the ravens provided. They were sprouted from the ground, first growing like roots and branches, then forming into people. The people found their living through the land. For shelter, they started hiding under trees. The protection was enough to keep them alive, but they wanted more. The people explored the forrest, looking for something that could be better than the simple branch of a tree. After days of looking without any luck, they decided that the tree was a good start, and they must find ways to make the tree better. They found sharp rocks near the rivers, perfectly edged by the rapid currents. With these rocks they cut off the branches, and tied them together with vines, creating huts and homes that provided better protection than the tree alone. When the people were hungry, they ate roots and berries found in the ...

The Flood This story from the Alaskan section was quite interesting. It seems the Raven had planned to keep the tide as low as possible so the people could feast. The story was a little hard to follow, but overall I really liked it. Another interesting tidbit was the prevalence of ravens throughout the entire Alaskan section. Every story either had a raven in the title, or was based on the raven. I wonder where that sparked from... Myths and Legends of Alaska , edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911). story & image link

Great Plains: Sacred Legend   Myths and Legends of the Great Plains  by Katharine Berry Judson (1913). This story tells how the native people came about and how they started using tools of the land for survival. Each method was improved, and the people made adjustments so they could be more satisfied with their livings. If I were to rewrite this story, I would base it in Alaska, and tell how the people came out of the ice and wondered into the mainland. I would describe what the people use to live and how they discovered it. I would also describe how the people made each item better My version would mimic the original, but contain a different setting and different items used to live in that area at that time. My story will feature bears, snow, roots, and trees taller than the sky. Each item found in nature will be used to benefit the native people in some way. faithful native american family  picture link

The Beautiful Daughters Once there lived a mother, who gave birth to two beautiful girls. They were so beautiful, that the gods casted a magical genie to look after them, protect them, and give them anything they desired. The daughters grew to be brace, valiant women, with fierce motives and hearts of gold. They were loved by all who approached them, and made efforts to help anyone they could. The daughters lived a life of goodness and stability, but one day, a woman said to them, "daughters, you must help the city. There is a jewel that is missing from the king's temple, and without it the city will crumble." The daughters immediately knew what to do. They packed up, and traveled to find the jewel. "Before you go," said the woman, "you must know that the jewel is in a dangerous place, where no being has stepped foot on." Subtle fear struck the daughter's eyes, but then they remembered their genies were with them, so they did not fear an...

Reading notes B: My Lord Bag of Rice Japanese Fairy Tales  by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908). This story is very interesting and easy to read. The man finds a dragon that is transformed into a man He says his enemy is killing his family and asks for the man's help to kill him. The adventure continues as the man helps the dragon king. If I were rewrite this story, I would base it out of a jungle, and include tigers and people of that specific culture.

Reading A Congo: The Twin Brothers This story is about two twin brothers who were both born with magical charm that could grant them anything they wished. One brother loved to travel, so he travelled far and wide, and had hopes of marrying the daughter of Nzambi. When he arrived from his journey, the daughter saw him and immediately fell in love, and they were wed. She showed him mirrors that held towns and villages. One town was the town that no person ever returned. Being the traveller that he was, he decided he must go there. Once he arrived, he was quickly killed by an old woman. When the twin brother travelled to the palace of Nzambi to see his brother, the daughter and her father saw the twin, and thought it was her husband, so they rejoiced. The twin saw the mirror of the town where no man returns and knew his brother has gone there, so he went to retrieve him. When he got to the town, he saw the old woman, but killed her first. Then he saw the bones of his bro...

Yes, I am happy with my progress so far. There have been a few weeks where I have been so overwhelmed with my 18 hours of schools, and full time job that I have missed some assignments. However, as a whole I feel like I have kept up decently. For the second half, I would like to be better about getting assignments done early and not waiting until the last minute to complete my work.

Feedback Overall, the quality of feedback I have received throughout this semester has been helpful. People are kind, but still provide helpful tips that will make me a better writer. I appreciate the comments people have shared so far.  I base my reading notes on some of the strategies of others, and some of the strategies I have learned from other classes. My strategies work well for me. Yes I like the system of blog commenting. I like that we are assigned a project to read, and we also get freedom to choose which one we would like to read. This gives us an opportunity to meet new people and read new stories, while still getting to keep up with the ones we like. For the future, I can continue to be supportive of other people's work while still respectfully leaving input. Opinions are subjective, and just because I didn't like a story doesn't mean it was bad, so I won't be critical of their content. I will always be sure to encourage creativity among my peers and...

Overall, this class has been great so far. I have enjoyed learning about the different varieties of stories seen throughout the different cultures. Although my project is about greek mythology, I found the weekly stories to be a little bit more fun. I think the idea of creating some new and different each week is exciting, and it helps my writing skills little by little. My favorite week of stories has been the African section. I loved reading about the culture that is represented in these tales. Looking back on my own writings, I see a few things that I might have done differently, but as a whole I still enjoy reading them. Over time I forget some of the details I mention and it makes me proud to see all the work I have accomplished so far. I look forward to continuing my writing and learning even more about stories from the past!