Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Reading Diary A: Great Plains







The tree used to make the pole 
Image taken from Wikipedia



  • there was a council that was conducting a meeting to talk about rules in the society
  • an old man who was in the meeting had a son who would always tell him about a wonderful tree that he had seen 
  • he told them about the wonders of the tree as it had a flame on the top of the tree that no one could see unless it was night time and the Thunder Birds go on the top of this tree
  • the chiefs wanted to know about this tree and they sent people to go out and see what it was all about 
  • the runners came back with the same story and when this occurred the chiefs said that they wanted to go for the tree and they prepared as if they were going in for a battle 
  • A Ponca was the first person that reached the tree and he struck it down as an enemy 
  • the tree was cut down and then sang songs in honor of the tree
  • they worked on this pole and personified it by giving it hair 
  • after the work was completed everyone came to see the pole 
  • by the end of this celebration of the pole it was decided that this pole was sacred and would be important in decision making such as choosing a new chief
  • lastly they chose a time that would be for the maintenance of the pole 







Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Storytelling Week 9: Cry because he had a wife


Cry because he had a wife 


There was a man who would spend every single day crying to his grandmother because he could no longer stand his wife. He loved her very much at first but as the years had passed by he realized that he could no longer stand her presence. "She drives me nuts", he would say. "I don't know what to do anymore grandmother. She won't leave but there has to be a way to get rid of her". His grandmother loved her grandson so much that she giggled and said, "Well... there is one way but you must only do this if you are truly not happy anymore, son". Eagerly he listened to his grandmother's instructions. 

She told him about the village by the giant’s house. This village was the place where men that would cry because they had no wife lived. However, the giant would make it really hard to get across to the village. His wife had died so he knew that men would only try to get past him if they were trying to get rid of their wives. The giant did not like this idea so he would stall the men in order to try to save the wives. 

The voyage began and the man and his wife started walking. He had lied to his wife because he knew that she would never go with him if he told her that he was trying to get rid of her. He told her, "Lets go on a small vacation. We need time alone".  As they were walking the husband saw the giant's home and he was afraid of what could happen. The giant immediately stopped the couple and offered them breakfast and allowed them to choose with roast they wanted to eat. Since the husband did not want to wife to speculate and doubt his actions. The wife chose the small roast which was the best idea since the rest of the roasts were limbs of the men the giant had defeated while trying to save the women. After they had their breakfast the husband knew he had to get out quick before the wife and the giant engaged in conversation. 

He was happy as he was able to get out quick and the giant did not interrupt his plans. As they kept walking, the husband could see the village close by and he could feel his happiness sinking in. 
However, he knew that the journey would be even harder as the cliff in between them was very dangerous to cross and there was the giant's horse that would kill men bringing in the women. His grandmother had warned him about this horse so he was prepared. He had brought two stones with him to distract and outwit the horse. When he was close enough he threw the stones and his wife was surprised as he was a very calm man. The husband explained that the horse was a exotic and violent species that would attack anyone in its way. The wife admired him so much for protecting her. As soon as they reached the village the husband took the wife into a lodge and when she turned away, he ran as fast as he could. By the time that she noticed that he was gone it was already too late. A man that would cry because he had no wife was already waiting for her. "There you are", he said. She realized that she had been tricked. 

Many years passed and the woman made of her life the best that she could given her conditions. One day there was word in the village about a new cry because he had no wife. When she went to meet the man to welcome him she could not believe her eyes.... it was the cry because he had a wife that had left her in the village abandoned. But it was far too late.. She no longer loved him and he would be cry because he had no wife for the rest of his years. 

Man crying 
Image found on Google Search: Hello Giggles 


Author's Note: 

My story for this week is based on Cry-because-he-had-no-wife  from the Pacific Northwest unit. This story was very interesting to me because I had never heard of anything like it before. It is about an orphan who was very sad because he did not have a wife and he would never stop crying. His grandparents told him about a village where a girl lived that was perfect for him. However, his journey there would not be so easy as he would have to face the giant, the cliff, and the horse that protected the girl. At last, he was able to get to the girl and they married. However, when they came to visit the girl was a little different than what he expected as she was demanding and since his grandparents did not obey her orders she let them die instead of making them young like she had said. In the end, they start heading back and the husband encounters the giant once again and he is demanding the wife and the husband outwits the giant by distracting him and tangling him in ropes that he and his wife had made and they were able to escape. I decided to change this story by first making it a man who would cry because he did have a wife (for comical reasons), then I gave an inside reason as to why the giant was important in the story( trying to save the wives), and lastly the horse who was the giant's last resource to saving the wives. In the end I thought it would be a good moral to the story to remind husbands that have wives that no matter how annoying we can be, they will miss us (once again for my own comical reasons). Enjoy!

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Reading Diary B: Pacific Northwest




Reading Diary B: Pacific Northwest 



  • there was an orphan who would cry every night because he wanted a wife 
  • he would tell his desires to his grandmother and she knew that there was a girl that lived by a giants house 
  • the orphan went east in search for this girl
  • he stopped by the giant's house where he was invited for breakfast and was given the option to choose which roast he wanted for breakfast 
  • the orphan chose the small roast because his grandmother always told him to never eat too much 
  • the large pieces of roast were actually human legs 
  • he left after breakfast and the orphan encountered the Cliff-giant but the previous giant had told him how to get around the cliff 
  • from the cliff he could see the house where the girl lived and the girl had a horse that would kill people before they could get to her as he protected her 
  • the orphan took two stones so that he could use them against the horse and he ran towards the horse and threw the stones 
  • he was able to get into the lodge and the girl immediately recognized the boy who would cry because he had no wife 
  • she became his wife and they returned to his grandparents but they were very old since a lot of time had passed 
  • the wife was a little evil and said that the grandparents would have to obey all her rules and she could make them young again but the grandparents did not listen so they died the next day 
  • they then started their journey back to the girls old home 


  • this grizzly bear was always angry 
  • she saw some indians and ate them but then was sick afterwards and died
  • before dying she called for the medicine man, the coyote but he did not care if she was sick 
  • the coyote was then convinced to go so he went to the grizzly
  • the grizzly was ashamed of telling the coyote that he was sick from eating too many indians so he said he had ate a lot of cherries 
  • once the truth was told the coyote fled 
  • the coyote could turn himself into other things and the grizzly was convinced that the coyote would be caught 
  • in the end the coyote changed himself into a old man and the grizzly asked the old man if he had seen anything and the old man said he had seen someone go across the bridge
  • the grizzly followed this trail and went across the bridge and the bridge collapsed and the grizzly died 
  • the coyote then went to his people and told them that he had killed the grizzly 
A grizzly bear in the grass
Image taken from Google Search : Wikipedia









Monday, October 19, 2015

Reading Diary A: Pacific Northwest



Reading Diary A: Pacific Northwest 



  • there are two characters Silver-Fox and coyote 
  • Silver fox would take berry sticks and would shave them and make them into people 
  • finished stick would be warriors and chiefs 
  • Coyote and the Silver Fox would have a big feat when the people were made 
  • Coyote also wanted to make people so he followed Silver Fox's steps 
  • there was a problem because when the Coyote would touch the people they would turn back into shavings 
  • Chareya made the lower animals and the man would be the one who would decide the rank of the animals. 
  • the length of the bow given to the animal would decide what their rank would be 
  • The coyote wanted to be the highest ranked animal so he decided that  he would be the first to show up to the meeting 
  • However that was not a good idea because he ended up sleeping and reached the man the last and was then given the shortest bow 
  • that is why the coyote is the meanest animal 
  • he then howled at the man and Chareya liked this so that is why the coyote is the most cunning animal 

A cute cottontail rabbit 


  • five cottontail rabbits lived by the woodrat
  • the rat wanted to fight with the rabbit and the rabbit did not understand why 
  • the woodrat then suggested they should just have a discussion 
  • the rabbit accused the woodrat of being a thief 
  • and the woodrat told the rabbit that he had a dysfunctional body would crooked legs 
  • the woodrat went to the second rabbit and wanted to fight him too 
  • the second rabbit and the woodrat fought because the rabbit said that the Woodrat was only good enough to make holes into his grandmothers dress
  • the woodrat then went to go an insult another rabbit saying that he was only goof enough for eating cabbage leaves 
  • the woodrat ended up killing all five of the rabbits and he and his mother ate the rabbits and did the medicine dance
  • during this his lodge caught on fire and they were both trapped and killed in the fire 



Thursday, October 15, 2015

Reading Plan



My Reading Plan 

This is the plan that I have now and I hope to really stick to it as I want to be more disciplined in the remainder of this course.

Week 10: Great Plains 
Week 11: Nursery Ryhmes (This is probably the unit I am most excited about) 
Week 12: King Arthur 
Week 13: Russian Folktale (My husband enjoys Russian culture so this will be a fun unit to share with him) 


READ ALL THE STORIES
Image taken from Google search : 

Reflections: Looking foward




Looking forward

I can not believe that we are already half way through our course! Time does fly fast. I am glad that we are taking this break to really reflect on our work because I know that I can definitely  make some changes. After looking at the grade chart I am not exactly where I want to be grade wise. I have only done some of the extra credit and that is something that I will be working on changing. These points could really boost my grade therefore, I will be taking advantage of these assignments. Critically analyzing where I am, I definitely have to make changes to my schedule so that I can find myself using less of our "grace periods". That will be my number one objective. 

However, I would also like to see my work improve. I have come across some really great writing styles in the blogs that I have visited. I want to work on expanding my vocabulary, creativity, and style of storytelling. I have taken some notes from blogs that I have observed and have seen some styles that I had never even thought of. 

Breaking it down this is what I will be working on for the remainder of this semester: 

1. Making a schedule and sticking to it so I do not fall behind. 
2. Doing all of the extra credit points so I can be where I want in my grade (A).
3. Put more time into my stories so I can really expand on them.
4. Try out new writing styles and try to tell stories from different perspectives.
5. Really engage in comments and be way more descriptive in them by thinking analytically about them. 
6. Have fun!

We still have time to make the changes that we want!
Image searched on Google found on: appliedalliance 

Reflections:Looking back



Looking back


I must say that I was not sure what this class would be like when we first started. The class layout was so different to me but then I started to really appreciate the way that this class was made. This class has really helped on growing my writing skills and my creativity. That is probably what I enjoy most about it. The chance that I am given to expand on my creativity. Through this semester we have been asked to work on storytelling and even though it was a challenge for me in the beginning, my favorite post has been Joseph the Seducer which you can find here: 



Thanks to the peer review of my peers and our professor I have been able to work on bettering my writing skills and have realized the mistakes that I was making when writing that I did not even know I was making. 

I have a very busy schedule and I usually find myself doing our assignments each night of the night that they are due. However, I have used the grace period (more than I should) when I find myself super loaded on other coursework. I really need to change that this second half of the semester. I do not really have a spot for doing my homework. It ranges from in class, my friends house, my dining room, my room, or work. I do it where I can concentrate best based on the day.

I have not done any Curation posts but thanks to one our our assignments, my task bar now has a bunch of bookmarks and it makes life so much easier! :) 
I would definitely recommend this class to anyone. I like learning on my own pace, I like seeing what other students are doing, and I especially like that we have a very responsive professor who is very involved in our work. I am so glad that I chose to take this class. 

Water is such a reflective image to me 
Image found on Google search :AlphaGammaBrain 


Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Storytelling Week 7 : The Ogre



The Ogre 


This is the story of my life. I had for much time been very misunderstood. The village people thought that I was extinct but they were wrong. They  were happy because they thought we were gone since they defeated my ancestors. My last encounter with the villagers was completely misunderstood and that is why I am here telling you what really happened that day. 

First, let me tell you about my ancestors and their history with the village. My ancestors were very territorial and protective. They didn't want to harm anyone but if they felt that they were being attacked they would lash out without thinking of the consequences. One day, Raiko a general of Rashomon came into our village and at the sight of my ancestors he immediately attacked. It wasn't his fault that he reacted that way. His ancestors had told stories about how horrible we were. He thought that my ancestors were going to eat him because the myths said that ogres would kill and eat their victim. That was all a lie. We did kill and eat our prey but we only ate animals. Not humans. Nevertheless, Raiko attacked and he defeated everyone in my village. He came back to Rashomon and told his story of victory and his village praised him. They gifted him with the army of the most elite warriors who were the named the most brave of them all. They were assigned the tasks that most men were to coward to confront. 

You see when Raiko came to my village I was out by the stream trying to catch some fish. He missed me. He didn't even know my friends and I existed. Our parents were killed that day but we were not mad at the humans. We knew it was all a misunderstanding and all we wanted was peace. As the time went by my friends stayed away from the village the most they could because they knew if the humans ever saw them again they would be killed. I however had hope. I had hope that maybe if only maybe I could talk to them they would realize that we are friendly and harmless. While I was out in the forest I heard one of Raiko's men "The ogres do not exist. I will bet with you!". The other warrior answered, "Yes, they do. They are far away and hidden but it is impossible for Raiko to have killed all of them. One must have gotten away". The other responded, "I will go past the gate into the forest to prove to you that I am not afraid because they do not exist". 

I then knew that it was the perfect time to show the men that I came in peace, or so I thought. I waited for the sunset to come as that was when one of the warriors would come to the gate. When I saw him approach the gate I walked behind him. Instantly he felt me behind him and he stretched his hand out just enough to touch my arm. I knew he knew that I was an ogre because he immediately drew his sword and swung it against my arm. The pain was horrible and I immediately yelled out. I ran for my life and he was not able to catch up to me. Now I look down at my mutilated arm everyday and am constantly reminded that peace is just as impossible as my parents being alive again. 



The warriors sword 
Image found through Google at Dark World Wiki 


Author's Note: 

This week I did my storytelling based on the story The Ogre of Rashomon  . This story is a three part story and the first story lets the reader know that Raiko was known to be a local hero because of his actions against the ogres. The story is from the perspective of the warriors and the state of mind of the people of Rashomon. I wanted to keep the plot the same except I wanted to change the perspective of the story and add a dimension to the ogre's intentions since we were not told if the ogre wanted to attack or not. I really enjoyed the original story and hopefully you'll enjoy my take on it too. 

Reading Diary B : Japanese Fairy Tales







  • there was a dreadful ogre in Kyoto and people feared this ogre 
  • it was rumored that the ogre was a horrible cannibal who killed and ate his victims 
  • no one would go past the gate of Rashomon past sunset 
  • Raiko was the famous man who was known for is bravery 
  • Raiko had a group of brave warriors that would follow him
  • The warriors did not believe the rumors as Raiko had killed all the ogres of Oeyama
  • the warriors argued with each other whether or not the rumors were true so they set out to find out for themselves 
  • Watanabe went out to the Gate of Rashomon and when he went there he saw no ogre there just like he had argued 



An ogre that we are all very familiar with 
Image found on Google posted by Thanofleeze on Comicvine 


  • when watanabe was about to set the paper down on the gate he noticed that there was someone behind him and he asked for the somebody to identify themselves 
  • he reached out his hand to see if he could touch something and as he did he felt a very hairy object that was as thick as a trunk of a tree he knew it was an ogre and he used his sword to cut off its arm 
  • the ogre was furious and he tried to scare the warrior but the warrior did not flinch and he fought with all his might 
  • the ogre realized that if he kept attacking he would be defeated so he left the area and Watanabe followed him on his horse as fast as he could but the ogre left without sight 
  • he then saw the arm on the ground and he took it back as a possession to show off his encounter with the ogre and the people feasted and celebrated him but Watanabe knew that the ogre was not dead and that he would eventually come back for his arm so he built a big box to guard the arm 

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Reading Diary A : Japanese Fairy Tales






  • warrior known as Tawara Toda ( my lord bag of rice) 
  • the story is about how he changed his name 
  • He had a sword on him and came across a serpent dragon 
  • the serpent was big and scary but it was asleep 
  • Tawara needed to get across past this serpent dragon so he went across very silently 
  • he started walking and he heard someone calling him and when he turned back the dragon had disappeared 
  • there was a strange man that was calling him and Tawara started wondering if this man was someone the dragon that had turned into a man but it was clear that this mas was not ordinary 
  • the man asked for a favor and Tawara said that he could 
  • the man told him that he is the dragon king of the lake and he wanted the mortal centipede to be killed 
  • he wanted this centipede killed because the centipede had tormented his family 
  • he could not do it on his own however so he waited across the bridge in the shape of a snake dragon waiting for some brave man to come along and help him but every time some person would come by and run away until Tawara showed up and that is why he was the indicated one 

  • Sentaro meant millionaire 
  • this man was called Sentaro but he was not rich 
  • he did have a small fortune that he inherited from his father and he never really had to work very hard for money 
  • one day the thought of death came upon him 
  • he wanted to find some way to live until 500-600 years old 
  • he knew about the most powerful ruler Shin no Shiko
  • the tale said that Shin no Shiko also wanted to stay away from death so he went on the search for the Elixir of Life 
  • it was never found and therefore Sentaro set himself on the journey of searching for the "elixir of Life" 
The Elixir of Life - found on Pinterest 



Monday, October 5, 2015

Week 6: Growth Mindset



Growth Mindset 


Image taken from Growth Mindset Meme blog 


I really enjoyed this meme for many reasons. As school is in full swing and exams, homework and studying all start piling up it is very hard to balance it all with everything else that I have going on every week. Every semester it is a new challenge with time balance and it still takes me some time to figure out exactly how I want to tackle each semester. This meme is perfect because each week I have focused on something that I want to improve on so that I can have overall improvement.