Reading Notes: Apache, Part B

Jicarilla Apache Texts edited by Pliny Earle Goddard (1911) = New York: Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. VIII.

The Supernatural Person in the Lake
I am curious why the old woman cursed the boy when he said he had already delivered her gift. He clearly has some powers if he was able to work at corralling so many antelope, as well as the fact that he moves to live at the bottom of the lake. It was also interesting that he requested an all-black horse from the warriors after they won their battle. What makes this horse so special?

Solid Black Horse

Source: Wikipedia

Coyote Steals a Man's Wife
I'm surprised that the man didn't take his wife on the rock with him. Why did Coyote want to steal his wife? He must have known that the man would eventually come back, seeking his wife and punishing the one who took her away. Or was it maybe a mutual decision? It also seems cruel to kill Coyote by making him eat hot stones, burning him from the inside and being that much more painful.

Coyote Tries to Make His Children Spotted
Coyote seems like a very naive character from the many stories that involve him. How would burning your own children under a fire cause them to become spotted? The only thing Coyote achieved was killing his children, not causing them to be spotted. The only reason he did this is because he didn't believe that Deer's children were born with the spots on their backs, which is more plausible than the fire method.

Porcupine and Coyote
How does Porcupine come back to life? Coyote killed him twice, and each time, he manages to come back and somehow attack Coyote or his children. Does the porcupine have some supernatural powers in Apache history that causes this? I'm also surprised that Coyote didn't make sure that Porcupine was truly dead or gone before he left the area, although this could also be the naive part that he's displayed previously.

Coyote and His Hosts
Coyote is constantly trying to do the same things that his hosts are able to do, which only makes him look like a fool. He kills himself trying to get food from a frozen river, bleeds by sticking sticks in his nose, and even burns his own house down. I am constantly waiting to see if there is a story where Coyote is able to redeem himself and shake off this notion of being very naive and lacking smarts. I had always thought that coyotes were relatively intelligent creatures.

The Animals Race
The Heron wasn't a part of the race? I figured he would be just as eager to marry the girl if he was also flying along the same path. I'm also surprised that he helped the mole win, although it is a better alternative to helping the coyote win. What did the mole do to be able to gain this advantage compared to everyone else?

Reading Notes: Apache, Part A

Jicarilla Apache Texts edited by Pliny Earle Goddard (1911) = New York: Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, Vol. VIII.

The Emergence
I like the contrast between the Apache creation story compared to the Great Plains story from last week. This one focuses on them coming up out of the ground, rather than being created by the sun and moon. I wonder what caused the difference between each tribe's creation story.

The First War
I like the continuation this story has from the creation one. I had to reread the story because I was confused about why the chief had been shot, as well as by whom. I wonder why he refused to attend the feast when everybody else went. Maybe this is why the first war was a disaster, due to the apparent dysfunction.

The Killing of the Monsters
This story definitely takes a lot of time to dissect. The beginning is easy enough to understand, as the man kills the elk and wears its hide, but it begins becoming very complicated next. At first, where it says the eagle digs its talons into the man and carries him to its nest, it seems to infer that the man is dead, yet he is alive and avoids being eaten by the eagle's children. The man then kills both the mother and father eagle, making me wonder if the monster isn't the creatures that he is killing, but is him instead. I mean, he tells the young eagles that they will essentially be servants to man, inferring their feathers will be taken as man "will like your feathers." His interactions with grandmother bat seem to avoid these same actions, as he tries to help her as long as she follows directions, but he also becomes vindictive when she keeps returning as she was unable to follow his commands, leading bats to become the featherless creatures they are today. This does make me wonder where his motivations truly lie, and whether he is a good or bad character.

Elk on Apache Hunting Land

Source: SCAT Recreation

Naiyenesgani Rescues the Tao Indians
This is the second story that includes 4 different pieces of the same thing, each a different color. The Emergence had 4 ladders, while this has 4 hoops, with one black, one blue, one yellow, and one multi-colored. I'm wondering what kind of symbolism these 4 items have when together, and why these colors are important to the Apache. The fact that they are all used in the same fashion makes it even more interesting.

I also have noticed in other stories that the number 4 is very prevalent. For example, the phrase "making motions four times" and other similar variations are commonplace in these stories. Since they make 4 motions, and with the colors, it is 4 items that vary only in color, this number must have had significant value to the Apache.

Coyote Secures Fire
The coyote was the only creature that did not have its hide restored by jumping in the river after losing it in the hoop and pole game. Is this because of the coyote's ultimate actions where it set almost every tree on fire, or is it related to him simply being a coyote? The making fire with a drill being due to coyote is an interesting little tidbit. That was one area that I never thought about how people might explain why it works. I guess a coyote is as good an answer as any.

Coyote

Source: IndigenousPeople

Week 10 Story Lab: EmpoWord

EmpoWord Chapter 2: Telling a Story

The very first page is such an interesting and powerful beginning. The idea that in the end, we're a huge collection of stories is a great way to begin, pondering the different stories that we have to tell, as well as what everyone else could tell. However, while telling our stories, we need to remember to write them in a way that keeps people intrigued, as there are many portions of our stories that may not interest everyone else.

I like the example that the author uses to explain why we want to only include the highlights of the stories if the goal is to keep people interested. One way they say to do this is to consider it as a few photographs, rather than 24 frames per second video. By mixing in the interesting portions and leaving out some of the monotonous details, we can write a better and more captivating story. Despite it making for a good story, I question how good of advice this is. These techniques feel like the reasons we see social media being criticized, as we see only the highlights of other peoples' lives, and it makes us forget that they don't always have these incredible moments. It can create a false perception about the person and their life. Although the example is a good one for why we would want to write this way, I wonder what kinds of effects it has in the real world.

They also discuss different ways to explain the plot, and different plot arcs. One of my favorite arcs that we see today is in medias res, where they begin with the middle of the story to create some suspense and interest, before going to the beginning. The first example I can think of that uses this arc is Breaking Bad, where we find Walter White in his underwear in the middle of nowhere. Another way to play with the plot arc is to slow down or speed up certain segments, dependent on how important you or your audience see them.

Walter White

Source: TVOverland

We also look at how the point of view affects the story. Dependent on not only who tells the story, but also what way it's portrayed, such as tone and the mood, the point of view can determine so much as far as how the reader interprets the work. In the story The Three Little Pigs, simply switching to the wolf's point of view can dramatically alter how the story is seen.

Overall, combined with everything else in the chapter, I found it to be a very fun and interesting thing to read. While I may not have to consider all of the information provided while I write my stories in this class, I will likely write them again at some point in the future. I do worry that promoting this type of storytelling, at least for our own personal stories, can create the same issues we see today on social media and how we share our lives, but outside of this critique, I believe it was a very useful article to read.

Each Day is a New Story

Source: QuoteFancy

Reading Notes: Great Plains, Part B

Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson (1913).

The Man Who Shot a Ghost
A man is traveling, and hunts several rabbits. He builds a fire that night and cooks a rabbit to eat, when he hears the ghosts coming. He leaves and hides under a tree, listening to the ghosts. They end up surrounding the man, and when one of them kicks him, he shoots them through the head. They run away, and he goes to where they were screaming from. One of the bodies buried there has been unearthed by a wolf, and has a hole in its skull.

The Indian Who Wrestled With a Ghost
A man is traveling, and stops in the woods for the night. He hears a woman, and pretends to be dead when she comes near, only showing life when she's about to remove his foot. The next night, he stops in the woods again, and after feeding and sharing tobacco with a ghost, wrestles him, having been told if he wins, he will be successful in battle. They wrestle all night, and eventually wins, using the fire's ability to weaken the ghost to gain the advantage. He then wins the battle, gaining horses and killing the enemy.

The Wakanda, or Water God
A man and his wife lost their only child, a son when he drowned. This left the man depressed, and two men who were sacred were sent on a journey to find him. They found him alive, but were told he would die if he left the water, as he ate the food of the Wakanda. The father still wished to see his son, so they exchanged for the boy, who died when he left the water, and was buried. Later, the same couple lost their daughter, however, she lived as she did not eat the Wakanda food.

The next few stories focused on how things came to be. They included a crow sowing pebbles that became mountains, dust that became the land, and twigs becoming massive forests. We also learn why possums play dead when they sense danger. It's always interesting to see how others interpret the creation, and why animals have the instincts they do. The following story explained the dangers of snakes, and how even the smallest things we cannot feel can be the most deadly. This was followed by explaining why different animals are lean or fat, based on how the creator decided they looked in each state.

Is this Possum dead or alive?

Source: Flickr

How the Rabbit Killed the Giant
The rabbit travels to a village, where people are afraid of a giant that takes all of the food. He visits the giant, and eats there, but in the following days, was unable to get his own food, as hunters were afraid of the giant and would not take the meat for themselves or split it. After a few nights, he convinces an insect to bite the giant while he sleeps, and he later dies from this bite.

Legend of the Head of Gold
A man sends one of his sons with Wakantanka to attempt to give him something to do, rather than staying idle. He is given a job tending to the horses, and told not to look into the little house. One of the horses tells him to look into the house, and dip his head into the gold. He does so, and they escape while Wakantanka chases, saying they will die for their actions. They end up successfully escaping, and were able to defend against all future attacks from others.

Ictinike
The first story about Ictinike involves a turtle that he comes across, and he questions why it stays where it is. He convinces it to travel with him, and tricks it into sticking its head out farther than normal, and beats it with a bone, killing it. He cooks the turtle, and falls asleep before eating it, and a coyote eats all the meat while he is asleep.

Drawing of Ictinike

Source: Wikipedia

In the second story, Ictinike visits the beavers, who feed him their youngest son. Ictinike breaks one of the toe bones while eating, and when the youngest is reborn in the water, he now has a toe that appears broken. Ictinike left his tobacco pouch when he left the beavers, so they return it to him, and he wished to eat one of his children, which beaver refused. Ictinike then goes to visit the muskrat, and is fed wild rice that came out of a pot instead of rice. He asks for the same thing from the muskrats after leaving his tobacco pouch there as well, and attempts to turn water into rice, but is unable to. He does the same thing with a Kingfisher, with similar results.

Reading Notes: Great Plains, Part A

Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson (1913).

The Creation
The people were created by their parents, the Sun and the Moon. When they first came to Earth, it was covered in water, but the most trusted animal, the elk, was able to coax the winds into removing the water and revealing the soft ground below. The excited elk rolled on the ground, and from his hairs that were left sprang all sorts of foods and plants. The people also found footsteps, and followed them to meet who they belonged to.

Sacred Legend
Over the years, the people became more and more resourceful. They replaced grass clothes with animal hides, created pots to cook the meat in, and built the first tepees, to name a few of their creations. The legend shows the resourceful nature of the Native American people, and how they evolved as the time came.

The Legend of the Peace Pipes
The Chief calls together a council, and adds the owl and woodpecker to it when they come near as if to join. He has a servant go and collect a specific tree, on which an eagle lands and drops a feather. However, it is not the feather he wants, and when he finally gets one from the proper eagle, an imperial eagle, and made peace pipes with its feathers. These pipes were used to settle disputes within the tribe.

Eastern Imperial Eagle

Source: Wikipedia

A Tradition of the Calumet
The Mysterious One told the northern nation of a nation to the south. The northern council decides to attack the southern nation, which angered the Mysterious One, who appeared as an eagle over the chief's daughter. She said that they must not harm the First People, so they cleansed themselves of their actions and made peace with the First People.

The Sacred Pole
While multiple tribes were having a Great Council, a man discovers a powerful tree, and tells his father of it. After the council concludes, the father tells the chief of the tree, and after it is found by runners, has it chopped down and placed inside a special tent. They designed it in the shape of a person, and prayed to it for help, as well as to become a chief.

The Buffalo and the Grizzly Bear
A grizzly bear is walking along a river, and finds a buffalo. He attacks it, claiming it would attack him instead. The buffalo thinks it should attack the bear, and the bear knows it thinks this, and attacks it again. The buffalo then attacks the bear in return, although the bear thought at first that it was scared. They later realize they should be friends due to their similarities.

The Eagle's Revenge
A man heard an eagle eating the deer he had shot, so he shot the eagle. He took the deer home and told the story of the eagle, and his tribe began a dance. A strange man showed up, and began telling how he killed a man, and when he said "Hi!" at the end of the story, one of the men with rattles for the dance died. He did this until all of them were dead, avenging his brother, the eagle.

Unktomi and the Bad Songs
Unktomi is traveling and sees many ducks, geese, and swans on a lake. He tells them he has bad songs in his backpack, and they beg him to sing them for him, which he does while they dance with their eyes closed. He goes around killing them while they dance, but when one doesn't die immediately, it squawks, and the rest escape. He boils the ones he did kill, and leaves them to cook while he sleeps. A mink comes and eats all the meat, and replaces the bones in the pot, leaving Unktomi with nothing but his bad songs.

Old-Woman-Who-Never-Dies
The old-woman-who-never-dies has 6 children: 3 sons (the sun, the day, and the night), and 3 daughters (the morning star, the evening star, and The Striped Gourd). Each spring, she sends birds that signal to the Indians what crops to plant. They build scaffolds to feed these birds each year, and perform rituals. They do this again in the fall so as to bring the buffalo to them.

Legend of the Corn
A young man goes hunting, and finds a buffalo standing on top of a hill. He decides to wait for it to move before he kills it, but each day, it stays in the same spot. After a few days, he finds it gone, replaced by a plant, but no signs of where it ran to. He tells his tribe, who see what he does. They defended the plant, believing it to be a gift, and when it is ripe, the young man tries it, and when he does not die, they conclude it was a gift from Wahkoda for them to eat. They shared this gift with other tribes in the following years.

Tradition of the Finding of Horses
The Ponca traveled the river, and found the Comanche. The Comanche had horses, which the Ponca did not, and the Ponca were scared of the horses once the Comanche learned how to fight. After many battles, a Comanche speaks to the Ponca, and they become friendly, sharing their fighting technology and knowledge of horses. However, the Ponca later attacked the Comanche, stealing most of their horses and taking them back home with them.

Comanche atop horses

Source: LegendsOfAmerica

The Ghost's Resentment
A young man died, and his parents had a grave scaffold made for him. Another young man, who is married, hears his father and his friends planning to rob the scaffold for clothing, and they do not listen to him trying to dissuade them. He covers himself in clay and acts like a ghost when they arrive, scaring them off and making them return home terrified. When they get home, he is asleep and they are unaware it was him. He makes fun of them for failing in their mission, and they don't return to the grave.

Week 9 Story: Therapy Sessions

Kweku Tsin never thought he would have to be here, but his mother was making him come. His grades were slipping, his mind constantly wandered, and his family was becoming concerned. If only they knew it was because of them that these issues occurred.

"When would you say these issues began?" questioned his therapist, Dr. Milli.

"It's been nearly my entire life. My father is not a good man, he is constantly getting into mischief and I've had to cover up for him, trying to make things right. Sometimes I wonder if he does these things because he wants to torture me." replied Kweku Tsin, a sigh escaping from his body as he speaks. He looks over to see his doctor scribbling on his notepad. He's always writing on that notepad, making Kweku Tsin wonder if he's truly listening, or just drawing something. His answers rarely amount to more than "I see."

Dr. Milli looks up from his notes, reading the body language of his patient. He can tell the young man doesn't want to be there, and is doing the bare minimum to get through the session. He's not surprised by this; most patients seem to share this attitude, especially the younger ones. "Kweku Tsin, I'm here to try and help you. I understand the pain you're dealing with, that your father is causing you so much grief. What are some examples of the things he's done?"

"He tried to keep the rest of the world from acquiring knowledge once. The only reason he failed is because he was unable to climb a tree to hide the jar inside. Another time, he killed his friend Nothing simply for having a larger fortune than him and having a better life. He also withheld the food he had found from me and my mother during a famine. These aren't even all of the stories, these are just some of the ones that stick out the most in my mind."

"Have you confronted him about these things before?"

"Once. He swore to stop these actions and live an honest life, but this didn't last more than a few weeks. I'm not sure how to fix him and make it livable with him."

Kweku Tsin pouring his heart out

Source: 123rf

Seeing Kweku Tsin open up brings a smile to Dr. Milli's face. He sees a new person, an anger and frustration that he knew existed, but hadn't been able to tap into until now. He looks at his patient with a new outlook on these sessions. They continue these discussions until they hear a loud ringing sound. They both look to the source of the sound. It's the clock on the wall signaling the end of their session. "I think we made some good progress this week. I'd like to see you the same time next week. My assignment for you this week is to record what your father does to frustrate you this week, and why it made you feel this way. Think you can do that for me?"

Kweku Tsin looks at his doctor warily, but realizes this is the best he's felt in months. "I can't promise it will be perfect, but I'll do my best. See you next week, Dr. Milli!"

Author's Note: In many of the stories throughout the West Africa unit, Kweku Tsin is having to deal with his father's mischief, often being the one to stop him from performing terrible deeds or making other people's life worse. I wanted to take the idea of his father's constant actions wearing on him to the point that he is unable to live a normal life, and the covering for his father and putting up with his antics has caused him to suffer. This reaches the point that his mother believes he needs to work with a therapist to even have a chance of clearing his mind and becoming a normal person again.

West African Folktales by William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair, with drawings by Cecilia Sinclair (1917).

Week 9 Reading: West Africa, Part B

West African Folktales by William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair, with drawings by Cecilia Sinclair (1917).

The Moon and Stars
During a famine, Anansi and Kweku Tsin found a deer, and Anansi left to find a basket to carry it. Tsin fears his father might not return, so he calls for him, which only summons a dragon, causing him to run and hide. When Anansi gets back, he wishes to see the dragon, who comes and captures them. They are taken to the dragon's home, and defended by a rooster. They distract a rooster with grain, and with the other prisoners, build a ladder, and escape to heaven, Tsin using bones and music to distract the dragon so they may climb. The heavens make Tsin the sun, Anansi the moon, and all the others the stars.

How the Tortoise Got Its Shell
The great Mauri planned a party for Friday, and sent off his messengers to invite everyone, and his servants to gather food and drink. He sent Klo to get wine from Koklovi, who makes Klo fight for the wine and palm trees, as that's the only way to get it. Klo wins, and fills his pot with the wine, and drinks what remains once it is full, and leaves with the trees and wine. While he returns, there is a great storm, and he arrives late and is unable to get in the party. He dies outside as the rain lasts for 2 months. When everyone goes to leave, they find him outside, and powers bring him back to life, but he now has the pot for a shell.

The Hunter and the Tortoise
A hunter hears a song, and surprised to hear it sung by a tortoise. After returning many times, he asks to bring her home, and she agrees, but she will only sing in front of him. He tells others of the beautiful music, but is scorned when he says it comes from a tortoise. He says she will perform for them all, or he will let himself be killed the next day. The next day, the tortoise refuses to sing, and he is killed. Once he is killed, the tortoise talks, and says his fate was all his own for telling the world of her.

The Leopard and the Ram
A ram and leopard unknowingly decide to build a house in the same place. They complete work opposite each other, and think fairies are helping when they are not there, and finding it wasn't fairies, decide to live together. They both have sons, and leopard is curious how the ram gets meat, so he has his son ask one of ram's son to show him. They show each other how they do it, and young leopard warns his father of ram backing up, as this means he charges. One day, the senior ram slips and falls back, and leopard is scared, and runs away, leaving ram with the house and leopard in the woods.

King Chameleon and the Animals
The animals have grown tired of the lack of order in the kingdom, and decide to have a race to see who will be king. The hare gets there much faster than anyone else, but is thwarted by the chameleon, who clung onto him the entire race, and sat in the throne before he could. This meant the chameleon had to be made king. However, none of the animals were happy with this, and dispersed, leaving the chameleon alone.

King Chameleon Watching the World

Source: San Diego Zoo

Elephant and Wren
The king wanted a giant tree to be cut down, and whoever did so with a wooden axe would receive an elephant. Anansi tricks the servant watching him into leaving for some time, and cuts it down mostly with a steel axe, and finishing it with the wooden one. He receives his elephant, but does not want to share it with his family, so he hides it in the forest and tries to capture a wren for them to eat. He fails, but when he goes to get his elephant, he finds that it has run off, leaving him with nothing.

The Ungrateful Man
A poor hunter comes across a man, a rat, a serpent, and a leopard stuck in a hole in the forest. He frees them, and all but the man promises to repay him, even though he invites the man to live with him. The rat brings him valuables to gain him riches, the leopard brings him food, and the serpent gives him an antidote to snake venom. The man becomes jealous, and falsely accuses the hunter of theft from the king when the king is robbed and offers a mighty reward. The hunter is about to be executed, when the king's son is bit by a snake, and the hunter offers the antidote, which must be mixed with a traitor's blood. He tells the king, who knows the man framed the hunter, kills the man, and saves his son.

Why Tigers Never Attack Men Unless They Are Provoked
A man and a tiger befriend each other, and live with each other for some time, alternating between each's home. The tiger is scared the man's friends will kill him, but the man assures him they will not. The man's father dies months later, and the tiger leaves his home to console the man, bringing his cub with him, but is shot by hunters. He is scared that the man sent them to kill him, so he feigns death, which leaves the man distraught when he finds him. He watches the cub all night, and the next day, the tiger says he is alive, and that he will not harm man if he is not attacked first.

How Mushrooms First Grew
Two brothers have made bad decisions, and have much debt. After being robbers, the decide to grow crops to pay off their debt. After planting, a bushfowl comes and eats the seeds, so they capture it and transfer the debt to it. Dismayed, it tries to lay eggs to pay off the debt, which are destroyed by a tree, transferring the debt to the tree. This continues on and on, to an elephant, then a hunter, then a tree stump, and finally ants. The ants buy pure linen thread, and weave it to sell for profit to pay off the debt. The completed product is what we know as mushrooms.

Farmer Mybrow and the Fairies
Farmer Mybrow finds a place for his field, and when he begins to clear it, the fairies ask what who he is, and when he tells them, they help clear the field. This continues, from burning brush, to planting, and growing the crops. Mybrow's wife wants to know where this field is, and he reluctantly tells her, but that she must not answer questions. She does not heed this warning, and speaks to the fairies, who pluck the unripe crops and leave them on the ground, ruining the good harvest. She does not tell her husband, who shows up the next day and is angered by the sight that all his crops are now worthless due to his wife.

Week 9 Reading: West Africa, Part A

West African Folktales by William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair, with drawings by Cecilia Sinclair (1917).

How We Got the Name "Spider Tales"
Spider wanted the stories named after him, and Nyankupon agreed to do so if he performed 3 tasks: brought back a jar full of bees, brought a boa constrictor, and captured a tiger. Spider was able to trick his way into completing these three tasks, impressing Nyankupon. As he said, he agreed to allow all of the old stories to be named after Spider.

How Wisdom Became the Property of the Human Race
Anansi dreamed of keeping all of the world's knowledge to himself. He placed it into a sealed jar that no human could ever open. His son, Kweku Tsin, was curious as to what his father was doing, so he followed him, finding him attempting to hide it in a tree, but was unable to climb it. When Kweku Tsin asks why he doesn't carry it a different way, Anansi becomes angry that his son has knowledge he did not possess, and throws the jar down, causing it to break and all the knowledge dispersing throughout the world.

Anansi and Nothing
Anansi travels with his friend Nothing, who is much wealthier than Anansi. They trade clothes, so that Anansi looks wealthy, and nothing looks poor. Anansi gains many wives, while Nothing is spat on and treated horribly, but eventually has a wife. When they return home, however, Anansi's wives are appalled at his lack of wealth. Nothing's wife invites them over for dinner, and they all decide to stay instead of return to Anansi's home. This angers Anansi, who creates a trap that kills Nothing. Nothing's wife is so distraught she gives mashed yams to all the children in the district so they may cry for Nothing for her.

Thunder and Anansi
Anansi's land suffers from a famine. He sees an island, and uses an old boat he finds to try and reach it. On his seventh attempt, he finally reaches the island, but is unable to collect any of the coconuts from the island's lone palm tree; all of them fell into the ocean. Sad, he threw himself into the water, but did not drown, instead finding himself at a sympathetic Thunder's door. He received a pot that never ran out of food, but he did not share it with his family. His son, who can change shapes, became a fly and discovered Anansi's secret, stealing the pot. They tried to share it with the town, but it melted from the heat. Anansi found out and traveled back to the island so that he could find Thunder again. Telling the same story, Anansi received a stick instead of a pot, which beat him endlessly until he let the stick go, letting it and the boat float away.

Why the Lizard Moves His Head Up and Down
Anansi wished to marry the king's daughters, and the only way to do so was to learn their names. He does this by hiding in their bathing place, dropping fruit above them so that they call for each other. When he goes to the king, he has Lizard name them first, so that Lizard has them instead of Anansi. Anansi becomes angry, and frames Lizard for murdering the king's rooster, and rendering him unable to speak, only moving his head up and down. The king punishes Lizard by taking his daughters back and giving them to Anansi.

Tit for Tat
During a famine, Kweku discovers a clearing with an abundance of animals, and is afraid his father will kill them all if he knows about it. However, Anansi tricks Kweku into revealing the location. Knowing his father's plan, Kweku takes an image, and when Anansi is heading home, uses it to force Anansi to drop all of the meat he gathers. He does this until Anansi has killed all the animals, and been forced to drop all of it, which Kweku sold for money. When the famine is over, Kweku tells the entire village of his adventure, embarrassing Anansi and causing him to swear to stop his tricks.

Why White Ants Always Harm Man's Property
During a famine, Spider finds a dead antelope, which he plans to take home, hiding the body in a mat. Leopard and Wolf believe Spider is lying, and make him drop the dead antelope, which they take. Spider is furious, and with the help of a lizard, manages to trap the leopard and wolf, take the antelope back, and enjoy his meal with all the others. An ant comes by, and frees the wolf and leopard, who want to repay him. Spider hears this, and disguises his family and himself as the ant, taking the repayment. When the real ant and his family come by, all but the father is killed, as they think that it is Spider, which angers the ant, who vows not to help anyone, and simply be a pest to man.

Jumping Spider

Source: Seamus' Photo Blog

The Squirrel and the Spider
Squirrel is a farmer, whose farm has no roads to it, since he uses the trees. Spider discovers this, and creates a road with his family, and claims the farm as his own when he is caught stealing the harvest. Squirrel appeals to the law, who sides with Spider, as they had never seen a farm with no road. Spider's family steals the last of the corn, and goes to sell it, but is caught in a storm that night. The next day, they find it being sheltered by a crow, who takes the corn, saying he's never seen corn left on the side of the road, and that it is his, doing to Spider what he had done to Squirrel.

Why We See Ants Carrying Bundles As Big As Themselves
Anansi and Kweku Tsin are farmers, and their crops have not received any rain recently like normal. Tsin finds a dwarf who, magically, was able to make it rain on his fields by tapping him with small sticks. Anansi tries the same thing, but uses two large sticks, killing the dwarf. He tries to frame Tsin, as it was one of the king's jesters, but Tsin tricks Anansi into admitting to the murder, and must carry the box with the dwarf's body on his head forever, unless someone else agrees to carry it. He convinces an ant to carry it on the premise he would come back, but he never does.

Why Spiders are Always Found in Corners of Ceilings
Anansi and his family had a very abundant harvest, much more than they had ever seen. Anansi, being the selfish person he is, plotted to keep it all for himself, sending his wife and son away under the guise of business. His son goes to the field a few weeks later, and finds more than half the harvest gone. With the help of the townspeople, they fashion a rubber scarecrow, who Anansi tries to fight, but becomes stuck to overnight. When everyone arrives and sees him there, he transforms into a spider, and goes to hide in the corner.

The Grinding-Stone That Ground Flour By Itself
During a famine, the only person who seemed to be doing well as Anansi's cousin, which angered Anansi. His cousin Kofi's secret was a stone that ground flour on its own, next to a river of honey. Anansi begged Kofi to take him there, trying to trick him to do so, but Kofi did not bite. Anansi then used an ash trail to track Kofi, and took the stone when he found it, angering the stone. Anansi sold the flour from the stone, becoming very wealthy, but the stone stuck to his head when he tried to rid himself of it, and it slowly ground Anansi down into tiny pieces.

Week 8 Progress

Overall, I'm very happy with the progress I've made over the first half of this class. I'm especially proud of the fact that I have not missed any assignments yet, even though I have terrible time management skills and have cut it close a couple of times. Despite these shortcomings, I do seem to have a fairly successful and repeatable routine that I have followed. I have probably enjoyed writing the stories the most, which is crazy for me to say, as those were the assignments I had the most hesitations about. I have not done any of the extra credit options so far, mostly because I have been able to complete the regular assignments in time, and with my schedule, it gets difficult to fit any additional classwork in.

Over the rest of the course, I hope to continue to complete the assignments and avoid falling into the trap of slacking off on some of them once I reach the number of points. I may start focusing almost exclusively on my project the final 2 weeks once finals and everything begin ramping up, but I do not plan to do that at this time. I might look into trying some different writing styles, but I also am a perfectionist, so it might not be successful, which would stress me out tremendously. These may be things for me to work through and try to use to better my writing abilities.

Believe in yourself

Source: Barking Up The Wrong Tree

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

Feedback wanted

Source: picryl

Feedback In:
Overall, I would say I've been pleased with the feedback I've gotten from people. I especially find it nice when someone comments on multiple stories, or both stories and my project, as it makes it seem as though they're interested in the stories, making me want to work that much harder and try that much more to perfect what I have written.

Feedback Out:
I feel like I have been able to give good feedback for some of the other students in this class, but I must admit that it's difficult at times. Everyone has written some very good stories, so I sometimes find myself struggling to comment and feel like my suggestions can improve their writing.

Blog Comments:
I feel like I know people fairly well from this class. As I said earlier, it's really awesome seeing the same person comment on multiple posts, and I've tried to do that with a couple of people whose stories and everything sounded super interesting. I'm overall fairly happy with my introduction and what my blog displays of me for everyone else to see.

Looking Forward:
The rest of the semester, I'm going to try and work on my feedback some more. Even though I feel like I have been successful at leaving quality feedback, I believe that I can still improve and leave even better feedback. Additionally, I want to continue following some of the other students' work and see how their writing evolves, much like I know mine has this semester. I feel like the comment wall and my introduction have been beneficial, and that I've received good feedback that I will use the rest of the semester.

I allow myself to do things imperfectly.

Source: Growth Mindset Cats

I decided on this picture because one of my struggles is trying to make things perfect my very first time, even when I have multiple drafts I need to turn in. This made things challenging in English classes, as some of my teachers/professors wouldn't accept papers that didn't have a certain number of revisions completed. I've been working on not allowing myself to stress such a large amount over these things.

Week 8 Reading and Writing

So far this semester, I have really surprised myself with some of the stories I've written. Although they may not be the best stories or always the most creative, I feel like they're much better than I felt I was capable of when the class began. I feel the same with my project, although that is a little bit more difficult. I feel like I am constantly straddling the line and fighting between having too much detail, so much to the point of blowing through the word limit, and not having nearly enough. The battle is much more challenging that I anticipated it would be, as I find myself writing as if I am scared that I will cross that limit and be unable to trim it down successfully.

I've also enjoyed the stories that we have each week. When I first saw 15,000 words each week, I was a little intimidated, but as the semester has gone on, I find it easier and easier to read the stories and glean what I can from them.

I'm extremely excited to continue the class during the rest of the semester. Although it can be a little more time intensive than I thought it might be when I first enrolled, I find it quickly being one of my favorites that I've had in my time at OU. My time management skills still need a little work (I am writing this hours after I told myself I would, after all), but I find it easier to complete the assignments in a timely and quick manner than I did at first.

Source: GoodFreePhotos

I really enjoy this picture compared to some of the others, mainly because I've always been a fan of these kinds of angles for pictures and videos. I'm always intrigued by the views from a lower perspective in movies, such as the ground level shot of people running and all you see is their legs/feet, so I feel like this picture is a no-brainer for me.

Week 7 Story: Board Game Adventures

"Give it back!"

"It's my turn to play!"

The boys' mother walks in, and screams, "How many times do I have to tell you two not to fight over a stupid game?! You two never stop!" For the third time this week, the boys are fighting over their video games.

Ryan, the younger boy, tries to plead his case. "But he just stole it from me! I was in the middle of a game!"

"You said you'd give it to me before that game!" Jacob turns to his mother, "I can't believe you'd yell at me when he's the one who started it!"

"Enough! Until you boys learn to work together, no more video games!" The boys cry as their mother carries the Xbox out of the living room, leaving them with no games to play.

Jacob runs to his room, slamming the door and locking it. As Ryan heads to his room, he notices an old box sitting in the hallway full of board games. He grabs the top one, and heads to Jacob's room. "Jacob?"

"Go away!"

"I'm sorry! Can we at least play this old board game I found?"

"I can't tell, it's worn off the box. It's heavy though."

"Fine, we can try it." Jacob comes out of his room, and takes the board game, which is enclosed in a wooden case. He sets it on the coffee table, reads the rules to Ryan, and they begin playing.

"Okay, roll the dice, and.... 5. So move five spaces, pick up the card," Jacob picks up the card, which says, "'You meet a young boy who can help you obtain the lamp. Move to the cave.' Okay, move to the cave." As he does this, they feel the ground shake, and a cave entrance opens up in their front yard, scaring the boys.

"What just happened?!" screams Ryan.

"MOM!" Their mother doesn't respond to Jacob's cries. Jacob reads the rules again, and on the last line, says, "The only way to return is to finish the game..."

"My turn?"

"Yeah, I think it is." Both boys are still visibly shaken by the cave outside.

"Okay, and I got a... 7!" Ryan reads his card, "'You take the lamp from the cave, keeping it for yourself.' Ha, I got the lamp!" As he says this, a lamp appears on the table.

"Okay, I'll roll now. And... 6. 'You will be skipped for 5...' Hey, this isn't fair!" Jacob throws the card down, "I can't play for 5 turns!"

"And I have the lamp!" says Ryan, rubbing it. As he does so, a tiny trail of smoke begins to escape from the open spout, and a genie appears. "Who are you?"

"I am the genie of the lamp, and shall honor your every request."

"Cool!" Over the next few turns, Ryan uses the genie to his advantage. He is told to ask for riches, which the genie grants. He also receives a wife, and becomes the heir apparent to an entire kingdom, receiving a crown and many gems from the genie and the game. Jacob continues to steam, being unable to play. Finally, his turn arrives.

"Finally! 'Steal the genie's lamp. Replace with a new one.' Don't mind if I do!" Jacob takes the lamp, becoming the master of the genie. "I wish you to lose everything you have, and that it is transported far away." With these words, the house begins to shake, and Jacob, along with the game, are transported far away, leaving Ryan alone. Scared, Ryan begins rubbing the ring, revealing another genie.

Replacing the old lamp with a new one

Source: Wikipedia

"Genie! Take me to my brother!" With this command, Ryan is transported right outside their house, now resting in a different country than their own. Now back at the house, Ryan takes his turn. He whispers the card to himself when he realizes what it says. "'Other players drink a poisoned drink. Roll again.'"

"Oh cool, it even gives us drinks!" Jacob is excited, and immediately gulps the entire glass down as Ryan screams at him not to drink it. Within a few moments, Ryan is left as the only one still standing. He rolls the dice one more time, crying as he moves his pieces.

"'Move to the end of the board. You win!'" As his piece reaches the final space, the entire ground shakes, the house transports back to its original location, and when it lands, Jacob sits up, looking around confused. Ryan runs and hugs his brother as the board game closes itself up, and everything the game gave them disappeared.

"Throw that game away! I don't ever want to see it again!" screams Ryan. With those words, Ryan and Jacob dispose of the game, whose name they can now read: Aladdin.

Author's Note: 

The game is based off the story Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp. In the story, a magician tries to get the young boy Aladdin to give him the lamp after leading him to the cave it is in. However, Aladdin refuses to, angering the magician so much that he abandons him, and keeps the lamp, using it to acquire riches, marry the woman of his dreams, and become the heir to the sultan. The magician, furious when he finds out what Aladdin has done, manages to steal the lamp and transport Aladdin's palace away, along with his wife. Aladdin was able to avoid execution by the sultan, travels to find his palace, and manages to kill the magician before returning the palace and his wife home. I wanted to create a story where this is included, but has a Jumanji feel, where the young boys found a board game that comes to life, literally, the older boy playing the magician, and his younger brother playing Aladdin.

Jumanji Box

Source: DeviantArt

The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H.J. Ford (1898)

Reading Notes: The Monkey King, Part B

The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921)

The Lord of the Heavens
The complaints about Sun reached the Lord of the Heavens. While they wish to punish him, they are persuaded to give him a chance to redeem himself, and invite him to Heaven. He is still very brazen and full of confidence, and does not respect the Lord as others do. The Lord brushes this off, and appoints him stablemaster, where he watches over the heavenly horses.

The Great Saint
At a dinner being held, Sun asks what power his title of stablemaster has, which the others in attendance laugh at, saying that it is a demeaning title. This infuriates Sun, who uses his gold rod to escape Heaven and head home, where he recounts his adventure. As his apes prepare a meal, two devil-kings present him a robe, and declare that he is the same as the Lord of the Heavens, and he takes to this idea, calling himself "The Great Saint who is Heaven's Equal" at their suggestion.

Notscha, Son of Li Dsing
In Heaven, the decision is made to take Sun prisoner. However, the first warrior sent to retrieve him is defeated soundly. Notscha is the next to fight him, and he matches Sun, but Sun is able to defeat him using his powers, creating a clone of himself to gain the advantage. Returning to Heaven, Notscha tells of his defeat, and that Sun is too strong for anyone to defeat. They decide to give Sun another empty title, which pleases him.

The Queen-Mother of the West
The Lord has a castle built for Sun, where he lives idly for many days. This worries some of the inhabitants, so they have Sun watch the Queen-Mother of the West's peach trees. He asks about the trees, and when he learned that the back row of peaches give eternal life, he eats all of the ripe ones, which take 9,000 years to ripen. Later, when the peach banquet comes, the caretakers find that only one half-ripe peach is left from this back row, while the other rows were full of peaches.

Laotzse
Sun, who had transformed into a peach worm, is angered that the peach he was in had been disturbed, and becomes angrier when he is told about the banquet and had not been invited. He heads to the Queen-Mother's palace, and no one else is there, so he drinks much of the wine, becoming exceedingly drunk, and decides to leave to head home. He ends up in Laotzse's home by accident, and finding gourds full of the pills of life, eats all of them. However, he now feels guilty, and decides to leave Heaven. Returning home, the other apes request these pills after he explains his adventure, so he returns to acquire pills for all of his apes.

Guan Yin
The Lord of the Heavens is told of Sun's transgressions, and is immediately infuriated. All of Heaven was brought together to capture Sun, but they were unsuccessful, as he turned one of his hairs into thousands of ape-kings again, defeating Li Dsing's army. Guan Yin tells the Lord that his grandson Yang Oerlang can defeat Sun, so they allow Yang to create his strategy, and he leaves to fight Sun. Sun infuriates Yang after learning his identity, and they begin a large battle.

Statue of Guan Yin

Source: Pixabay

Yang Oerlang
The fighting scared the many apes on the mountain, and Sun runs from Yang. Yang is able to follow closely, and Sun transforms into a bird. After a moment, Yang knows which one is Sun, and transforms himself to give chase. They transform into many different animals, Yang chasing Sun. Sun turns into a buzzard, and Yang shoots at him. Sun falls from the sky, and transforms into a palace, which Yang sees right through, and he threatens to destroy the palace, scaring Sun. Sun runs again, transforming into Yang and taking over his palace. Their fight would continue at Yang's palace.

Buddha
With help from Laotzse and Guan Yin, Yang is able to capture Sun and prevent him from transforming. They try to kill Sun, but are unable, so they place him in the oven to remove the elixir of life from him. However, he hides in an area away from the fire, and when the door is opened, escapes from the oven. Sun destroys everything with his rod, and after heading to the Lord's palace, Buddha is summoned to deal with Sun.

The Destiny of Sun Wu Kung
Sun asks why he is not Lord of the Heavens, and Buddha says the Lord has mastered the skills needed. Sun says he is more worthy, and attempts to pass the challenge Buddha gave him to obtain the title, but fails. When he attempts to escape, Buddha traps him, and forces him to live in solitude for hundreds of years until he has reformed himself. Once released, he wears a circlet from Guan Yin that punishes him for misbehaving, and is unable to remove it, as it is affixed to him. With this, he becomes well-mannered.

Reading Notes: The Monkey King, Part A

The Chinese Fairy Book, ed. by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921)

The Monkey King, Sun Wu Kung

Source: Wikipedia

Handsome King of the Apes
Born out of a magical rock, the Monkey King is made of stone. He possesses many powers, and scared the heavens with piercing light coming from his eyes. As he grew up, he learned many things, becoming wise. While playing one summer, he jumped through a waterfall without injury, discovering a hidden cave with an iron bridge inside. When he returned, and subsequently brought the rest of the monkeys through, they appointed him as king for his actions.

The Great Sea
The King of the Apes has realized his own mortality, and is saddened by it. After an older ape tells him of ways to obtain immortality, he sets off to search for it. He traveled across the Great Sea to Asia, and found a fisherman, who he attacked and stole the man's clothes, traveling across Asia through many cities, learning to act as a human. However, he is disappointed, as no one cares for life, only wealth. After nine years in Asia, he leaves and travels across the Western Sea, and after traveling inland, hears a man singing in a forest, and investigates.

Sun Wu Kung Gets His Name
The King finds the singing man, and when he asks where he learned the music, is directed to a saint known as The Discerner. He travels to the saint, and finds the gate locked. Rather than knock, he sits in a tree until he is retrieved by a disciple of The Discerner, who had foreseen his arrival. The Discerner names the King Sun Wu Kung after he says he does not have a name. He learns many things from The Discerner's disciples over the following years. However, he becomes excited when The Discerner begins to speak about "the great truth", which angers his teacher, as he has not released his wild side.

The Master
Sun Wu Kung explains that he was excited to learn these things, and so the Master offers to teach him many things. However, each one he suggests is rejected by Sun Wu Kung, as they do not lead to eternal life. The Master feigned anger, and before retreating to his quarters, hit Sun Wu Kung over the head three times, which he interpreted as needing to come by that night. He does so, and finds the door open, and ventures inside, kneeling beside the Master as he slept, listening to him humming.

Learning the Art
The master awakens, angry that the Sun Wu Kung is there until he explains why he has come. He agrees to show Sun Wu Kung the way, and he learns it. The Master then explains the dangers, and Sun Wu Kung asks how to protect himself, and when he is told, masters them. He proves them by flying when the Master asks him to, walking across the clouds for some distance before returning to Earth.

Sun Wu Kung Departs
The Master teaches Sun Wu Kung how to float across the clouds through somersaults. One day, the disciples ask him to show them his transformation, and so he turns into a pine tree at their request. They laugh at him, and the Master comes over, telling Sun Wu Kung he must leave. He warns Sun Wu Kung that he will be attacked by evil, and that he must never tell who he learned from, which he agrees to before leaving.

The Devil-King
He returned home, and told the others what he had learned, which overjoyed them. But he angered when they told him the Devil came and stole many of his children. He finds the Devil-King in a cave, who laughs at his diminutive stature, but Sun Wu Kung used his cunning mind and his abilities, and would summon thousands of little apes, who attacked the Devil and allowed him to finish the Devil off. He then saves his children, and destroyed this evil cave before heading home.

The Dragon-King
Sun Wu Kung trains the other apes on fighting so that they may be protected, but realizes they are still vulnerable. He thinks of buying weapons, but instead proceeds to steal them using his magical abilities. He and his fellow apes rule the mountain they live on with their newfound weaponry. Sun Wu Kung, however, is disappointed with his knife from the Devil-King, and heads to the Dragon-King to find a new one. Despite the Dragon-King's efforts, even his heaviest weapon is too light for Sun Wu Kung.

The Dragon-Queen
Sun Wu Kung is angry that there is nothing heavier, so the Dragon-King goes to look. The Dragon-Queen tells him of a rod that should be removed, and despite his hesitations, he takes Sun Wu Kung to it. Sun Wu Kung finds it changes size at will, and decides that it is a perfect weapon for him. He then demands a suit of armor, which angers the Dragon-King. He and his brothers give him the armor begrudgingly, planning to report him to the heavens. He returns home, displaying his new weapon and its power, and organizes his empire.

The Nether World
Sun Wu Kung takes a nap, and finds two men coming to take him to the Nether World. He is infuriated, crushes these constables, asks for the Book of Life, removes the section about apes so that he may not die, then returns home, forging his own path. When he leaves the Nether, he wakes from his dream and tells his baboons that he has struck their names from the Book of Life, so that they may live eternally.