Showing posts with label Week 13. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Week 13. Show all posts

Thursday, November 15, 2018

Week 13 Story: The Three Brothers

Many years ago, three brothers graduated high school, and decided to attend three different colleges. All of them were extremely smart individuals, bright futures and vast opportunity ahead. However, despite these possibilities, they did not all achieve the same heights.

The first brother was relatively lazy, and even though he was able to achieve A's and B's without much effort in high school, he received a shock when he failed his classes freshman year. Over the next four years, he worked harder than he had ever worked before to bring his grades up. Despite his best efforts, when his college tenure reached its end, he found that his GPA was below the graduation threshold. Dejected and disappointed, the first brother was unable to graduate with his degree, the first victim of the university.

The second brother, learning from his older brother's mistake, started strong, finishing his freshman year with a 3.8 GPA and on the President's Honor Roll. Because of his early success, he began to fall into the same lazy ways of his older brother, and saw his GPA slip to a 2.9 by the end of his junior year. Desperate to regain his former glory, the second brother was caught cheating on an exam during his final semester, and was expelled from the university for academic misconduct. Because of this mark on his record, the second brother was also unable to graduate with his degree, the second victim of the university.

Now the third brother had seen both of his brothers suffer their fates, and was determined not to fall into the traps that both of them were victim to. Similar to his second brother, the third brother finished his freshman year on the President's Honor Roll with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Unlike his brother, however, he avoided the temptation of laziness, and continued his hard work, keeping his GPA above 3.5 for his entire college career. Because of this, when the time came for graduation, the third brother was able to successfully complete his degree and graduate. He would not fall as the third victim of the university.
When you're the one who got your degree
Source: PxHere

Author's Note: I wanted to create a modern take on the Three Little Pigs. In the original story, the first little pig built his house out of straw, but because of the lack of rigidity of straw, his house was easily blown down by the wolf, who ate him. The second little pig built his house out of sticks, which while slightly stronger than straw, was still no match for the wolf, who blew the house down and ate that pig as well. The third little pig, in his wisdom, built his house out of bricks, which the wolf was unable to knock down, rendering the third little pig safe from harm. I turned it into three brothers going to college, where the first two are unsuccessful at their attempts to obtain a degree, while the third one was able to complete their degree, not becoming victim like the first two did.

English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890).

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Reading Notes: English Tales, Part B

English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890).

Henny-Penny
The gullible nature of all the animals with the fox is interesting. But it should be expected since they believed the sky was falling.

The fox is cunning to be able to get them all to follow him into the cave. How did he kill the first three, but not cocky-locky?
Henny-Penny and friends
Source: Wikipedia

Molly Whuppie
The giant seems to fit the stereotype that the cyclops/giant isn't very smart. You'd think he'd be smarter once all his possessions keep being stolen.

The King seems fairly greedy, asking a young girl to go get treasures for him.

Mr. Fox
Mr. Fox's castle seems like a very weird place, being hidden and all.

How many marriage contracts had Mr. Fox signed to get so many girls?

Was there not a trail showing him where the hand traveled to?

Johnny-Cake
Foxes are very cunning creatures in these old stories.

So a Johnny-Cake is a cornmeal pancake... A bear got outrun by a pancake?

The little boy needs to learn to pay more attention to his tasks.

Mr. Miacca
Mr. Miacca is both good and bad, as the note says. He's good for being able to get boys to behave and not cause as much trouble, but eating them isn't the right way to do that.

How did Tommy get the sofa leg out when the sofa was in use?

The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh
The "worm" is actually a dragon, not a worm as we think of.

Why is every stepmother jealous?!

What makes the rowan-tree so powerful against magic or imps?

Childe Wynd is strong to be able to still complete the mission despite the attacks on him due to the magic.

The Ass, the Table and the Stick
This reminds me of one of the African tales I read a few weeks ago, at least from the stick.

The innkeeper deserved the beating he ended up receiving.

What killed Jack's father?

I appreciate the ending, since he didn't abandon his sweetheart due to her lack of wealth.

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

Reading Notes: English Tales, Part A

English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890).

Tom Tit Tot
This story seems quite a lot like Rumpelstiltskin, in the way that the girl must spin something under the threat of death, and an unusual fellow comes and does the work for her.

I like her feigning ignorance on the last day by purposely guessing wrong the first two times, causing him to believe she'd never guess it.

The Rose Tree
It seems like many English Fairy Tales involve a jealous stepmother who will do anything to slight or harm their stepdaughter.

Was the white bird born from the tree? Or did it learn the song from the flowers?

I half expected the items the bird gathered to be used to reincarnate the girl who died. I'm just as satisfied that the stepmother got what she deserved for her actions.
Red Rose Tree
Source: Wikipedia

The Old Woman and Her Pig
Why didn't the woman pick the pig up and carry it over the stile? It likely wouldn't be a very large piglet.

That's a lot of retracing she had to do in order to get the pig to jump over on its own.

Binnorie
What caused William to become so smitten with the younger of the daughters? Was it purely looks, or was it also attitude?

Seems jealousy extends to siblings as well, not just stepmothers.

The harp sounds similar to the white bird in The Rose Tree. Do these stories share the same root narrative?

Mouse and Mouser
The writing style is very poetic, like a call and response duet song.

This seems like the definition of a "cat and mouse" game. The cat is distracting the mouse so it stays until it gets the chance to kill and eat it.

Cap o' Rushes
I'm surprised he threw her out for her comment, especially since he realizes it was the strongest love of his daughters.

I get a little bit of a Cinderella vibe, where the lowly servant captures the heart of the prince.

I'm amazed he didn't recognize his daughter until she pointed herself out. Maybe he'd forgotten about her for a time after he cast her out?
Not the response Cap o' Rushes expected.
Source: WisdomTales

The Three Little Pigs
This was one of my favorite stories growing up, and I also enjoyed the alternate versions, such as the wolf's point of view.

I'm assuming furze is what other versions called wood, or is at least similar. Basing that solely on the placement in the story.

Older fairy tales are definitely darker. This is the first time I've read it where the pig ends up cooking the wolf and eating it.

The Master and His Pupil
The book seems too powerful to simply leave it locked to the table. Why not travel with it to ensure it isn't used improperly?

The pupil doesn't seem like the type of person to trust in the house. Why did the Master choose him?

I find it funny to imagine the devil himself watering a flower. Seems very menial for such a powerful creature.