Europa (Jacobs) -- Extra Reading Diary

Europa (Jacobs) Table of Contents

I really enjoyed this unit. My favorite story from this unit was most definitely the story about Belle in the Beauty and the Beast. This version of Beauty and the Beast was a little different from the Disney version that we all grew knowing.

This version of the "Beauty and the Beast" began by introducing Bella and her family: her father and two other sisters. Her father who is a merchant sets on a journey for business. As he is leaving he asks Bella what she would like him to bring back for her. She replies that she would like a rose. Bella's father seeing a beautiful garden with roses decided to seize this opportunity to retrieve a rose for Bella. Little did he know that the garden belonged to the Beast. Unfortunately, the Beast caught the merchant stealing the rose and thus threatened him. He must bring Bella to him in return for him sparing the merchant's life. The merchant reluctantly obeyed the Beast. The merchant brought Bella to the Beast. The Beast treated Bella well. The Beast's kindness towards Bella was evident. Eventually, the Beast and Bella became close. One day, Bella was looking for the Beast. She found him on the ground dead. Saddened by this, Bella professed her love for the Beast. Just as she was confessing her love for him, the Beast became a handsome young prince. (An enchanted magician turned him into a Beast and only love could turn him back). The Prince and Bella then lived happy together ever afterwards.

(Bella professing her love to the Beast)

Storytelling for Week 14: Cabbage Stalk

The Cabbage Stalk

    There once was an old poor couple. They did not have much but they were happy. They at least had each other. One day the old man went to the market to get some groceries; it was like any other day. He came upon a beggar. Despite not having much, the old man gave the beggar an apple. The beggar gave the old man seeds in return. These were not any ordinary seeds; they were magical but the old man was not aware of this.
 
    The old man returned to his wife and showed her the seeds the beggar gave him. The wife disregarded them and threw them outside. They carried out their day as if it was like any other day. They did their chores and at the end of the day had dinner with what little they had and went to bed.

     The next morning, the seeds that the wife threw outside grew into a little cabbage stalk. The cabbage stalk continued to grow each day. One day it was as tall as the old couple's home. The couple did not really know what to do but to watch it grow.

     It finally stopped growing once it reached up to the sky. The old man driven by curiosity decided to climb the cabbage stalk. When the old man finally reached to the top of the stalk, he found that he was in another world. Who knew that there was a whole other world up in the sky. While wandering around, the old man came upon a barn.

    Inside the barn were hundreds of golden eggs. He took two eggs with him and climbed down the stalk. He showed the gold eggs to his wife and his wife was overjoyed for now they will no longer be poor anymore.

    The next morning the old man set out to climb the stalk again to retrieve more gold eggs but with his wife this time. As he climbed the stalk he was carrying his wife. They finally reached the top and he showed her the barn full of golden eggs. Driven by greed, the wife grabbed as many eggs as she could. Eventually, the old couple decided to return home.

    The husband began to climb down the cabbage stalk with his wife but the weight of the many golden eggs made him lose his grip on his wife. The wife fell to the ground with the golden eggs. The husband finally made it to the ground where he found his wife dead with the golden eggs.

After grieving for a time, the old man went on with his life with boundless wealth but no one to share it with.

Author's Note:
My story was based on the story of the The Fox Physician  from the Russian Folktales. In the "The Fox Physician," a cabbage stalk is grown by the old couple. Driven by curiosity, the old climbed the cabbage stalk. He climbed all the way to the top which was above the sky and into the heavens. While he was in the heavens, he found a mill and in the mill was cake and a pie. After he ate his fill, he climbed back down the cabbage stalk and returned home so that he may tell his wife all that he saw. Hearing all that that her husband saw, the wife wanted to go up as well.So the old man carried his wife in a sack up the cabbage stalk but as he was climbing he lost his grip on the sack and the woman fell to her death. Not knowing what to do, the old man asked for help from a fox. The fox rather than actually trying to save the wife, ate her. This left the husband alone and in poverty. for my story, I kept the old couple, the cabbage stalk, but I left out the fox. I wanted my story to focus on the relationship between the old man and and his wife and how their lives were affected by the cabbage stalk.

Russian Folktales-- Reading Diary A

Russian Folktales Table of Contents

The second half of this was just as entertaining and dark. One of my favorite stories was the story of the The Fox-Physician. The story begins with a husband and wife growing a cabbage stalk. The husband's cabbage stalk grew so tall he had to cut a hole into the barn's ceiling so that the stalk may grow through it. It grew even taller -- so tall that it reached to the heavens. One day the husband climbed the cabbage stalk and visited the heavens. While he was up there, he visited a mill and was astounded that people actually lived in the heavens. When he finally returned to Earth, he persuaded his wife to climb the cabbage stalk with him. He climbed the stalk with her in his arms but eventually his arms gave out and the wife fell to the ground and was smashed into pieces. A fox stumbled upon the husband grieving and offered his help. The fox demanded a bag of oatmeal and butter and to leave him alone with his dead wife. The husband waited and waited until he lost his patience and barged in on the fox eating the remains of his wife. And that is pretty much the ending of the story. It is pretty sad but I found it to be really entertaining because it was full of surprises. It kept me on edge.

(Fox)

Russian Folktales -- Reading Diary A

Russian Folktales Table of Contents

I really enjoyed this unit even though it was kind of dark. It was very entertaining. One of the stories that I really enjoyed was the story of the The Dead mother.

“The Dead Mother” is about a mother that dies giving birth. She leaves the child to her husband who does not have a clue about how to raise or nourish a child. He hires an old woman to help him raise the child but the child rejects the old woman. The baby continued to cry except during a great part the night. During the night the baby was quiet but as soon as morning approached the baby would cry. The mystery of the baby not crying at night spurred questioning. The husband, the old woman, and friends stayed up one night to find out the source of the baby’s quietness. They discover that the source of the baby’s quietness is his dead mother. During the night, the dead mother feeds the baby. When the dead mother finally finished feeding the baby and left, they found the baby dead.
Another story that I enjoyed was the story of The Bad Wife. This story is about a husband who is married to a bad wife. Whenever the husband asks for favor from his wife, she does the opposite. She also likes to call names such as “thief.” This angers the husband to the point he plots her disappearance. He tricks his wife to go into a bottomless pit. The wife is stuck in the pit forever and the husband is free to live a more peaceful life.

(Dead mother's tombstone)

Andersen-- Extra Reading Diary

Andersen Table of Contents

I really enjoyed the Andersen stories. They were very entertaining. One of my favorite stories was the story of The Wicked Prince.

The story began with introducing the prince to the reader. He is described as a conquer. His goal in life was to conquer as many countries as possible and to make others fear him. He was successful at this. He gained so much wealth power from his conquests; he began to become haughty. He thought that he could defeat anybody -- including God. The prince was still not satisfied when he conquered all of the lands. He wanted more. He wanted to conquer God. He built a ship that had hundreds of eagles attached to it. The purpose of this was permit the ship to rise up towards the sky. On the ship, the prince rose higher and higher into the sky until he finally came upon an angel that God had sent. The prince being the ruthless person he is began attacking the angel. As a result the blood of the Angel burnt into the ship, causing the ship to sink back to Earth. The prince did not give up. He tried to conquer God for a second time. God sent a swarm of gnats in response. A single gnat found itself underneath the prince's clothing and was able to conquer the prince. Now the prince is known for being a mad prince who wished to conquer God but failed to do so because he was overcome by a single gnat.

(Wicked Prince)

Storytelling for Week 12: The Frog and the Princess

The Frog and Princess
There was once a princess who was very beautiful. She was not like any ordinary princess. She enjoyed the outdoors and observing the creatures that lived near the pond in her garden. At school, her favorite subject was biology and thus was always interested in observing the frogs, fish, and ducks that were at her pond.
It was like any other day; she was at her pond observing the creatures when her shoe accidently fell into the pond. The pond being deep and all, she could not go after it to retrieve it. So she cried for her father gave her those shoes.
A frog hearing her cries pitied her. The Frog approached her and said “Princess I will retrieve your shoe on one condition that you take me back to your home and marry me”
The Princess shocked that a frog was speaking to her did not know what to say. The Frog repeated himself. The princess had to think about it but eventually accepted his offer, thinking that she could just run off and leave him once she gave her her shoe. The Frog gave the Princess her shoe and immediately, the Princess ran off with her shoe, leaving behind the frog.
The Princess was home studying for an upcoming biology exam when she heard a knock. It was the Frog. The Princess did not know what to do and so ran to her father asking for advice. He advised that since she made a promise to the Frog, she needs to keep it. She obeyed her father and allowed the frog into her home.
The reminded her that she also promised to marry him. The princess replied to the frog that she did promise to marry the Frog but she did not specify when. So because there not a specific deadline to marry the Frog, the princess replied that she will marry him in a year. The Frog was not too happy about this but agreed to it.
During this time, the Frog and Princess spent a lot of time together. He showed the princess his home, the pond, and taught her everything about the creatures that lived there as well. The Princess enjoyed this. Eventually the Princess fell in love with the Frog. The Princess had never met anyone so kind, smart, and loyal.
One day while spending time together, the Princess kissed the Frog and instantly the Frog turned into a handsome Prince. The Princess fell in love him even more. They married and lived happily ever after.

(The Frog Prince)

Author's Note:
 This story was based on the story of The Frog Prince. I kept the main concepts of the story but made a few changes. For instance in "The Frog Prince," she drops a golden ball but in my story I had the Princess drop her shoe instead. I felt like it was more "fairytale-like" than a golden ball. In my story, the frog retrieves the shoe call on two conditions: the Princess takes the frog home with her and marries him. In "The Frog Prince," the retrieves the golden ball on the condition that the Princess takes him home with her, shares her food with him, and allows him to sleep beside her. I also added a reason why she was at the pond all the time, which was because she was interested in biology and thus enjoyed observing the creatures and their habitat. I also included more about their courtship. I wanted the reader to see that they grew into falling love with each other -- that is why I emphasized that they did not marry until a year. Another difference between my story and "The Frog Prince" was that in "The Frog Prince" the curse was broken not be a kiss but by allowing the frog to sleep over at the princess's home. I felt like a "true love's kiss" was a lot more romantic and magical.

"The Frog Prince" from the Grimm (LibriVox)  by the Brothers Grimm (1876). Web Source: Sacred Texts.

Grimm (LibriVox) -- Reading Diary B

Grimm (LibriVox) Table of Contents

I really enjoyed this second half of Grimm (LibriVox). It was interesting and entertaining. One of my favorite stories from this section was the story The Fox and the Horse. I enjoyed this story because I thought it was very heartwarming. It was about a complete stranger helping another without the expectation of receiving an award.

The story begins the Horse being sent away by his owner. He was only allowed to return if he was stronger than a lion. The Horse feeling hopeless happened to come upon a fox. The Horse told the Fox his predicament and the Fox, pitying the horse, decided to help him. The Fox had the Horse "play dead" while he went to fetch the Lion. The Fox told the Lion about the "dead" horse and Lion being hungry and everything listened to the Fox. As soon as the Fox gained the Lion's trust he tied the Lions legs together so that he could not move. The Fox then gave the Lion to the Horse so that he may give it to his master. The Horse brought the bounded lion to his master and the master was pleased and allowed the Horse to return home.

Another story that I enjoyed was the story of the The Queen Bee. I enjoyed because of the moral of the story, which was treat others as one would like others to treat oneself. The dwarf in the story treated the animals with respect and in the end the animal treated the dwarf with respect as well. They helped him win over the princess.

(the Dwarf)

Grimm (LibriVox) -- Reading Diary A

Grimm (LibriVox) Table of Contents

I really enjoyed this reading section. I have always liked reading fairy tales, especially if they were written by the Brothers Grimm. My favorite story from the first half of this section was the story of the The Frog Prince.

In "The Frog Prince," a young princess is introduced. One day she was playing near a spring of water with her favorite golden ball. She threw the golden ball a little to high and it rolled down into the spring. The spring was too deep for her to go into and retrieve the ball. A frog approached her and offered his help to her on one condition that she takes him back with her to her home. She accepts his offers and promises to take him back with her. The frog retrieves the golden ball for and gives it back to the princess. At first the princess denies her promise to the frog but eventually gives in and allows him to enter her home. For three days the frog ate her food and slept beside her on her bed. On the third day the frog turned into a prince. He was cursed by fairy and turned into a frog. The only way for her to turn back was by eating off the place off a princess and sleeping beside a princess for three days.

(Princess at the spring)

I also really enjoyed the story of Rapunzel. It was a little different form the Disney version. The difference between the two was that in the Brothers Grimm the prince was blinded and in the Disney version he was not. He fell from Rapunzel's tower into a bed of thorns and some of the thorns pierced him eyes, causing him to go blind. Fortunately in the end, Rapunzel was able to cure his blindness.

Celtic Tales -- Extra Reading Diary

Celtic Tales Table of Contents

   This unit was really humorous and interesting. Out of all of the stories, I enjoyed the Gold- Tree and Silver- Tree story the most.
    The "Gold-tree and Silver-tree" is about a mother who is envious of her young daughter. The story begins by introducing the family: the King, the wife, and the daughter. The wife's, who is the mother of the daughter, name is Gold- tree. The daughter's name is Gold-tree. Just by knowing the name of the mother and daughter, the reader can guess that the daughter is superior to the mother already.
    Many times the mother would visit a magical trout that would only speak the truth. The mother asked the trout who was the most beautiful and to the astonishment of the mother, the trout replied that Gold-tree is the most beautiful. Angered by this answer, the mother demanded the liver and heart of her own daughter. From here, I could not help but notice how similar this story was to Snow-white.
    The King, not only wanting to not disappoint his wife but also loved his daughter far too much, decided to deceive his wife. He gave her the heart and liver of an animal and let his daughter escape. The daughter ran off and married a handsome and kind prince.
    Silver-tree went back to the trout and asked the trout who was the most beautiful. The trout again replied that Gold-tree was the most beautiful. Hearing this new, the wife decided to take matters in her own hands. She was going to kill her daughter herself and she was successful. Fortunately, the prince was able to wake revive her with a kiss. You would have thought that the story would end with this but it didn't. The mother yet again tried to kill her daughter but with the help of a friend, the daughter survived.

(Silver-Tree looking at the trout in the well)

Storytelling for Week 12:

Who is Mr. Fox?

     There once was a beautiful girl named Lady Mary. She had many suitors but was only really interested in one person Mr. Fox.
    Mr. Fox was very well known. He was a very successful businessman. At very young age, he inherited his father's trading and has since then increased its revenue. Not only was he wealthy but he was also very handsome. He took care of his body. Every morning, he ran three miles, did weights, and stretches. He took great pride in his appearance.
    Lady Mary instant fell in love with Mr. Fox even though she really did not know much about him except that he was wealthy and handsome. She had never even been to his home. Lady Mary complained to Mr. Fox about never having been to his home and begged him to invite her over. He succumbed to her wishes and invited her over.
    Mr. Fox's home was unlike any home Lady Mary had ever seen. It was large with many room, which was what she expected. What she did not expect was how clean it was. Lady Mary had never seen such a clean home. Everything was white and very organized. There was not a single thing out of place. Lady Mary decided not to say anything about it – about how strangely clean and organized Mr. Fox’s home was.
   Mr. Fox went away for business for the weekend. Lady Mary saw this as an opportunity to sneak over to Mr. Fox’s home and explore it. When she arrived it looked the same it did the other day when she came over – really clean. Lady Mary always considered cleanliness a good quality but Mr. Fox’s level of cleanliness was abnormal. Nobody is this clean, especially a male. Lady Mary went through the house opening all of the doors and exploring the rooms that were in them. She finally reached the last hall of Mr. Fox’s home and at the end of it was door. Lady Mary reached to open it and was shocked at what she saw what was in it.
    In this particular room were bodies – bodies of dead women. There was blood everywhere. Lady Mary ran as fast as she could out of the home. She ran home to her father and brothers and informed them of what she found but no one believed her. They could not believe that a handsome and wealthy man could be a murderer. Mr. Fox who is known for being charismatic, kind, and well-mannered could never be a murderer. They disregarded Lady Mary’s accusations and carried on with their daily functions. Angered, Lady Mary vowed that she would someday expose Mr. Fox for what he truly is – a murderer.

(Mr. Fox)

Author's Note:
 This story is based on Mr. Fox. In "Mr. Fox," Lady Mary falls in love with a man called Mr. Fox without really knowing who he is. She falls for him because of his wealth and handsome appearance. For a weekend Mr. Fox goes away on business. Lady Mary uses this oppurtunity to go to Mr. Fox's home and perhaps learn more about him. While exploring his home, She comes up dead bodies and realizes that Mr. Fox is a murderer. She runs out in fear only to hear Mr. Fox coming home, dragging a dead body. When Mr. Fox is not looking, Lady Mary takes the hand of the dead body that Mr. Fox cut off. With this hand Lady Mary proves to everyone that Mr. Fox is a murderer. Mr. Fox is then killed by her brothers and friends for his crimes. I kept the main details of the story and made it more like American Psycho. Like the main character from the film American Psycho, Mr. Fox is wealthy, clean, and healthy and has dark secret; he is a killer. I changed the ending to be more like American Psycho in that the killer does not get caught.

"Mr. Fox" From English Fairy Tales: Joseph Jacobs (1890). Web Source: Sacred Texts

English Fairy Tales -- Reading Diary B

English Fairy Tales Table of Contents

    I enjoyed the second half of the English Fairy Tales unit. Some of the stories were very interesting. They were not what I expected. For instance, the story of the Mr. Fox was pretty interesting. The story of "Mr. Fox" started off like any other romantic story. It introduced a beautiful lady. Her name was Lady Mary. Lady Mary had many suitors interested in but she was only interested in Mr. Fox. The story describes Mr. Fox as handsome and wealthy -- pretty much everything a young lady would wish for. Mr. Fox and the young lady courted but the young lady still felt like he had no idea who this Mr. Fox was so she set out to his home when he was away on business. When she went there she came upon a room full of dead bodies of beautiful young ladies. From a distance she even saw Mr. Fox dragging a young lady's body. She ran away unseen as quickly as she could. Over dinner the young lady confronted Mr. Fox about this revelation but he denied it. Her brother and friends showed no mercy and cut him into a thousand pieces.
    Initially when I was reading this story, I thought that it was just another romantic fairy tale. A young beautiful lady falls in love with a handsome wealthy man. As I progressed through the story though I realized that it was not like any other romantic story. It was actually a lot darker than I thought it was going to be. It was kind of suspenseful and gory. 

(Fairy Lady and Mr. Fox)

English Fairy Tales -- Reading Diary A

 English Fairy Tales Tables of Contents

    I really enjoyed these stories. They were very humorous. They reminded of bedtime stories that a parent might tell their child before bed. One of my favorite stories was the story of The Rose Tree.
    The Rose Tree is about a beautiful young girl with long hair. Her father and brother loved her dearly but her stepmother despised her. One day her stepmother sent her to buy some candles. At every attempt of buying the candles something would happen, such as a dog would steal them from her. When she came home empty- handed, the stepmother was angry. She was so angry she chopped the girl's beautiful  long hair and took the heart and the liver of the little girl. She cooked the organs and fed them to her husband and tried to feed it to her son but he refused. Towards the end of the story she is punished. A thunder strikes her and she is killed for her evil deed. All the while, the brother and father live in wealth.
    I also enjoy The Story of the Three Little Pigs. This story was very much similar to the The Three Little Pigs except for some different aspects of the story. I felt like this version of the Three Little Pigs was the extended version.

(Pig)

    The story started out with three pigs that built a house out of three different materials. The first pig used straw. The second pig used furze. The third pig used bricks. The house of bricks was the only house that withstand the wolf's puff. Towards the end of the story, the wolf got so tired of the pig besting him he climbed into the pig's chimney to try to get in and kill the pig. The wolf did not know but the pig had a pot of boiling water at the end of the chimney. So, when the wolf crawled into the chimney he fell into the pot of boiling water and died.

Canterbury Tales-- Extra Reading Diary

Canterbury Tales Table of Contents

    I really enjoyed this unit. It was really humorous and entertaining. My favorite story in this unit was the story of the The Wife of Bath's Tale: The Unknown Bride.This story was about a knight who did not live up to his duties, which was to protect all women and treat them respectfully. The initial punishment for this crime was death but the Queen pitied and instead gave him a less severe punishment. His punishment was to find out what women most desired. If he failed at this task he was to be put to death. He frantically wandered around asking every woman he came upon what they most desired. Each woman gave him a different answer. No one agreed with another's answer. Eventually he came upon an elderly woman. The knight asked the elderly woman the same question he had been asking to the other women and the elderly woman replied that she had the answer but would only give it to him in return for something. The knight must promise to marry her. The knight wanting to avoid death agreed to this. The knight journeyed back to the Queen and told her what the elderly woman told him. The one thing that women most desire is to rule over their husbands. The Queen was satisfied with this answer and let him go. The knight kept his promise to the elderly woman and married her even though he was not attracted to her. Eventually though elderly woman transformed into her true self -- a beautiful young woman. The knight fell in love with her and they both lived happily with each other's company.

(The Knight)

The Mirror -- Week 11

The Mirror
    There lived a beautiful princess named Britomart. She was not like any other princess. Britomart enjoyed the outdoors and adventuring in the unknown for she was fearless and determined. Ever since she was a child she was trained in the warlike ways, such as spearing and sword fighting and using a shield. She detested the feminine life style, such as fingering fine needle and fancy thread that many expected from her.
    While wandering through a forest, Britomart came upon a home. It was psychic’s home. Britomart never really believed in psychics and there so called abilities, nevertheless, she was so driven by curiosity she knocked on the door. An elderly woman, wearing a cloak, answered the door. The elderly psychic was shocked at the presence of Britomart for princesses are never found in this part of the woods, especially at a psychic’s home.
    The psychic under obligation welcomed Britomart into her home. Britomart had never seen so much clutter in a home before. There were things and stuff ever. It was a clutter. As Britomart was wandering through the home, she thought to herself and asked how anyone could ever live in a mess like this. Britomart pitied the psychic until she came upon a mirror in the far back of the home. It was the most beautiful mirror she had ever seen. It was round and hollow. It was like a globe.
    Britomart questioned the psychic about the mirror. The psychic replied that it was a magic mirror.     The psychic asserted that if you asked question, the mirror will reveal the answer to her. Now Britomart has a wonderful life. She had everything but sometimes it was lonely. Britomart has always looked up to her parents and their love for each other. All she ever wanted was for someone to love her as much as her father loved her mother. So she asked who and where her true love was.
    The mirror revealed a gallant knight, named Artegall. He was dressed in finely made armor. His crest was a crouching hound and written on his armor was “Achilles’ arms, which Artegall did win.” Britomart was pleased with the mirror’s answer. Staring at Artegall in the mirror, Britomart fell in love with him.
    She asked the mirror where and how she could find Artegall but unfortunately the mirror only grants one answer for every person. Despite this letdown, Britomart decided that finding Artegall would be her new adventure and goal. She ran out of the Psychic’s home and mounted onto her house and started her journey to finding her true love.

Author's note:
"The Mirror" was based off the story of The Magic Mirror. The story of The Magic Mirror begins with describing who Britomart is. Britomart is an unconventional princess. She enjoys fighting, adventuring, and weaponry. In this story Britomart is traveling with Knights. During the journey one of the knights, driven by curiosity as to why a princess would be dressed in armor and travel with knights, asks Britomart's reasoning for traveling with them. She lies to the knight and replies that she is on a quest to avenge herself against Artegall but really she is on a quest to find Artegall because she is in love with. As she is talking to the knight, Britomart reflects on how she fell in love with Artegall. Britomart came upon a mirror globe and in the mirror globe she saw the face of Artegall. He appeared to her as a gallant and majestic knight, clad in armor. She instantly fell in love with him and made it her globe to find him. In my story, I kept the overall characterization of Britomart but when into more detail about how Britomart came upon the mirror globe. I included a psychic to allude a more supernatural feeling. I also kind of incorporated a part of the story of Snow White into my story. I included the magic mirror aspect. I ended my story with the beginning of her quest. 

"The Magic Mirror" from Faerie Queene: Britomart (1916). Web Source: Sacred Texts