Week 11 Storytelling: Tricky Goblins in Trevglwys

There was once a time where mythical creatures such as leprechauns, ghosts, elves, goblins, and just about any thing you could think of lived among men.  In the defense of man was the wizards of each town.  Anytime a creature decided to play a trick on a human, a man or woman could visit a wizard for advice on how to settle the situation.  Now there was also a region called Treveglwys where interactions between man and creatures was especially prevalent.  One of the better known tales pertains to when the goblins curiosity was sparked on what it would be like to raise a human child.

In Trevglwys there was a maiden, and her merchant husband, who had a beautiful set of twins.  The mother loved her twins tenderly, but she also obligated herself to her neighbors in sickly times.  When she received calls it was normally in the afternoons after the merchant had returned home.  One day, though, there was an emergency at the home of a neighbor over the hill.  It was early afternoon, and the merchant had not yet returned, but the messenger insisted that this was a fatal situation.  The maiden checked on her twins, who were fast asleep, and decided that she would make an exception this one time.  She hurried to her neighbor's not realizing that the messenger did not return with her.  On the way home she noticed a small creature crossing the road in the blue coat similar to what the messenger had on.  This struck a little odd to the maiden, who soon remembered her twins, and she hastened her pace home.  When she arrived home, her twins appeared to have just woken up from their nap and she was relieved.

A few weeks passed, and the the merchant and his wife began to become suspicious of their children.  There were times, while the maiden was in the next room, that she would begin to hear conversation when it was only her and the babies at home.  After being fed and cared for the twins would become uninterested in her, and this was last bit of peculiar behavior persuaded her to visit the town wizard.  

She arrived to the wizard's home and pleaded her case.  He reminded her that the harvest of rye and oats was near.  He directed that before the reapers were to visit her home, that she must make a small amount of porridge and place it in an eggshell.  She was to act as if this was her food donation, and that if the children begin speaking nonsense they were not her own.  She was to then take them to Lake Ebyr and throw them into the water.  If they do not speak at all, like infants should, then they are her children and not to do them harm.  

Within the next few days, the day of the reap came.  The maiden followed the wizards instructions and made some porridge in a hen's eggshell.  Once it was finished she walked to the door of her home as if to greet the men.  She stood for a second at the door when one child exclaimed:

(Source)

"Acorn before oak I knew,

An egg before a hen,

But I never heard of an eggshell brew

A dinner for harvest men."

The startled maiden gathered the children, ran to Lake Ebyr, and threw them into the water.  Creatures with blue coats immediately appeared out of the forest, and saved their goblin babes.  They decided they did not want to keep all four infants, and returned the human twins to their mother.  After this, everyone lived happily ever after. 

Author's Note:

This story was one of my favorite tales from the Celtic Fairytales unit.  I added a lot of elements to the story, especially in the beginning, because the original text didn't explain the presence of the goblins.  Towards the end of the tale I began to stick closer to the original tale.  I initially thought about having the goblins explain why they took the twins, to their mother, but in the end I decided to omit it and have the reader come up with their own reasons.  

Book title: Celtic Fairytales

Author: Joseph Jacobs

Year Published: 1892

Web Source: Sacred Texts

Week 11 Reading Diary: Celtic Fairytales

This week I decided to read the unit Celtic Fairy Tales.  Below are my notes on my favorite tales:

The Horned Women:
This story was quite interesting, and I could not imagine having twelve horned witches just waltz into my home.  I believe the rich woman was very brave, but also quite fortunate that the well spirit had reached out to her.  A question that I have, that the story does not necessarily clarify, is why would the twelve witches come into the home to card and prepare the wool the rich woman was working on?  After reading this story I began to notice the reoccurring theme of someone having to use a sieve in order to fetch some water, and in order to do so they must find a way to plug up the holes. My favorite part of the story was when the well spirit gave her the advice on how to keep the witches out when they returned.

(Source)

The Sprightly Tailor:
I enjoyed this story and applaud the tailor for being able to accomplish his task and receive his reward.  I am sort of a scardy-cat so I can only imagine his fear as he is trying to finish the trousers (as this random demon things is slowly coming out of the ground).  I almost wonder if there was something that was holding the monster in the ground, and that is what made him emerge so slowly, or was it him trying to play with the Tailor then lucked out.

Gold-Tree and Silver Tree:
Who doesn't love a princes story?  What I found interesting was that the Prince decided to keep both queens around, and that there was no dispute.  I like that this time the evil stepmother was able to be done off with and her schemes put to an end.  I do think that it is a little amusing that instead of a magic mirror, Silver-Tree was talking to a magical trout in the river.  I wonder if their names have any significance to the region the story originates from.

Beth Gellert:

Oh the age of technology!  I have actually read a version of this story where a mother kills the dog then finds a dead snake nearby.  This story is very sad for the loyal hound, but at least he was remembered and put in a place of honor upon his death.  

(Source)

Brewery of Eggshells:

I really liked how short and sweet this story was, but at the same time it kept me anticipating what was going to happen next.  Maybe it's just the mother in me, but I wanted to find out what had happened to the twins.  It was relieving when it's disclosed that they went back home with their mother, but I am left wondering what were the goblins intentions by switching out the children?  This could be possible inspiration for my storytelling this week. 

Week 10 Essay: Eskimos: Single Men, Wizards, and Paranormal

This week there were many reoccurring motifs in the unit Eskimo Folk Tales.  These motifs included unmarried men (in the beginning of just about every tale), shamans, and in some cases the undead or ghosts.  When going through the unit, one can see that all of the stories are single paged and not very long. They get straight to whatever point they are trying to make then it abruptly ends.  At first this kind of annoyed me while reading, but I had to remind myself that the tales were derived from oral stories.  I believe that since these stories stay as true to oral traditions as they can, explains the reoccurring themes.

Of the many stories that began with a man he was always unmarried and either a good or bad hunter.  Whether he could hunt was an important aspect to the Eskimos for they thrived on the animals they hunted.  Many times these men would have many brothers that either took care of him or competed him when it came to how much game they were able to obtain.  This was effective for Eskimo storytellers since this gave the audience a homely perspective when listening to this story around a fire.

Wizards, magic men, or shamans were prevalent in this unit as well.  They were mentioned many times in the text, but they were by far more prevalent in the images before the stories.  Many times you almost miss the images.  There were many that did no seem to pertain to the actual stories, and were just pieces of art the author presented.  I look at the wizards and shaman as their sort of religious belief system.  Majority of the time villagers went to the wizards for help and advice.  The wizards would consult on the "spirits" a lot of the time in order to know what to do.

                      Source          Wizards preparing for a "spirit fight."     I have no clue what this is.

Lastly, I feel like in todays society and culture we fear death (at least here in the US).  The Eskimo's, at least of this time, do not seem to have this belief system.  As explained in their creation story, The Coming of Men, A Long, Long While Ago, the first people created actually accepted the new concept of death in order to be privileged with light.  They believe that if one dies with a grudge on their heart that they were able to come back as a ghost and attack their enemies.  Much to my surprise there was a story where a man was able to bring back a zombie to attack one of his brothers.  I just feel like this unit was about more than just the stories themselves, they gave insight on how the Eskimo's routines and cultural beliefs.

Week 10 Storytelling: Little Bear Kidnapper

There once was an old woman who lived on her own a moderate distance from her villiage.  Her hut was located on the seashore, near a seal cove, and because of this the men of the village always brought her part of the days catch.  One day the men were able to take down a mother polar bear.  As the women were preparing the meat, they noticed a cub clutching to the bear.  They removed the cub, and brought him to the old woman to see if she wanted him.  Not having company in such a long time, she welcomed him with open arms.  He immediately warmed up to the old woman, and was named Little Bear. The old woman tended to all of the cub's needs, and in return he quickly grew big and strong.

Polar bear

Now one of the main hunters of the village had a son named Ángángûjik, but everyone called him Áng for simplicity.  Áng was very adventurous and would try to sneak away often, much to the distress of his stepmother.  One day Áng became curious of this new polar bear cub that everyone had been talking about.  He decided he wanted to play with him.  Although Little Bear was technically a wild animal, the old woman taught him to play gentle with children when they visited.  When Áng met Little Bear an inseparable bond formed between the two.  They played on most days whenever Áng could get out of his stepmother's site.  Eventually, though, Little Bear had grown big enough to learn how to hunt on his own.  The men of the village saw worth in this, and ask the old woman's permission to take Little Bear hunting with them.  She agreed to the proposition, and the men made plans to arrive early the next morning to fetch him.  The old woman was unaware that Little Bear and Áng were playing in secrecy, so she assumed that Áng's father would tell him that Little Bear would not be home the next day.

The next day's plans worked according, and Little Bear left early in the morning to join in on the hunt.  Unfortunately for Áng he was unaware and made way for the old woman's hut a few hours later.  On the way he came across an inlander couple who was hiding in the forest along the path.  They were curious of her Little Bear, and was trying to sneak a peak of this iceberg of a bear they had heard of.  The inlanders were unfamiliar with polar bears since they did not live near the ice and obtained their food from the earth.  The couple did not have children of their own so they snuck up on Áng, snatched him off the path, and ventured back to their village with plans of raising him as their own.  When Little Bear and the men returned from their hunt, they found Áng's stepmother at the old woman's hut in much distress.  When Áng's father asked her why she was there, she disclosed that she had noticed he was missing from their home, and found little footprints heading in this direction.  As she followed them she realized they were headed towards the old woman's hut, but about half way there she saw another pair suddenly appear, then all of a sudden there were none.  She was to afraid to venture into the forest, so she continued to the old woman's hut to wait for the men to return from hunting. 

Áng's father was angered by the woman's cowardice, but then demanded they immediately set out to find his son.  The other men agreed it was important to find Áng, but it was already late in the day and the village needed meat from their hunt for food.  The old woman then disclosed that Áng and Little Bear had been playing together for some time.  She stated that he and Áng's parents should be sufficient enough to find the young boy.  Áng's parents agreed and set off towards the path.  When they came upon where footprints had disappeared, they asked Little Bear to try and catch Áng's scent.  Little Bear sniffed the surrounding area for a while then suddenly ran off into the forrest.  Áng's parents followed until they came across an inlader village.  They could hear a child crying in one of the homes, crept to one of the windows, and peered in.  What Áng's parents witnessed angered their hearts.  They could see Áng sitting in the middle of the hut crying very loudly.  There was a couple with him asking many questions. "Are you hungry?  Thirsty?  What can we do for you child," the strangers asked him.  "Nothing," cried Áng, "I would like nothing else except to be brought back home!"  The couple explained they could not do this, and told him that he was now their son.  Áng's father decided he had heard enough and asked Little Bear if he would intervene.

Little Bear walked to the front door and let out a big growl.  There was silence coming from the home now, and Little Bear tore the door off the hinges.  Áng, delighted to see his friend, ran to the bear and jumped on his back.  Little Bear came back to the boys parents and allowed them to get on his back as well (for he was indeed very large).  They were soon back at the old woman's hut and everyone rejoiced to have the boy back safely.  From this day on Áng was allowed to visit Little Bear at the woman's hut, but only if he told his parents where he was.  In return, Little Bear made a point to frequently walk the perimeter of the village guarding the children of the inladers. 

The End

Author's note:
This week I decided to combined two stories from Eskimo Folk Tales: The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son & Ángángŭjuk.  I like both so much, and couldn't pick from the two, so I decided to combine the tales.  Some components of each story I stayed true to, but there are a lot of parts I also had to come up with in order to merge the stories.  In The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son, Little Bear becomes so big that while hunting with the men he begins to get attacked himself.  The attacks and threats became so frequent that the old woman eventually told him to leave her home and return to the wild.  In Ángángŭjuk the story does not disclose how the boy was taken by the inladers, but it takes the use of magic men to find him.  When they find Ángángŭjuk crying in the hut, his father asks the wizards to put the couple to sleep in order to retrieve the boy.  After saving Ángángŭjuk they quickly return home, gather their belongings, and immediately relocate. What was interesting is that the inlanders then returned to their hut and smash it to pieces, all in anger of course.

Bibliography:

Book title: Eskimo Folk Tales

Author: Knud Rasmussen

Year Published: 1921

Web Source: Sacred Texts

Week 10 Reading Diary: Eskimo Folk Tales

This week I decided to read the Un-Textbook unit: Eskimo Folk Tales.  I liked the stories of the unit, but the process of reading it was bittersweet.  I like how the stories were short and sweet, but then again I feel like some components just didn't make sense.  I think this is secondary to the stories being derived from oral tales.  Below are my notes for this unit.

The Coming of Men, A Long, Long While Ago:
This was an interesting take on a creation story.  I like the simplicity in that pretty much all the geological features of the earth, that we recognize today, just randomly fell out of the sky.  Then babies just sprung out of the ground and fed on the earth until women game to take care of this.  The most ironic fact, in my opinion, was how man decided to call for dogs with a dog leash.  How can one have something such as a dog leash lying around when there were no dogs yet?  I like how this culture didn't seem to fear death since they speak of how those how lived at the time of creation decided to take death in exchange of living with light.

The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son:
I loved this story so much!  I think the bond the old woman had with the bear was adorable, and I felt sad for the pair when they had to separate.  Although the bear was somewhat domesticated, it was still a wild animal and had to eventually be set free.  I feel this was what the theme of the tale followed.  I like how the villagers excepted him though, and worked along side him for hunting.

(Polar bear)

Isigâligârssik:
I thought the way the wizard treated the man was very unfair, and his fate was inevitable.  It didn't make sense that the other men of the home accepted him, and his new wife, but the wizard wouldn't.  I like the note in the beginning of the story, explaining the child dress, and its superstitious power.  My mother being Filipino, there are many superstitions correlated with her culture and their are interesting at time.

Papik, Who Killed His Wife's Brother:
Now this story reminds me of today's scary stories.  The way the mother-in-law waited until her death, then performed some type of ritual, reminded me of some voodoo magic.  At this point of the storybook there is a definite trend in this unit's stories.  There is always a wifeless man and someone is either injured or dying in these stories.

Ángángŭjuk:
This story brings out the mother in me.  When the mother was preparing the meal and the child went missing, I could feel her distress. Granted, I felt that it was extreme that she was more afraid of her husband killing her for losing the child, but I can also understand how upset the father was as well.  When the parents retrieved their child and traveled away, I thought it was absurd that the inlanders came back with vengeance and destroyed their home.

Week 9 Storytelling: Dirty-Boy

Dear Diary:

Today there was an attack on the harbor and many of the stationed soldiers were injured.  Since our nursing school is close by, and my class is advanced in our studies, the government contacted us for volunteer help.  Father was worried, but I assured him that I would be fine.  Oh diary, he will not stop pressing me to marry.  You already know that he was uncomfortable with me going to nursing school, considering his old-timely ways, and that he believes that a woman belongs at home tending to her husband.  Well, he got part of his wish considering I am a nurse and tending to people is part of the job. 

Dear Diary:

While I was out volunteering today I met a strange and badly injured soldier.  None of the other nurses would tend to him, due to how extreme his wounds, so I made a decision to make sure and check on him regularly.  Many of the girls came up with the nickname “Dirty-boy” because his otherwise scruffily appearance. I didn’t mind though, and wondered what he looked like since his face was wrapped in bandages. The doctors have placed him under an induced coma in order to let his body heal quicker.

(A flight nurse tending a wounded soldier, Wiki Commons)

Dear Diary:

Today my strange soldier woke up and we were able to ask him for his credentials.  He is of Native American origin, and I cannot spell his actual name, but he told me that it mean Sun in English.  One of the commanding officers spoke with him, and was able to track down his sister whose name happens to be Star.  She came at once and is now at his bedside attending to him.  From this time on I only periodically checked on Sun since Star took over his care.  I dedicated my time to the other severely injured soldiers, and didn’t say goodbye to Sun when he was discharged.

Dear Diary:

It has been quite some time since I have written to you, diary, and do I have so much to tell you!  A few months have passed since I wrote about the attack on the harbor, and majority of the soldiers have healed and left the island to fight in the war.  I have graduated from nursing school, but have remained at the hospital to tend for the remaining veterans.  Now here is some terrible news, diary.  Since graduation Father has demanded that I marry soon.  He has talked with many of his colleagues and suitors have begun visiting our home.  I would have nothing to do with these men, since none of them seemed to interest me. One day I came to work in a bitter mood, after a night of bad dates, when I ran into Star (she was volunteering at this time).  She asked me what was wrong, and I confided in her about my recent dilemma.  She told me that I should stay true to who I am, and not marry someone who I do not enjoy being around.  She then thanked me for all the care I provided to her brother, and we went our separate ways.  It was a strange encounter, because I hardly know her, but at the same time I am relieved that someone knows where I'm coming from. 

Dear Diary:

This time I have some wonderful news!  The string of dates continued after I had spoken to Star, but none of these men interested me and father was getting impatient. Today I came home from the hospital when Father told me he had a new suitor contact him.  I was very exhausted, and asked him if I could set up the date for another time.  He replied that this suitor was a solider that I had recently taken care of, who wanted to thank me for my kindness.  This immediately sparked my interest, and I accepted the date.  I anxiously waited all evening until I heard the doorbell ring.  When I opened the door to greet my guest, I was surprised to see it was Sun!  I didn't recognize him at first, since I never saw his face, but he quickly introduced himself and we went off on our date.  I have just arrive home, and I had to get this down at once.  Our date went wonderfully, and I hope that he asks me on another sometime soon. 

Dear Diary:

I am to be married soon, and I cannot be happier!  Sun is everything that the other men weren’t.  He could make me laugh and has a kind heart.  We have been on multiple dates since my last entry, and last night he proposed!  Our plan is to marry once the war is over, and we will move to his native land to have the ceremony.  I have never been more excited, and Father is happy that I have finally found a husband. 

Author’s Note:

This week I read the Native American Hero Tales unit of the Un-Textbook.  The story Dirty-Boy caught my eye, and I decided to take a different approach in my writing style.  Instead of trying to recreate the plot, I decided to come up with my own story and bring in some elements from the original.  In the Un-Texbook version the chief of a tribe wants his two daughters to marry, but they refuse any suitors.  One day Sun and Star, entities from the sky, visit the tribe to see if Sun could win their hand.  He disguises himself as a sickly man, and only one of the chooses to tend to him.  He eventually marries her, and this inspired my story.  I decided to use the story of a nurse falling in love with a soldier since it seems like sort of a classic to me.  I'm pretty sure one can figure out what time period and war had also inspired me, but I left out these details. I hope you enjoyed my version, and I look forward to comments!  

Bibliography:

Book title: Tales of the North American Indians 

Author: Stith Thompson

Year Published: 1929

Web Source: Sacred Texts

Week 9 Reading Diary: Native American Heros

This week I decided to read the unit: Native American Hero Tales.  Below are my notes and thoughts during my reading.

Bluejay and His Companions:
When reading this story, I had to remind myself that the Native Americans would name themselves after animals but in the end they are still men.  With majority of the past units, the main characters were actual animals themselves.  This story was sort of comical in that Grouse was talked down, and bitter, over the fact of receiving lean cuts of meat.  This displays a major change in culture, of the North America's, since today we would normally advise someone to eat lean cuts.  My favorite parts of this story are when Grouse created the wooden seal out of wood, that this inanimate object followed his command, and all of the challenges the other men had to overcome in order to return home.

(Grouse)

The Attack on the Giant Elk and the Great Eagle:
When reading a story, I am one of those who can almost literally see it play out in my head.  This story was one of my favorites since it provides so many great images for the reader.  I could not imagine living in a land where the animals are ten fold our size and vicious.  I thought it was very interesting that Jonayaíyin could talk to animals, but from what I am interpreting from the story is that he may be god-like.  Jonayaíyin's adventures were remarkable, and the speed in which he travels is amazing. I wonder if the reading is literal when it says that he traveled to the locations in "four steps," or if this is their way of saying like four days, months, etc.

Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away:
As in some of the other units I have read, magic is definitely a theme in this story.  The fact that the young boys were able to survive when being tossed prematurely from the womb, and their mother eventually coming back from the dead, is simply remarkable!  It is a surprise to me that the twins never seek revenge on Red-Woman, but I can see why not considering all of them survived or were brought back to life.

The Son-in-Law Tests:
I thought that it was very interesting that Wemicus went to great lengths to dispose of his son-in-laws.  I am happy for our main character, though, in that his wife has finally learned her father's tricks.  Since the man was wise and listened to his wife, ha-ha, he was able to escape Wemicus' schemes time after time. I like how this story ended with a creation story of the pike.  I always enjoy these types of tales, and found that this was a good punishment for Wemicus regarding all his trickery and killing his previous son-in-laws.

(Nlaka'pamux family, photo by J. A. Teit)

Dirty-Boy:

I like the underlying theme here where beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and don't judge a book by it's cover comes into play.  The beginning of the tale was similar to many stories I had read in the past, where daughters refuse to marry any suitor their father brings before them.  I was awed when the Sun was interested enough to attempt to marry the chief's sisters.  When Sun won each challenge the chief presented it was very obvious he had won fair and square, but I am left wondering where the "hero" theme takes place in this story.  Otherwise, my favorite part is when Sun and Star reveal themselves to Sun's new wife, and he seems to adorn her with magical powers.  

Week 8 Reading Diary: Review

Wow, I can say that my first Reading Diary post was definitely the longest!  I remember reading the directions that week, prior to starting the assignment, but I was still unsure on how to construct the post.  I basically took the stories from my unit, and rewrote their plots.  This was very time consuming, and took a long time to complete the assignment.  During week three I tried to add my own input into the stories, but I still sort of wrote over the plots.  I found week three's unit difficult to write over, since all of the stories led into each other like a continuous plot. By week four, I began to get the hand of adding in my own input of the stories, but I found myself writing over almost all of them.  I began to see this as a problem when the unit would contain twenty plus stories, and I was trying to write over each one.  In the past three weeks I feel as if I am finally getting the hang of what the reading diary is really about.  I am trying to utilize it like a actual diary where I can mentally throw my true thoughts into text, which eventually becomes my blog post.  I prefer writing the diaries in this way because I can emphasize on the parts of the stories that I enjoy the most.  If I think of a way that I can change the story, that will help me later in re-tellings, I can put them down and come back to review them later.

The length of my reading diaries seem to vary with the length of the unit, or how many stories catch my eye.  I like to take my notes after I have finished the reading, and go back to review afterwards.  If I try to do it while reading I get easily flustered, and feel as if the process takes longer.  In general I remember a lot from the reading's I have done so far.  Many of the stories I have picked have been memorable, especially if they had a moral or theme to the tale.  I can say in my other classes I focus more of my reading around exam time.  This normally occurs when I have studied slides, or materials that have been provided for the class, and if I do not get the topic.  At this time I will resort to the textbook for further clarification.  I normally do not like to read on an electronic screen for too long, but in this class it doesn't seem to be a problem since I can pretty much start and stop when I please/need to.

Week 7 Essay: Spelling Rules

For this week's essay assignment, I decided to write over English spelling and it's many rules.  In the cartoon below there is a rule that many of us have become familiar with as we learned to spell in grade school.  I can say, for myself, that I use this rule often whenever the vowels "e" and "i" must be put together. When reviewing the article related to this assignment I did not realize that the rule "i before e, Expect after C" also has another two lines to it that will expand on this writing skill (which is noted below).

Cartoon by Dan Piraro

The following rhymes contain the substance of the last three rules : —

i before e,
Except after c,
Or when sounded as "a,"
As in neighbour and weigh.
(Wikipedia)

I like this cartoon, and find it funny, because that it symbolizes how long the rule has been used.  Since not all languages use our alphabet, the way the rule is used in this cartoon also gives it a comical twist.  Egyptians obviously used hieroglyphs for reading and writing processes.  Since hieroglyphs were symbols representing entire words, or ideas, this rule would not have been applicable to them since it only applies to the English alphabet. 

When trying to look back, this is the only spelling rule that comes to the front of my mind.  I decided to Google search the most common spelling rules, which we use daily, and may not realize.  My first search revealed a website which contains information regarding the top four spelling rules.  The first rule, funny enough, is the rule that is regarded in the cartoon.  The next rule is over dropping the final "e" before a suffix that begins with a vowel, but not before a suffix that starts with a consonant.  For example: ride+ing= riding or like+ness= likeness.  The third talks about converting a word that ends in "y," and changing this to an "i" before a suffix, unless the suffix itself begins with an "i" already.  Examples include: defy+ance= defiance or occupy+ing = occupying.  The fourth, and final, rule is probably one that I find the most difficult at times.  This rule is about doubling final consonants in words.   There are two parts of this rule, "(a) a single vowel precedes the consonant; (b) the consonant ends an accented syllable or a one-syllable word." Examples are as follow:  stop+ing= stopping or benefit+ed= benefited.  

As I was researching for this essay, I began to realize just how complex the English language really is.  I can see why if one was not brought up speaking, and more particularly writing, in English then it can be extremely difficult to learn.  Above I have listed four basic rules regarding English spelling, but it seems that there are exceptions to every rule which just adds to the complexity.  

If you are more interested on the spelling rule that is depicted in the picture, and was introduced first in this essay, you can enlighten yourself here.
For information regarding the website that contained information over the three other rules mentioned, the link for the website can be found here.