Week 1: Storybook Favorites

The first project that I chose to review was Ghostly Adventures.  I don't necessarily enjoy watching scary movies, because I won't be able to sleep the next night, but I can handle reading scary stories.  To my surprise the stories were Oklahoma based, much to my pleasant surprise, and this really interested me since I am from around here.  I have heard about the Skirvin Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City being haunted, but I have not heard of the other two stories prior to reading through the Storybook.  Although I know the text is a revision of other stories, he did a good job with creating visuals for the reader.  The layout of the pages were overall simple and easy to use.  The only complaint about this story is that unless I am not finding the last link, to the final story, the author did not (or was not able to) complete the text, and left out the last story that he mentioned in the introduction.  

(The Ghost In Bed: Ghosts)

The next storybook I had chosen was The Secrets of Women in the Bible.  Many biblical stories utilize a male character as the protagonist, and in this Storybook had a focus on women, and this had initially caught my eye.  This topic is not one that I am familiar with, and the introduction did well in giving enough details without giving up the whole plot.  The way the author portrayed the women in her Storybook was done very nicely, and the format of the author's note at the end of the each excerpt explained a lot of details that were unable to be depicted in the stories themselves.  I liked how the author did this, and it leaves the reader with some resolution with the stories. 

(Queen Esther: Sugar Doodle)

The last Storybook I have chosen to read was Tales of Mount Olympus High.  The other two Storybooks I had chosen had a mysterious-like background to them, where this one was told in the perspective of a sixteen year old Greek goddess. The change in tone, and the Greek mythology background, is what persuaded me to continue with the text.  Out of all three author's I believe this last one did the best job overall. Her stories didn't make sense at first, but when I read the author's notes it all became very clear.  They revealed the author herself was very creative!  I don't think I would have ever thought of taking a story and putting my own complete twist on it, at least not as well as she did.  The layout of this project was different from the previous two, but all of them were easily accessed. 

(Mount Olympus: Ancient Worlds)

This assignment displayed how much freedom and creativity we are allowed to use, and it is very exciting.  

Week 1 Storytelling: Hercules and the Wagoner

There once was a lazy farmer who lived on top of a hill, a short ways from town.  His land was fertile, produce profitable, and this made him a wealthy man.  He had inherited his farm from his father, this had included all of the farmhands, and he never had to work the land. The gods pleasingly overlooked the farmer and had granted him not only a beautiful, but hardworking, wife.  They were inseparable, and although they worked as a team, she did anything that would consist of any kind of labour. 

  The night before he was to bring his goods to town, the god's decided to unleash a powerful rainstorm from the heavens.  Against his wife's judgement the farmer decided to make the venture anyway, and this caused a large argument. The wife proclaimed, "you have never lifted a finger or completed any task on your own, go onto town by yourself!" The farmer angrily left his home, strapping his best horses to his wagon and set off down the muddy path.  Soon the farmer's rage had cooled and his thoughts drifted to his wife's words. He wanted to show her that he could, indeed, complete a task but he also knew that her words had a wisdom behind them.  Before he could begin to fret he felt a sudden jolt, and flew from his wagon. He landed in the mud, yet quickly recovered himself, and began to immediately curse his wife and the horses.  He unmistakably forgot his initial intentions of doing work on his own, for once.

Hercules happened to be training nearby, overheard the farmer's curses, and ventured over to see what all the commotion was about.  He overheard the farmer exclaim, "I have never worked alone, why should I start now?! How am I ever going to get this wagon out of the mud ON MY OWN?!"  He observed the farmer then sit down and continue to pout.  The farmer said, "too bad the gods aren't nearby, I could just have one of them move my cart for me."  Hercules began walking towards him, and the farmer quickly caught site of him.  He immediately demanded that the demigod remove his wagon from the mud at once.  Hercules was known for his temper, and the farmer had ignited his anger at once.  He replied, "pitiful man, have you even tried to move your wagon? Put forth effort at once or I will smash it to pieces!"  Fear overcame the farmer and he entered the mud at once, behind the wheels, and began to push the wagon with all his might.  The horses caught on quickly, and began to aid the farmer in his task.  Soon, the wagon was out of the mud and the farmer, elated, turned to thank Hercules who had already disappeared.  The farmer was disgruntled that he could not thank the demigod, but his happiness over the lesson he had learned prevailed all other emotions. In all his life he always relied on the aid of others, and he was ecstatic that he had accomplished a task on his own.  He rode the remaining way to town, anticipating his return home to tell his wife of his accomplishments. 

(Hercules and the Wagoner: Wikipedia)

Author's Note:
I created this story based on Aesop's Fable "Hercules And The Wagoner," which attempts to teach a lesson to those who excessively rely on help.  I have included the complete fable below.

HERCULES AND THE WAGONER

A Farmer was driving his wagon along a miry country road after a heavy rain. The horses could hardly drag the load through the deep mud, and at last came to a standstill when one of the wheels sank to the hub in a rut.

The farmer climbed down from his seat and stood beside the wagon looking at it but without making the least effort to get it out of the rut. All he did was to curse his bad luck and call loudly on Hercules to come to his aid. Then, it is said, Hercules really did appear, saying:

"Put your shoulder to the wheel, man, and urge on your horses. Do you think you can move the wagon by simply looking at it and whining about it? Hercules will not help unless you make some effort to help yourself."

And when the farmer put his shoulder to the wheel and urged on the horses, the wagon moved very readily, and soon the Farmer was riding along in great content and with a good lesson learned.

Self help is the best help.

Heaven helps those who help themselves.

When creating my retelling I decided to keep the characters of the farmer and Hercules.  I tried to justify why the farmer did not try to solve his problem in the first place, and instead displayed what he felt was appropriate in his situation, pouting.  Since Hercules was known for his strength, and could have moved the wagon easily, I kept his character intact and exemplified his justification of lecturing the farmer as well.  The quote at the end of the fable is what caught my eye, and inspired me to rewrite it.  Learning to take care of oneself is a valuable life lesson, as we age, and I wanted to portray that the farmer was now all the more wiser. 

Bibliography:
   "Hercules and the Wagoner" by Esop, from The Esop for Children (2006). Web Source: Aespop

Week 1: Exploring the Un-Texbook

Week 2: Since reading the Illiad and the Odyssey in the ninth grade, I have been intrigued by Greek mythology. When looking at the Un-textbook I was excited to find that this was an option for the first two weeks worth of readings.  I have already completed the reading for this week, and I decided on Greek Myths: Ovid III.  All of the sections were appealing, and it was a hard choice to only pick one, but so far I am please with my selection!

Week 3:  For this week I am looking into reading Cupid and Psyche.  Its fascinating that this story is claimed to be the oldest fairy tale, in writing, and that it displays a plot similar to "Beauty and the Beast." I was rather sad that "Classical Greece" and "Biblical Traditions" were put on the same unit, for I would have loved to do readings from both.  I know this was an option, but my love of Greek mythology won this battle.

Week 4:  Growing up I always knew I was passionate about science.  It started off as an obsession with medicine, then it was marine biology, Egyptology, and it has since come back to medicine.  With this being said, this week I have chosen the unit Ancient Egypt.  Although this was an ancient civilization, the fact that many of their structures still stand today, make their stories that much more surreal.

Week 5:  Although I wasn't able to read any of the "Biblical Traditions," I was pleased to see that there was an opportunity to delve into the culture of the regions that are noted in biblical texts.  This being said, I have chosen to read Folklore of the Holy Land: Moslem, Christian and Jewish.

Week 6: My mother is Filipino, and the unit covering Filipino Popular Tales evidently caught my eye. Growing up I heard a few stories here and there, and I'm excited to see if I recognize any in this unit.  

Week 7:  One of my uncle's is Japanese, and very proud of his culture.  I am choosing to cover the unit Japanese Mythology not only because it appears captivating, since it's about gods and such, but I would like to learn more about the culture through it's ancient tales.

Week 1: OK, PI, and CA: My Favorite Places

I've only traveled a few places, I'm such a homebody, and my favorite destinations are where I'm surrounded by family.

Oklahoma. I was born and raised here, and most of my life has been spent in the Metro.  Many feel that Oklahoma is boring, but I like how you can go from country to city living in only a matter of miles.  My life is mainly centered around college right now, so of course I especially love Oklahoma for the University.

(Downtown OKC: Wikipedia) 

Tarlac, Philippines. My mother is from the Philippines, and I have visited multiple times over the years.  Majority of her family reside there, and it's always fun to visit and catch up with them.  Although my family doesn't live near the coasts, the country is still so beautiful. I know the beaches are beautiful, but I love seeing this side of the Philippines and the rawness of landscape.

(Entrance to the City: Wikipedia)

Vacaville, California.  I absolutely love the Bay Area, and cannot wait until I can visit again. Vacaville is sandwiched between San Fran and Sacramento, and somewhat has a small town feel to it.  The hills and the openness of this area certainly reminds me of Oklahoma, and my dream is to move out there after medical school.

(Vacaville Hills: Wikipedia)