Reading Notes: Czech Folktales part B

This week I decided to read some Czech folktales from The Key of Gold by Josef Baudis. The stories I read in part A are erratic and energetic, but only seemed to give me limited ideas for stories. 

Nine At A Blow

This story is perfect if you want to read about a terrible person, wow!  The tailor in this story is unbelievably horrible.  He literally got an ego after killing flies…. FLIES!  And not to mention that poor giant that he completely screws over at the end of the story.  Something needs to happen to this guy; I’m thinking Revenge of the Flies!  Nine flies, perhaps the children of the original flies, band together to take the tailor out.  

The Soldier and the Devil

I think it’s strange and funny that the God in this story grants wishes; that’s how praying works, right?  Heh.  Anyway, I’m having trouble coming up with stories from this unit, because so many small things happen in each story.   I wonder why the soldier would want to wish for the ability to put someone inside of his knapsack?  It seems like a weird request, especially if you are able to wish for anything. I suppose a story could be made about the night the soldier and the woman played cards.  Maybe I could write something from the woman's point of view.  Maybe she also had been granted wishes, and the wishes she was granted helped her win every card game and take everyone who plays her's money.  It could almost even be a story about a casino!

The dealer always wins! Courtesy of TajPix on Flickr

Reading Notes: Czech Folktales part A

This week I decided to read some Czech folktales from The Key of Gold by Josef Baudis. The stories I read in part A are erratic and energetic, but only seemed to give me limited ideas for stories. 

Sleepy John

This had to be one of the most erratic stories I’ve ever read.  I mean, it doesn’t even seem relevant that John was sleepy.  I guess it’s important for the backstory, but it was a little disorienting.  Anyway, as far as ideas for stories, an idea that sticks out to me the most is to write about this whole fiasco from the Queen’s point of view.  Why was she summoning herself to hell?  Is she a demon of some sort?  What are her intentions with the king?  What happened to her after she was swallowed into hell at the end of the story?  These questions could potentially be addressed in the story I would write about this tale. 

The Three Roses

I really liked the ending of this story; it was definitely unexpected… The narrator claims to be someone who has witnessed the events in the story firsthand, but we still have no clue who he or she is.  The fact that the narrator ended up telling us this story after falling through a paper floor is also very strange, but I liked it.  This story seems like it could be someone’s dream, and falling through the paper floor was them waking up.  I could work with the idea of stories as dreams if I were to use this one.  

Three pink roses. Courtesy of London Chow on Flickr

The Waternick

This story is also really erratic and a little hard to follow, but at least it had a nice ending.  I’m actually kind of surprised that the author decided to allow the children to return to their mother in the end – that poor woman.  An idea for a story I got out of this was to twist the plot a little bit, and maybe somehow have the children rescue the souls that are trapped in the cups.   

Reading Notes: Dante's Inferno Part A

I read The Inferno portion of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy - one of my favorite stories.  I've always found the concept of this epic fascinating, so I was eager to be able to read parts of it for this course. 

Dante.  Courtesy of wikipedia

In his epic poem, Dante details the nine circles of hell.  He writes about the setting of each circle, and the inhabitants, in great detail.  My portfolio is based on immorality, so what better story to read and write about than this one?

I haven't done many continuous stories like this one, so it's a little strange to do the reading notes over each particular section, but I'll try for the sake of consistency. 

The Gate of Hell and Charon

This is the second portion of Part A's reading, and it stuck out to me the most.  The words presented above the entrance to the gates of hell reminded me all too much of the notorious words that were present on the entrances to Nazi concentration camps: Arbeit Macht Frei which translates to "Work will make you free."  Obviously this was not the case. 

The entirety of this reading resonated with me quite a bit, and I couldn't bring my mind away from concentration camps.  In my opinion that is based off of my somewhat limited knowledge of history, those camps were the closest we humans have come to mimicking hell on Earth.  I feel as if the things Dante describes in his writing are chillingly similar to the camps.  Once you entered, you were not expected to ever leave. 

Auschwitz: A true hell on earth.  Courtesy of wikipedia

I would hate to write a story about concentration camps, because I would hate to disrespect the people that endured so much there, but I can't find inspiration in any other idea or reading. If I chose to do this, I would try to draw parallels to the hell described in Dante's story to the experiences of Jews (and others) in the camps. 

But I may end up just doing a story planning post, in which I think about all of these elements, and determine if this is something I should pursue.  Perhaps Limbo could be Earth (at the time of WW2?) - people were indifferent to the suffering of many.  Although I would normally argue that people indifferent of religion or what have you don't deserve hell necessarily, I think there are cases when indifference is just as bad as the "sin" - that especially applies to the indifference of much of the world in regards to concentration camps. 

Until then...

On a somewhat lighter note, there was a quote in Paolo and Francesca that I enjoyed, and find to be true:  "There is no greater pain than to remember happy times in misery..."

Extra Reading Notes: Santal Folklore Part A

I decided to do some extra credit reading notes.  The unit I chose was Santal Folklore taken from Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas (1909).  This is from the India unit.

The Monkey and the Girl

This story was very short, but very strange.  A girl basically randomly promises to marry some thieving monkey, which makes her family mad.  The family go kill the monkey and are going to burn it at the stake.  The girl tells the people that she wants to watch the monkey burn.  When they light him on fire, the girl throws sand in their eyes and jumps into the fire to die with the monkey.... All very strange...  I think a good story for this would be to write diary entries from the girl and the other villagers, about the monkey, and then about the girl's death.  I could include an entry about the girl falling in love with the monkey, describing how she feels about him and what not.  I could also write an entry from the point of view of the kid who told the girl's family that she loved the monkey - he/she could discuss how strange it was that the girl promised to marry the monkey, and also talk about how he/she told her family.  A diary entry from the dad or other relative of the girl may be good to include as well.  I could write about their disgust, and their plot to kill the monkey.

A Hanuman Monkey.  Courtesy of irumge on Flickr

The Ghormuhas

This story, especially the beginning, was creepy!  Ghormuhas sound terrifying, but I wonder what else they do with their time other than cooking and eating humans.  I could write a story from the perspective of the Ghormuhas.  I could show them in everyday life, doing things like going shopping, hanging out with friends, and maybe plotting some evil deeds for good measure. 

Reading Notes: Alice in Wonderland Part A

I read Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll for week 11.  This is the first week I've read a single longer story as opposed to several short stories, so it was definitely a little different.  I only have one solid idea for this story so far, so that's all I'll discuss in this post.  Perhaps in my next reading notes post I will have more ideas for alternative stories.

Alice's journey is of course very curious and vivid, but what if it isn't real?  For Week 11, I'm contemplating writing a story about what was really happening while Alice was experiencing all of her wild adventures.  Hallucinations - that would make much more sense!  But what are causing these hallucinations?  Well, I'm thinking of making Alice severely ill, and her very high fevers are the culprit.  I could relate some of the things she experiences in her vivid dreams to things that are actually happening.  Perhaps Alice is with her sister when she falls ill, so it is the last "normal" thing she recalls.  When Alice imagines drinking the potions, she is really being fed medicine to help her recover.  Cheshire Cat is her own cat, who Alice even mentions at the beginning of the story.  I think there are a lot of things in this story that I could relate to being ill.

A strange interaction indeed.  Courtesy of Wikipedia

Reading Notes: Great Plains Part B

Part B of Katharine Berry Judson's Myths and Legends of the Great Plains, 1913, was full of more immorality than part A, but inspired my own creativity less for some reason.  If I don't come up with a story idea after the first couple of times of reading over a story, I usually won't come up with one at all, and I hate having to try to force one.  I did think of a few ideas that hopefully I can expand on after they ferment in my mind a little bit.

Two Teton Ghost Stories

This was a short but very fun read, especially "The Ghost and the Traveler".  The man ends up traveling with the ghost woman, but doubts and fears her, in a totally random way, causing her to disappear.  I thought the random thought of fear the man had toward the ghost woman was hilarious, and if I choose to write about this story, I will definitely center it around that interaction or thought.  I think it illustrated the point that we should only fear fear itself, and that anything else may only cause us despair. 

Why the Possum Plays Dead

This story is full of immoralities thanks to that rude little rabbit, and I love possums, so this story is a double win!  Unfortunately I can only think of writing a child's rhyme about this story, which would be really cool to do, but also very difficult.  I'm good at rhyming, but just not in a way that is good for longer stories, or stories that appeal to children. I do really like the idea though, so I will continue to ponder how I can create a story out of this legend.

A sweet angel playing dead. Courtesy of Wikipedia

Coyote and Snake

Another wonderful, short story full of immoralities that are demonstrated by both of the main characters!  For this story, I could expand upon the immoralities committed by both parties by writing it in the form of a confession from the snake (since the snake kills the coyote.)  By writing my story in this fashion, I could add a new perspective while also expanding upon what was presented in the legend.  I could even change the characters from animals to people - that may add even more to the immoral themes. 

Reading Notes: Great Plains Part A

I read Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Berry Judson (1913) for week 10, and encountered some very interesting stories.  I liked that the lengths of the stories varied quite a bit, and also that the themes were so different.  I assumed I would be most attracted to the ghost stories, but I actually didn't really draw any inspiration for my own story from them, though I did enjoy reading them.  The stories that did inspire me were actually the first three stories in the unit, which are:

The Creation
This story gives an interesting perspective on the creation of the earth and its inhabitants.  Although I didn't see any immorality in this story to use for my portfolio, I did have the idea to write about funerals for the animals that perish at the end.  The sun and moon, and possibly the wind, could be the main speakers at these funerals.

Sacred Legend
I really loved this story!  It used parallel structure beautifully to explain the evolution of tribal "technology" and companionship.  If I were to write about this story, I would use a lot of pictures to illustrate the development of new methods and devices by the people in this story.  I like this idea a lot, but I think the downfalls are the fact that this story doesn't display any immorality, and that it may be hard for me to reach the minimum word count with a story.  I could just rework the story I suppose...

The Legend of the Peace Pipes
This is my favorite story in part A of this week's reading; it gave me so many ideas.  First of all, there are blatant mentions of immoralities (that the peace pipes are meant to remedy) at the end of this story, which makes it a potential candidate for my portfolio.  I enjoyed the incorporation of the different types of plants and animals, and I found it intriguing that the tribal chief was so meticulous about which sapling or feather should be used to make the peace pipes.  My story idea is to have the rejected plants and animals represent an immorality, possibly the two explicitly mentioned in the story.  I'd explain more about why the chief did not want to use these materials to build the peace pipes, and show that it was because they came from beings that were not peaceful or moral.

A ceremonial peace pipe. Courtesy of Wikipedia

Reading Notes: Sioux Legends Part B

I chose the unit Sioux Legends for week 9's reading, which consists of stories from Myths and Legends of the Sioux by Marie McLaughlin (1916) and Old Indian Legends by Zitkala-Sa (1901). 

Unktomi, the Two Widows, and the Red Plums
Most of the stories in this section have been somewhat pleasant, but this story, oh my god, this story is twisted!  Of course I gravitate to it though, right?  Anyway, I don't have any specific ideas for this story just yet, but the cruelty of the unktomi (spider) really surprised me.  The horrific things he did were completely unwarranted, unprovoked, and cruel in so many ways.  This would obviously be a good story or immorality, because that spider is one twisted dude.  Perhaps I could do a sequel to the story, where the spider ends up in an afterlife similar to hell.  Then I could illustrate that the spider is more evil than the "devil" himself, and have him ultimately become the new ruler of hell.

Dreamcatchers kind of remind me of unktomi webs! Yikes.  Courtesy of  Wikipedia

Unktomi and the Arrowheads
I was really surprised to see the term "hemorrhage" in this story!  It actually sort of excited me, and made me considering writing this story into a sort of medical drama.  If I don't end up writing about this story in such a way, I would definitely keep a medical-type story in mind for the future.

The War-Like Seven
Searching for trouble will only cause you grief - look at that, I found the moral of the story... well except that the turtle and fish succeed at the end, and kill the whole tribe for no reason. The turtle and fish may have won in the end, but they lost many of their war-seeking friends along the way.  I could have death/the grim reaper tell this story, and talk about the faults in looking for trouble, and then explaining how and/or why he took each character's life.  Then, at the end, death could explain that the good guys don't always win, and that even if he doesn't like to take an innocent life, it's his job, and he's gotta earn a living too!