Week 10 Extra credit - Famous Last words.

This week has been a very hectic week at school. I have had back to back examinations, and assignments to do. My wife and I usually have very busy schedules. Both work and school related. I just can’t wait for the day that I graduate and actually start pursuing my career. Even though I am now as well.

I work two jobs, one as a math tutor and the other as a salesmen. Balancing that along with school is hard work. But with the support of my wife I feel like I can do anything.

Besides school, my wife and I are both looking forward to our December vacation. I will be visiting Seattle. I cannot wait to spend time with my family like the good old days. It has been a year since I went back home. My schedule has not allowed me to do. My wife on the other had will be visiting her family in London. She is super excited.

Last night we went to go watch “Gone girl”, at the AMC Theater in Pennsqaure mall. My oh my, that was one hell of a movie. I think that it was by far one of the best movies I have seen so far. And trust me I have seen my fair share of those. I recommend that everyone should go watch it if given the chance to.

In terms of this class, I feel like it is getting more and more hectic. I have published my third story so far. I really am enjoying this class. But I feel like it requires a lot of time and thought. Then again so does every other class. I just can’t wait to be done with this semester. It feels like such a long and hectic semester, and I am sure everyone else can also relate.

(Chasing Rabbit is hard work. By dancingwaters97. Date: unknown)

Week 10 extra credit - Google search Tech tip

For my google search tech tip, I decided to use the African sacred text website, and google search Monkeys. This is what I came up with.

South-African Folk-Tales, by James A. Honeÿ, [1910], at sacred-texts.com

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THE MONKEY'S FIDDLE

HUNGER and want forced Monkey one day to forsake his land and to seek elsewhere among strangers for much-needed work. Bulbs, earth beans, scorpions, insects, and such things were completely exhausted in his own land. But fortunately he received, for the time being, shelter with a great uncle of his, Orang Outang, who lived in another part of the country.
When he had worked for quite a while he wanted to return home, and as recompense his great uncle gave him a fiddle and a bow and arrow and told him that with the bow and arrow he could hit and kill anything he desired, and with the fiddle he could force anything to dance.
The first he met upon his return to his own land was Brer Wolf. This old fellow told him all the news and also that he had since early morning been attempting to stalk a deer, but all in vain.

Week 10 Essay - ASSESSES STORY

In this week’s reading, I decided to read American Indian tales. I really enjoyed reading the stories in this unit, as I felt a sense of the Indian culture. Living here in Oklahoma, the Indian heritage is very much valued. And to read some of their mythological stories was somewhat interesting.

For this week, I pretty much enjoyed reading almost all of the stories. However, a few stood out to me the most. As you already know by now, for this week’s story telling assignment I decided to retell the story about The son of the evening star. To me this story reminded me a lot of our modern day beauty and the beast. Bell fell in love with the beast despite his odd and ugly appearance, as did Owenee with Osseo. She, unlike her other sisters decided to pick whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. She didn’t just settle for the most handsome, strongest; or richest young man. Whilst reading this story, when Osseo finally became beautiful (as granted from his father the evening star), Owenee lost her beauty. It made me think that did he consume all her beauty or was it just a test of their love? I think that it was a test as he stayed with her even when she wasn’t beautiful anymore. And as a reward, they were both given beauty, and all those that were not kind to them became birds and other creatures.

I also enjoyed reading about Lagoo, I think that he was a very wise man. As I would picture most of the native Indians to be at that time.

Collectively, I think that this was a very good reading unit, and I  would recommend it to future students. I think that there was enough information provided about the unit. I also enjoyed the fact that it was not a confusing unit and all the stories were being told by Lagoo. It really helped give the readers a good use of their imagination.

Link : American Indian Tales

The Boy Who Became Beautiful

Owenee, was the most beautiful of nine sisters. These were the daughters of the chief of the land. They were beautiful and angelic looking.  There was no girls in comparable to them. It was now time for them to be wedded to the warriors and princes of the land. And so all of them became brides except for Owenee. She was the youngest of them all, and also the most opinionated.

Each time a young, handsome and wealthy man would ask for her hand in marriage. And each time she would find a fault in them. There was this young man; he claimed to be the son of the evening star. He was short, and very ugly. His name was Osseo. Owenee saw in Osseo what she failed to see in any other man. Her sisters teased her for his ugly appearance. Osseo always prayed to his father, so that he may be blessed with beauty.

One day, they took a trip to watch fireworks in a nearby village. The sisters led the way with their husbands, whilst Owenee and Osseo trailed behind. Somewhere along their journey, they stumbled upon a log, in which all of them managed to leap over. Osseo on the other hand was too short to jump over it.

“I bet you, he can’t get over,” said one of the sisters, “are you going to carry him Owenee”.

“Leave him alone. For he is a kind heart,” replied Owenee.

Owenee hated them teasing her all the time. While the sisters were bickering about Osseo’s strange appearance. Osseo noticed that the log was hollow and it had a huge hole in it. So he crawled through to get to the other side. Upon coming out, Osseo didn’t seem himself anymore. A tall, strong, and handsome man appeared on the other end. There Osseo stood with all the beauty in the world.

The sisters were in awe of his new found beauty. However, Owenee was no longer beautiful. There she stood, old and grey. Her sisters were happy to see this happen to her and laughed. This meant that she would no longer be a competition in terms of her beauty. Osseo on the other hand reassured her that he would love her no matter what. For she loved him, when everyone else failed to.

Author’s note: I chose to write about the The Child of the Evening Star. This story reminded me of beauty and the beast. I kept most of the plot the same. And the characters the same. The story is about a young girl who doesn’t marry the men her father brings her. She falls for the son of the evening star who is ugly. But then when he goes through a log he becomes beautiful. In return Owenee becomes ugly. Eventually, her beauty is restored and everyone else is turned into birds and other creatures.

Link:The child of the Evening

Week 10: Reading Diary - American Indian Fairy Tales

Iagoo, the Story-Teller – Lagoo seems like a really wise old man. Not only is he wise, but he is also a humble character. Hence why the children adore him so much.

Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind & Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind (cont.) – Ka-bib-on-okka seems like a very fierce and dull character. Could you imagine a world with no green grass or trees? Why would he want the world to be covered in ice anyway? I like the competition between Kab-bib-on-okka and the south wind Sha-won-dasee. Shin-ge-bis is a very positive and brave character. He seemed to not be startled at all despite the fact that Ka-bib-on-okka was coming to turn everything into ice.

I think that the way the Indians counted time i.e. one moon was very clever, as you can imagine there was no clocks back then. The north wind definitely met his match. The fact that Shin-ge-bis was not afraid of the north wind helped him overcome him.

The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds & The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds (cont.) - I am glad Morning Glory asked the question about the existence of the mountains. The story about the hill that grew and grew, taking the little girl and the boy into the clouds. Reminds me a lot of Jack and the bean stalk. The world he describes in this story sounds like such a beautiful time and place to live. I think that as time went on us humans have complicated things. The coyote is very clever and had amazing senses. This story is a classic example not to underestimate anyone, no matter how big or small. How big the task he accomplished and tiny he was led for the mountain to be named after him “Tu-tok-a-nu-la”.

The Child of the Evening Star & The Child of the Evening Star (cont. End) – In every family there is that one person that is more opinionated than everyone else. Or that someone that breaks tradition. In this case Owenee is the daughter that is hardest to please, hence why she didn’t get married like her other sisters. I think that as the youngest sister she was also the wisest, as she did not fall for mere beauty. But, in fact is looking for beauty from within. I think that this is very important in any relationship.

This story reminds me of beauty and the beast. As Owenee loved Osseo that was dark and evil but possessed the most beautiful heart. It is almost as if he Osseo took all of Owenee beauty when he crawled inside the log. He came out beautiful whilst she became ugly.

The love they have for each other is deep and pure as they do not care of their outside appearance as did the nine sisters. This story also reminds me a little of Cinderella as her sisters were happy that she is no longer a competition in terms of beauty for them. I am also glad that Osseo finally got a response out of his father – the evening star.

The Boy who Snared the Sun, The Boy who Snared the Sun (cont.) &The Boy who Snared the Sun (end) – I can imagine a world where people ate the berries and the vegetation of the earth. Instead of meat. Maybe that’s why people were a lot healthier than we are today. Wow, could you imagine a world with more animals than humans. My thought right now are, were the little girl and boy not scared being the only humans amongst all those huge animals? This story reminds me of Hansel and Gretel.Gretel was over protective of her brother as is the little girl in this story. If I was alone on the earth, I think that I would be just as curious as the little boy was to look for more people. I don’t understand why the little boy felt that he had to catch the sun. I like the concept of how the door mouse became small in this story. I think the     coyote set him up.

How the Summer Came, How the Summer Came (cont.) & How the Summer Came (end) – Could you imagine living in a place where summer never came. Personally I like the winter better. But a change of season is always great – gives you something to look forward to. I like the creativity used in this story as before it became cold. There was a crack in the sky which leaked warmth. When this crack became noticed they mended it. Therefore, it was to remain cold on earth. The love of a parent it so large, that O-jeej was willing to do this for his son, knowing that it was a dangerous task. I like the concept in this story of spring, summer, and autumn being trapped in the sky. But it was sad that O-jeej remained trapped in the sky, again on the bright side he son will always be able to look up and find his father.

The Fairy Bride & The Fairy Bride (cont.) – When I think of fairies I think of happy little things. In this story however, they are rather mischievous taking things from people. In most stories when people wonder, they are deep thinker. They never fall in with the norm, but rather chose their own destiny. As Neen-i-zu did not want to marry the hunter her mother wants her to marry. This changed her character as she was no longer happy. It was sort of like an arrange marriage. Neen-i-zu reminds me a lot of Owenee in the previous story.

Link: American Indian Fairy Tales Unit