Week 7 Reading Diary: Grains of Rice

A very different and interesting origin story; probably my favorite one yet. This story tell the reason behind why grains of rice are so small. One day long ago one grain of rice was all a man could eat. The grains of rice rolled directly into the village for the people to eat. One day when building a bigger granary, a grain of rice rolled directly into the construction and angered a woman worker. When the worker struck the grain of rice, it broke into thousands of tiny smaller ones and waited back in the field never to bother the people again. This reason behind rice being so small was so interesting to me; I enjoyed reading this one the most. I definitely plan on using this tale for my Storytelling Post later this week.

(Grains of Rice: Source)

These were the thoughts from reading The Legend of the Rice, by W.A. Briggs in 1899.

Week 7 Reading Diary: Lightning Origins

Another origin story about lightning, but rather being an African tale about the origins of lightning, this one is an Asian one. I chose to do this reading over the same subject to compare and contrast how the two different cultures told their tales of origin (lightning). This story involves reincarnation which also caught my interest as well as the morals it is teaching. In the end of this story the most beautiful woman marries an old man and upsets everyone; thunder ends up being the sound of the gardener shooting at this old man. The cause of lightning was said to be the wreath of this beautiful woman who marries the old man. This Asian origin tale of lightning is more complex and meaningful when compared to the African lightning origin tale. Though the African version may be more simple than this one, they both share two very different perspectives which are equally interesting!

(Wreath of Lightning: Source)

These thoughts were recorded after the reading of The Origin of Lightning, by W.A.Briggs in 1899.

Week 6 Storytelling: God's Teardrops

At one time there was no rain on the Earth; the plants had enough water in the rich soil to live and strive from. The skies were always clear and cloudless with the sun shinning brightly upon the face of the Earth. One day the king of all the nature told the sky that he in fact favors the soil more. The king favored the rich soils of earth because it helped produce all the beautiful flowers and trees for him to admire. The king did not like the sky because it was always so hot and burning the skin of all the humans that lived on Earth. When the king told the skies this, the sky became very saddened; so saddened that it rained for the first time ever upon the Earth. The soil already contained so much moisture it could have absorb anymore for the plants to drink. Because the soil could not absorb anymore water from the rain, it began to flood. The flooding on Earth became so much that flowers and trees began to parish; the king demanded for it to stop immediately. After the sky had cleared and it stopped raining, clouds were left behind. The suspended moisture in the skies produced the most beautiful shapes and pattern the king had ever seen. The king enjoyed the shapes and the clouds so much that he told the skies they were his new favorite once again. Though the king was shallow and only liked things for their exterior beauty, the skies did not care and continued to cry over the earth leaving the beautiful clouds behind for the king to admire. The skies remained the kings favorite for eternity after and that is why the phenomena of rain still occurs to this day; so the almighty king can admire the clouds. Overtime the soil adapted to the excess moisture and eventually started producing all the beautiful flowers and trees as it once did before the rain came. Occasionally the king would request for something specific to be left in the clouds such as his wife's name or his favorite animal; that is why letters and animals can sometimes be seen within the clouds in the sky. When the seasons change though, the rain begins to freeze killing almost all the flowers; the king despises this. The king despises the cold so much that he asked the cold to leave and never come back. The cold could never leave due obviously to the the suns position to earth, so the king decided to never speak to the cold ever again and stated the cold was his least favorite off all nature. 

(Rain: Source)

Authors Note: 

This was my adaptation of the Nigerian stories I have head this week. Though both stories I read seem to give a different creative explanation to something in nature, this is more of an adaptation to the story entitled The Lightning and the Thunder, which describes why there is thunder and lightening in the skies. I wanted to use this same theme, but change the phenomena; so I decided to give a creative explanation as to why it rains. 

Bibliography: 

The Lightning and the Thunder, written by Elphinstone Daryell in 1910.

Week 6 Reading Diary Continued: Thunder and Lightning

Another Nigerian tale that gives and interesting explanation to something that is instinctive to nature; why thunder and lightning are in the sky rather than why worms live underground as in the first Nigerian story I read this week. In this tale thunder (the mother) and lightning (her son) lived among the earth destroying almost everything in their paths. They destroyed so much that one day the king forced them to live in the skies. This was a really interesting story I enjoyed reading; one of the most creative ones I have came across so far! The theme of these Nigerian tales are very interesting and one of a kind for sure; I have not discovered any other cultures stories that are written with this same style.

(Lightening Living in the Sky: Source)

These thoughts were taken down after reading the story entitled The Story of the Lightning and the Thunder, written by Elphinstone Daryell in 1910.

Week 6 Reading Diary: Worms and Ants

I chose to read a Nigerian tale for this weeks reading because when thinking about it, I have never really heard anything about the Nigerian traditions at all yet alone their folklore. The worms who live underground was the name of the reading I chose; the title alone is what got my attention to read this story. This Nigerian tale tells the story of why worms live underground, which is because the ants scared them down there one day. This story is interesting because it gives a creative and different meaning behind something that is already known (literally why worms live underground). When thinking about adapting this story my first idea is to write about why fish live in the sea and argue that one day birds "scared" them into the oceans, seas, and lakes; an interesting explanation to something so natural we do not even questing its reasoning.

(The Strong Ant: Source)

These thoughts were recorded after reading the story entitled Why the Worms Live Underneath the Ground, by Elphinstone Dayrell in 1910.

Thoughts About Comments

For comments to me, the most interesting ones to read are the ones that I can relate directly to. For example, I love reading comments on the introduction page because many people comment about similarities they share with me. I think it is very interesting learning about how alike or how different we are from one another. I also enjoy reading comments that not only compliment the overall flow of my posts, but also the creativity I have put into the piece. When someone likes a new style I am trying for the first time or even has criticism about it, it is also interesting to read their thoughts and comments on it! When I comment on other works, I tend to find things I can relate to and things that are similar to me and state my opinions; this is why I like reading comments that are formatted the same way. It is always interesting learning about other people and their comments they post can say a lot about that person.

Week 5 Storytelling: God Among Man

The follow are the written words directly from the Egyptian god of all gods, Ra.

Century 1:
I have created all the planets and all the stars in this universe, I now walk among the people of a planet which the people call "Earth", blending in as one of them. My intentions of walking among my creation is to learn more about them, for I have granted them the power of free will in order to observe just how they decide their own fate. These beginning times can be described as pure, for corruption and wrong doing is unknown to them at this point.

Century 2:
The people of Earth have developed quite rapidly. Though centuries to them are only days to me, they have already exceeded my expectations. They have not only mastered the ways to agriculture, but also have a profound understanding of science and technology. The people I walk among are becoming blinded by their own ways. The people of Earth are finding beliefs solely in science rather than the gods themselves who created them; for without the gods, man would never be.

Century 3:
Earth is no longer, the inhabitants have destroyed their own planet given to them by over populating and exhausting all of its natural resources. Man has now began populating the planett known to them as "Mars". They deserve this as a punishment for wasting away all that was given to them and destroying their planet. The people of Earth can only blame themselves for their great downfall, for I will make Mars impossible for them to strive on...These are my last days among the people of whom I have created.

(The Eye of Ra: Source)

After the people of Earth migrated completely to Mars and settled, the god Ra made the conditions of the planet exponentially more severe as the months went on eventually killing of its foreign visitors from Earth. Mars was no place for man and their trust in science eventually failed them. If the people restored faith in the gods, Ra would have replenished Earth with resources for the growing population, but Ra's own creation had turned against him, resulting in their final end.

Authors Note:
This is an adaptation to the Egyptian Creation story. In the original story, the god of all gods, Ra, summons the earth from a great body of water and walks among man for centuries. I wanted to keep this aspect of a god walking among his own creation in my story. I also wanted to somehow capture how man has abused Earth (much like I have previously in my stories) and lastly put a science fiction twist on it by man finally making it to Mars and attempting to start life there. I enjoyed my last storytelling post from the diary perspective of the climber and wanted to try something similar so I this style is in the thoughts of Ra while he was walking among his own creation, man.

Bibliography:
Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1907).

Week 5 Reading Diary Continued: The Green Jewel

The story reminded me of the classic Biblical tale of Moses parting the red sea. This is a tale about a woman who lost a green jewel from her hair while steering a boat; she would not settle for any other jewel for hers was irreplaceable. A magical scribe parted the waters of the sea for her to find the green jewel, returned it to her, and settled the waters as they were before. It was interesting to me how the first thing the scribed offered Sneferu to do because he was sad and weary was to go boating with twenty of the prettiest virgins to paddle and steer. There were a lot of descriptions throughout the story that kept it interesting; one about the splashing water particularly stood out to me. This story does not have any major lesson to be learned like many of the others I have read, but is rather more of an interesting read. One thing I have noticed about old tales from different cultures is that not all of them teach something important about life, but can rather be just an interesting read about that particular cultures history and traditions provide more insight about them.

(Green Egyptian Jewel: Source)

These notes were taken during and after reading the story entitled The Green Jewel written by Donald Mackenzie in 1907.

Week 5 Reading Diary: Ancient Egypt Creation

I have incorporated Egyptian themes into my art but yet have never read any of their cultures stories. To follow the creation topic of my future storybook, I am reading the Creation story from the Ancient Egyptian Unit. My first observation while reading is that is it very difficult to read; as if it does not completely translate so smoothly in to English. Much like Greek or Roman stories, this one also contains several gods; Ra being the divine father and strong ruler of all gods. Shu, the wind god and his consort Tefnut were the first created by Ra and they both shone as stars among the heavenly constellations and were called "The Twins". Seb was the earth god and Nut was the goddess of the firmament; they both were parents of Osiris. The beginning all started when Ra spoke the words for the earth and heavens to rise from the large waste of water. Ra created everything in the entire universe once he uttered the very thought of it. He then walked among men taking the form of them, and to him the centuries were as years.

(The God Ra: Source)

These thoughts were accumulated during the reading of Creation within the Ancient Egypt unit of the UnTextbook. The original story source is entitled Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1907).

Tech Tip Website: Creation

Here is the link to my new website I have created for my Storybook! More to come!

Week 4 Storytelling: Everest

Personal Journal of  Christopher McCandless

March 17th, 1754. Base of Mount Everest.

As I prepare for this tremendous journey in my life, I am left with one thought in my mind. What will my view be like from the top? Will it be too cloudy to see, or will it be clear skies as far my eyes can see. I am left pondering this moment and cannot shake it until I see for sure. 

April 12th, 1754. Camp II. Elevation: 14,514 ft. 

The journey has just began for me I unfortunately must say. The weather is bad. It has not stopped since we have set foot on this damn mountain. I wish only for warmth and protection from this treacherous weather. I wish only to make it home alive. 

May 3rd, 1754. Return to Base. LAST ENTRY. 

This is the day my life was taken by cruel mother nature. The weather has only worsted. An avalanche has taken the rest of the crew; I am the lone survivor. As I sit in this snow slowly dying, I have one and only thought left in my mind. Why did I ever decide to take such a journey...

(Moments before Christopher's last breath, A rescue helicopter had taken him off the cruel unforgiving mountain and restored his health. Three years have now passed since this journey and Chris is returning to conquer Mount Everest once and for all.)

Personal Journal of  Christopher McCandless (Continued)

March 12th, 1757. Round II: Base. 

I sit here once again not thinking about the past, but focusing on the future. I am unsure for what it holds. I am not 100% sure why I have returned, maybe call me foolish. I must defeat this harsh beast after cheating death from it once before. Has my luck ran out, or am I still on a winning streak. The future can only say for sure. 

May 9th, 1757. Goal Achieved. 

I sit here on the top of Everest, kissing her unforgiving fists. I remembered her all too well on the journey up. Words cannot express the view, if only my words could capture this moment forever. I must not waist this moment writing. I must take in what I have accomplished. 

(That was Christoper's last and final journal entry. He died in his journey down from the mountain. An avalanche had taken him and his entire crews lives. Chris paid his life determined to do what he did not finish the first time. Some may call his actions foolish and that he asked for death, regardless he died a happy man having accomplished his main goal in life.) 

(Mount Everest: Source)

Author's Note

Okay, so this is a pretty long stretch from the original story. I tried to keep the same moral of the story, but use a completely different style of writing. The original story this is adapted from included two brothers. One of the brothers goes on a journey trying to awake his "luck" so he can live a better life. He ends up helping everyone else besides himself. In the end, he loses his life because he makes foolish decision and does not take advantage of any of the opportunities given to him. I tried to incorporate this into my story as well. Christopher returned to conquer Mount Everest, but it proved to be too much and he had also made a foolish decision that cost him his life. 

Bibliography

The Man Who Went to Wake His Luck which was translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer.

Week 4 Reading Diary: Persian Takes Continued

This is one of the most creative stories I have read so far. I could almost predict what was going to happen in the end; the final clue given was that the poor brother never asked Luck what his future holds. The poor brother was too concerned helping others and giving them their answers than finding an answer for himself. I think this story is implying that only so much should be done for others and that time should always be set aside for yourself, no matter the circumstances. I also noticed how both this story and my last reading diary from Persian Tales both contained a wolf in the story. I also caught a little bit of gender discrimination in this story, maybe because it is so old and the Persian tradition is much different than the American traditions. There was a woman king in the story whose people would not listen to her solely because she was a woman. The Poor brother passed up marrying this woman "king" and  also splitting all the gardeners gold coins that were buried. I think this story is also implying that everyone should take advantage of the opportunities given to them. In this case, the poor brother failed to take advantage of any of the opportunities presented to him and also did not care to find out his very own luck, resulting in the final death of him. I found it interesting how the brother's "luck" was a physical person who was sleeping in a cave; it was also interesting how luck stated that he was supposed to be asleep for many more years. Why was this mans luck supposed to be sleeping for this long? Was everyone's luck sleeping in caves for years and years?

(The Poor Brother Awakening His Luck: Source)

These thoughts were recorded after reading The Man Who Went to Wake His Luck which was translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer. 

Week 4 Reading Diary: Persian Tales

I think this story is very interesting because it is told from the perspective of animals; more specifically goats and a wolf. This story incorporates a very important life lesson not to take any shortcuts in life; by taking shortcuts the wolf ends up getting all of his teeth pulled out. It is funny how the wolf not only took shortcuts that led to his downfall, but also gorged himself on too much water and could not jump over the stream resulting in him falling in and ultimately being defeated by the goat. Just as I expected, this Persian tale displays some very important morals in life that can apply to anyone. It shows how taking the easier way and being lazy ends up in downfall. If you want to succeed in life, you must take the more difficult path and constantly push yourself for success. The wolf thought he was smart in the beginning by painting his foot red to fool the younger goats, but in the end he was defeated by their mother because he was lazy and took shortcuts. In college especially, I have learned that success does not come easy. Perseverance and determination are needed in order to achieve any final goals. By not taking any shortcuts or being lazy, the mother goat ended up saving all her babies and returning home after defeating the foolish wolf who thought he could outsmart the goats.

(Mother Goat: Source)

These thoughts were accumulated during reading The Wolf and the Goat, translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer.

Week 3: Storybook Topic and Styles

Topic

The topic of my Storybook has not been chosen from my previous brainstorming post, but rather chosen from my last storytelling assignment from week 3 regarding creation. After creating my own story about creation and man, I am captivated to go much further in depth about this subject with my storybook for this course. Many of the stories I want to choose for my storybook come from the Adam and Eve unit of the Untexbook; some of the specific stories I want to use include are The Creation,  Paradise, and The Darkness. I believe with these stories, and some others within the Adam and Eve unit, I should have more than a sufficient amount of readings to further detail my own story in my finished storybook.

(Creation of the Universe: Source)

Bibliography

1. The Creation, King James Bible: Genesis 1-2
2. The Legends of the Jews, Louis Ginzberg: Book 1, Chapter 2 Adam
3. The Forgotten Books of Eden, Rutherford H. Platt, Jr: The First Book of Adam and Eve 13-14-15

Possible Styles

Perspective of the Creator. This would be my first and main approach for my creation story adaptation. I really want to stick to the same theme as my last week 3 storytelling post, and by telling it the creators perspective it allows for details of each and every different planet contained in the universe, rather than keeping the focus on just one specific "Earth". I plan on splitting the different sections of the story up by century, following all the different planets each century and tracking their progress individually. I think this would make for the most interesting read!

Native Storyteller. This perspective would be from a native storyteller on a specific planet. I am taking  a "Native American Philosophy" course this semester and have been learning a lot about their spiritual ways of life. It would be cool to think that on one planet out there, there are native people that know the exact truth about the creation of our universe and pass the story down generation after generation much like the Native Americans do now with stories from the wise elders.

Animals. The perspective of different animals on different planets would be a very interesting take on my own creation story. For this style, each section could be broken up into different planets; describing the details of each different one from the perspective of all the different animals each planet contains.

Reincarnation. Being interested in the though of reincarnation, this style would follow the many different lives of one soul who is "reborn" again each time on a different planet. This style could also be broken up by each different planet and follow the new reborn life of the single soul on each one. This style also allows for description of each different planet which I think would be most interesting to read.

Storytelling Week 3

The dawn of time has come. God has started life on thousands if not millions of different planets scattered all throughout our universe. Once he spoke the words, we all entered into existence for the first time all together. His planning was precise; leaving enough light years between each planet so that they could never discover one another. He was to leave us all be and watch what we would become. Many planets of life had short lives by being destroyed by meteors and asteroids within the first 500 years or so. Many planets had tremendous advances in science and technology and many planets were still living in what would be considered the dark ages of their lifetime. Free will was key in all this planning from God; He chose to let us decide our fate for ourselves. His one and only plan for the future, is to show the last final standing planet all of the universes beauty. This last planet will be so far advanced from all the others that they will be the only ones who can truly comprehend the universe in its entirety and harness all its energy it has to offer to make even further advances for themselves. This final standing planet was to be called "Earth" by the people who habitat it. There was a period of downfall for this planet though, between the years of 1950 and 2200, heavily pollution almost caused global warming to end life as they once knew it. A life saving change occurred in the 23rd century, their breakthroughs in science allowed them to reverse the process of global warming prolonging the life of "Earth" well into the 51st century, where God finally showed them the entire universe and his final plans.

(Creation: Source)

Author's Note:

This is my adaptation to the creation of our universe as told in the Bible in Genesis chapters 1-3. How life was started on this planet has always been of great fascination to me, I really enjoy pondering all the different possibilities. I love watching science fiction movies like Prometheus or 2001/2010: A Space Odyssey that involve the creation of mankind. Prometheus alone has really been my main inspiration for this adaptation of this creation story. Here is its IMDB page if you care to get more info on the film!

Bibliography:

Here is the link to the original "Eve" post regarding creation. This original story is from chapters 1-3 of Genesis in the King James Bible.  

Week 3 Reading Diary (Continued): Adam and Eve

The punishment of Adam and Eve after betraying God and eating the forbidden fruit sounds harsh to me, but after reading "If I had let My wrath fall heavily upon thee, I should have destroyed thee, and had I turned thee into darkness, it would have been as if I killed thee.", I guess it could have been a lot worse. Adam and Eve were given one rule to follow: do not eat the forbidden fruit. How hard could this have been? This story describes one of man's greatest downfalls, temptation. Temptations are placed all around us in this world, sometimes unknowingly, and man has been known to fall for these temptations whatever they may appear as. This "forbidden fruit" represents all of life's temptations. It sounds dumb that they could not follow this one and only rule they were given, but when you take a step back and think about the meaning, it describes man very accurately. We are imperfect creatures with many flaws; giving into these temptations can be considered just one of these flaws. God could not take control over Adam and Eve's actions because then there would be no free will and they would not be able to think for themselves. God gave them 12 hours of darkness as part of their punishment; does this mean he created the moon and physically sent our planet into orbit around our sun for this darkness to occur? When was the rest of the universe created? Were there other planets that creation form God happened on besides just Earth? What if there is an ocean of "Earths" out there that were all suddenly spoke into existence by God all at the same time, and God is watching for the final outcomes of each and every different one. I believe we will manage to kill ourselves off slowly but surely by scavenging all of this Earth's precious resources like hungry vouchers always craving to do more and push the limits further and further.

(Darkness engulfing the world for the first time. Source)

These thoughts were taken during the reading of Adam and Eve: The Darkness contained within The Forgotten Books of Eden, edited by Rutherford H. Platt, Jr.

Week 3 Reading Diary: Eve

I am very interested in possibly creating a story that rhymes. This thought came to me as I read "...And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise..." I find it interesting how Eve was also made directly from Adams rib. This makes me think about how far back woman's rights go. I feel like the thought of the mother being a "stay-at-home" wife dates very far back and though I do not believe it, I feel like this creation story has had some influence on the way the woman has been viewed by society in the past. What if both Adam and Eve were created in parallel in this story? Would we still have all the same views of women as a society in general? Would we have had so many issues regarding woman's rights in the past? Why was voting such a huge issue for women at some point? The same judgement's can be applied to racism against blacks I think. Maybe all our flaws throughout history can be connected back to these early creation stories...Food for thought.

(Creation of Eve from the rib of Adam. Source)

These thoughts were accumulated while reading through the story titled Eve within the Biblical unit of the UnTextbook. The story source is form the King James Bible: Genesis 2/3. Here is the link to the section.