Week 2 Essay: Analysis of the Supernatural in the Saints and Animals Unit

Occurrences of magic and the supernatural were prevalent in the Saints and Animals reading unit. As a Christian, I really liked seeing God's presence in the stories of these saints. Whether people believe these stories really happened or not, the tales can act as a conversation starter about religion, beliefs, and values. These are all topics that our society is uncomfortable discussing, and I believe they need more light shone on them. Because I come from a religious background, the evidence of God that was apparent in these stories made them much more believable to me. I think that I was able to accept the miracles as an actuality from the beginning and focus more on other story elements. In this way, God's presence and miracles became a wonderfully underlying tone of the stories.

Typically, it was the saint characters who performed miracles by the grace of God. For example, Saint Kentigern healed the robin and brought it back to life with God's help. This event happened in order to prove Kentigern's innocence in the cruel ordeal. Saint Berach used his God-given authority to change the nature of the wolf who killed the young calf and bind the lives of the murdering wolf and the grieving mother cow together.God helped Saint Comgall to whisper to the mice and command them to eat horrible Croadh's grain. These events were usually critical to the story's plot and often were the solution to the biggest source of conflict in the story. I definitely noticed that all of the saints used their supernatural abilities for good. There weren't any evil saints. I appreciated this because it paints religion in a more positive light than it is typically seen in the media.

(Image information: "Four Male Saints" by Fra Diamante, c. 1470.)

As a happy and willing participant of the Harry Potter generation, magic and the supernatural will always hold a special place in my heart. The Harry Potter stories inspired me to believe that anything is possible, and I truly believe that's where my affinity for fantasy was born. I'm excited to see that magic and the supernatural are storytelling traditions in mythology in folklore, and I look forward to reading more in the future.

Storytelling for Week 2: Abigail and the China Doll

At a modern French boarding school, there lived a little girl named Abigail. She had curly blonde hair held back in two plaits, and her plain blue dress accented her light eyes. She loved her teachers and her lessons. She was only required to take six classes, but she skillfully balanced nine.

"Now girls, who can tell me the colors of the French flag in order?" Ms. Martine asked the class one day.

Abigail's hand shot up into the musty air of the damp classroom before any of the others.

After she politely waited for Ms. Martine to call on her, Abigail said, "Blue, white, and red, mademoiselle."

"Correct," Ms. Martine said.

Abigail had already answered the question before the other girls had had a chance to consider it. Eleven little pairs of beady eyes glared at her as she beamed with the warmth of Ms. Martine's approval.

This was a regular occurrence for Abigail, and over time, her classmates grew to disgust her. They were jealous of her motivation, exceptional grades, and the relationship she had with Ms. Martine.

The other girls made fun of her and pulled her hair.

"Abigail's a teacher's pet," Fleur jeered.

"She doesn't have any friends," Selina called, yanking on Abigail's braid as Selina marched by.

The jealous girls tried to get Abigail in trouble by messing up her bed right before inspections, hiding her homework, and undoing her chores. At first, House Mistress Karlotta was livid with Abigail for breaking the rules. But then, House Mistress Karlotta began to catch the other girls in the act.

No matter what the students did to sway Abigail's popularity with the teachers, Abigail's reputation always prevailed.

Then one day, the school girls contrived a brilliant plan. They would take Ms. Martine's treasured glass doll, and smash her on the stairs just as Abigail was coming up.

So Fleur pushed a chair up to the forbidden shelf in Ms. Martine's office and took the pretty china doll with the rosy cheeks and perfectly curled blonde hair. She carefully smoothed her flowery dress.

(Image information: Shirley Temple Doll by C.E. Price.)

Then, the girls all in a tizzy, they ran down the hallway to wait for Abigail by the stairs. When they heard her cheery voice singing a nursery rhyme, they knew she was drawing close. Just before she rounded the landing of the stairs, Fleur threw the doll down with a shattering crash. The girls ran away, tittering over Abigail's misfortune.

"Oh, no!" Abigail cried as she took stock of the doll's broken pieces. She carefully picked each one up and tried to reassemble the doll, but the pieces merely fell once more.

Meanwhile, the other girls had fetched Ms. Martine to show her what Abigail had done to the poor doll.

But when Ms. Martine and the girls arrived on the scene, they found Abigail seated cross-legged in the landing, carefully gluing all of the doll's pieces back into place.

Ms. Martine knew from the concerned look on Abigail's face that there was no way she could have harmed the doll.

In the end, the other girls learned their lesson and were encouraged to make friends with Abigail. The china doll was repaired and looked almost as good as new. And Abigail and Ms. Martine remained fast friends.

Author's Note: This story was inspired by Saint Kentigern and the Robin by Abbie Farwell Brown (1900). In that story, Saint Kentigern is bullied by his schoolmates, and they try to get him in trouble for killing their teacher's pet robin. But through the grace of God, Saint Kentigern brings the robin back to life, and all is well.

I chose to tell this story from the point of view of the little girl to contrast the mean bullying with Abigail's innocence. So I changed the characters and the teacher's item that gets destroyed, but I kept the schoolhouse setting and the themes of jealousy and bullying. My main goals for this story were to make it entertaining and easy for the reader to identify with.

Week 2 Reading Diary: Saints and Animals

For this week, I chose to read the Saints and Animals unit.

In the story of Saint Kentigern and the Robin, I could identify with how the other school boys made fun of Kentigern for doing well in school. But I thought it was funny that when the boys couldn't make him fail his lessons or get him into trouble, they didn't simply give up and leave Kentigern alone. Instead, they thought they would get creative by blaming him for the fire going out.

I really liked how in the second part of the story, the bird came back to life and his song not only convicted the cruel boys who had killed him, but also told Saint Servan the true story. It was cool to see a miracle, which is usually a joyous occasion, get the other school boys in trouble. And I was glad to see that that conviction changed their mischievous ways at last.

The theme of jealousy was again present in the story of Saint Blaise and His Beasts. It seems the common folk were often envious of the spiritual gifts that God entrusted to the saints during this time.

I like how in the stories about Saint Comgall and Saint Berach, the author gives the year it took place in relation to Christ's birth. It makes the stories seem that much more real.

The way Saint Berach binds the mother cow and the wolf together after the murder of the calf is really thought-provoking. On the one hand, I would never accept the murderer of my child into my home and call him a replacement. But on the other hand, it can sometimes be hard to see exactly where the line between victim and criminal is drawn. If the murderer were abused as a child, it might change my outlook ever so slightly on the situation.

The Wolf-Mother of Saint Ailbe reminds me of The Jungle Book in that a mother wolf discovered an abandoned baby and brings him into her home.

I wasn't really a fan of the ballads because they were written in poetry style. The sentence structure makes it harder for me to comprehend the story.

However, I really enjoyed one stanza of the Ballad of Saint Giles and the Deer.

"Swift as a thought his arrow flew,
Saint Giles threw out his arm,
Alack! the aim was all to true,
Saint Giles must bear the harm."
I really liked that he was willing to take an arrow for a wild animal. Furthermore, I loved how Saint Giles ended up using that experience as an opportunity to minister to the pagan king.

This quote from Saint Francis of Assisi struck a chord with me. "It does not become a servant of God to have an air of melancholy and a face full of trouble." It would be tough to tell people about the Good News with a grouchy face.

The way that Saint Francis wanted to live his life being poor in order to follow his Master is really commendable. Many Christians agreed when Jesus said "Take up your cross, and follow me." But very few did so.

Week 1, Introduction

Hi, everyone! My name is Alissa, and I'm a professional writing junior. I'm hoping to create a career combination of non-profit journalist and young adult fiction novelist with an emphasis on international travel. I really love to read and write fantasies and mysteries, and some of my favorite authors are J.K. Rowling, Lois Lowry, Shannon Hale, Maggie Stiefvater, James Dashner, John Green, and Kiera Cass.

I'm minoring in women's and gender studies and information studies. I became a WGS minor after I took an intro to WGS course as a general education requirement. I fell in love with the way that this discipline talks about all kinds of people with ultimate respect and encourages breaking social norms to follow your own path. I became an information studies minor because of my love of books, knowledge, and information. I shelved books at a public library in high school, and I would love to explore the library sciences field more in the future.

I've lived in Shawnee, OK, for the past 7 years, and before that I lived in Seminole, OK; Middletown, MD; Frederick, MD; and St. Petersburg, FL. Through these many moves, I've come to learn that there are extraordinary people everywhere who are just waiting to share their stories with you. This realization created a love for international travel. I've visited Hamburg, Germany; Venice, Turin, Naples, Rome, and Florence, Italy; Paris, Vichy, Charroux, Marseilles, and, Lyon, France; and Juarez, Mexico.

The next places on my list to visit are Ireland, England, Japan, and Hawaii.

My sister, Angelica, and my nephew, Ryan, are some of the most important people in my life. Ryan is two and a half, and I love getting to play and be silly with him.

(Image information: personal photo of Ryan taken at Andrews Park in Norman, OK; photo from July 2013).

I'm taking this class because as a writer, I love stories. I love how our society knows what makes a good story or storyteller without having to learn it traditionally. We know that timing, tone of voice, expression, and gestures make someone a good story teller just like we know that plot, characters, conflict, background, and setting make a good story. 

If there's anything else you want to know about me, just ask! 

Week 1: Storybook Favorites

In order to get some ideas for my semester-long storybook project, I browsed through past student's projects. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Arthurian Women: Queens, Damsels, and Villainess highly interests me for several reasons. First, I always enjoy learning more about the women of history because so often history books are written by bigoted men who exclude the women's stories on purpose. Second, I am a huge fan of the movie Monty Python and The Holy Grail, and as such, I am familiar with the characters that are represented in this storybook. Third, I love the writing style this student used. The way the introduction opens as if the speaker has suddenly bumped into me in the hallway instantly drew me in, and her secretive and teasing nature made me want to know more about her stories.

2. Flipped Secrets: History, Written by the Vanquished
I clicked on this storybook because as I mentioned above, history is typically written by men, and always written by the winners. This tends to distort what actually happened. I love the narrators, Puff the Magic Dragon and The Dude, that this student introduced to shed a comical eye on the dark stories of these villains.

3. The Unanswered Questions of Pooh and Friends
My roommate and I were just talking about Winnie the Pooh last night, and she told me that when her little brother learned that the characters symbolized the array of children's emotions, it ruined the show for him. On the contrary, I find Eeyore's portrayal of depression and Rabbit's grumpiness to be quite helpful to children and myself. This storybook plays on these ideas by talking about the character's differences.

All of this reading has reminded me of one of my favorite blogs, Hyperbole and a Half. Allie Brosh has had me crying from laughter many times while reading her stories, and I would like to draw inspiration from her humor for my storybook project. Her child-like illustrations that accompany her posts really round out the experience. So I think it would be fun to experiment with something like that, even though my artistic abilities in that area leave something to be desired.

Week 1: Un-Textbook Overview

I am interested in the unit on Bible women because I've always been part of the Methodist Church, and I would like to advance my study of Biblical women.

I would also like to read the unit on Alice in Wonderland. When I was a little girl, my Great-Grandmother gave me a hardback copy of the story, and I read it with my mother. It was special to all of us.

The units on Celtic Fairy Tales also sound intriguing. The idea of little people with wings flitting around has always fascinated me, and I enjoy fairy stories in general.

Finally, the unit on Japan interests me because I enjoy Japanese anime and food. I love the way Japanese artists express emotion through the drawings of their characters.

Week 1 Storytelling: The Raven Who Wanted White Feathers

On a sunny summer day, a Raven flew high over Briar's Pond and glimpsed a Swan relaxing in the water. The sunlight reflected off the Swan's brilliant white feathers, and the Raven became envious of the Swan's beauty.

He circled the pond, and came to rest in a pine tree. He peered over his shoulder to examine his own black feathers and was suddenly disgusted by the drab color.

From afar, he watched the Swan in order to figure out how the Raven could develop such a wonderful white coat. He observed as the Swan neatly snipped off pieces of water reeds with his beak and cocked his head back to swallow them down. The Swan splashed playfully in the crystal clear water and swallowed some of it.

After making several mental notes, the Raven decided he was ready to make his transformation. The Raven flew to the water and landed in it with a satisfactory splash. He tried paddling with his feet to stay afloat, but without the webbed feet of the Swan, the Raven quickly began to sink. Panicking, he swallowed some of the clear water like he had seen the Swan do. But this only made him sink faster and made the sputtering worse.

(Milo Winter's illustration of "A Raven and A Swan" (1919)

The Raven dragged himself to shore, assuring himself that once he had completed the routine, he would feel better and his feathers would change to match the Swan's lovely snow white. The Raven bit off pieces of the water reeds and struggled to swallow the coarse food.

Stomach rumbling and exhausted from his near drowning, the Raven waited for his feather's to transform. He tried squeezing his eyes shut. He attempted waddling as he had seen the Swan do. He even tried filling his beak with water a few more times.

But he did not prevail.

With a heavy heart, the Raven left Briar's Pond to the Swan and returned to the skies.

Author's Note: This story was inspired by Aesop's Fable "A Raven and A Swan," as seen in Aesop for Children, illustrated by Milo Winter (1919). In the original, a Raven was jealous of a Swan's gorgeous white feathers, and so the Raven tried imitating the Swan's routine in hopes of changing the color of his feathers. Obviously, he was unsuccessful and perished from a poor diet. I kept the Raven in my story alive to learn more lessons in the future. The moral of both stories is that one cannot change his nature simply by altering his habits.

Blogger Templates Tech Tip

For extra credit in this class, we can complete a weekly tech tip. This week, I chose to add a template to my blog to make it look more polished. The watermark template with the brown map background really stuck out to me because I love to travel. It also reminds me of old books or an atlas.

I've used several different templates on blogs in the past, and I think Blogger has a lot of great options for bloggers to choose from.

Week 1 Favorite Place: Vichy, France

I got the opportunity to study abroad in Vichy, France, in the summer of 2013, and that experience was so eye opening for me! This is a picture of the Allier River I took. The river was only a few minutes walk from my school, CAVILAM. I can't wait to go back to visit Vichy sometime in my future.

(Image information: personal photo of the Allier River in Vichy, France; photo from June 2013.)

First Day of School!

Today, I begin my blog for my mythology and folklore class. I'm excited to see what this class brings! Stay tuned.