Week 11 Storytelling: Alice and The Chessmen

Once upon a time, there was a very bored little girl. Her golden hair twisted in boring curls, and the petticoats of her blue dress wrinkled in boring ruffles.

It was a hot summer day, Alice had absolutely nothing to entertain herself in her stuffy old living room. She had nothing, except her imagination, which is the greatest tool, you know.

Alice stared at the boring old chess set on the coffee table, and she squinted her eyes and concentrated very hard.

Suddenly, the black king's head popped out of the stone piece and became fleshy. That was quickly followed by his body, arms, and legs. He glanced around in confusion and noticed Alice.

"You there!" the Black King exclaimed. "What business have you going around and making perfectly good stone chess pieces turn into flesh?" He waved his fist indignantly.

"How am I supposed to command my army if I can no longer speak with them? I demand that you turn me back this instant!" he continued.

Alice was taken-aback. If she were stone, she reasoned, she would enjoy being made human. She didn't understand why the Black King had become all hot and bothered over the issue. Besides, she was bored, and she wanted someone to play with.

"No, I'm sorry, dear king. I shan't turn you back," Alice said matter-of-factually.

"Well, if you won't restore me to my regular state of being, then I absolutely insist that you bring all the rest of my comrades along with me!" the Black King declared. He straightened himself up to his full height.

Alice thought for a minute. She had turned the Black King into flesh and blood relatively easily. And having more chess pieces to play with did sound appealing.

"Alright," Alice agreed. "I'll try my best."

For the next hour, Alice glared and squinted and glowered and scowled. She looked cross-eyed and cock-eyed. She concentrated and fixated and meditated and pondered. Alice ruminated and scrutinized and contemplated. Until finally, every last chess piece on the board was running around and calling out to its friends.

 

(Image information: "Chessmen" by  John Tenniel, 1871.)

Alice was quite delighted with herself, and now that all of the chess pieces were reunited together again, they were quite pleased as well. They whiled away the afternoon together in pleasurable companionship.

Alice and the chess pieces grew quite close throughout the afternoon, and Alice grew sad when darkness came and her little friends became stone again.

"Well, at least for once," Alice said, "my life wasn't quite so boring."


Author's Note: This story is inspired by the Chess Pieces part of Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carrol, 1871. With this retelling, I really wanted to play around with Carrol's writing style because I think it's so enchanting. His word choice really makes for enjoyable stories. So I tried my best to emulate that.

Week 11 Reading Diary: Through the Looking-Glass

This week I chose to read the Through the Looking-Glass unit, which is taken from the Lewis Carrol novel Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. I've already read Alice in Wonderland. So I'm excited to read the sequel.

I like how this story starts out in a real house with a little girl who is pretending and slowly reality mixes with imagination.

There's a wonderful contrast between Alice's curiosity about the chess pieces and they way the chess pieces rationalize the things that happen to them because of Alice.

 

(Image Information "Hold White King" by John Tenniel, from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carrol,  1871).

I wonder if something happened in the omitted chapters that allowed the Looking-Glass characters to begin seeing Alice.

I was homeschooled. And when I was in highschool, my mom and I read the Jaberwocky poem. I enjoyed it as much today as I had back then. It reminds me of Dr. Seuss in that there are a lot of made up words, but I can still understand the story. Writing like that takes a real talent.

When Alice meets Tweedledee and Tweedledum, I like how she thinks about needing to shake both of their hands at once as to not hurt their feelings. It shows how mature she is.

In the movie Harriet the Spy, Harriet and her nanny recite part of the Walrus and the Carpenter poem to each other, and I always loved that part of the movie. So this is my favorite part of the poem:

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes — and ships — and sealing-wax —
Of cabbages — and kings —
And why the sea is boiling hot —
And whether pigs have wings."

It's funny how despite Alice's maturity and thoughtfulness, Tweedledee and Tweedledum talk so much nonsense about her not being real that they make her cry. I think this is very illustrative of many people. We get ourselves so worked up over something that's not even a big deal that we forget that we're worried about something that might not even be worth worrying about.

This is such a funny visual: "All this time Tweedledee was trying his best to fold up the umbrella, with himself in it: which was such an extraordinary thing to do that it quite took off Alice's attention from the angry brother."

I find this part pretty funny because so many people do use words like this. "'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.'" But what is the point of having a common language, if the words mean different things to different people?

Something I've thought about a lot during this semester's reading units is whether or not the nonsense in the stories is justified. Usually, I don't like it when characters do things for no reason. But I don't find myself upset by it in Through the Looking Glass. I'm wondering if that's because I'm familiar with Lewis Carrol as an author, and so, I knew to expect the nonsense.

I like what the White Knight says here, "My mind goes on working all the same. In fact, the more head downwards I am, the more I keep inventing new things." It's very true. I always have the best ideas when I'm driving or in the shower and can't write them down. Sometimes I think minds work best when they're occupied with something simple.

I like how the riddles in this books almost seem to make sense, but they don't quite. It's very entertaining to try to figure them out and then realize that they can't be understood.

Alice goes through the same thing I think. "Alice sighed and gave it up. 'It's exactly like a riddle with no answer!' she thought."

Even though Alice wakes up from this story and believes it to be a dream, I wonder if that is simply her way of dealing with such strange events. I wonder if it could have really happened to her.

Week 10 Essay: The Oral Storytelling Style of Inuit Folktales

Because the originally oral stories in the Eskimo Folk Tales unit were recorded by Rasmussen, the explorer, they had a very distincitive style of speech. Some of the stories, like "The Coming of Men, A Long, Long While Ago," have a very clear perspective. The oral style of storytelling was important to the folk tales because it made them sound more realistic and truthful. As part of this, the characters' names are quite different

The storyteller's perspective in "The Coming of Men, A Long, Long While Ago" makes it obvious that the storyteller is explaining the details he/she knows, and then he/she is upfront with the listener about not knowing some parts. "When did they find each other, and when had they grown up?" the storyteller asks. "I do not know," he/she finishes.

This oral storytelling style brings the readers into the lives of the Inuits and helps them to understand the culture. In the story of "Isigâligârssik," the storyteller explains one of the wizard's customs, saying, "When the wizard was about to call upon his spirits, it was his custom to call in through the window: 'Only the married men may come and hear.'" Also in this story, Rasmussen explains that the Inuits believed that the first dress worn by a small child would heal that child from physical harm when he/she grows up. The style is inclusive and it draws the readers in. In the story of "Nukúnguasik, who Escaped from the Tupilak,"Rasmussen teaches us that a Tupilak is a monster made from the bones of animals. The Tupilak is magical and is used to punish one's enemies. In a manner similar to a daughter telling her mother about her day, this style makes the stories easy to relate to.

 (Image information: "Tupilak" from Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen, with illustrations by native Eskimo artists, 1921).

The unusual names in this unit are ones like Nukúnguasik, Qalagánguasê, and Isigâligârssik. Upholding the true names of the people that these stories are about, shows the integrity of the storyteller and further emphasizes the fact that the events in the folktales really happened.

Week 10 Storytelling: Minerva and her Polar Bear Son

Once upon a time, there was an old woman named Minerva, who had never married. She had no family left to support her, and so often, she went hungry.

But sometimes, the young hunters in the community would bring her meat to eat, and they would tell her about their great adventures.

One day, when the hunters brought the regular meat and stories, they brought something new along with them.

When the short woman with completely gray hair opened her front door, three young men stood on the snow-covered steps holding a polar bear cub!

 

(Image information: "Polar Bear" by Alan D. Wilson, 2007.)

"Awwe, what a dear little thing," Minerva said. "Where is his mother?"

The hunters brought the cub into Minerva's house, and she brewed tea for everyone. She found some old blankets to wrap around the cub and the little bear quickly fell asleep.

"Unfortunately, Ms. Minerva, we shot and killed the cub's mother. We didn't know it was a mother bear when she shot it, and we've very sorry. We thought that maybe you would want some company. So we brought the bear here," one of the hunters said.

"Well, that's a very strange form of company, but I'll give it a try," she said.

The hunters left the cub with Minerva, and over the years, the cub grew up. It spent so much time playing with Minerva and the village children that the cub developed the brain of a human.

Neither Minerva nor the cub wanted for anything because the village folk were so taken with the cub that they often brought food and clothes and toys for him.

The bear grew stronger and stronger, and Minerva would have to remind her bear cub to be gentle with the village children.

Once Minerva and the hunters thought the bear was ready, the hunters took the cub out to hunt with them one day. It took a little practice, but once the bear got the hang of sniffing out the prey, he was a very useful helper.

But a scary thing happened that day. Another group of hunters who didn't know about the pet polar bear tried to shoot at the cub with their bows and arrows. All of the village hunters were very upset, and they yelled at the other group of hunters. Thankfully, the cub wasn't hurt.

The hunters asked Minerva to fashion a special collar for the polar bear so that everyone near and far would know that he was special. She wove together several sinews and placed the collar around his neck.

From then on, when ever he went hunting, the bear received many compliments from the people he encountered, and he was very happy with his life as a hunting helper and as a companion to Minerva.

Author's Note: This story was inspired by "The Woman Who Had A Bear As A Foster-Son," from the Eskimo Folk-Tales book by Knud Rasmussen, 1921. I kept this story very close to the original, except that I gave the old woman a name, and I changed the ending. In the ending of the original story, the old woman tells the polar bear that she is worried that if he stays with her, he will be killed. So she urges him to find somewhere else. The bear leaves, and Minerva never sees him again. I thought this was a very sad ending, and I also found it kind of pointless because the old woman made him a special collar to protect him.

Week 10 Reading Diary: Eskimo Folk Tales

I chose to read half of the Eskimo Folk Tales unit this week.

In The Coming of Men a Long, Long While Ago, I enjoyed the imagery of the Earth falling from the sky. But the thought of a woman finding children in the woods, dressing them, and bringing them home is sort of creepy.

I think it's interesting how many parallels are present between this creation story and the Christian creation stories. The creation of man and woman from the Earth and the flood.

It's cool that the Inuits believe that people become stars when they die.

I really didn't understand the story of Nukúnguasik, who Escaped from the Tupilak.

I love the idea of adopting a bear cub! That sounds like so much fun. I think it's really cool how the bear develops the mind of a human in the story of The Woman Who Had A Bear As A Foster-Son. I think this one would be fun to retell for my storytelling assignment.

In the story of Qalagánguasê, Who Passed to the Land of Ghosts, it's cool to think of the ghosts being able to give the boy back his strength. This story reminds of Pinocchio in the way that the boy's lies have physical ramifications.

In the story of Isigâligârssik, I didn't understand why the wizard took away the man's wife. So the rest of the story was very confusing.

Similarly, I didn't understand The Insects that Wooed a Wifeless Man. Why did insects offering to marry him change anything?

I was totally following the story of Makíte until he threatened to kill the lone-dweller over not knowing what the things that looked like candles were. That escalated quickly.

I understand that anything is possible in folk tales and myths, but I still think that the characters need to have believable motivations, and I just don't see those in this unit.

Week 9 Essay: Believable Atmospheres

Because the stories in the American Indian Fairy Tales unit were about early Native Americans, all of them were set in the great outdoors. I loved the different atmospheres that Iagoo created through is storytelling. These natural environments were so believable that they made the story events seem more realistic even when they had to do with magic. The seasons were also a key factor in the stories. The storyteller used the undesirable elements of the current season to bolster his story about the season everyone was wishing for.

In the first story, an unknown narrator introduces Iagoo as the future narrator for the other stories. Iagoo's stories are often motivated by the weather. So when it is a cold and blustery winter, he tells stories about balmy summers. In Iagoo, the Storyteller, the author does a wonderful job of incorporating the body's senses into the mix. "The snow lay deep on the ground" brings in imagery for the audience, and "the North Wind came howling from its home in the Land of Ice," gives the environment sound. "Iagoo sat by the fire of blazing logs" helps the reader feel the heat of the fire.

 

(Image information: "The North Wind" from American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae 1921.)

The scene that is set in the story of how Shin-ge-bis Fooled the North Wind is also very encompassing. "When he breathed upon the land, violets appeared in the woods, the wild rose bloomed on the yellow prairie, and the cooing dove called musically to his mate." This description gives enough details for the reader's imagination to take off without bogging down the plot with over-description.

I liked the atmosphere in The Fairy Bride the best. So much of this story depended on the reader coming to understand Neen-i-zu's fascination with the fairies. The description of the environment was important here, but I think the imagery of the fairies was even more key. "It was just the place for leap-frog and all-hands-'round; in the twilight of summer days they were said to gather here in little bands, playing all manner of pranks." This characterization of the fairies made me want to meet them as much as Neen-i-zu did.

Storytelling for Week 9: Rose Fairy

Once upon a time, there was a Native American girl named Rose. She was only two months shy of turning eighteen, and then she would have to get married.

Her mother and father loved her dearly and only wanted the best for her. They had spoken with the parents of Running Bull about an impending wedding. Running Bull was nineteen and a hunter. All he cared about was tracking animals, killing animals, and eating animals. Rose got tired of hearing about it.

Their tribe lived in a field that brushed up against the woods. Tepees and fire pits dotted the area, and the tribe members worked merrily at gardening, crafting, and preparing food.

But when Rose wasn't supposed to be helping her mother weave baskets, Rose sneaked off into the forest to look for the tiny fairies. She had heard stories about the miniscule species growing up. They left little footprints in the soft sand by the brook in the forest. They wove ropes from grasses and coaxed lightning bugs to land on them to make garlands of twinkling lights.

Rose was entranced by the evidence that the fairies left, but she had never seen any.

"Rose, darling, if you spent more time with Running Bull and less time wandering around in the woods, you might like Running Bull more," Rose's mother said.

Rose just rolled her eyes. No matter how much time she spent with Running Bull, she would never like him.

"Mother, do you believe in the fairies?" Rose asked to change the subject.

"I heard the stories about them when I was a girl, but it's hard for me to believe in something I cannot see, Rose," her mother said.

"If I could show you the fairies and how much they mean to me, would you not make me marry Running Bull?" Rose asked.

Rose hoped that her mother would find the deal so farfetched that she would agree to it, and she got her wish.

From then on, she spent even more time in the woods searching for the fairies. She didn't have much time to prove her mother wrong.

On the day of Rose and Running Bull's wedding, Rose stole off into the forest during her last hour before the wedding. The guests were already dressed and waiting for the ceremony to start.

Rose ran through the woods in her flowing white wedding dress. She wore a crown of flowers in her hair. She had to find the fairies.

"Come out! Come out!" she called.

Suddenly, she stopped. As if the fairies had finally understood the urgency of her request, one appeared to her.

(Image information: "Fairies Looking Through a Gothic Arch" by John Anster Fitzgerald 1864.)

He was only about eighteen inches tall. He had raggedy brown hair that hung in his eyes, ivory skin, and deep green eyes. His translucent wings stretched far above his head.

 Rose fell in love with him instantly.

The fairy reached out his hand to Rose, and when she took it, she began to shrink. When she, too, was only eighteen inches tall, the two ran off into the woods together.

And Rose was never seen from again. But every year on her mothers birthday, she wove a rope of grasses and hung miniscule woven baskets.


Author's Note: This story is inspired by "The Fairy Bride" from American Indian Fairy Tales by W.T. Larned, with illustrations by John Rae 1921.  In the original, Neen-i-zu is supposed to marry a hunter, but she doesn't want to and spends most of her time daydreaming about the fairies. In the end, she does become a fairy. But the rest of the story seemed very slow and passive to me. So in my story, I gave the main girl a more active goal in trying to prove the existence of the fairies in order to get out of an arranged marriage. I chose to retell this story because I really liked the imagery of the fairies.

Reading Diary Week 9: American Indian Fairy Tales

For this week, I chose to read the American Indian Fairy Tales unit.

In the story about Iagoo, the Storyteller I really liked the atmosphere that is set by describing the snow, the wind, and the moon. It made me want to get comfortable and enjoy the stories much like I'm sure the children did.

The king in the story about how Shin-ge-bis Fooled the North Wind reminded me of the White Witch in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe in the way that we wanted the whole earth to be covered in snow year-round.

This story continues to use the settings that draw the reader in. "When he breathed upon the land, violets appeared in the woods, the wild rose bloomed on the yellow prairie, and the cooing dove called musically to his mate."

It makes since that Iagoo would tell this story about longing for lighthearted summertime during the winter. The children would probably be tired of the cold and snow and would be able to understand winter personified as the antagonist. 

It's interesting to me that the people knew that the South Wind was magic and that he could turn himself into a duck, but they didn't believe that he was powerful enough to beat the North Wind. They must have been very scared of the North Wind.

I like the inclusion of the song about the North Wind. Songs are something that children pick up very quickly, and I think it would make the story more fun for them.

At the end, I thought it was interesting how the South Wind was strong enough to conquer the North Wind in his own cold environment. It shows who truly was the most powerful.

I liked this story a lot. It might be a good one to use for my storytelling assignment.

In the story about The Child of the Evening Star, I thought it was interesting why her sisters didn't like her. "They could not understand her; so they ended by despising her as a silly and unreasonable girl." This is unfortunately many people's reactions to things they don't understand.

In the story about The Boy who Snared the Sun, Iagoo talks about how there used to be only one fire source guarded by two witches. This makes me wonder where the fire came from. Did the witches create it for their own personal use?

I have a real problem with the gender roles in this story. The brother thinks himself high and mighty for shooting the birds, but his sister made the coat. And then he just orders her around, telling her to weave a rope together. You can't act all strong and independent when really it's a team effort.

I know that this story is a myth and that it doesn't have to be super factual. But there is no way for the brother to wait at the hill where the sun would come up because the sun always appears far away on the horizon. I think that if the story is going to boast about a bot snaring the sun, then there should be something a little more exciting to it. And then ending didn't make too much more sense either. I wasn't a fan of this story.

In the story about How the Summer Came, the father knows that he doesn't have to worry about dying because the son can hunt for game. "If some accident should prevent O-jeeg from supplying the family with the game upon which they lived, his son felt sure that he himself could shoot as many squirrels and turkeys as they needed to keep them from starving." This is very illustrative of what it might be like to constantly be in search of your next meal.

I really like this description: "Some wise old men had somewhere heard that the sky was not only the roof of our own world, but also was the floor of a beautiful world beyond, a land where birds with bright feathers sang sweetly through a pleasant, warm season called Summer." I wonder if this could be a version of Heaven. 

In the story of The Fairy Bride, I really liked this description of the girl's eyes. "Her eyes had the look of one who has dwelt in secret places, and seen things strange and mysterious."

The fairies in this story are so mischievous that they remind of the brownies in The Spiderwick Chronicles. 

 

(Image information: "Tam Turtledove, a common house brownie" from Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide, restored by Holly Black and Toni DiTerlizzi, 2005.) 

I think I've decided to retell this story this week. But I'm going to make it much more active. Neen-i-zu and her mother are going to strike up a deal that if Neen-i-zu can prove that the fairies exist, then she doesn't have to marry the hunter.

Week 8 Reading Diary: Assessment

In re-reading the reading diary instructions, I noticed that it said that reading diary posts would differ in length each week depending on how much I liked the reading unit and my reactions to it. I found this really reassuring because some weeks I don't have very much to say, and other weeks I have comments on almost every story.

Typically, when I'm writing, I write about the most positive things like endearing characters, exciting plots, or clever prose. I also focus on negative things like confusing story elements and characters I dislike. In this way, I think I can quickly form opinions about the individual stories.

As far as reading diary tips, I would say that having the reading and your blog post open at the same time is the most effective use of your time. That way when you have comments, you can write them down then instead of trying to remember everything after you finish reading.

While I'm writing my reading diary, I keep notes on which stories I might want to write my storytelling post from. This way, I don't have to skim through all the stories on Wednesdays to remember which ones were my favorites. It also gets me thinking a day or two in advance about how I want to retell the story.

I do like to include quotes when the writer has said something better than I can. Sometimes the descriptions or dialogue really stand out to me.

Often times, a story from the Chinese or Japanese units will remind me of what I consider an American fairytale. I've saw versions of Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel last week.

Compared to my other classes, I would say I remember the readings better than I remember more academic readings. I think this is normal because humans think in the form of stories. We remember stories much better than we remember obscure facts.

Week 7 Essay: Crime and Punishment

In The Chinese Fairy Tales unit, I saw recurring themes of crime and justice. Typically, characters would commit wrongdoings and then receive punishment for them. For example, in the story about The Cave of Beasts, the daughters ate eggs that didn't belong to them, and they were lead into the deathly forest as a result. Another example of justice happens in The Maiden Who Was Stolen Away. The ogre traps the maiden in an attempt to make her marry him, and in the end, he is beaten for his wicked ways. A third example from this unit is in the story about The Panther. Because the panther ate the mother and her son, he endures a lot of pain and eventually death.

 

(Image information: "Black Panther"  by Bruce McAdam 2008.)

To go into detail about the daughters in The Cave of Beasts, I would say their crimes seem the most harmless of the three examples above, especially because their mother gave them the eggs to eat. But regardless, the father saw this as a crime and abandoned them in dangerous forest. However, this might be considered the real crime in the story because the father soon missed his daughters and went back to find them, and it seemed like he had seen the error of his ways. He definitely changed his mind about punishing his daughters when he found out about all of the gems they had discovered!

In the story about the maiden who was stolen away, the ogre could have taken a very different direction. When the maiden was blown on top of the pagoda, he could have helped her down and won her over that way instead of trapping her up there until she agreed to marry him. Once he had done that, I felt like his defeat at the hand of the maiden's brother at the end of the story was completely deserved.

Finally, in the story about the panther, it is clear to the reader that eating a mother and her son is a crime. And so the daughters worked up a whole series of punishments for the panther. He sat on a cushion of needles, was stung by a scorpion, had hot egg yolk sprayed in his eyes, and was bitten by a turtle, and finally, he was beaten to death by wooden clubs. If that isn't justice, I don't know what is.

Week 7 Storytelling: Fuxia and The Ogre

Once upon a time, an old run-down pagoda barely remained standing in the outskirts of a small town in China. It was once a beautiful red, but now the paint was peeling from five stories.

Closer to the center of that small town, there lived a beautiful young girl named Fuxia. One day, she met a handsome young man who was strolling by her home. He was tall, dark, and handsome - as every good fairytale hero should be.

"Dear girl," he called out to Fuxia. "I've never seen a woman as beautiful as you are in my whole life! Would you come on an adventure with me?"

Because it was hot and Fuxia was bored, she agreed to go exploring with the man. Soon after, they arrived at the foot of the pagoda.

 

(Image information: "Kaijusen-ji's Five-storied Pagoda" by 633highland 2006.)

"Wouldn't it be adventurous to climb up to the very top?" he asked.

Fuxia was a little nervous about climbing that many steps, but she had nothing better to do. So the young man and Fuxia went inside the pagoda and climbed. Fuxia huffed and puffed. Her calves ached, and her back grew weary. At long last, they reached the top. From so far up, they could see miles in every direction. The Chinese countryside was beautiful and lush and captivated Fuxia's attention.

While Fuxia was distracted, the man began to climb down without her! And as he did so, he took the steps with him until she was trapped on top of the old pagoda.

"Stop! Come back!" Fuxia called. But as she watched the man leave, he changed into a hideous ogre! He gnashed yellow teeth and glared with red eyes. He had terrible green horns that protruded from his bald yellow head. Fuxia was terrified.

She was trapped on that pagoda for weeks. Each day the ogre would bring her food to eat, and she would have to endure the sight of his true form.

But one day, another young man walked by the pagoda. She called down to him frantically, and when he saw her stuck up there, he vowed to save her. This man was very fit and very brave, and he knew he could rescue her.

Just then, the ogre came tromping through the trees. The rescuer hid and surprised the ogre. He bravely fought the ogre and cut off his head with his sword. 

Then the brave man went to find a very tall ladder, and propping the ladder up against the pagoda, he climbed up to rescue Fuxia.

She was so pleased to be free, and the young man was so pleased to have helped her that he proposed on the spot, and she said yes.

Author's Note: This story was inspired by "The Maiden Who Was Stolen Away" from The Chinese Fairy Book, which was edited by R. Wilhelm and translated by Frederick H. Martens (1921). In the original, she is blown away by a cyclone and blown into the path of the ogre, who traps her on the pagoda because she won't marry him. And the rescuer is the girl's brother in the original. I changed it because I wanted this to be a love story after all.