Reading Notes Week 11: King Arthur, Part B

It's interesting that some of the stories have chosen not to include King Arthur at all. I find that pretty good so I can focus on other characters which I could choose to use in my storytelling. It's nice to get a better feel of who the different Knights of the Round Table are since they are a big part of King Arthur's stories.

I'm confused as to why Sir Galahad was so afraid of having Sir Lancelot recognize him? Sir Lancelot is his father, so I must have missed the issue there.

The transition between the stories, "Sir Galahad and the White Knight" and "Sir Lancelot's Vision" is really unique. I like how the majority of the story is focused on Sir Galahad as promised by the title, but at the very end Sir Lancelot comes into the picture, and the story is handed off to him. It would interesting to try to write a story of similar style, but it may be difficult with only 1000 words. I could probably do it, but I don't want the writing to seem too brief between the stories.

The transition into the next character focused story is similar to the last with a new knight taking over the scene. I like getting the viewpoint from so many different characters, but maybe the title of "King Arthur" should be changed slightly to signify that so many story don't involve him.

Okay, so it wasn't until later on that Sir Lancelot found out that Sir Galahad was his son! I wonder if Sir Galahad new Sir Lancelot was his father earlier on when he avoided him at the end of the first story in part B (Finally both know and meet towards the end).

There quite a few familial connections involved in these King Arthur tales. Some of them are hard to keep track of. Sir Gawain as Arthur's nephew, Sir Ector (Arthur's foster brother) younger half-brother of Sir Lancelot.

The last story wrapping up the end of King Arthur's rule includes all of the Knights previously mentioned. I think that a unique way to end it with all of them mourning together.

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Bibliography: King Arthur, by Andrew Lang

Reading Notes Week 11: King Arthur, Part A

(King Arthur  --  Balog Janos)
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I loved tales about King Arthur growing up, so hopefully these are either pretty similar to ones I've heard or they are new and exiting! Either way, it should be a win win to read.

Introducing the tale about King Arthur, the story "The Drawing of the Sword" reminds me a lot of the cartoon movie, The Sword in the Stone. Whoever pulls the sword out is the ruler and Merlin was even in that too. I have a feeling King Arthur may be just the person for the job. It is almost exactly like that movie. The only difference is that in the movie, the boy is a servant to the man he is bringing the sword unlike in this tale where he is the foster brother. I am glad that Sir Ector and Sir Kay were kind to Arthur when they realized what he had done with the sword. I was expecting them to be jealous and try to take the sword for themselves.

I am a little confused as to why King Arthur needed a new sword? I know he lost his other one, but I figured that sword was excalibur, since he pulled it from the stone. I guess he had two magical swords then.

Plot twist with Merlin being trapped under a rock by his own student, Vivian. She was very cunning, but I am also surprised that Merlin was not more weary to go under the rock. He told King Arthur about the prophecy, so I would have thought he could better guard against it. It must have been his destiny or something of the sorts.

I think the moral of the story about the quest for the Holy Graal (is this a typo? I'm not sure if it was supposed to be "Grail") is a good one. The knights of the round table are so focused on something that they can't reach, they end up losing sight of what responsibilities they need to take care of. The different lengths of each story makes them more interesting to read. I am used to most stories sticking with a consistent length, but this style sort of mixes things up.

Bibliography: King Arthur, by Andrew Lang

Week 10 Reading Notes: Native American Hero Tales, Part B

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"Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away" starts off as an extremely gruesome story. The details are vivid and quite disgusting. I'm not sure how the man new his wife had been killed by the Red Woman right after he found that she was dead. The names in the story are quite literal (Thrown in Spring and Thrown behind the Curtain). The plot of the first story is completely random. I am confused as to how the mother came back to life and how the old woman with the pot is their grandmother? So they killed their grandmother by drowning her in the boiling pot? Then went on to kill an alligator by ripping its heart out? Wow. These two boys are seeming to be malevolent. I am looking for the hero aspect to come into the story. I won't write out the details of the reasoning as to why snakes have flat heads, but I will say that the story continues with the gruesome theme.That was one random story.

"The Jealous Father" (similar title to "The Jealous Uncle"). I wonder if the stories will be similar? Not exactly similar but the stories did start off in parallel ways. I wonder why this is such a popular plot to follow. This is the third story I've read so far that has used a similar plot. The first two about the uncle and son in law were really similar and the jealous father started off the same.

So Dirty Boy didn't actually shoot the arrows or is Sun the same person as Dirty Boy? The second daughter did the right thing by keeping her word and it paid off for her in the end. Although the plot was somewhat confusing at the beginning, it did serve a valuable lesson about integrity and honesty. This story had more of an obvious theme at the end, which I wasn't able to find in the others.

Bibliography: Native American Hero Tales, by Stith Thompson

Week 10 Reading Notes: Native American Hero Tales, Part A

(Batman  --  clement127)
Source: Flickr

The first story begins similarly to the story I read in week 9 about Kut O Yis. The Jealous Uncle is the same as the son in law. The parents also aim to hide the identity of the baby born, which is what the husband and wife did in the other story. I wonder if the endings and plot throughout will be the same too. I'm not exactly sure why the uncle got his name "Unnatural Uncle". He is definitely weird and horrific by Unnatural seems like a weird adjective to use. I think there could be better names to fit his character. I don't understand why the parents don't do something to prevent the uncle from hurting their son. He literally told them that he would kill the boy right after he attempted to and they just became sad. The boy also keeps going out with the uncle. At this point, after both of the other sons have been killed, it seems as though someone would do something about this Unnatural Uncle. Plus, aren't there weapons at all? I am surprised the uncle didn't fashion a knife or bow to try and kill the boy.

There is another story of how the bat came to not have feathers (similar to the reasons as to why cats don't like dogs in a story I read in the Japanese Fairy Tales). I'm not exactly sure how the story about the elk and great eagle follows the title of "Hero Tales" though. Jonayaiyin is pretty ruthless when it comes to killing the eagles. I know they were bad, but it seems as though Jonayaiyin is more of a vigilante than a hero. Really, the eagles could be given the benefit of the doubt by saying that the mother was only feeding her babies (not intending to be bad), so really Jonayaiyin isn't a hero at all. It was more of a story concerned with survival of the fittest.

Bibliography: Native American Hero Tales, by Stith Thompson

Week 9 Reading Notes: Blackfoot Stories, Part B

The very first story starts off with a new character, the woman chief. I was wondering if the only person throughout the stories would be the old man, but I am glad that a new character has been added in. It will be interesting to see how the two interact. "The Smart Woman Chief" has been more informational than some of the other stories I've read. I think its pretty cool to learn about some of the cultural history (even though it is somewhat brief) of the Blackfoot Indians. This will be really helpful if I choose to do a story planning post where I talk about the culture of the Blackfoot. I wouldn't have to do as much research.

(hercules  --  sinterbear)
Source: Flickr

I like the idea of how children are named in the stores. "Kut O Yis" or "Clot of Blood" seems pretty weird, but I think it's cool because of the background behind the name. Maybe I will look up some different phrases that I could use to name the characters in my storytelling post. The setup of marrying women in the story is very strange. The only reason they say Kut O Yis is a girl is to keep the son in law from killing the child, because he wants to marry the girl. Smart move by the husband and wife. The son in law is turning out to be quite the antagonist. He reminds me of a mythological figure such as Cronos.

Kut O Yis literally grew up in a matter of minutes. From boy to man. I'm not exactly sure how he was able to do that? Is he supposed to have special powers? Maybe I could do a spin on it to make it like an Indian Hercules hybrid story. I know Hercules didn't grow up that quickly, but for some reason this story reminds me of Hercules. It says Kut O Yis punished the wives after he killed the son in law, but I'm not sure how he did so? That part is pretty vague. I wonder why the number seven was chosen for the amount of bad things Kut O Yis defeated. Is there symbolism behind it? Like the luck number 7?

Bibliography: Blackfoot Stories by Grinnell

Week 9 Reading Notes: Blackfoot Stories, Part A

In the description, it says the language has been translated from original Blackfoot Indian stories, so it is readable now. Even from what i've read so far, I can tell which spots aren't quite as translated from the Blackfoot. I thought it would make it harder to read or bother me, but I actually enjoy it a little bit because it gives it more of a realistic feel.

The point of the storytelling is similar to some of the others I have read in the class. They give fictitious accounts of characters, which lead to the reason something is the way it is today. In this case it was about the deer and antelope bodies.

(blackfoot  --  Henning Leweke)
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The story about the rolling stone is quite a stretch. The whole time I was focused on the conflict between the man and the rock (which was already pretty crazy), but the purpose of the story didn't even turn out to be about them. It was about the way hawks look today and why they do. Pushing their bills against a rock to be formed that way… I don't know about that one as much. I did enjoy the writing style, which sounded authentic. I'm not sure how good I would be at writing in that style though. If I was to do a story based on the Blackfoot, I could use another style and make it a parody. Maybe a super thick cowboy accent or something.

The old man is common in the stories. I wonder if Grinnell meant for this old man to be the same person among each of the stories he is in, or if they are all different old men?

The last story with the sun theft didn't seem to have much of a point. I guess the moral would be not to try and steal, but I think it would've been more comical if it had something to do with the old man lying. Then it could have tied into the common saying, "Liar, liar, pants on fire" because his pants were set on fire in the end.


Bibliography: Blackfoot Stories by Grinnell

Week 7 Extra Reading Notes: Khasi Folktales, Part A

This is a similar style to one of the Chinese fairy tales that I read a few weeks ago. It was about how the cat and dog came to dislike each other. I was a little confused as to why in this story, the lion wasn't chosen to be the king of the jungle, but rather the tiger instead. Tigers are really cool, but I think of the lion as the king of the jungle usually. The monkeys were very clever and I'm surprised the tiger never caught on to what they had done. I guess the tiger was described as ignorant for a reason!

The scenery described in some of the stories is extremely vivid. The sacred characteristics of the Iei Tree are highlighted with the different descriptions of the setting. It helps me because these don't come with many pictures, so sometimes I have trouble coming up with the right images to follow the story. Even without a single picture I still feel as though I am imagining the same thing as the author. Making sure the setting is set well really helps the reader delve further into the story.

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"Hunting the Stag Lapalang" is a really neat way to introduce the background of Khasi lamentations. To have the hunters even realize how deep the love of the mother stag was for her son really emphasized how much she mourned. That would be a great idea to research a culture a little bit and then write a story about how their customs came to be. It would be good to mix up my writing style to a more informative storytelling mode as opposed to completely fictional. Maybe with the Native American readings coming up in Week 9 I can do that! If their is a Choctaw reading I could do that because I actually know a few people at OU that are part Choctaw. Those will be cool to read because Native American culture is so prominent in Oklahoma, so I could focus my research on tribes closer to Norman.

Bibliography: Khasi Folktales, Mrs. K. U. Rafy

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales, Part B

The first Japanese fairy tale, "The Goblin of Adachigahara", starts off with a little role reversal compared to your usual fairy tale. Instead of a damsel in distress, the priest was looking for help from the old woman spinning her yarn (the goblin). I guess technically the old woman is actually a male goblin, but still, the roles are somewhat reversed. I think disguising himself as an old woman is definitely a neat idea. Older women would pose the least threatening, but it would be a little suspicious that this woman would be out in the woods all alone. Sort of a "Hansel and Gretel" kind of vibe. Don't eat the candy/spend the night at the goblin's abode. When will the dame/damsel in distress ever learn? Don't go looking in a room means to not go into the room. "Curiosity killed the cat."

(curiosity challenge  --  ankakay)
Source: Flickr

Wow! In this case curiosity did not kill the priest. It actually saved him. I definitely like that spin on the usual plot where someone gets too curious and it leads to their downfall. I was happy to see the priest made it out alive as well. His reactions to the situations that arose seemed pretty realistic too. I wonder what happened to the goblin afterwards? Maybe I could add on to the story by introducing a new character the priest hires to go back and defeat the goblin?

The next story is similar with tales of a cannibal monster (disguised as elderly women), but the protagonists reactions are very different. Watanabe looks to fight and the priest ran. I could use Watanabe as my mercenary hired to kill the goblin of Adachigahara. If he lives through "The Ogre of Rahomon". Interesting ending that the Ogre was not killed, but the conflict was resolved because the knight frightened him so much.

Bibliography: Japanese Fairy Tales, Ozaki

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki), Part A

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I could already tell from the name of the story that it would be great, "My Lord Bag of Rice". For some reason the concept of giving his name and then explaining the story as to how he came to be called that, really interested me. I like that idea and hope I can do something similar to that in a story soon. The fact that they used that name too, Bag of Rice, made it comical too. It just made me think, what did he have to do to get that name and why would he want to keep it? So I guess this storytelling style hooked me from the beginning with its curiosity factor. In the end, the gifts ended up sounding quite strange, but were actually miraculous. I appreciated the diamond in the rough factor involved with the gifts throughout the stories. Usually the gifts granted are numerous amounts of gold and jewels, but these (infinite rice and silk) were more feasible and maybe carried more worth (depending on the person).


The detail involved in the story really helped me visualize everything going on. I know that's important to the reader because it enables you to delve further into the story. Descriptions such as, "the lake glittered like a liquid diamond" and "the light in its hundred feet glowed like so many distant lanterns moving slowly towards the shore". I've been doing the writing challenge about visual details, I think it would be important for me to read stories like this to get more ideas as to how I can better capture the imagery I want to portray to reader, in words. There was a little confusion for me about the description of the centipede in "My Lord Bad of Rice". Some of the descriptions of the centipede were somewhat vague, leading me to wonder about the actual size of the monster. Besides that I though the story was written very well. It's good to have good and not as good examples of readings with a lot of imagery, so I can see what to do and also what not to do.


Bibliography: Japanese Fairy Tales, Ozaki

Reading Notes: Adam and Eve (Extra Reading Week 6)

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The writing style that the story begins with (in the description it discussed multiple languages were to be used throughout the story) is more difficult to follow than a modern day conversation for me at least. It warned to read the paragraphs first to make sure you are okay with the reading, but I wanted to go ahead and try it anyways just to expose myself to a different type even if I didn't want to use it in my story creations.

So far from reading the different stories, I'm having trouble figuring out how I could write a story concerning the same topics. Up to this point, it has just been more of an informational read. One thing for sure though, is that I won't be able to write with the same style. I said this before, but as I read further, I realize more that the style just isn't my taste. Although I don't grasp the older style of writing quite as well for overall technique, I do think it's fun to use for the dialogue. In my story about Achilles and Hector I tried using a more proper English dialogue tone. I enjoy reading that way in my head and it really helps me get into the character's mind. Basically it depends on the story. Whatever feels the most like what the character would actually do, usually fits best.

The descriptions about creating Eve were interesting. The different reasonings as to why certain body parts of Adam were not used. Also how Adam not watching Eve's creation made him want to be with her as opposed to the other woman whom he watched be born and did not like. It's weird to think about that in relation to friendships from young ages between men and women (boys and girls). Some of those relationships do come to fruition though (no pun intended).

Bibliography: Adam and Eve, Louis Ginzberg

Reading Notes: Chinese Fairy Tales, Part B

After finishing "Night on the Battlefield" I feel as though there was definitely something missing. It didn't seem to have a plot. Some random things just happened and then a story was told about them?

The story, "The Maiden who was Stolen Away" was different than I thought it would be. The brother ended up being the hero who rescued the damsel in distress. I was thinking the Ogre would end up with the Maiden (possibly ending his condition similar to beauty and the beast). Definitely wrong. I wonder what happened to the Ogre after the brother knocked him off course when he was headed towards the maiden? Maybe rewriting this story with a different ending could be good. Or I could continue the story from the Ogre's perspective and continue it into the next story, "The Flying Ogre". Although it is a woman in this story, I could mesh the two stories into one. Some of the stories end rather quickly, which hurts their point of being written in my view.

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"Three Evils" was a pretty good tale. The honor of Dschou Tschu reminds me a lot of what I've heard about Japanese and Chinese culture. Especially with samurai. The fact that he died honorably was courageous of him because he knew his own evil. I wonder if it'd been the same if he didn't know about the three evils? Would he have become bad? I could revise the version to make Dschou Tschu an antagonist in the story. Faced with the truth about himself, he decided to indulge in his dark side and wreaks havoc on the town. The description of his battles against the dragon and tiger were pretty cool through the story as well. Wilhelm was able to describe them very briefly, but it still gave me a good image of what happened. Hopefully I will learn how to do that better because I had some trouble with that in my first story.


Bibliography: Chinese Fairy Tales, Wilhelm

Reading Notes: Chinese Fairy Tales, Part A

As opposed to my usual choices in reading where I choose a battle oriented plot, I decided to expand myself by trying out the chinese fairy tales. My plan is to read all of the fairy tales and hope to find one or two that I can use to either base my story off of, or expand upon in some way for my story in the future.

The fairy tale, "The Panther", reminds me a lot of Little Red Riding Hood. The main differences are the animal (panther as opposed to a wolf), and how the predator approaches eating the rest of the family members. I liked how the panther still dressed up as the mother, so that approach was similar to Little Red Riding Hood. The resolution of the story was pretty interesting too. The daughters were creative when designing every element of the panther's downfall. The dialogue between the daughters and panther was comical at some points too. Some of the reasons the panther gave as to why his features were different compared to the mother were pretty entertaining.

(Mani + Sin-Sin  --  tohu)
Source: Flickr

The story, "Why Dog and Cat are Enemies" is a really fun way of writing in my opinion. It gives an idea or stereotype that is commonly known today, (such as dogs and cats not getting along) and creates a story as to why that is the way it is. Although it isn't the true logical sequence as to why the things are the way they are, it is fun to read and would be enjoyable to try to find something similar and create my own reasoning for it. I will definitely look into this approach for a future story of mine. I thought it was interesting that the cat and dog started out as allies, but then the cat quickly betrayed the dog (which sounds like something one of my cats would do), leading to an understood feud between the two animals.

Bibliography: Chinese Fairy Tales, by Wilhelm

Reading Notes: Twenty Two Goblins, Part B

(robin hood  --  Olga Berrios)
Source: Flickr

After reading the riddle, "The Girl and the Thief",  I am tempted to use this story as my base for the story I write in week 6. I thought the story was somewhat similar to that of Romeo and Juliet with a happier ending. I was a little confused as to the answer of the riddle because it seemed to be a subjective answer that the King gave. Maybe I could also change the riddle answer in my story as well. So far, I am thinking of writing about how the thief came to be so disliked by the king in the riddle. I know it says that he stole everything from the citizens, but reading that leaves me wondering why and how he did that? Did he grow up poor and it makes him happy to feel rich by taking from others? Was he thinking that he was similar to Robin Hood except he kind of contradicts what Robin Hood does. It is almost the opposite (the king tries to get the money back from the thief to give to the citizens). I think it would be fun to write a back story to the thief's adventures of stealing from the citizens. I don't know if I'd be able to make him the protagonist of the story. Maybe I could write from the antagonist's point of view. As the King answering riddles had great qualities of courage and perseverance, I could mirror those in either the thief or king in my story. Maybe I could use King Triple-victory and the goblin in the riddle that the goblin told about the thief and the girl. Somehow the thief turns into the goblin in the end and is bound to stay in the sissoo tree telling riddles? So many different options. I will have to do more research and write my story planning for the week about that.

Overall, I liked the layout of the riddles in the story, but felt as though they didn't tie into the plot very well. In the end, the goblin basically tells the king that the riddles were the way he tested him to make sure he was courageous and hard willed. That makes sense, but I would've liked to have seen a little more come of the riddles rather than just answer and move on. The riddles themselves were very enjoyable though. Cleverly written.

Bibliography: Twenty-Two Goblins by Arthur Ryder

Reading Notes: Twenty Two Goblins, Part A

Reading about the story from the description, I can already tell that the style of the writing will greatly interest me. I really enjoy things such as riddles, so a story told with sections that contain different riddles each time seems like a fun read. Just thinking now about how I could add on or use this style in some way for this week's story is difficult though.

(The first riddle  --  tv))
Source: Flickr

I'm a little confused as to why the goblin continues to climb back into the tree each time the King answers correctly? I would think that the King should be rewarded for getting the riddles right, but instead he has to go get the goblin down each time. Maybe there will be a big payoff in the end? If not, I could adjust my story with a different system of rewarding rather than one that seems like punishment. The King's character is brave and unwavering in his task. Each section ends with a simile of the King's bravery to describe how noble he is. The plots of each riddle within the story are set up well. I enjoy the sequence of telling, answering, and how the King describes why he chose the answer he did. My favorite riddle from Part A would have to be "The Three Lovers". It started the reading off on the right note and had great detail. While reading, I wasn't thinking about what the duties each man did represented. The description of fatherly duty, brotherly duty, and a husband's duty were unique and enlightening to the answer. I also liked the "Food, Women, and Cotton" riddle. I was a little intrigued as to how the specialist in women could tell about the great milk someone was raised on, but I guess it's good to be creative in the stories. My idea to make my own story from this reading might be to choose a specific riddle I liked and either elaborate details, change characters, or create a before or after addition to the riddle. Maybe the second reading will give me more clarity as to which story and style to use.

Bibliography: Twenty-Two Goblins by Arthur Ryder

Reading Notes: The Voyages of Sindbad, Part B

Sindbad is truly never content with what he is given. After 4 voyages with countless shares of wealth and gifts, he still yearns to go back to Bagdad (which he will no doubt leave in search of a new place with more spoils). I think a great, just ending to the story would be with his greed finally catching up to him. I wouldn't like to end a story on a negative note, but I think it doing so with Sinbad, it would give the entire story a good moral. Sinbad's patience is definitely his savior in a lot of situations. It hasn't said much about his appearance, but from pictures and images put into the reading, I've put together a rough sketch in my mind. Brownish black hair, a think peaked beard, and a tan skin tone. Roughly 5'10'', average weight, and for some reason I feel as though he is sarcastic (not an appearance trait though). With the ways he gets out of situations, I think it would be funny to have him be a jolly, plump guy. A lot of luck has been involved with him getting out of situations, so I think that look would suit him well.  This story contains less dialogue than most of the ones I've read up to now. I'm not sure which I like more. I think it's a good thing not to get carried away with pointless dialogue. I need to make sure the dialogue in my story always adds to the overall point/plot.

Can we believe this is actually his 7th and "final" voyage? I'm a little skeptical…

Sindbad ended on a positive note. I wasn't sure if his luck would run out eventually. It was a good resolution to the story, which added to his character (him devoting his life to his family there at the end). His family must have been quite patient with him going on so many voyages. I don't think it mentioned exactly when he met his wife. He may have settled down with her after his last voyage.

Bibliography: The Voyages of Sindbad, by Andrew Lang

Reading Notes: The Voyages of Sindbad, Part A

(Moby Dick  --  C. H. Simmonds Co)
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The first person narrative storytelling style is interesting to read. I haven't written one with this style yet, but it is similar to an idea I had about our class project. I may try this style if I use my fox stories from the fables. The beginning reminds me of Moby Dick's plot. His first voyage was quite lucky. After losing his ship and almost drowning, it seems improbable that he would have reclaimed his things. Also, for a story about a hero, Sinbad didn't have to do many heroic things. Maybe this was written this way to differ from usual heroic ballads.

Sindbad is a curious, unsatisfied man it seems. After his trials and tribulations with his first voyage, I wouldn't think he would have the audacity to travel to sea again. Especially with the wealth he gained earlier. The plan by merchants to retrieve diamonds in the valley was quite creative. I think its neat that the creatures on the island and in the valley are giant. It makes Sindbad have a tougher time with familiar animals. It would also be cool if there were foreign animals introduced from the island. Maybe a cross between the "rocs" and the snakes. The eagles coming to pick up the meat reminds me of Lord of the Rings when the eagles come to pick up Frodo and Sam. He is also a generous man (shared wealth with the poor).

The fact that he chooses to go on even more voyages after telling himself that he shouldn't have makes him seem somewhat ignorant. The story may be better if the voyages were combined somehow. The part with the giant is definitely similar to Odysseus' encounter with Polyphemus. This reading seems to include many illusions to other famous stories. I think it would be a fun way to be creative, trying to mix and match segments from more than just one story.

I would like to see Sindbad with a sidekick. Maybe the both of them could be brothers going on the voyages together? That may give more reason as to why he would go on so many voyages. Sindbad's situational awareness definitely saved him with the cannibals. Not so ignorant after all.

Bibliography: The Voyages of Sindbad, by Andrew Lang

Reading Notes (Extra): English Fairy Tales, Part A

Tom Tit Tot

• The dialogue is semi hard to follow because the english is a different style that I'm used to. I would probably avoid a similar style in my stories. I like how it was a spin off of the "Rumplestilskin" story, so maybe I can use a childhood story as inspiration for one of mine.

The Rose Tree

• I was surprised at the darkness of this reading. It was definitely the darkest story that I've read so far in this class. Although justice was "served" in the end, I will most likely avoid doing something so dark. I don't think my writing style would fit that well.

The Old Woman and Her Pig

• Unique story line based on a sequence of events there and back again. I was wondering where the story would end up after following through half of it, but to have everything finally work the way it did was satisfying. I would like to incorporate a style similar to this with the plot created from another story. I may try it with my week 4 story.

Binnorie

• This story is similar with the eeriness and overall darkness to "The Rose Tree". I definitely prefer a lighter, more upbeat mood with my storytelling, but this gives me insight as to the other side of my wiring preference.

Cap o' Rushes

• This story seemed to have to plots involved. The situation with her dad started and ended the story, and the middle included the Cinderella like love story. I wonder what happened to the other daughters. Splitting the plot like this made me lose the point of the story for a little while, but brought it back at the end. Choosing from the three daughters was an interesting start. I could use this in my story for Odysseus for the warriors he chooses. Ultimately choosing the female protagonist who saves the day.

(Three Little Pigs of Apple Hill  --  Joe Parks)
Source: Flickr

The Story of the Three Little Pigs

• An add on to the classic story about the three little pigs. Writing an addition to a classic story (either before the timing of the story or after) would be pretty fun if I could do it correctly.

Bibliography: English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs

Reading Notes: Homer's Odyssey, Part B

• Odysseus' sacrificial ritual was quite in depth. I like the dialogue between Odysseus and the ghosts. The tone within the dialogue adds to the moods and manner by which they are speaking. It definitely makes me feel sorry for Elpenor because he was young. Hopefully Odysseus remembers to do all of what he asked. The fore warnings of what is to come are present again. Writing in that style sort of lays groundwork for the rest of the story. You know what the characters should and shouldn't do, so while reading, you fill in the plot with information about how they get to those decisions and ultimately what decision they make (I'm surprised Odysseus doesn't have to write some of the tasks down. He is given a lot to remember).
• All of the dialogue gives great insight and backbone to the story. Although my story will be shorter, I would like to have meaningful dialogue between the characters. It really adds to the story in totality. 
• In this story, there may be a few too many introductions of the famous women's ghosts. They may be needed but as of now they are getting harder and harder to remember. I would leave out so many introductions into my story because I definitely wouldn't have enough room for that.



(Scilla e Cariddi  --  Dave & Margie Hill)
Wikimedia Commons

• The second reading will mostly help me with my story in the dialogue areas. I need to make sure that with whatever dialogue I have, it truly adds to my overall story structure. I don't want to jot down empty filler words into the reading. I plan to use the Cyclops, Circe, Odysseus, the crew, and a made up crew member (a woman) in my story. I think dialogue between the Cyclops and Odysseus will be important to form a friendship. Also dialogue between Circe and my new crew member (the narrator) will also play a pivotal role in the story.

Bibliography:  Homer's Odyssey, Tony Kline

Reading Notes: Homer's Odyssey, Part A

• The indication of the importance of the wine seems somewhat vague. Hopefully there will be more of a backstory to that. The setting is depicted well at the beginning of the story. I don't know how much space I will have to do the same in mine, but I hope mine is similar (but a little shorter). I would like to tell the story from the point of view of one of Odysseus' crew. 

• Wine is noted again. I thought the cyclops might be somewhat friendly, but it seems as though he trapped them to eat overtime. I may try portraying the giant in a friendly manner, just to switch up the story line. All of the stories I've heard concerning the cyclops make him the enemy. Teaming up with the cyclops could be a nice twist to my story.

(CYCLOPS  --  Daniel Ferencak)
Source: Flickr

• The detail involved within the storytelling is great. It really helps me image what is going on in the gave. Although my story will be much shorter, I would like to use detail like Kline did.

• Deceiving the cyclops with his false name, "Nobody" was clever. I didn't see that coming when he first said that. Odysseus was almost too cocky when he left the cyclops' island. By mocking Polyphemus with his chants, the cyclops was close to wiping out their ship. I do like him portrayed in that manner though.

• The description of the food and drink in the story is great. I can see how Odysseus' crew were tempted by Crice's food (drugged). It made me hungry just by reading! Odysseus believes he should go save his crew even beyond Eurylochus' warning. Up to this point Odysseus is proving to think quite highly of his ability (a step above everyone else). It fits him well throughout the story though. I would like to keep this trait when writing my story.

• There are many prophecies throughout the stories. It is interesting to see how they pan out when you know something will happen (just not how it will happen). 

Bibliography:  Homer's Odyssey, Tony Kline

Reading Notes: Homer's Iliad, Part B

The Rousing of Achilles

• The warriors are very concerned with retrieveing the bodies of their fallen comrades. It's interesting that they take that as such a sign of  disrespect to not give the bodies back. Understandable though. Both sides tried to take the other's warrior with Patroclus and Sarpedon.
• Hector was daring to defy Zeus and put on Achilles' armor. That may be his downfall.
• A large breakout of fighting occurred only over the body of Patroclus. I like the detail of the horses crying due to Patroclus' death. Gives them a good sense of loyalty.

(Achilles Slays Hector  --  Rubens)
Wikipedia

The Slaying of Hector

• Apollo loves mischief most of all of the gods. Epic battle between Achilles and Hector awaits. Hector is truly brave to stand up to Achilles, despite so many people discouraging him to do so. My not taking is sounding somewhat like the reading as I go further into it. Achilles seems to be a demigod, similar to a character such as Hercules (super speed). Zeus likes Hector as well, which creates tension between whom he will pick to win the fight.
• Athene tricked Hector by making it appear as though his brother was there? Achilles seems to be invincible with the help of the gods. Descriptions of the fighting (speed) are great for the imagery and epicness of the battle between Hector and Achilles.
• Achilles was savage with Hector's body. He showed no mercy at all. I don't know if I would have written it that way for Achilles to be so disrespectful.

The Ransoming of Hector

• I feel bad for King Priam and his family. For him to go beg to the man who had defeated his son is horrific. Achilles is truly vengeful for the death of Patroclus. It is resulting in him acting quite differently than I anticipated him to. Maybe if Hector had respected Patroclus' death more, Achilles would have done the same after killing Hector.

Bibliography: Homer's Iliad retold by A. J. Church