Week 11 Essay: Assesing Alice in Wonderland

This week I read the unit Alice in Wonderland.

It was a good reprieve from the normal units that I have read in this class. This unit, instead of being a bunch of different units combined, was basically one continuous story. I enjoyed the character development that happened with Alice. You see her begin as a young and naive girl that doesn't think about her immediate actions. As she moves through the different chapters you begin to see her progress her thinking. The more "weird" things that she begins to see, the more desensitized she becomes to them.

I feel like this book serves as a way to comment on the progression of the close mindedness that society has come. I have been talking to my roommate recently about how different societies, lets say the Native Americans as an example, were a communal society. "It took a village to raise a child," to quote my roommate. We used to be a society with white picket fences where everyone knew their neighbor. Then the large grey fences with no holes started coming into view. As this continued through society, people began to know less and less about their neighbors.

(Privacy Fence: Flickr Doug Agassi)

In multiple chapters, Alice says multiple times that she had begun to come accustomed to the "weird" things that happens. From the Cheshire Cat vanishing, the baby turning into a pig, and the strange way that the different characters acted. I think that society has begun to reject what isn't defined as acceptable. Inherently, people have begun and continued to accept things about society that are "just the way it is."

I think this unit has made me reflect on some of the things that society has turned in to. I was surprised that I started to think about these things when reading a unit that is normally regarded as a children's story. I would definitely recommend this unit to others to read.

Week 11 Reading Dairy: Alice In Wonderland

This week I chose to read Alice In Wonderland.

It was a nice refresher from the other units that I have read. Instead of being broken up into many different stories that aren't all apart of a continuous story, this unit has multiple stories that encompass the chapter of a book. I enjoyed the extra detail that could be included because it was a continuous story.

The Caterpillar character has always intrigued me. In Advice from a Caterpillar, Advice from a Caterpillar (cont.), and Advice from a Caterpillar (end), he is just as confusing and strait forward as any of the others that I have read. I like the way that the Caterpillar makes Alice wait each time he starts to smoke the hookah. Alice is a very impatient girl, and her interaction with him forces her to look at things in a different light.

The cinema version of Alice in Wonderland with Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter was great. When I read A Mad Tea-Party, A Mad Tea-Party (cont.), and A Mad Tea-Party (end) I felt that Johnny Depp's performance was done quite well comparatively. The conversations that Alice and the Mad Hatter had were all over the place and had no real logic involved.

I think my favorite chapter was The Queen's Croquet Ground. In The Queen's Croquet Ground, The Queen's Croquet Ground (cont.), and The Queen's Croquet Ground (end) there is a lot of random things happening. I chuckled many different times whenever the chapter talked about the miss happenings with tr the hedgehogs and the flamingos. I did not care much for the queen herself. She has always been a crude character.

I was  little upset that the chapters skipped around, but I can definitely understand that it would have been a bit ridiculous to include all of the chapters in the book for us too read in one unit. Overall I really enjoyed reading this unit.

Week 10 Essay: Native American Humanization

I am a big fan of stories that explain real word phenomena in a fun and spiritual way. Native Americans are big on the belief of gods, spirits, and many other supernatural beings. The stories that they conjure up are both clever and really interesting.

This week I read the Tejas Legends unit, it consisted mostly of stories explaining why plants looked the way they did, why certain animals acted the way they did, or why there isn't a cold wind in the south. These stories have a supernatural presence in them, as well as humanizing items from nature around them. The relationship that Tejas tribe has with nature is definitely shown throughout the stories that are included in the unit. That relationship isn't shown in just this unit though. The unit I read last week, The Great Plains unit, they humanized many different animals such as the eagle or the elk in order to accomplish they goal of the story.

In The Cloud That Was Lost, the story humanizes a cloud that ends up losing its siblings and getting lost. After the cloud gets "lost," it travels a great distance searching. When the the day is almost done, the cloud begins to get tired and ends up sleeping in a flat land because it was so tired. Without actually saying it, I understood that part to be describing the reason that you see fog during dusk and the beginning of the day.

There are occasional times in which I take some time to appreciate nature around me. After reading these units I have begun to realize that nature does have a personality of its own. It really isn't so far fetched that the reason for fog in the mornings is that there is a certain cloud that isn't a morning cloud (just like myself) and it takes it a little bit longer in order for it to get back up into the sky.

(Fog: Wikipedia)

I have really enjoyed these last two units that I have read. They have given me a different outlook on nature and how everything really does come to be.

Storytelling Week 10: Where the Woodpeckers Come From

Long ago, there was a Native tribe that lived off of the land. They were a peaceful people who disliked the violence that came with war. They tried to stay as far away from the other tribes that were quick to pick up their axes and bows when any dispute came about.

This tribe was so peaceful that there wasn't much to do during the day besides the normal chores (i.e. hunting, gathering, playing). The children who did their daily duties often found themselves riddled with boredom. They tried dancing, playing hide and seek, and everything else they could think of in order to keep themselves busy. One day, a small boy overheard his parents talk about a certain plant that would make them see visions of the gods. The adults had said that it was called a mescal plant and was located just outside the village. The small boy quickly ran off to tell his friends what he had learned. Unfortunately the small boy did not hear the warning that came from the medicine about the trouble that eating this plant would cause.

(Mescal Plant: Agave Americana)

The boy ran to his friends as quickly as he could. As soon as he reached them he explained that he had a great idea for something to do that night. When everyone was fast asleep they would sneak without anyone hearing and find one of the mescal plants that they had just learned about.

As soon as they were out of the village, the group of five panned out in search for this plant with strange powers. Soon one of them shouted "I found it!" The five of them gathered around the plant in wonder. After staring at the plant for five minutes, one of them finally plucked one of the knobs of a leaf and put it in his mouth. All of them turned to him, eyes wide open wondering if he felt anything different. eventually the rest of them ate one as well. After some time had passed the group of kids began to see swirls of colors around them as well as the gods off in the distance. One of them tried to stand up and walk towards the gods and ended up falling down. The five of them fell asleep to the myriad of colors that they were enthralled with.

The next morning the group of five went to their respective homes and told their families about what happened the night before. Soon word had spread throughout the village of the wonders of the mescal plant. Curious from the tales that people heard all of the villagers began eating the knobs from the plant. Eventually all the villagers were incapacitated due to the effects they experienced.

While all of the villagers were occupied the younger children began to get hungry. Since there parents were nowhere to be found, they roamed around the village looking for food. Eventually, the villagers came to and realized that all of the young children were nowhere to be found. As they started looking outside the village, the Manitou, one of the gods of the sky, came to them. He told them that he had hidden their children away in a tree to save them from the heat and the wolves.

The Manitou swiftly waved his hand over the village and said "I am turning you into birds so you can find your children in hollow trees. When you have found your children I will turn you back into people." Immediately afterward they flock of villagers flew away in search of their children.

The villagers have yet to find their children. That is why, to this day, you can still find woodpeckers pecking away at hollow trees.

Author's Note: I really liked they way that Why the Woodpecker Pecks describes the reason that woodpeckers consistently peck trees. I didn't change much from the original story. I added a bit to the beginning with the inclusion of the five boys experience. I really like how the Native American cultures explain things through stories.

Bibliography:

Story Name: Why the Woodpecker Pecks

Story Book: When the Storm God Rides: Tejas and Other Indian Legends

Story Author: Florence Stratton

Year: 1936

Week 10 Reading Diary: Tejas Legends Units

This week I read the Tejas Legends Units.

I enjoyed the Old Woolly Bird's Sacrifice story. i liked how the tribe would not let the old man disappear because he was to proud to be a burden on his fellow villagers. It is a good look into how the Native American culture reveres its elder.

I thought the story, The Tribe That Left Its Shoes was a clever one. It gives an interesting insight as to why the certain orchids that the story refers to have colors like the moccasins the tribe dropped. The different ways that cultures come up with reasons that things are a certain way.

The Cloud That Was Lost was a cute little story. I felt sorry for the cloud that ended up losing all of his brothers and sisters. The clouds being why you see fog early in the day and around dusk made me chuckle. I really do like the creativity that these tribes have.

Week 9 Essay: Reviewing the Great Plains Unit

For week nine I choose the Great Plains Unit. I chose this unit because I am using one of the stories in my storybook. I am specifically using the first story called The Creation.

I am a big fan of Native American stories. I took a class called Native Peoples of North America which started my curiosity about different Native American cultures. That class is one of the reasons that I chose to do my storybook over Native American creation stories.

I really enjoyed the ghost stories in this unit. I was talking to one of my Native America friends about why this is the first unit that I have seen to include ghost stories. His input on the subject was that the Native American communities are so tight knit that they experience death more often than other communities. He was telling me that he has been to many more funerals than he has weddings or anything of that sort.

The explaining of phenomenon also intrigues my interest. The multiple stories about how corn came to the Native American people was really cool to read. There were all kinds of different explanations depending on the tribe.

(Corncobs: Wikipedia)

This unit was good at giving informative stories about a bunch of different tribes. That is one thing that I wish I had known before I chose the unit. For the next unit I will choose a specific tribe. I think that will give me a much more in depth learning experience. 

Overall I enjoyed this unit. I was happy to find that it included ghost stories, and a large amount of stories at that. I think the Native American relationship with the spirit world is a peculiar one. I would recommend people to read the Great Plains unit.

Storytelling Week 9: The Hungry Little Boy

"When I was your age there was this camp that I used to go to in the summer time." said the old man in his soft and raspy voice.

My parents had brought me to grandparents house, my mom's father's house specifically. We only visited them once or twice a year because of how far out in the country it was. As I looked around all I could see was the occasional flitting of light on my grandfathers dark and sullen face coming from the small fire in between us. He was a strange man, mostly kept to himself after my grandmother died.

As I sat across from my grandfather, I began to wonder how he spent his free time when he was just by himself. While I was wondering this he had continued his story. Realizing I wasn't fully paying attention he quickly snapped at me.

"One of the first nights that I was at the camp," he explained, "a small boy came to the window of my roommate and I's room asking for food."

"I told him I had none to give and went back to sleep thinking nothing of the encounter." said my Grandfather.

My grandfather then explained that the small boy came back the next two nights again asking for food. Each time the boy came, his roommate would be fast asleep. Eventually feeling sorry for the boy, my grandfather began to smuggle chips to their room from lunch.

"The first night that I gave the kid some chips to eat he continued to put his hand out asking for more even after all of the chips I had were gone. I had to tell him three times that I had nothing left!" he exclaimed.

This exchange of food continued to happen for the next few nights. My grandfather eventually told his roommate about the chips that he was giving away to his new friend. Hearing this, his roommate got really nervous and told him to never do that again. Later in the day, one of the adults that ran the camp came to my grandfather and explained to him the reason he should not do that. Apparently years ago that building was a school for a large amount of children. The leaders of the school were not good people, and over the years many different children died from malnutrition. There are many graves near the line of trees that go into the woods.

His roommate and himself were forced to switch to a different room because the little boy that was asking for food was a ghost of one of the children that had died. The room that the ended up switching too had a window that faced the edge of the trees.

"The night that we had to switch rooms, before I went to sleep, I looked out the window and could see a long line of children all holding hands at the edge of the trees. I immediately pulled the covers over my head. Not five minutes later I heard a tap tap tap on my window." said my Grandfather.

(Line of Trees Near a Plantation: Geograph)

Author's Note: This story was told to me by one of my friends a couple of years ago. Granted he was much better at telling the story. When I read the ghost stories in the Great Plain reading unit, I immediately thought of this story as something that I could use for my storytelling. I wish I could have found a picture of a treeline at night but I couldn't seem to find any.

Bibliography:

Story Title: Three Ghost Stories

Book Title: Myths and Legends of the Great Plains

Book Author: Katherine Berry Judson

Year: 1913

Source: Three Ghost Stories

Week 9 Reading Diary: Myth and Legends of the Great Plains

For week 9 I chose to do the Myth and Legends of the Great Plains.

The Creation story is one of my favorite stories in this unit. I am including this story in my storybook with the Elk telling the story from his point of view. I am excited to write that story.

The Sacred Pole sounds like it was the first creation of a totem pole. It doesn't ever specifically say that so I curious as if it is like a traditional totem pole. The tree that the create the pole out of reminds me of the tree that Prince Siddhartha sits under as he becomes the Buddha.

The Eagles Revenge was a cool story. I did not even consider that the man who was killing the people dancing could was the eagles brother. When I read the story I didn't feel that bad for the eagle because he was eating the deer that the hunter had caught.

I also really enjoyed the Three Ghost Stories. My roommate Jacob has a bunch of ghost stories that he tell time to time and these stories made me think of those. I especially liked the one about the tattoos that people needed in order to get on the correct path whenever they became ghosts.

I liked the story Wakanda, or Water God. It was a good to see a story tht depicts one of the Gods that the different tribes have. It was quite a sad story though. I honestly would have done the same thing as the father had done. Even if it was just to see my son one more time.

I always enjoy stories that explain phenomenon in real life. In the story Why the Possum Plays Dead we learned just that, why the possum plays dead. It was a nice seeing how they explain things.

The story How the Rabbit Killed the Giant reminded me of the Brer Rabbit stories. The rabbit that killed the giant was doing this deed for others which never really happened with the Brer Rabbit stories. It was nice to read about a trickster rabbit that helped others and not himself.

Week 7 Essay: Assessing More Brer Rabbit

I decided to continue with Brer Rabbit this week and chose the More Brer Rabbit unit to read. I wanted learn about the continuation of Mr. Rabbit's adventures, and if he ever ended up being tricked by another character.

In this and last weeks unit, I found out that Mr. Rabbit basically can not be fooled. He has the occasional slip up, but always quickly composes himself in order to get him out of the predicament. In some ways I didn't like this. Mr. Rabbit was portrayed as infallible, which I agree, can also be said for any of the other cartoons that I watched as a child. If you look at Jerry from Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny from the Looney Tunes, and even the Roadrunner from Wile. E Coyote and Roadrunner cartoon. The one difference I notice between these cartoons and the Brer Rabbit stories, is that Mr. Rabbit makes a conscious decision to trick other people, taking delight in it. Where as with the Saturday cartoons, the main "infallible" characters don't make the decision to be chased by the other characters. This is my biggest issue with Brer Rabbit, that it condones a character that actively chooses to trick people.

Even thought the language was hard to get used to, I did enjoy it immensely. Listening to the Librovox audio gives you a good sense of how people people talked in that era. When you closed your eyes and just listened to the story, you could see yourself sitting on a chair next to Uncle Remus and the little boy. This gave me an insight as to what the culture of that time was.

I am really glad that I stuck through both of the Brer Rabbit units. While I was a little purse with Brer Rabbits joy in tricking the other characters. I feel enlightened that I got the chance not only to imagine, but also hear the language of the culture. I believe that how people talk is as much of a cultural identity as rituals or other things that people say define a culture.

Week 7 Storytelling: Brer Rabbit Meets the Hunter

One day, Mr. Rabbit was hopping along in the forest searching for some carrots to take back to his children. They were mighty hungry, but Mr. Rabbit felt like they were still to young to fend for themselves. As he was moving through the forest, he came upon a large carrot patch just beyond a ridge of trees.

"I wonder who's carrot patch this is?" Mr. Rabbit thought to himself.

"I better take advantage of this fortuitous opportunity." he continued.

As he started to hop down and check the patch of carrots out he heard some rustling coming from the bush behind him. He quickly turned around to see a man with a gun coming out of the bush. As soon as the man got out of the bush he pointed his double barrel rifle right at Mr. Rabbit.

"Watcha got der Mr.?" said Mr. Rabbit.

"You best not be messing with my carrot patch wabbit!" Said the hunter.

"What if I is, what you gwinter do bout it?" asked Mr. Rabbit.

"I reckon I got this here gun pointed at you right now." responded the hunter.

"Well you may wanna look behind ya, there's a big fella lommin over ya." said Mr. Rabbit.

"What your talkin bout wabbit?" asked the hunter.

As soon as the hunter turned his head around, Mr Rabbit dashed into the thicket about five feet away from him. In the cover of the thicket, Mr. Rabbit sat there quiet and motionless until he could slip away in the cover of darkness. While Mr. Rabbit had been hiding the night before, he realized that there was a briar patch not but twenty feet away from were he was caught. When the coast was clear, Mr. Rabbit set off for home with a plan on how he could trick the hunter and get some carrots.

When dawn broke the next morning Mr. Rabbit quickly set off for the carrot patch. During the night he had sewn together a toy rabbit that looked like himself. In the same spot he was caught the day before, he set the toy rabbit for the hunter to find. Mr. Rabbit had also tied a long piece of string to one of the legs of the toy rabbit and ran the rest of that string through the briar patch to the place that he was hiding. After a short wait, the hiding Mr. Rabbit saw the hunter approaching the place that the toy rabbit sat.

As soon as the hunter saw what he thought to be Mr. rabbit he started pulling out his gun. Before the hunter could take his shot, Mr. Rabbit started pulling the string so that the toy rabbit moved towards the briar patch. The hunter quickly took off after the toy rabbit thinking that he wasn't going to be fooled again today. In his rage, the hunter failed to notice that the toy rabbit was heading straight for the briar patch.

(Black Burnt Briar Patch: RobertRDavis)

The hunter realized all too late when he tripped over some large thorns in the patch. After he fell to the ground, his clothes got snagged on all the thorns around him. This gave Mr. Rabbit the perfect opportunity to grab some carrots, making sure to get extra for his children. He chuckled as he hopped all the way home.

Authors Note: This story was based on the story Mr. Fox Gets into Serious Business. However, I changed the story to make it like one of Mr. Rabbit's usual trickster stories. In the unit of More Brer Rabbit, none of the stories except for Mr. Fox Gets into Serious Business interacts with a human. In the original story, Mr. Rabbit gets caught Mr. Man and then tricks Mr. Fox into switching places with him.

Bibliography:
Story Title: Mr. Fox Gets into Serious Business
Story Author: Joel Chandler Harris
Story Year: 1881
Web Source: Mr. Fox Gets into Serious Business