Reading Notes: Tejas Legends Unit, Part B

The Maiden Who Loved a Star:
-a young Indian girl was very lonely
-she would go to the desert to pick the prickly pears and dream that someday she would find someone to love
-the desert was her way to escape from her family's expectations and pressures
-they just wanted her to be married and settled, but she would not marry without love
-she would go to the desert and pray to the gods that they would send someone for her to love
-one night she fell asleep in the desert while wishing for a companion
-when she awoke it was pitch black all around her but the stars lit her way home
-there was one star however that stood out from all the others
-it seemed to beckon her, as if there was a star youth that was declaring his love for her with how bright he shone
-she kept returning to this spot each night and this star shone bright faithfully each night
-she went to a witch in the village and asked to be turned into a star so she could go and be with her love
-the witch granted her wish if she worked for her for 5 years
-after the long 5 years the girl and her love were finally together

(Rainbow)

When the Rainbow Was Torn:
-all flowers started out white
-but one day the rainbow was tired of living in the sky and tried to escape
-as it was gathering the courage to leave and packing up its things, the clouds caught onto the rainbow's plan and told the sky
-as the rainbow tried to jump out, the sky grabbed it and squeezed some of its color out
-the color was drawn to the starkness of the white flowers and from now on most of the flowers have colors

Bibliography:

Tejas Legends Unit by Florence Stratton

Reading Notes: Tejas Legends Unit, Part A

When the Storm God Rides:
-the storm god had a wild thunder bird that terrorized the people when it had too much energy
-so he made islands along the Gulf of Mexico to give his thunder bird his own personal places to go let off steam where he couldn't hurt anyone
-the storm god loved his thunder bird as his trusty companion and his pet, but he also wanted the humans to adore him
-soon all kinds of wild creatures flocked there because there were no human inhabitants that could be harmed
-but this worked the other way as well, for soon men became greedy and wanted to hunt the wild birds and beasts that lived on the island
-the animals called out to the storm god to save them
-the storm god sent his wrath down on the humans that tried to hunt the animals living peacefully on their islands and he protects them to this day

(Storm God on his Thunder Bird)

How the North Wind Lost His Hair:
-the north and the south wind hated each other since the beginning of time
-since they were opposites from the core they could never quite see eye to eye
-the north wind was old and bitter because he was never loved and no one was ever excited when he came like people were when the young, warm south wind blew
-one day the north wind's bitterness got the best of him and he decided to invade the south wind's territory and never leave
-they had a battle and a great storm resulted
-eventually the youth of the south wind overpowered the north wind
-as a victory prize, the south wind demanded the north wind's long gray hair
-he threw it all over the trees to serve as a reminder that this is his territory and that the north wind is no longer welcome here

Bibliography:

Tejas Legends Unit by Florence Stratton

Week 9 Storytelling: The Vengeance of a Mother

In an Eskimo village a long time ago, there lived a man named Papik. Now he was happy as a single man, but the day he met Akna all that changed. Papik knew he wanted to her to be his wife and after a few months of wooing, he won her heart. The two lovebirds were married. They were so happy it was as if they were living in a dream; little did they know a true nightmare was about to come.

Akna received word from her family that her mother was ill and asked if they could come and stay. Papik had never met Akna’s family, but of course he was there to support his wife so the next day they were off to travel to the village where Akna’s mother lived. When the couple arrived, they were warmly welcomed by Akna’s mother, Anna, and her brother, Ailaq, and shown to the room Anna had made up for them. Much to her children’s delight, Anna’s health had taken a turn for the better and she had almost made a full recovery.

Ailaq went out to hunt and gather food for the family’s meals. He was widely known for his hunting prowess all throughout his village and the surrounding villages. Papik soon realized that there seemed to be nothing that Ailaq could not do. He would flaunt his talents while taunting Papik and nagging him on why he was so inferior. At first Papik saw this as a joke and played along, but as time went on his resentment grew and his anger simmered. One can only take being degraded for so long before it becomes too much. It didn’t help that Akna decided that they should spend the winter with her mother and Papik didn’t want to disappoint her so he silently endured his merciless brother-in-law.

(Ailaq)

One afternoon on one of their hunting excursions, Ailaq was setting up a trap when it misfired and stabbed him through the chest and left him pinned to the ground. He cried out in pain and urged Papik to help save him. Papik rushed to help him, but just before he reached Ailaq he lurched to a stop. All the harsh abuses and torment that Ailaq had inflicted upon him these past months ran through his mind and his feet seemed to be frozen to the snowy ground. He slowly backed away and plugged his ears while he ran away so he didn’t hear Ailaq’s curses and cries as he bled to death. Papik returned a few minutes later to find Ailaq’s body. He could not believe what he had done and immediately regretted his actions, but he knew he would be too ashamed to ever tell anyone what happened.

Late that night Papik returned home. Alone. He told Akna and Anna that he had gotten separated from Ailaq and despite searching everywhere he could not find him. Anna started shrieking hysterically that she could sense his guilt and his lies. She then vowed to come back to haunt him and avenge her son’s death before collapsing herself on the floor.

Akna did not know how to comprehend the death of her brother and her mother all in the same day. She could not forget his mother’s words especially when she saw the strange way Papik had been acting since he had returned. She knew her mother’s ancestors possessed dark magic and she feared for her husband’s life. She went in search of Papik to warn him that they should leave and return to their village, but as she was searching she came across the words “vengeance” written in blood in the snow. Her heart was racing, but she kept walking. She came across a foot, then a few yards an ear, then a couple more feet what appeared to be a leg. Akna fell down where she stood, for she knew she was looking upon pieces of her husband.

Author's Note:

In the original story, Papik killed Ailaq because he was envious, but I wanted to build on that more and give a backstory. Also in the original story, the mother turns into a monster that comes back to kill Papik. I still made the mother the one who avenged her son's death, but I left it more up to interpretation as to how she did it. I also made the death more of an accident where Papik failed to act to save Ailaq rather than straight cold blooded murder. In my story I gave the wife more of a role as well.

Bibliography:

Papik, Who Killed His Wife's Brother by Knud Rasmussen

Reading Notes: Eskimo Folk Tales , Part B

Papik, Who Killed His Wife's Brother:
-Papik married into a family of great hunters
-he was always competing with his brother in law Ailaq
-he began plotting his revenge on Ailaq, but one day when they were out hunting he snapped and murdered his brother in law
-he tried to cover it up as if an animal had killed him but his mother in law knew the truth and vowed to seek revenge
-she had a heart attack the next week from the stress, but on her death bed said she would come back to haunt and kill Papik
-years later a monster was heard to roaming the village, but no one ever got a close look
-then when Papik when out to hunt and did not return his wife knew something was wrong
-he had been murdered and his boyd mutilated with the words vengeance written in the snow beside him in blood


The Wife Who Lied:
-have a grandma telling this to her grandchildren
-about a young girl who went back to her own village and told lies of how her husband mistreated her
-war broke out between the two tribes
-the one tribe at first killed all the women while the men were away, but the other tribe avenged their deaths by retaliating and conquering the first tribe
-the girl who had told the lie and started all of this death a lonely and painful death
-this story was told to little children to illustrate the importance of the truth not only for yourself but also for others' sake

(Eskimo Family)

The Eagle and the Whale:
-seven brothers lived with their two sisters
-the sisters were content to live there as a family, but the brothers had become convinced that they would never be happy until they were settled and married
-they chose two suitors for the sisters who they thought were respected and mighty but they did not know how demanding and overbearing they would be as husbands
-soon the sisters were homesick and unhappy
-they all began plotting on how to escape their husbands and return home
-the brothers had to fight the husbands with the help of their sisters to gain the sister's freedom back

Bibliography:

Eskimo Folk Tales by Knud Rasmussen

Reading Notes: Eskimo Folk Tales Unit, Part A

The Coming of Men, A Long, Long While Ago:
-two old women held the power and whatever they spoke was what happened
-back in this day there was no light/sun and no death
-the two women were talking and thought it would be better if the world was not so crowded so they sent a flood
-thus death was introduced
-the two women wanted to see all the creation and thought that it would be better for the world to bask in warm sunshine
-thus light was introduced
-shows the respect given to women in this tribe

Nukúnguasik, who Escaped from the Tupilak:

-several brothers all lived together on an island

-they each had their own role to contribute to the family

-Nukunguasik was the youngest brother who had been sick as a baby and always got the easiest of jobs

-not much was ever expected of him and he lived a pretty carefree life while the others worked

-the middle brother resented him for this and plotted to kill him

-he went to visit the sorcerer on the another island to make an evil monster to kill his younger brother

-it ended up backfiring and killing him instead

-Nukunguasik never told his other brothers the truth when he finally discovered what really happened

(Eskimo Man)

The Insects That Wooed a Wifeless Man:

-a man who was plagued with misfortune and perpetual sleepiness

-he never had success at hunting like all the other men in his village so no one wanted to marry him

-one day he went out to the water to fish and helped out a mysterious stranger in need

-the stranger turned out to be a magic man who said he would make his troubles go away because he had helped him

-the only condition was that he could never speak of who gave him these hunting powers

-he later became the leader of the village and married 

-but then lost it all when he could no longer keep the secret inside

Bibliography:

Eskimo Folk Tales by Knud Rasmussen

Week 8 Growth Mindset

This class just by itself is outside of my comfort zone. I a science major so I am not used to writing stories and I am also not used to having everyone being able to see my writing! However, I think it has been good for me to be pushed to keep reading and writing every week and to have to utilize my creative side a bit. I am not very confident in my writing in this class, mostly because I feel like the other people's work I read is so much better! But each week I keep going and try to improve. At the first of the semester I was able to stay ahead in this class, but being in 18 hours and working my life has gotten pretty busy. I have found myself completing the assignments the day they are due these past couple of weeks. Typically I am a perfectionist, but in this class I let myself relax a little bit because it is not really possible to write something perfectly. I have to just start writing and then edit after I receive feedback! At first receiving feedback was intimidating and I felt like my writing wasn't good enough, but I have learned to just see it as something that is there to help me improve. It isn't like my writing is "wrong," necessarily it's just that it is not the very best it could be yet. This class has pushed me and I have learned a lot so far!

(Working the Brain)

Week 8 Reflections

I have thoroughly enjoyed the reading so far for this class. I have been exposed to stories that I wouldn't normally have read and I am thankful to expand my knowledge of other cultures. When I read the stories however, I have been noticing that I am already thinking about what I want to change and adapt for my own story. Most of my writing for this class has been in a similar style. For the second semester, I need to try to go outside of my comfort zone more. A couple of my classmate's stories I read used diaries entries for the format which I thought worked well so I might try that. I also need to work on incorporating more dialogue into my stories and creating distinct voices for my characters.

(Writing Process)

I really enjoy looking at other's blogs and reading their work. It is cool to see how someone can take the same original story I have read and interpret it in a completely different way in their own story. I also admire those in this class who are technologically gifted and have truly made their blogs a work of art. I chose to do a Storybook because I was intrigued by the examples of the ones we read from past semesters in the first weeks of class. I am a little intimidated after reading other's work because it all sounded so good and I am not really sure where exactly I am going to go with mine yet. I am still brainstorming for my first story. I just want it to flow and be enjoyable for others to read.