Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales-Part A

The Stonecutter:

Theme of the story: Greed

The man lived a happy basic life, he started to envy those who were better off then them. He cried out to the spirit for him to be rich, a prince, the sun, a cloud, a rock and finally back to being a man.

The man realized that being the "best" is not always best for everyone. When he was the "best" villages were destroyed and he was never happy. 

greed

Bibliography:

Japanese Fairy Tales: The Stonecutter by Andrew Lang.

Tech Tip: Google Site Website

So.... After creating a storybook website, I realized that I am doing the portfolio option.. OOOPS.

Nonetheless, I learned how to create a website and that's pretty cool. :)

Story: What's done is done.

           As morning came around, Hariswami awoke to realize his wife was no longer in bed with him. “Oh she’s probably making me breakfast” he thought. He searched the house only to find a letter written by his wife, Beautiful.

The letter read:                    

My dearest Hariswami,

            By the time you are reading this, you will have realized I am no longer there. I have known about your affair for a few months now. I was in denial about it which is why I continued to stay and pretend as if I never found out anything. Until tonight, lying in bed next to you, I realized that I just do not have the love and happiness I once had for you. I know I deserve better than how you have treated me and gone behind my back. Our relationship has been growing on lies and mistrust. I just cannot go forward and live a happy life with you. I am leaving tonight to never return, please do not go out looking for me.

-       Beautiful

“NO!!!!!” Hariswami screamed out after reading the letter. The possibility of his wife finding out about the affair never crossed his mind. Hariswami was at a loss for words. He knew he loved his wife, Beautiful. He knew he only wanted to be with her and wanted to apologize for what he had done. Hariswami decided to set forth on a journey to find his wife and make things right with her.

As the letter stated “Please do not go out looking for me”, Hariswami did not care, he went anyways. Hariswami thought, “If I can complete this exhausting journey, this will prove my love for Beautiful and she will take me back”. Hariswami was going to do whatever it takes to find his wife. As he went out searching for her, he ran into a few obstacles on the way.

The first set back of the journey Hariswami experienced was car troubles. His car ended up breaking down and he must complete the voyage on foot. He walked miles and miles each day. Luckily, he had his credit card and could get a hotel room each night to sleep and shower. One day, Hariswami went down for breakfast but did not shut his door all the way. He came back to his room to see that his wallet had been stolen. Now Hariswami has no car and no money but he continued the journey. After sleeping outside and surviving on little to no food, Hariswami became very exhausted. Yet, he continued the journey. One night, he came upon a house. This house had big open windows, Hariswami could see the family was having a giant feast. He had not eating a good meal in days, he immediately went to door and begged for food. The family gave Hariswami a plate of food and he scarfed it down. Little did he know, the family happened to be Beautiful’s cousins. Beautiful had told them about the affair and that she had told Hariswami not to come looking for her. The cousin realized the man at the door was Hariswami. While she offered to give him food, the cousin added some poison to it before giving it to him. She wanted Hariswami to pay for his consequences of having an affair on her cousin, Beautiful.  Later on that night, Hariswami began to feel very ill. He knew something was wrong and that he was going to die. He shouted out “I should have respected your wish, and had not tried to look for you Beautiful”.

Affair

Authors Notes:

I chose the story “Goblins: The Snake's Poison” from the Twenty-Two Goblins unit. The story is how Hariswami goes on a journey to find his wife who had been kidnapped. In the journey, he gets poisoned by a snake and dies.

I used the same plot as the story but instead of the wife being kidnapped, she chose to leave. I wanted to give the story a kind of realistic feel since and chose for Hariswami to have an affair and for his wife to find out and leave him. While the story does not have a happy ending, I wanted the show that what’s done is done. Not all problems can be worked through and sometimes you just have to accept your consequences. While I do not necessarily think death is a suitable punishment for someone who had committed an affair, I was just going along with the original story.

Bibliography:

Goblins: The Snakes Poison from Twenty-Two Goblins translated by Arthur W. Ryder. 

Reading Notes: Twenty -Two Goblins- Part B

Twenty -Two Goblins

Part B:

All stories were similar to those of part A. The formatting was the same just different content. 

Key Story: Goblins: The Snakes Poison

Wife gets taken away, husband must go on a journey to find here and wash away her sins (affair?). Ends up getting poisoned and dying and never finding his wife.

While reading this; I thought that possibly the wife chose to leave with fairy prince. The wife had found out her husband has been having an affair and left. If the husband could find her and complete his journey then he would have proved his love for her. 

The husband ends up getting poisoned, which made me think sometimes whats done is done and is unforgivable. The poison could be his punishment for the affair. 

The husband sitting by the river.

Bibliography:

Twenty Two Goblins by Arthur W. Ryder

Reading Notes: Twenty Two Goblins- Part A

Twenty Two Goblins

Part A:

Key Characters: The King and The Goblin

Stories: All stories are formatted the same. The goblin tells the King a story then the king must say the correct answer to continue on the journey. Most of the stories revolve around the characters setting out to obtain something (daughter, turtle) but there are obstacles in the way during the journey. 

Key character to focus on: King

The king is the key character in all of the stories, for he is the only reason the stories continue. While reading these stories I realized, that the king was always right. Since the king is always right, the stories continue. This made me think that the King was the one telling the stories or making up all the stories in his head. 

I began to think that these stories where all made up by the King. Was the king mentally ill and the goblin is just a voice in his head?

Was the king imprisoned and making up stories was the only way the pass time? 

Or were all these stories simply a dream the King had one night?

I plan to use these stories to add a new twist and write my own story focusing on the King and how he is actually the one telling/creating the story... not the goblin. 

The King and his goblin

Bibliography:
Twenty Two Goblins by Arthur W. Ryder

Feedback Thoughts

I think giving and receiving feedback is something everyone struggles with at one point in their lives. Constructive criticism is something I grew up around. Being a dancer, we were constantly giving each other critiques. On competition days, we danced in front of judges who then gave us feedback about our dances. I think if I had not danced, I would not have such a thick skin when it comes to receiving feedback. 

My go to tip when giving feedback is the compliment sandwich. So, with compliment sandwich, you give one nice thing, one critique, and then you end it with another nice compliment.

I feel as if a compliment sandwich isn't as harsh or blunt. I think if the person is sensitive when receiving feedback then it is the perfect combination of niceness but also constructive criticism. 

 

Tip on receiving feedback is to not take it personally. I think if you just think of it as that person truly trying to help you and not to take it as them offending you then you are more willing to listen to what the person has to say.  

How cool is this photo?

Reading Notes: Jewish Fairy Tales.

I enjoyed the stories in part A more so then the stories in Part B. One story that really stuck out to me was "The Giant of the Flood".

While reading this story, I began to imagine the story and started to create pictures in my head on how I thought the story would be like in real life. While reading, I began to realize the story is actually quite sad. I focused in on the Og. 

After finding out the Og drank often, I was really able to grasp the story and have ideas as to make it my own. 

I immediately thought of this story coming from Og's point of view. Since he was a drunk and a mean on of that (sacrificing all the animals), I imagined this story as if it was all a dream. Og's dream from one night of binge drinking and him crying in his dream which caused a "flood". 

Og riding to "freedom"

Bibliography:

Bibliography: Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends by Gertrude Landa link to the reading