Reading Notes: Alaska, Part A

A man was created in a pod. When he emerged he was a full grown man. The man was learning how his body worked and how the world around him worked. The man was a raven flying around, the raven swooped down and turned into a man. It turns out that the raven made the man unintentionally. The raven gave the man food. He made sheep for the man, and reindeer. After the raven made all sorts of creatures, he created a companion for the man. He took fine clay and shaped it into a woman and used water grass for hair. He waved his hands around four times and she became real.

Raven

When the people were first put on earth there was no mountains, or rain, or winds. The raven taught the humans how to live and survive off the land. He made the man some fish to eat. The raven spent days making all kinds of animals out of clay. When he was done he showed each one of them to the man. The raven brought the man fish but noticed that the lakes were bare, so he made bugs to float on top. Then babies were introduced to the earth, and the raven became afraid they would kill his animals. So the raven created big creatures that could not easily be killed by the humans.

Bibliography:
Myths and Legends of Alaska, edited by Katharine Berry Judson (1911).

Week 9 Story: Dance the Night Away

Once upon a time there was lived two separate and distinct schools. One school was made up of all girls, and the other school was made up of all boys. The students from both schools had never ventured outside of their school’s property and had no knowledge that either existed.

One day two girls, Agatha and Jenny, decided that they need some adventures in their lives and so they ventured off of the school grounds to see what they could find. It didn’t take them very long to come across a boy roaming the streets in front of them. They had never see a boy in real life before and they didn’t know what to make of him. They went over to talk to him. He seemed shocked to see them both out in town. He introduced himself as Tommy and asked them where they were from. The girls told him all about their school. They said that they went to an all-girls private school and never left the school grounds. He told them that he was in the same situation, but he went to an all-boys school. He asked the girls if their friends would like to meet up with the boys one night for a party. The girls told him that they would go back to school and ask, then they would meet him back at the exact same spot at the exact same time.

Agatha, Jenny, and Friends

So they both went back to their schools for the night. Agatha and Jenny told their friends all about the boy they met and how he wanted to have a party. Tommy told his friends all about the girls he met and how they should have a party with them. Both parties thought it was a great idea. So the next night Agatha, Jenny, and Tommy met back up and planned the party together.

The night came for the party to happen, and the students from both schools snuck out and met each other in a secret location for the party. The music was playing and the boys and girls were dancing with each other. One of Agatha’s friends, Sarah, had just gotten done with rugby practice right before they dance started and didn’t have time to clean up. She wanted to dance with Tommy and went over to ask him. Seeing how dirty and smelly she was, Tommy declined her request to dance. Saddened, Sarah ran back to school to shower off and do herself up. Once she was done getting ready she headed back to the dance. Seeing how beautiful Sarah was now that she was cleaned up, Tommy really wanted to dance with her. He went over to say hi, but Sarah walked right past him. He turned around to see Sarah walk up to Eric and ask to dance. Eric of course said yes, and so Tommy waited for his turn to dance with Sarah. However, every time Sarah was done dancing with one boy, she would ignore Tommy’s requests to dance and find a new partner. This happened throughout the entire night, and finally after the last song was done playing Sarah walked up to Tommy and told him that she wasn’t interested in him. 

Author's Note:

I took inspiration from a story from the Blackfoot Native Americans. The story was about a tribe of men and a tribe of women who had never seen each other before. One day a man and two women cross paths and they decide their tribes should meet up to pick husbands and wives. When the man gets to the woman's tribe he passes himself off as chief so that the chief woman would pick him. She is all dirty though from working so he refuses to marry her. However once she cleans up he thinks she is beautiful and wants her now, but she refuses and picks someone else. This story made me think of two schools will all boys and all girls who meet and have a dance party.

Bibliography:

Blackfeet Indian Stories by George Bird Grinnell (1915).

Week 9: Blackfoot, Part B

Long ago men and women were separate. Women were made first and were not as strong as men. But the women were smarter than the men. One day a man came across a group of women. They did not know what kind of animal he was. Th women ran into the man again and told him to ask his male friends if they wanted to get married. They said yes so they met up to pick husbands. The chief woman was really dirty and tried to pick the man, but he refused. After she changed he wanted her but she picked someone else. This story could be about an all-girls school and an all-boys that meet up for the first time. They decide to pick boyfriends and girlfriends. 

Bobcat

A man found prairie dogs sitting around a camp fire. The old man joined them. He put them in the fire and let them die. A female prairie dog escaped into a hole in the ground. The man fell asleep and a bobcat ate his food. The old man was very angry and he tracked the bobcat down. While the bobcat was sleeping the man grabbed him. He pulled off his tail and smashed his face into the rocks. This is how all bobcats got their look. He then went back to the fire and burnt his nose. He called for a strong wind to cool it off, but it knocked him over. He was saved by a birch tree.

Bibliography:

Blackfeet Indian Stories by George Bird Grinnell (1915).

Week 9: Blackfoot, Part A

An antelope and a deer argued over who could run faster. The set up a race to decide the winner and they bet their gall. They raced in the prairie and the antelope won. The deer said if they raced in the woods it would win. So, they set up another race this time in the woods and they bet their dewclaws. During this race the deer easily won and took the antelopes dewclaw. This is why the deer has no gall, and the antelope has no dewclaw.

Wolf Howling

A man had two wives, both of which weren’t very nice to him. They didn’t do anything to help around the house. So he moved them away from the rest of the camp to see if that would make them focus more on their wife duties. The wives planned to kill their husband so that they could move back with the rest of the camp. He fell into a hole that they dug, and so the wives headed back to camp and pretended to mourn. The man didn’t die though, he just couldn’t get out of the hole. A pack of wolves found him and helped him out of the hole. They adopted him into their pack and turned him into a man wolf. He then helped the wolves steal the animals from the camp. They people soon found out what was going on and the wolf-man told them how his wives tried to kill him. So the people in the camp decided to punish them.

Bibliography:
Blackfeet Indian Stories by George Bird Grinnell (1915).

Week 8 Reflections

I think that my reading notes helped me to understand what the story I was using as my source was about. I don’t think that it helped me to come up with ideas, or even give me ideas on style choices. I think that I could spend more time coming up with ideas while reading, instead of doing it right before I try to write my story. I think for the Native American Tales I will choose to read the Alaskan story for my weekly reading. For British and Celtic stories, I am going to choose either the Canterbury Tales or Celtic Tales. For the last two weeks, I think I will choose to read one of the Brothers Grimm stories.

I think I like my stories overall. There are a few that I had to rush to put together that weren’t that great. However, there have been many that I enjoyed creating a lot. For my story book, I am happy in the direction I am going. I am getting a bit stuck on developing my story lines, but I think I just need to spend more time brainstorming.

I have been liking everyone’s stories so far. They are all so different and unique, that I get a new perspective on story writing every time I go to someone’s blog. I think that I need to use dialogue more in my stories. I read a lot of great stories where the author used dialogue really well, and that is something I struggle with.

      Little Polly Flinders

*This picture is from a story that I really enjoyed writing this semester

Storytelling: Money for Death

There was a guy named Tanner who the secretary to a rich doctor named Thomas. He didn’t have much of a salary and couldn’t afford to support a wife. Tanner was sad because he and his girlfriend Laney wanted to get married soon. One day he came into work very upset, after he had a very long conversation with Laney’s parents.

“What’s wrong Tanner? Is everything ok?” asked Thomas.

“No, everything is not ok! My girlfriend and I are trying to get married, but her parents want me to have more money.” Tanner replied sadly.

“Well is there anything I can do, I hate to see money keep you from the one you love!”

“Unless you were willing to give me enough money to support us both, I don’t think there is much you can do.” Tanner said, not really thinking much of Thomas’ request.

Thomas left the room and after a few minutes returned with an envelope in his hands.

“What is that?” Tanner asked. His curiosity was peaked.

“Let’s just call it an early bonus… and an early wedding present.” A sly smile crept upon Thomas’ face as he handed Tanner the envelope. 

                What was inside the envelope

Tanner wait until he was alone to open the envelope. He had a feeling he knew what Thomas had done, but he was floored by the generosity that Thomas had showed him.

Soon after Tanner and Laney got married, moved away and got themselves a house. Tanner got a new job, but unfortunately it didn’t pay much more than his last job. They didn’t have to worry though, because the money that Thomas gave them was enough to get by for many years. Five year later they realized that they had run out of the money from Thomas.

“What do we do now? All of our money is gone!” Laney said with a sense of worry in her voice. “We won’t be able to last more than a month!”

“Don’t worry! Thomas help us once, I am sure he will help us once again.”

The next day Tanner headed across town to Thomas’ office.

“Hello Thomas.” Tanner nervously said.

“Tanner hello! How has married life been treating you?” Thomas got up and gave Tanner a big firm hug.

“Actually, that’s why I came here to see you. Laney and I have used up all the money that you gave us for the wedding. I was hoping that you could help us again.” Tanner wasn’t too sure how Thomas was going to respond.

“Oh, of course I will help you Tanner. This is the least I can do for someone who worked so hard for me!” Thomas said, much to Tanner’s surprise.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me and Laney!” Tanner said. He could barely contain his excitement.

Thomas handed Tanner an envelope, much like the one from five years earlier. Tanner was soon back at home with his wife, returning to life as normal. However, even this new money didn’t last forever and a year and a half later they were back in the same spot again.

“Oh Tanner what are we supposed to do this time? We can’t ask Thomas for more money, he will just think we are using him!” Laney cried.

“Don’t worry, I have a plan. I will tell Thomas that you have died and that I need some money to cover the funeral costs. He won’t be able to say no.”

Tanner rushed over to Thomas’ office and cried about his wife’s passing and the costs of the funeral. Sure enough Thomas handed Tanner another check to help him cover all of the funeral costs, and a little extra for his troubles. Tanner couldn’t believe it, he and Laney were able to live off of that check for about a year. Just like last time though, they were out of extra money and Tanner’s job couldn’t sustain them for long.

“Tanner now what? We can’t go back to Thomas again, he already thinks I am dead, there is nothing more you can say.”

“Wait Laney, didn’t you work for Thomas’ sister? Why don’t you go to her and tell her I have died and I am sure she will give you some money.”

So, that is exactly what Laney did, and sure enough Thomas’ sister gave Laney money. What Laney and Tanner didn’t know is that Thomas got lunch with his sister the next day, and she decided to tell him the news that Tanner had died.

“What, that makes no sense. Tanner came to my office and said that Laney had died over a year ago.” Thomas said after his sister told him the news.

“I am not lying, Laney came to me at work and said that Tanner had passes away and that she needed money for the funeral.”

So, they both decided to get down to the bottom of this. After lunch they headed over to Laney and Tanner’s house to see what they could find. As they were walking up to the front door Laney saw that they were coming. Without knowing what else to do they both got on the floor and pretended to be dead. When Thomas knocked on the front door, he noticed that it was open and let himself in. He saw Laney and Tanner dead on the floor and couch and rushed to check on them. However, he quickly realized that they weren’t dead.

“Tanner, Laney I know you’re not dead. Get up.”

They both got up with shame on their faces.

“Look guys, I see what you were trying to do. I don’t want you to be without money, so please come back to work for me and you will be able to live off your salary.” Thomas said.

So Laney and Tanner went back to work for Thomas and they lived a good and happy life.

Author's Note:

In the original story a doctor's servant wants to get married but has no money. So the doctor gives his a lot of money and lets him leave to get a wife. Everything is fine for a few years, but they eventually run out of money. So they servant goes back to the doctor and asks for more, which he is given. But again after a while the money runs out and he doesn't know what to do. So he pretends his wife died and asks the doctor to pay for the funeral costs, which he does. When this money runs out his wife goes to the doctor's sister and does the exact same thing. The sister gives them money too. Soon they both realize that something is going on and go to investigate. They go to the servants house and find him and his wife lying on the floor dead. They realize that they aren't actually dead, they are just pretending. The doctor isn't mad though. He thinks its all a joke and asks the servant to come back and work for him. I wanted to keep the story the same but set it in modern times, and give the story more dialogue. I wanted to flesh out the characters a bit more. 

Bibliography:
The Clever Husband and Wife in Filipino Popular Tales by Dean S. Fansler (1921).