Mythology by Courtney

The story that stood out to me in this section was the story of the demon with the long hair. I thought this was an interesting character since I had never heard a story with a creature quite like this one. I think a lot of plot details can be played with when your character is a big, hairy monster! Plan: Take out some of the story leading up to meeting the demon. Instead, focus on the demon as the center of the story, and have the man walk through without much backstory.  Keep the man's demeanor: arrogant, confident, witty. man gets stuck and talks himself out of being eaten Demon is worried about the lightning in his belly and lets him go, but the man gets accidentally killed as he is released, and the demon is afraid of what will happen to him now He worries and waits for his fate, but realizes after time that the man was lying all along, and that nothing will happen to him after all.  In general, crop out some of the outlying details so create a more concise plot, and change th

I enjoyed the story of the young girl being turned into a fiddle because of her brothers' interference. I think playing with the ending of this story could be interesting, and giving the girl more of a backstory for why she decided not to marry and to stay home could bring the ending together well.  Plan:  The story doesn't say why she is the only unmarried child, maybe she doesn't want to get married Instead, she wants to travel as a musician, but she doesn't not have the means because she needs to take care of her family, since the wives don't cook Same plot can play out, where brothers trick her and drown her...she grows into a tree and is cut down and made into a fiddle Yogi can still play music around brothers and they can feel as though they connect with it on some level Yogi can travel the world playing beautiful music, and she will (in spirit?) travel along with him making the most beautiful music and fulfilling her life dream, while the mean-spirited brothe

The story I enjoyed the most in this unit was The Tale of King Rhampsinitus. I liked the ending plot twist, where the king declared that the boy was so cunning, he deserved a pardon. I thought this was a funny way of bringing attention to the cunning nature of the boy, and apparently, Egyptians. If I were to rewrite this story, I would double down on the plot twist, and have the king capture the boy in a trap once he returned for his pardon. In a way, this would still exemplify the message of cunningness, but it would add room for another twist, and a different victor.  Plan: Keep the plot mostly the same, changing up a few details, if I feel like it. Focus on reworking the ending. Have the king set an elaborate trap for the boy, so that he is the victor in the end. He gets justice for his stolen property, and the king and boy get mutual admiration for their cunningness.  OR, have the king trap the boy in the end, but because of the king's admiration for the boy's cunningness,

I liked the story of the wax crocodile the best in this unit, and I think I can improve my storytelling skills with something like this. One suggestion on my story from last week was to tell it in a less formal tone, by using more dialogue and expression. So, I think this story has elements that will allow me to play with that.  Major Plot Points: Wife has affair with boy, wax crocodile is created and told to throw into lake, crocodile comes to life and eats the boy, crocodile is brought back and turned into wax, then turned back into crocodile and takes the boy for good, never to be seen again.  I also like the idea in the notes of telling the story from the crocodile's perspective. What is he thinking? How does he feel about being summoned? Is he grateful for life/a meal? What does he do during his time under water? Why didn't he eat the boy completely in the week that he was under water? Can he take agency at the end of the story and make the decision to eat the boy, or do s

For my storybook, I will continue with the Costa Rican myths. I see it as more of an anthology, or collection of stories that are tied together through their geography. The stories I've found are interesting because some offer me the chance to take a mythological creature and, using the context of the culture, create a new story surrounding the character. In some cases, there are specific plot points that have continued on in tradition, and to retell those stories using different details would be fun.  Stories of interest: Turrialba Volcano: A story of star-crossed lovers from different tribes who are protected by the giant Turrialba volcano La Llorona: A spooky, but well-known story of a woman who lost her children and haunts rivers looking for children to drown El Cadejos: A wolf-like creature who wanders towns at night and acts as a guardian or policer, depending on who is telling the story For stories that are more local, like the Turrialba volcano, I will use sources that desc

  Costa Rican tree frog Source: Needpix Costa Rican Myths Storybook Link

Zeus called on all the gods and goddesses to create a spectacular meeting place for the gods, where grand parties and important events could take place. He said that whoever could build a place worthy of his company would be given an enormous prize.  Excited deities rushed about to make plans for Zeus' special project, hoping to win the attention and affection of the king of the gods. Most excited was Hestia, goddess of the hearth and home. She was the most gifted architect in the heavens, and she knew she would win the challenge. When others heard of Hestia's entrance into the competition, they dropped out, knowing they would stand no chance against someone of her talent.  Just when it looked that Hestia would be unchallenged, young Beatrice decided to join in and attempt to please Zeus. She had acquired great skill in architecture through an apprenticeship with her father, but she was unknown to Hestia, who quickly accepted the newcomer's challenge.  A few months passed,

The story that I liked the most from this section was of Procne and Philomela's revenge on Tereus. Classical mythology is riddled with stories of rape and violence, but there is rarely any true justice. The gods just get away with it. This story finally served some justice, which was satisfying to read. If I were to recreate this story, I would likely keep a lot of it the same, but I would probably change the child's death, because it didn't seem to have much warranting in the original story. The story only says that the boy was much like his father, and that is why he was the one who had to be used as revenge bait. Although I did like that aspect of the story because of its gross and unsettling ending, it didn't seem to make much sense from a plot standpoint.  Procne and Philomela presenting Itys' severed head Source: Wikimedia Commons In a recreation, I would either add some back story to Itys' character and have him do something terrible or mischievous like h

My favorite story in this section was of Minerva turning Arachne into a spider. Plot-wise, there is a lot to cover, from the weaving challenge to the actual turning of Arachne.  Minerva and Arachne by René-Antoine Houasse Source: Wikimedia Commons Minerva: starts the challenge, lofty and confident in her abilities, crafty weaver, but not enough to beat the young Arachne, angry and vindictive at times Arachne: young but eager to take the challenge, not stunned by Minerva's status, also confident in her abilities When recreating the story, I want to keep the general structure of the story, but change the details. Possibly change the goddess who sets the challenge, change the challenge type, and even change the ending of the story. Maybe don't include the hanging... yikes.  Have fun with the names of characters and their suggested meanings (e.g., Arachne, spider). What other clever name can be given to this character to hint at the outcome of the story to someone who doesn't

While I would like to focus on Costa Rican mythology and folktales, as I research, I am open to finding Central American resources in general. If I can't find enough information by focusing on Costa Rica alone, then I will have some other stories from the surrounding regions, but I also think it will help to create some geographical context for me as I read through the stories. I may find some overlapping characters or slight differences in myths between countries that may help me to find an interesting angle for my own stories.  La Llorona is an interesting choice because when researching it, it most often shows up as a Mexican myth. The more I researched into its ties to Costa Rican mythology, the more I found its differences from the Mexican story. It seems that La Llorona is one of the most well-known Hispanic/Latin American myths, but it has been modified depending on which community is telling the story. The mythological creature herself is the thread, but the story has been

When reviewing the sources on providing feedback, I found the article How to Provide Great Feedback When You're Not in Charge especially interesting. I like how it broke down feedback into three distinct categories: appreciation, advice, and evaluation. When I have to give feedback on another person's work, I typically use a combination of appreciation and advice. I start by complimenting something that I think was done well, and I give support for my opinion. Then, I provide any advice or suggestions that I may have for the piece. This helps me to feel like I am being constructive with my comments and making suggestions that actually help. I rarely go into the evaluation category because I typically am not in situations where I have to, as in assigning grades or weight to works.  Students collaborating on a project Source: Pixabay I also thought the article The Trouble with "Amazing": Giving Praise that Matters was helpful. Point two stood out especially because it

The stories in Part A of Unit One are not empowering for women! Not only are the women victimized, but they are often attacked by Hera for being attacked by Zeus. His violent nature is shrugged off as just a characteristic of Zeus, oh well! Can we make him more accountable for his actions?   Characters of Focus: Io, Callisto, Semele, Hera Io: Daughter of the river god. Beautiful and innocent. She tried to run away from Zeus but could not. Hera turns her into a cow and asks for her as a gift. Zeus pleads with Hera and Io is returned to human form.  Callisto: A virgin nymph, devoted to Artemis/Diana. Natural, caring, and innocent. Tricked by Zeus taking Diana's form. She is filled with shame and banished from the sacred woods by Diana. Hera turns her into a bear with she and Zeus' son. Saved (shown mercy??) by Zeus .  Semele: Gullible. Hera says, "I must attack her." She is tricked into going into visiting the Heavens by Hera . Zeus can't stop his powers and she

Having been a student for quite a while now, I can realize the importance of good and constructive feedback on work, and especially creative work. Without an outside opinion, there is no way to know how others will receive your work, and there is no way to grow. If you present the work to someone, it can be assumed that it is nearly done, if not already finished. With another set of eyes on the work, the weak spots and pieces that need more work can be easily identified. In my school career, I have always been open to feedback on my work. Perhaps it is because I'm an English major, which implies revision, but I've never had any issues with professors or instructors critiquing my work. However, when it is a creative piece, I get much more defensive, and it is harder to take in the feedback. Although I understand that it is meant to be constructive, creative work takes a much more personal tone, and it is hard not to feel attacked. I found these articles helpful because they serv

As I consider possible topics for my project, I feel the most drawn to Laura's suggestion based on my favorite place. My four topics are Costa Rican/Central American mythology, Irish mythology, Norse mythology, and mythology about music or musical instruments.  Volcano in Turrialba, Costa Rica Source: Needpix Costa Rican/Central American Mythology Following this suggestion, I started researching Costa Rican myths and was surprised to see that I had actually heard of a few of them already. Some of them are particularly scary, like La Llorona and La Mona, which could be fun to collect as a spooky Halloween-time storybook, but even so, there are non-scary myths that interest me as well. It would be interesting to hear some of the stories and be able to connect them to my experiences in Costa Rica.  Some links: Myths, Spooky Stories, and Folklore of Costa Rica Women in Indigenous Myths Earthquakes and Volcanoes Irish Mythology Because I have Irish heritage and have traveled to Ireland,

The Lion in Love One day, deep in the woods, a lion was walking home when he ran into a mouse. The mouse was uncharacteristically fearless, and they got to talking. After a short time, they knew they wanted to see more of each other. Although they had to part ways, they promised to return to the same spot once a week to meet up. After several weeks, the lion realized that he loved the mouse, and would stop at nothing to marry her.   When news broke in the mouse village about the mouse’s love affair, the other mice came up to warn her.   “You can’t marry him. He will hurt you,” said one mouse.   “He is a lion and you are a mouse! He is too aggressive. This can’t work,” said another.   “You are putting your life in danger,” exclaimed another.   But, the mouse would not listen to them. She knew that she, too, loved the lion and would stop at nothing to marry him.   When news broke in the lion kingdom, the other lions came up to warn him.   “You can’t marry her. She is too small,” said one

The Lion in Love by Joseph Jacobs (1894) Close-up of a Lion  Source: Pixabay Follow the theme and premise of the story, until the end. Can this be rewritten with a happier ending? The moral is "love can tame the wildest" but to what pay-off? This ending is so cruel. Can the lion end up happy with someone who is different than he is?  Perhaps, play with the beastly/meek relationship? Maybe invert the roles, or attribute personalities to unexpected animals. Add context and back stories for the animals to give them more layered personalities. Then, play with their relationship and how it connects to the story and differs.  Instead of a human, use a mouse - the extreme opposite of a lion. The mouse is a traditionally quiet and meek animal, very low on the food chain. Play with this power dynamic.  Tell the story as a fable or fairy tale. Write it as if it is a story being spoken aloud. Use words like roar and squeak. 

When choosing the units I want to explore this semester, I tried to cover all of my bases pretty well. I signed up for this class because I don't have much knowledge on classical (Greek, Roman) mythology, so I wanted to get as much of that as possible. However, I am excited to learn about the myths of the world, so I looked for units that covered a lot of ground, geographically. Some of the units that I am looking forward to the most are the Cherokee myths and the Celtic Fairy Tales because I have some heritage from these communities. I also find it entertaining that fairies in Irish literature are often negative, even creepy, figures, which is a funny change from our modern-day view. The hardest part was narrowing down my choices because I can see myself doing a lot of extra reading outside of my chosen units. Below is a painting of Narcissus because I am looking forward to reading about this mythological character.  Narcissus by Caravaggio Source: Wikimedia Commons Choose from CL