Week 10 Storytelling: The Robe of Light

Good morning everyone, and welcome to The Museum of Supernatural Artifact. We have a lot of cool things here, like Saturn's ring, Mars' tears, and most importantly, Sun's Robe of Light. Alright, if you guys could line up, demigods over here, fairies over there, and everyone else there. And remember, don't touch anything!

As the mismatched crowd walked through the museum, they were awed by the items they only heard in stories. While the objects were definitely cool, they were all looking forward to seeing the Robe of Light. Even though it was just a replica, it would still be amazing to see what it looked like, and learn more about it.

Dress of light (source: pinterest)

Item: Robe of Light (replica)
Origin: Earth
Date Created: Unknown
Created by: Human Woman
Last in Possession by: Sun
Background Information: The original robe, made out of the skin of small animals such as rabbits and birds, was created by a human woman. The animals were hunted by a human boy to be used as food for him and his grandmother. The grandmother sewed together this robe, which as you can see, is large and bright. It was worn by the boy when he went to spear for fish.

One day, Sun, while out following the trail in Sky Land, saw the robe. He approached the boy and asked for an exchange. Sun always wore a goatskin robe with a long fringe. The boy initially refused, but Sun convinced him. Sun dipped the fringe of his robe into the water, and fish immediately caught on. The boy accepted the exchange, and that is how Sun grew so bright.
Sun used to be pale, similar to Moon. Once he had his robes on, however, no one could look at him anymore, his robe shining too bright for the eyes.

We at the museum have tried our best to create this replica, getting the approval of its likeness from Sun himself. Sun actually mentioned that it's quite a good thing it's just a replica, since no one would be able to see the original due to its brightness. We thank him for allowing us to replicate it, and also for the donation to the museum.

Author's Note

I was having a lot of trouble coming up for ideas for this week, but thought that this could be quite cool. I followed the original story quite closely. The boy hunted for animals, the grandmother made the robe, and Sun asked for it in exchange of his own. I thought having this as an item in a museum would be cool, but since the original story was so short, it was a bit hard to come up with more stuff to write about it.

Bibliography: Why the Sun is Bright from the British North America unit.

Week 10 Reading Diary: British North America

I'm reading from the British North America unit this week.

Beliefs

• there are 5 worlds, one on top of the other. Earth is in the middle.
• above is Afraid of nothing, below is House of the Sun.
• Afraid of Nothing created the whole world.
• Afraid of Nothing made the mountains smaller than they used to be.
• Afraid of Nothing causes sickness and death when it visits earth.

Creation of the World

• the men dug too deep. The tree and the chief's daughter fell through.
• the swans came together to catch her landing.
• they went to ask Big Turtle what to do.
• Big Turtle turned into land.
• sometimes he moves his foot, and that's why there are earthquakes.

How the Earth Was Formed

• Wisagatcak tried to capture the beaver. He missed.
• he was determined, using the juniper wood to break the dam and drain the creek.
• the water didn't drain. It rose and rose until he had to make a raft.
• he took two of every animal.
• he gave the moss to wolf and made him run, making earth appear.
• it grew and grew. This is how the earth grew on water and why there are springs.

Sun and Moon (source: pinterest)

Creation of the Earth

• long long ago, everything was blank.
• Sun and his wife Earth.
• Earth told Sun to go away because he's too hot. Moon and stars left with him.
• the Old One changed Earth into the earth now. Her hair is flowers and her bones are rocks.

Origin of Rivers in Queen Charlotte Islands

• Raven steals away the water.
• while flying away from Beaver, he drops some, creating the rivers.

Origin of Haida Land

• Raven didn't follow instructions.
• the pieces became land.

Raven and Moon Woman

• Raven took the moon again and threw it down to the ground.
• one piece is the moon in the sky.
• the other piece is the sun.
• the scraps are the stars.

Creation of Light

• the chief won't give light to anyone else.
• the animals sang together until light started lighting up the sky.
• the old chief said 'let there be light' and light bursted into the sky.
• he didn't mean to do that.

Grizzly Bear and Coyote

• Grizzly bear wanted to make it dark all the time.
• they agreed for half and half.
• they agreed to each getting six months.

Origin of Light and Fire

• Raven asked for fire.
• the Fire people showed him how to make some.

The Burning of the World

• only a man, mother, and sister were saved.
• he shot arrows off into the four directions and told anyone that didn't want to burn to go to them.
• people didn't believe.
• he categorized and created the animals.

Why the Sun is Bright

• the sun is bright because he traded his fishing robe for the bright robe.

The Man in the Moon

• Sun is Moon's wife.
• the Moon allowed the Eskimo to choose one animal. He chose the seal and deer.

Week 9 Reading Diary, continued: Native American Marriage Tales

A continuation of Native American Marriage Tales.

The Dog-Husband

• A girl has a dog that turns into a human at night.
• She got pregnant. Her parents were so ashamed they moved away.
• Crow took pity on her and provided fire.
• She gave birth to 5 pups. Four male and one female.
• They are able to turn into humans. She taught them to hunt.

The youth and the deer (source: pinterest)

The Youth Who Joined the Deer

• A man followed deer tracks but lost them. Turns out it was the girl.
• The man doubted, worrying about his wife and child, but the deer convinced him it was alright.
• When people eat deer, they save the bones, wrap them, then throw them into the river.
• They deer come back to life when the bones are thrown into the river.
• The hunter became a deer

The Girl and the Turkeys

• This poor girl was never allowed to participate in festivities.
• She is able to talk turkeys.
• She was dressed in expensive clothing.
• She danced and danced with the turkeys.
• The girl ran away. The turkeys wonder where she went.
• The girl turned back into what she was before.

The True Bride

• A man had a wife and daughter. His wife died and remarried, and they also had a daughter.
• Her stepmother disliked her and always scolded her no matter what she did.
• The chief's son took interest in her.
• It is known that she is marrying the girl who can spit gold.
• The stepmother replaced the baby with a cat.
• The chief decided to kill her.
• The son did not like his new wife.
• They hung his new wife and he took back his old wife.
• He became chief after his father.

Tech Tip: First Tweet

I have had a Twitter account for a while now but I don't go on it much. I mainly follow actors, youtubers, and movie accounts. I have the notification turned on for my favorite youtubers, since they have live shows sometimes and I always missed it before. I follow several movie-production-company type things too to keep up with what's going on.

Week 9 Reading Diary: Native American Marriage Tales

This week I chose to read about Native American Marriage Tales.

The Piqued Buffalo-Wife

• The boy would run around different camps looking for his father.
• The headman took pity and send messengers to other camps to help.
• After several tries, the boy ran into a man and declared him his father.
• They went to the farm and a cow approached. As she got closer, she turned into a woman.
• She told him to never struck fire at her.
• He got mad one day and did, they turned into buffalo-cows and ran away.
• When he got to the herd, he had to go through a few tests.
• He failed one and got trampled.
• They found a small piece of bone and resurrected him.

Bear-Woman and Deer-Woman

• Grizzly bear and Doe
• While down at the creek, they helped each other hunt for lice on their heads.
• What the heck is happening. Grizzly bear chewed off Doe's head!
• She put the head in the fire where the eye burst from the heat. The doe children think it's their mother, but bear chased the children out to play.
• They played in a smoking hollow log. The does fanned the fire until the bears were smothered.
• They handed the log off to the bear saying it was a skunk.
• The children ran away and with help of the crane got over the river.
• Bear didn't and fell in.

Splinter-Foot-Girl

• The men refused to give up their daughter to the bull.
• The magpie told the bull to send a different bird.
• The men consented.
• The girl grew with them.

Splinter-Foot-Girl (cont.)

• The men miss their daughter.
• They sent flies and various birds but nothing worked.
• The blackbird recommended the mole and the badger.
• The girl agreed to flee with the mole and badger. She left her robe hanging on the arrow like the way she usually sat.
• They fled. They asked cottonwood for help. It said to run around it four times. They climbed the tree and waited.
• The bull followed their trail.
• They found the tree. The bull struck the tree, but got stuck. The men shot him and he died.

Splinter-Foot-Girl (end)

• The rock sent the magpie to ask the men for their daughter.
• The hummingbird brought the girl back.
• The mole and the badger made a hole big enough for the rock. When he came back, he fell into the hole and the mole and badger covered it up.
• They escaped. The rock was to remain where the hills are.

The Eagle and Whale Husbands

• The girl managed to escape. When the whale reached the shore, he turned into whalebone.

The Fox-Woman

• The man returned seeing everything done like a wife would.
• He staked out one day and saw a fox enter the house.
• It turned out to be a woman.
• After a while, he smelled an odor.
• It was the fox and she ran away and never interacted with a man again.

The Woman Stolen by Killer Whales

• A man reeled a huge fish in and asked his wife to help.
• When she went to wash her hands in the water, she was taken by the killer whale.
• The man followed the trail to find his wife.
• The man asked the fish chief if anyone would be willing to help get his wife back. Shark volunteered.
• Shark pretended to stumble and the water fell onto the fire. Smoke and ash rose. He pushed the wife to her husband.
• As they were running, Shark was fighting all the other whales.

The Rolling Head

• The wife would go to the lake to meet a snake.
• One day the husband followed her.
• She went to the lake, took off her clothes, got in the lake, and a huge snake went around her.
• The man killed the snake, killed his wife, and cut her up. He brought his wife's meat home, cooked it, and fed it to the children.
• The mother's head came rolling out and the children ran away.
• People heard about the sisters and came to them. They soon left and only the father remained.
• They ordered the lions to kill him.

The woman and the bear (source: pinterest)

The Bear-Woman

• A woman with six older brothers and one little sister lived with their dad.
• She refused to marry. 
• She would always run out after they went hunting to meet the bear in the woods.
• As the little sister got older, she wondered why the older sister spent so much time gathering wood.
• The little sister told their father.
• The father sent men to kill the bear.
• The older sister turned into a bear.

The Bear-Woman (cont.)

• They ran away.
• The bird told the brothers to shoot her in the head.
• The bear died.
• They are now the stars.

To be honest, I was very confused reading every story.

Future Readings: Week 9-10

I chose the British North America and Native American Marriage Tales units.

I chose the British North America unit because it deals with creation and origins of different things, which I find fascinating. I like to hear/read about what other cultures think the things around us come from. And I chose the Native American Marriage Tales unit because it sounded interesting. It's also intriguing to read about animal husband and wives.

Creation of light (source: wikimedia)

Blog Ideas

I actually went through all the blogs listed in the Class Directory and chose the three I liked best.

Audra Edwards
I liked the colors that was on her blog and the fonts. The font for the title fit really well with the rest, and the colors also all went really well together.

Madison Malget
I liked that her labels are at the top of the page in a sort of menu bar, making it another place people can navigate to different parts of the blog.

Caitlin Schachter

The background is Hogwarts! And the title and description of the blog is said by Dumbledore! I love that since the background looks kind of like the sun is setting at Hogwarts, the colors also fit the scenery.

Time Management

I don't have a particularly heavy load this semester, but my schedule is weird so I have to plan my time to do my homework. My Tuesdays are totally free, so I set aside that day for homework. My weekends are also free, so that's another time to catch up on projects and homework too. I also have a lot of group work this semester, so it is hard to coordinate due to everyone's different schedule.

I try to not have distractions during time I set aside for homework, since I do get distracted very easily. It's a bit harder since most of the homeworks and distractions involve me being on my laptop, so not only is it time management, but also self-control (to not go on YouTube and stuff).

(source: quotesgiant)

This doesn't really apply to me in terms of school, since I can't just say "nah" to any of my assignments and not do it, but more like going to Walmart. I always talk myself out of going, unless it's absolutely necessary. 

Tech Tip: Weather Widget

I added a weather widget to my sidebar. Instructions found here.

Reading Diary Week 7: Brother Grimm (Hunt)

For extra credit this week, I chose to read Brother Grimm (Hunt) stories.

Hansel and Grethel (source: thegloss)

Hansel and Grethel

• Wood-cutter, wife, and two children.
• Boy was Hansel, girl was Grethel.
• They didn't have much to eat. The wife suggested leaving the kids in the thickest part of the woods. Husband refused.
• Grethel heard and started to cry. Hansel told her not to worry. He went out to the pond and picked up all the little stones he could. 
• Hansel left a trail of stones. 
• The parents left them by the fire to "go cut some more wood". They never came back. The siblings fell asleep till nightfall.
• They just followed the stone trail home.

Hansel and Grethel (cont.)

• Once again, a scarcity hit and the step-mom wants to leave the kids in the woods.
• Hansel went again and picked up the pebbles, but the door was locked. 
• They were once again given a piece of bread. Hansel crumbled it and left a trail of them.
• The woman led them deeper in the forest this time. 
• They fell asleep again. This time when trying to follow the crumbs home, they weren't there, since the birds ate them all up.
• The walked all night and the next day, but couldn't get out of the forest. 

Hansel and Grethel (cont. again)

• It's been 3 days.
• They saw a beautiful bird and listened to it sing, following it when it flew away.
• They came upon a little house. It was built out of bread and cakes and sugar.
• They started eating different parts of the house. When a voice asked who was eating, they said the wind.
• An old woman emerged from the house and invited them in. She fed them and made beds for them.
• She was really a wicked witch. She ate children. Witches have red eyes but bad eye sight, with a really good nose.
• She locked Hansel in the stable. She forced Grethel to fetch water and cook for her brother... so that he would get fat and she can eat him. 
• The witch would go to Hansel, ask for his finger so he can see whether he's fat enough, but Hansel would give her a bone. 
• The witch lost patience after 4 weeks. 

Hansel and Grethel (end)

• The woman said they will bake first. She shoved Grethel towards the oven so she could see whether the flames are ready. She intended to shut Grethel in the oven and bake her.
• Grethel feigned ignorance and asked the witch to show her. 
• Grethel pushed the witch and shut the door, running away when the witch started howling in pain and finally died.
• She went to free Hansel. 
• They went to the witch's house and filled their pockets with the pearls and jewels.
• On the way back, they came upon a piece of water with no bridge to cross over. A duck was coming their way, and Hansel asked for a ride.
• When the children got home, their father was ecstatic they're back. The step mom's dead.

Thumbling

• A wife and a husband ponder why they don't have children. The wife will be quite happy with a little one, even as small as a thumb.
• She got pregnant for seven months and gave birth to a child no larger than a thumb. They didn't care that the child was small. They cared for it and called it Thumbling.
• The two men saw Thumbling ordering the horse to go forth and offered to buy him from the old man. 
• The old man refused, but Thumbling told him to give him away, that he will come back. 
• He slipped into a mouse-hole and the two men was forced to leave, mad.

Thumbling (cont.)

• He crept into a snail shell to stay safe.
• Two men walked by, wondering how to get hold of the rich pastor's silver and gold.
• Thumbling offered to help. 
• When they got to the pastor's house, Thumbling started yelling questions at them. This woke the cook. The two men ran away.
• He went to sleep on the hay. The next day, the maid fed that hay to the cows. Thumbling ended up in the cow's stomach. 
• The maid heard Thumbling but thought it was the cow speaking.

Thumbling (end)

• The pastor ordered the cow to be killed. A wolf came and ate the cow, swallowing Thumblig in the process.
• He told the wolf instructions to his father's house. When it ate everything, it was too fat to fit through the door. Thumbling started making noise.
• His parents finally appeared. Thumbling told them he's in the wolf's body. 
• The family is reunited.

Allerleirauh

• A king had a beautiful wife with golden hair.
• She felt like she was going to die, so she ordered the king: If though wishest to marry again after my death, take no one who is not quite as beautiful as I am and who has not just such golden hair as I have: this though must promise me.
• The king had a daughter who was beautiful like her mother and had the same hair.
• He decides to marry his daughter.
• The daughter demands three dresses: one as golden as the sun, one as silvery as the moon, and one as bright as the stars. She also wished for a mantle of thousand different kinds of fur and hair; one of every kind of animal in the kingdom. 
• The king managed to do it. She decided to run away. 

Allerleirauh (cont.)

• The king's hunting dogs found her tree the next day. 
• The men couldn't identify the princess because of all the different types of fur she covered herself with. 
• She went to work in the kitchen.

Allerleirauh (end)

• The king married Allerleirauh and they lived happily every after.

Week 7 Storytelling: The Human and the Princess

At the school for young underwater creatures, the old turtle, Gale, is getting ready to tell one of his famous stories. "Gather round kids, it's a new story today!" he says to the children running around the playground.

The little sea creatures all form a circle around grandpa Gale, quieted down, and paid attention.

"One day a long time ago, so long, in fact, that I was still a little turtle, I was captured by a human. The human seemed nice, a young man just helping out his parents, so I was able to talk him out of killing me. He let me go, and I didn't see him again for quite some time. Years and years later, when I was a bigger turtle with a big shell and strong flippers, I saw this human again! He was lost, out at sea, all by himself."

The little sea creatures were captivated by this story. They've heard of those creatures that live above the sea, these humans, but they've never actually seen one! "You actually saw and touched a human?" whispered one of the little fish, in awe.

"Well of course! But don't you go swimming up to the surface without supervision! We won't want you to become some unkind human's dinner now, would we?"

The little sea creatures gasped, some clinging to each other, afraid of the unknown world above them.

Turtle going to take a break (source: riotofinvention)

"Now, where was I? Oh right, I saw this same man again, and he was lost at sea. I had to remind him of who I was, then offered to bring him back to his home. I hadn't realized how far away from the mainland he was, and I was growing tired, so I veered off and brought him down here with me so I could grab a snack and rest for a little bit. While he was here, he caught a glimpse of the princess.

The princess (source: tumblr)

"The princess, a beautiful mermaid, as we all know, and the daughter of our sea king, has never met a human before. The princess became fascinated with the young man, and slowly fell in love with him. The young man, never having met a beautiful mermaid before, experienced what most would call love at first sight. Since it takes quite a while for a big turtle like me to "recharge", the two got talking at got to know each other. When it was finally time to leave again, the princess begged the young man to stay. The young man, having just fallen in love with a beautiful creature, agreed.

"Years passed and they were happy together. Until one day, when the young man missed his parents and wanted to go back to land. The princess was reluctant to let him go, but she did anyway, giving him an ornate box, with strict instructions to not open it. I was to go to him when he called, if he didn't open the box.

"The young man went to shore, and that was the last I've ever heard from him."

"What?!" exclaimed a lot of the kids, "You can't just end there! That's a bad story! Was the princess sad? What happened to the man? He didn't open the box did he? She told him not to! What happened?!" Questions were coming left and right from all the little kids gathered for story time.

"Alright, alright, settle down! I wasn't done with that sentence! I meant to say, that was the last I've heard from him since this morning!" shouted grandpa Gale. "Hahahaha! I got all of you! Of course he came back, the young man and the princess got married and had loads of kids! Who do you think are those mermaids and mermen you see everyday?"

"What?! Those are the princess's kids! I didn't know that! They're so nice and friendly!" chattered the kids, realizing who those beautiful creatures are.

"Well of course they're nice! Well, that's all for story time today! Go back to your classrooms and pay attention in class! Go on, scooot!"

Author's Note
I chose to do this over Uraschimataro and the Turtle from the Japanese Fairytales Unit. I like happy endings, so I changed the ending again. In the story, the young man catches a turtle, the turtle argues that it's too small to be of any use right now, and the man lets it go back to sea. They encounter each other again when he's lost at sea, and the turtle, wanting to repay him, brought him to the sea god. He met the princess, they were happy. Until one day when he wanted to go back to land. The princess, dreading it, gave him an ornate box with instructions to not open it. When he was ready to come back, he was to call for the turtle. When he got to shore, he realized that years and years have gone by. He finds his parents' tombstones, with their date of death the day that they discovered their son was lost at sea. Drowning in sadness, he opens the box, purple vapour comes out, and he's suddenly a mummy, time catching up with him. When he goes to the shore to call for the turtle, it never comes.

I thought I'd follow the majority of it since it's a good story, but change the ending to make it happy.

Bibliography: Uraschimataro and the Turtle from the Japanese Fairytales Unit.