Mythology and Folklore KT

Once upon a time there were two birds.  They were best friends and did everything together.  One morning they were really hungry, and decided to go get breakfast together.  They flew to a riverbed to look for worms in the mud by the water.  After a while they each saw a worm sticking out of the mud.  They grabbed the end of the worms and pulled.  They pulled the worms out of the mud, only to discover that they each had a side of the same worm.  They set down the worm and decided to talk it out.  The first bird suggested that they split the worm down the middle.  They split the worm, but one side was slightly bigger than the other.  The second bird said that he should have a slightly bigger side, because he suggested that they go get breakfast.  The first said that he should have the larger side, because he suggested that they go by the river.  They continued arguing like this until a fish poked her head out of the water.  She asked what was going on.  The birds explained their situati

Story source: More Jataka Tales by Ellen C The Golden Goose the golden goose was being generous, but the mother was greedy.  Her greed caused the goose to fly away and they were were poor again.  The Stupid Monkeys The gardener gave his job for the day to the monkeys, but they did not know how to do it, so all of the trees died. The Woodpecker and the Lion The woodpecker was kind to the lion, but the lion did not return the kindness.  The Lion thought that he was doing the woodpecker a favor by not harming him.  This is a good representation of how some groups in power think.  Instead of being grateful to the woodpecker and treating him as an equal, he though his restraint for not harming him was enough. The otters and the wolf I really like this story.  The two otters could not agree on how to divide up the fish, so they asked a wolf to do it.  The wolf divided up the fish and took the best part for himself.  I think that it is a great story about how if you quarrel ov

Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt, illustrated by Ellsworth Young (1912) the monkey and the crocodile In this story, the monkey outsmarts the crocodile on several occasions How the turtle saved his own life The turtle used cunning and the fact that noone knew what he was to save his life. The turtle who couldn't stop talking The turtle died because he had to answer the people instead of holding onto the stick The ox who won the forfeit The ox would not respond positively when the man was mean to him The quarrel of the quials the quails wouldn't worked together, so they got caught The foolish, timid rabbit The rabbit cried wolf the banyan deer one of the king deer was willing to give up himself for a mother, and the king was touched and agreed to not eat deer anymore the princes and the water-sprite the oldest prince was wise The King's white elephant the king bought an elephant for himself the ox who envied the pig the pig was being well fed be

The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang First of all, Aladdin's father died because he was grieved that his son didn't have a job.  That is very dramatic.   I like the character of Aladdin in this story.  He doesn't take time to make decisions, he immediately acts.  Even though his behavior is somewhat impulsive, everything always seems to work out for him.  Having a character behave like that would be fun.   The princess goes through some stressful situations in this story.  On her wedding night to the son of the kings main adviser, Aladdin has his genie transport herself and her husband to his house, makes her husband sleep in the cold while Aladdin shares a bed with her.  Aladdin does this every night until the princess and her husband are so scared that they decide to break off the marriage.  Then Aladdin marries her and she seems happy, despite him having kidnapped her on her previous marriage's wedding night.  Rewriting the story in her pe

Arabian Nights Part A Scheherazade is a remarkable character.  She risks her life to ensure that no one else has to die.  She is very clever to tell interesting stories that the sultan will want to hear, so he has a reason to keep her alive.  She tells stories within stories to ensure that the stories continue on longer, to stretch on for days. There are many themes running through these stories.  There is magic, genies (or geniuses), jealousy, and revenge.  Many of the stories are used as a form of bartering; that hearing an entertaining story is worth trading for something.  Other stories are used as examples, similar to similes or metaphors.  They are an attempt to describe the situation. I like the idea of having a character tell a story within a story.  Maybe in a rewrite, the story can have someone trading something valuable for an entertaining story. A plain and literal translation of the Arabian nights entertainments, Source : Wikimedia Commons

Link to My Story Source:  Blog

This Story is Also in my Portfolio  Tales told by a Bookworm There were once three best friends, Emma, Maggie, and Joe.  They grew up together, and were inseparable.   However, as they grew older, Maggie and Joe fell in love.  One day, Emma came up to them and asked them to cover for her.  She told them that she was seeing a married guy, and she didn’t want his wife finding out.  She asked them to be a lookout when she went on dates with him, and if they saw his wife, they were to stall her until the both Emma and her boyfriend could get away.  Because they were old friends, Maggie and Joe agreed to this.  This arrangement went on for a while.  Eventually, the wife figured out what Maggie and Joe were doing for their friend.  In a fit of anger, she revealed herself to be Juno, the most powerful goddess on mount Olympus.  She told them that they were keeping her from her love, Zeus(the married man who is dating Emma), and for their crime, they shall never be together again. 

Ovid's Metamorphoses, translated by Tony Kline Echo and Narcissus For both characters, the person that they wanted was unattainable.  They both wasted away pining for their love. Pyramus and Thisbe The story here has been retold many times and in many ways.  The idea of tragic star-crossed lovers is something that appeals to most audiences.  They never get a happy ending.  Maybe just once they should get a happy ending. Mars and Venus Vulcan, Venus's husband, found out she was cheating on him with Mars, so he laid a trap for them to prove their infidelity to the other gods.  The other gods made a joke of it, however.  Vulcan couldn't win, no matter what he did.  Writing the story in his perspective might give him more credit and help us understand what he is going through. Perseus and Andromeda Perseus is presented like a hero, however, it seems like he does things more for himself than for others.  He only agreed to save Andromeda after her parents agreed to let

Ovid's Metamorphoses, translated by Tony Kline Deucalion and Pyrrah The thought of them repopulating the earth with rocks turning into people is a marvelous ending to this story.  The confusion of what Themis meant when she said through behind you the bones of your great mother was a turning point in the plot.  There was inner turmoil in the characters until they realized that the goddess did not mean their actual mothers, but was referring to mother earth.   Having the characters doubt what they are told or figure out what something means would be interesting. Io Origin stories are fun. It seems like this is such a long story to explain such a simple thing.  I also do not like how the gods use this poor woman as a pawn, and that Zeus feels entitled to every woman on earth. The journey that Io has to go through, with the gods using her as a pawn, had many elements to it.  She was able to contact her family, but was always being guarded. Juno Confiding Io to the Care of Ar

Alice in Wonderland Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass The story of the Queen's Croquet Ground is very interesting.  Alice stands up and is forceful, and the soldiers(cards) seems to start looking at her for direction.  I think that this would be fun in a story, to have characters who follow whoever is the most stubborn and bossy.   The story "Who stole the tarts" is a wonderful idea.  It takes a nursery rhyme and makes it into a real event.  Are there any nursery rhymes that are free domain? The idea of the looking glass world is intriguing.  I am wondering, though, why there is not a copy Alice on the other side?  What would it be like if she met her looking glass counter part?  And what if the looking glass was a reflecting pool instead?    I am also thinking of adding some science fiction in this as well.  Maybe the main character arrives on a new planet by mistake, through a teleportation device or wormhole.   Alice and the Caterpil

In the article  Be a Mirror , it discusses how constructive feedback needs to be like a mirror.  Mirrors show what is already there, they do not provide judgement.  A mirror does not make the reflection about itself,  it is completely about what it s reflecting.  We can do that by not putting I statements in feedback; feedback needs to be completely about the work.  It does not show what is not there.  We should not emphasize what they did not do, but highlight what they did do.  This way of thinking is very constructive, because it does no center itself around the critics approval or opinion, it attempts to focus solely on the work and the artists progress.   A large goal of mirroring is to provide feedback that can be transferred to other subjects or projects.  Feedback should be based around learning and growing, not making each project perfect.   In the article  How to Craft Constructive Feedback  talks about how there are often needs for different kinds of feedback.  Is the wo

Odysseus and his crew have spent years trying to find their way home.  Their most recent journey took them to the Realm of Hades, where Odysseus was told how to get home.  Unfortunately, the quickest way home takes them right by the Isle of the Sirens.  The Sirens are tricky beings, with the ability to know what you want to hear the most in the world and make you believe that they have it.  As Odysseus’s ship grew closer to the island, his crew became more and more uneasy. Odysseus decided that he wanted to hear the Sirens’ song.  He had his crew tie his hands and feet to a mast on the ship, then had them all plug their ears with wax so they would not be distracted by the Sirens.  Slowly, they started to row past the island.   The Sirens started to sing to Odysseus.  The song was sweet and sad; it spoke of home and his wishes to be with his wife and family.  Then it started to change.  The song became more lively, sounding like a folk song back home, and as Odysseus turned his he

Homer's Odyssey, by Tony Kline  Link to Reading Guide B It is interesting how Odysseus's sacrifice raised ghosts.  I thought it odd that they are called powerless, yet Odysseus and his crew still seem afraid of them.   It's interesting how one of the characters was killed off because he drunkenly fell off of a roof.  Meeting his ghost is odd.  He says that he might end up haunting them if he is not buried properly.  Odysseus says that he will bury Elpenor, but it would be a good story twist if he forgot. Odysseus will not get home easily because he hurt Poseidon's son.  I like this; there are consequences for his actions. Even though he was attempting to save his life, he had to be prideful about it.   I don't understand why Odysseus was willing to listen to the Sirens song.  He was putting himself in a very vulnerable position by doing that.  I think that a good story would be combining the Sirens in this story with the story of Circe's island.  They ar

Homer's Odyssey, by Tony Kline  Link to the source I like how the main character is able to use cunning to defeat the cyclops.  However, seeing if the cyclops was hospitable cost him some crew-mates.  Calling himself Nobody is really funny and creative; this can be used in many situations.  Calling himself Nobody was apparently a strategic move, because it tricked the other cyclops to think that he was sick instead of harmed.  I like the idea of a prophecy. Instead of stabbing him in the eye. maybe the cyclopes has glasses and the break them. Odysseus is cursed due to the consequences of his taunting.  Odysseus made an offering, but Zeus ignored him.  Turning out of favor from a powerful benefactor is an interesting twist. The men trusted a goddess and became like literal pigs.  Hermes warns Odysseus.  Circe is unable to enchante them because Hermes gives them Moly.  It is extremely random and lucky that Hermes decides to help them.  They would not have survived without this

8 Things to do When You Make a Mistake The 'imposter syndrome' is something that effected me as a student for a while.  Things weren't coming as easily to me as they were in highschool, and I was afraid to ask for help because then everyone would know that I wasn't grasping the material.  Realizing that there were others struggling as well helped me accept help much more easily. Why Rejection Hurts So Much--and To Do About It Rejection is never fun.  Self-Criticism is a huge result of feeling rejected.  We have to come up with reasons why they rejected us, and it is always reflected inward.  When I was younger, I learned to build up my self esteem by looking myself in the mirror and start to find specific physical things that I liked about myself.   Once I started doing that, I would move on to more emotional and behavioral things that I liked.  I would try to not compare myself to others, because that would not help at all. Positive feedback is extremely importan

http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-king-arthur.html Myth-Folklore Unit: King Arthur mythfolklore.blogspot.com Content for a course in Myth & Folklore taught at the University of Oklahoma. Pages. Home; Weeks 2-3; Weeks 4-5; Weeks 6-7; Weeks 9-10; Weeks 11-12 Doing a take on King Arthur would be very interesting.  I am thinking of changing the setting to a more steampunk vibe, or maybe have all the main characters be female instead of male.  I think doing a take on one of the quest stories would be fun.  I am reasonably well versed in the adaptations of King Arthur; various cartoons, movies, and the TV show Merlin.  The Sword in the Stone was one of my favorite movies when I was little. The ideas of honor, valor, and equality are very common in many of the adaptations. http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/07/britomart-magic-mirror.ht ml I really love the Britomart stories.  She is heir to the throne and has amazing fighting skill

This story is also in my Portfolio:  Tales told by a Bookworm Once upon a time, there was a famous artist.  He decided from a very early age that women were nothing but trouble.  He poured all of his energy into his artwork.  One night, he started to dream about a woman.  She was beautiful, and loving, and kind.  He woke up with a start, wondering what the dream meant.  He sat down at his sculpting station, trying to clear his head.  Absentmindedly, he worked with the clay.  After a while, a face started to take shape.  It was lovely and feminine.  Then a neck; then a torso.  When he finally stepped back from his creation, it was a woman.  A beautiful woman. She stared at him with kind eyes.  Surprised, he almost spoke to her.  Realizing that he was being foolish, he left his work station to let the figure dry.  The next day, he walked into his studio.  The statue stood there, smiling slightly at him.  He walked to the other side of the room to finish a commission that a custome