Portfolio Introduction

With my portfolio this semester, I hope to revise some of my favorite stories to be the best that they can be!

Camp Gopher Wood: Find out what was going on aboard Noah's ark during the flood! An elephant, a cat, and a flamingo team up to make a difference that you won't hear about anywhere else.

Dan and Gladys Forever: What could go wrong when a guy just wants to help out his brother? Apparently a lot if it involves the latter's favorite feline companion.

Allie, Cali, and Sally: Three friends get the opportunity to spend time together as well as cook for and with each other!

The Hope of a Warrior's Mother: A mother tries asking a magician for a way to make her small son into a powerful warrior.

BFF: Best Brother Forever: A brother writes a letter praising his twin for being a supportive friend and co-worker.

An Unfortunate Circumstance: A retelling of Beauty and the Beast with a few twists about power walking and whether you can really end up with your captor.

Week 13 Storytelling: An Unfortunate Circumstance

Once upon a time there was an average-looking guy who lived in a normally sized house. This average-looking guy was named Chuck and he had a cool mom, Donna, who was his total BFF. Donna and Chuck did a lot of cool stuff together pretty much everyday, and on this particular day they decided to power walk through the forest. Once they were about halfway through the forest, they saw something strange.

"Hey, Mom, check out that rose garden over there! Let's have a rose picking contest!" Chuck called out to his mom.

Donna replied, "Good thing this isn't a nose picking contest, or you would definitely win. HA!"

Rose Garden

The pair entered the garden and were instantly freaked out. The ground started to rumble and the sky became filled with dark storm clouds. An incredibly tall and stately lady walked into the garden. "How dare you enter my garden!" she screamed. "You, cool mom, you better fast walk away from here, and you, average-looking guy, you better not follow her."

If there was one thing Chuck and Donna were good at, it was following instructions.  Donna left as quickly as she could while following the guidelines for power walking (exaggerated but controlled swinging of the arms and never allowing both feet to be off the ground at once). Chuck was left alone with the huge lady. "What do you want from me?" he asked while craning his neck to look her in the eye.

The huge lady didn't answer. She just walked away and left Chuck to wander through the rose garden and into the castle on his own. He found that everything inside of the castle was enchanted. He just had to think something, and it would appear. Also, all the dishes, clocks, lamps, and everything else could talk! He quickly became friends with them, and he slowly became friends with the huge lady who would drop in to talk to him almost every day.

After almost a month living in the strange castle, Chuck went out to the rose garden for a casual fast walk. He missed his mom, of course, and it was weird being trapped in a house with a giantess and talking teacups, but he was really enjoying his time here for the most part. As he was swinging his arms and enjoying the beautiful roses, he came upon the huge lady prostrate before him. 

Seeing her lying there on the ground, he suddenly realized how much he had come to care for her! He cried out, "Are you hurt? Please don't be dead! If you're dead then I'll never get to tell you how much I love you!" With those words, the huge lady grew even taller. Chuck was astounded. He couldn't understand what was happening.

The extra huge lady stood up and said, "You may now leave my garden and my castle. Long ago, I put a spell on myself in order to grow into the huge and tall lady that I always wanted to be. Every time a man professes his love for me, I continue to grow. Because it became increasingly difficult to live in the every day world with my huge size, I've now resorted to trapping people until they fall in love with me. You've served your purpose. I do not love you back, and now I would like you to leave."

Chuck was devastated. He had truly loved the huge lady, but he also realized that starting a relationship while being held prisoner was probably not a recipe for success. He began to power walk in the direction of home, and more importantly, his cool mom, Donna. 

Author's note: I wanted to take the well-known beauty and the beast story and do something a little different with it. This version of Beauty and the Beast was very similar to the Disney movie. It was just a little simpler and with less singing. Beauty is traded as a prisoner for her father's freedom, and she eventually falls in love with the Beast. This breaks the spell and turns him back into a handsome man. They live happily ever after.

I decided to make the originally male characters female and the originally female characters male in order to give the story a different feel. I didn't think it made much sense for Beauty and the Beast to end up happily together since he had originally kept her against her will, so I changed up the ending quite a bit. I really liked how important roses are in the original, so I chose to keep that aspect with a rose garden playing a large role in the story.

I also wanted to make the story more lighthearted. This was the first time I've done a storytelling post on a story that I originally knew as a Disney movie, so I wanted to include the more magical aspects such as talking plates, clocks, and lamps that weren't in the original story that I read for class.

Bibliography: This story is based on Beauty and the Beast from Europa's Fairy Book by Joseph Jacobs and illustrated by John Batten (1916).

Week 13 Reading Diary: Beauty and the Beast

This week, I chose to read Europa's Fairy Book by Joseph Jacobs and illustrated by John Batten (1916) from the Europa unit. I was really happy with my choice, and my favorite story by far was Beauty and the Beast. Although by this point most people in class have read or even written about an original version of a Disney princess story, I still hadn't! So I decided that this was going to be my week for it!

I liked that this version of Beauty and the Beast was still incredibly recognizable to me even though I was only familiar with the movie. I also liked that the Beast was much less evil and that Belle was much less unhappy in this version. I still thought that Belle's cowardly dad was completely absurd and wrong, but it was nice that he was able to visit his daughter and see that she wasn't completely unhappy. 

If I were going to retell this story in a storytelling post, I would definitely want to include some of the classic elements such as the beautiful girl being trapped by the crazy guy. I don't know if I would want to have a happy ending. It seems like no matter how handsome and tortured he is, a guy shouldn't trap a woman in his home in order to date her. It is a really nice story though. Maybe I would have the girl trap the guy, that's kind of cool I think.

Week 11 Storytelling: BBF: Best Brother Forever

To whom it may concern:

Hi, I'm Jordan, and I'm writing this to tell you about my awesome and talented brother Jackson. We're twins, so I've literally known this guy for longer than I'll ever know anyone else, which is a real treat because I don't know of a single person who I think is better than Jackson. He and I were both dancers, but a few years ago I gave that up to start choreographing other dancers in small productions around New York City. I started to gain some fame fairly quickly, but after I had three shows that were reviewed really well, I had one that kind of tanked. Jackson was always the better choreographer, but he really wanted to make it as a dancer, so I just asked him for a few pointers on how to return to the glowing reviews I had gotten in the past. Jackson totally went above and beyond for me and he choreographed almost an entire show for me!

As much as I appreciated my brother helping me out so much, I told him there was no way I could just take his work like that. I could tell this was much better than any work I had ever done, and I didn't want to take away attention from Jackson when I knew he deserved to be praised for his tremendous work. We argued back and forth for a while, and ultimately I agreed to put my name on the choreography on one condition, that Jackson danced the main part. Since I was just starting out, we were on a smaller stage than Jackson was used to, so he was a little hesitant. But I knew that if he danced in this show that he had created, we wouldn't be on a small stage for long.

Finally, the big premiere night came and it was a roaring success! Everyone loved the choreography just as much as I suspected, and Jackson had never danced better in his life. After the premiere, the show quickly moved to a larger stage. On the first night in the new theater, I went on stage and announced that the choreography was actually entirely done by Jackson. This really made the critics wild, and Jackson finally got all the fame and recognition he had deserved. And since we tend to do our best work when we're together, I was back on the up and up again as well.


All this to say that I think my brother is a great dancer and man who truly deserves to be on a Wheaties box. I've included in this letter a mock-up of what I think a really great box would look like.

Thank you in advance for your consideration,

Jordan

 

Author's note: In the original King Arthur story, Arthur gets a sword out of a rock because he promised his brother he would not return without a sword. However, Arthur's father realizes that this sword actually signifies that Arthur is the rightful king because he is the only one in the whole kingdom who can release the sword from the rock. Even though Arthur immediately gave the sword to his brother and his brother initially (wrongly) thought that he was the king, his brother gladly gave the sword back to Arthur when his father told him Arthur was the one who was the king. I thought it was really cool that Arthur's brother wasn't jealous that Arthur was the king. He was genuinely happy for him. Most stories with brothers holding some sort of power involve a jealous brother who ends up killing the other (Claudius and Hamlet, Romulus and Remus, Cain and Abel, etc). I liked the supportive attitude that Arthur and his brother had, so I decided to make that the theme of my story. I have a brother, and although the sibling rivalry can be very real, we try to focus on building each other up and supporting each other whenever we can.

Bibliography: King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H. J. Ford (1902).

Image Information: first picture: Les Twins; second picture I created using two images: Wheaties Box, Les Twins in Air

Week 12 Extra Reading Diary: The Canterbury Tales Continued

For an extra reading from the British unit, I chose to read the Canterbury Tales unit from the The Chaucer Story Book by Eva March Tappan (1908). I really enjoyed the first half of the reading, so I was extremely excited to finish the unit and read some more. The Priest who Learned to be a Philosopher was probably my favorite story from the second half of the unit. I wasn't sure where it was going at first, but I really liked the set-up of a priest that only worked for the dead and who was so super nice and fun that he didn't even have to pay rent! I feel like that would be quite the motivation for college students to be extra nice because rent is by far our biggest expense in most cases! I was so sad when the priest ended up getting tricked so badly! I feel like it's kind of his own fault since he's a priest and he was trying to learn how to do magic. The trickster did go to great lengths to fool him though, so maybe the blame was shared. I always think it's fun to read about tricks and stuff, so this story was right up my alley!

Week 11 Extra Reading Diary: Canterbury Tales

For an extra reading from the British unit, I chose to read the Canterbury Tales unit from the The Chaucer Story Book by Eva March Tappan (1908). Since I had already read the King Arthur stories, I loved that the first story in this unit cited a knight of the round table. It's not surprising since King Arthur is very pervasive and both stories are part of the British unit, but it was still a lot of fun. It was like a crossover episode on tv, which is always a ton of fun. Of the three units I read from the British unit (King Arthur, Robin Hood, and this one) I definitely like the Canterbury Tales the best so far. It could be just because these are told in the most understandable language and are somewhat more modern, but these stories really held my interest and made me want to continue reading even when I had other stuff I could have been doing. I definitely liked the Unknown Bride the best from the first half of the unit because it reminded me of an episode of the BBC show Sherlock for some reason. Maybe it was the title or the way the story was told, but I was just entranced from the first sentence to read the whole story and find out what happens to the knight. I loved that the old wife told the grumpy knight that just because she was poor and old didn't mean she wasn't kind. Although I don't know how nice it is to force a man to marry you in return for saving his life. I feel like she should have just automatically saved his life and wanted nothing in return if she was actually a good person.

King Midas and his ears

Week 12 Reading Diary: Robin Hood Continued

This week I decided to read the Robin Hood unit from The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis James Child (1882-1898). I love that in the story with the Bishop Robin Hood actually fools him with his women's clothing! It seems so far-fetched that that would actually work. I also love that the story even included this because it's such a funny thing now to see movie stars or anyone dressed as another gender, so it's nice to know that it was a popular theme even way back when these ballads were sung! I loved the Maid Marian story because it was just so fun to hear about how awesome Marian was. She and Robin Hood were definitely the real deal, and it's obvious because even Little John was in on the Maid Marian worship. I would definitely want to include some sort of super beautiful awesome Maid Marian type in a storytelling post because she really seems to put everyone in Robin Hood's crew to shame with how much she likes Robin Hood. Robin Hood is such a master of disguise that I kind of can't believe people don't start catching him on it. It seems like he should be smarter by the time the King comes dressed in a disguise, but I guess in this time period how was a person supposed to know what a king or a Robin Hood actually looked like?

Bishop, by L. Rhead

Week 12 Reading Diary: Robin Hood

This week I decided to read the Robin Hood unit from The English and Scottish Popular Ballads by Francis James Child (1882-1898). I decided on this purely because I liked King Arthur so much and because I really liked the Robin Hood cartoon when I was a kid. It was definitely different to read ballads instead of a normal story. I liked being able to kind of make up a tune or read it like poetry, but it did occasionally confuse me. However, I thought it was fairly easy to follow the plot and really understand where the story was going. I had never thought before how much Katniss from The Hunger Games is basically a futuristic Robin Hood, but she definitely is and it's awesome. I wish I could make a storytelling post as awesome as those books and movies! I've never done that much with bows and arrows, but I can see now that the appeal is great. I loved when Robin Hood met Little John because even though things didn't start out great, you could still tell that they admired each other and would totally end up as friends. I like Robin Hood because even though he is a good guy, he's still tricky and likes to have fun, like when he meets Allen a Dale. It's like Robin Hood never stops being a little kid, but in the best way. He's obviously a lot like Peter Pan, especially because they both like the wear a lot of green and have a sort of cult following among young men within their respective stories.

man dressed as Robin Hood, 2006

Week 11 Reading Diary: King Arthur Continued

This week I'm reading King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang. This focus for the second half of the reading was much less on Arthur and much more on Lancelot. I like Galahad and Arthur much better for Lancelot because Lancelot doesn't have the best character in the world. I would not exactly describe him as galant, whereas Arthur and Galahad are really nice and kind and seem to be even better knights for that reason. I didn't really understand the whole Holy Graal thing until I wikipedia searched it. Between that and the Perilous Siege, there's a lot of confusing names of things in these King Arthur stories. Gawaine also seems like a less good knight, but that could be just because I don't like his name as much. Galahad is a really great name. I really liked that Sir Bors had to wear a different sort of garment until he fulfilled his quest. Little quirky stuff like that can really take a story from average to excellent just because I would have never thought of something so different. Everyone should have to wear a scarlet coat until they accomplish something awesome. The end of Arthur was sad, but he more interesting character when he was a young king who had to prove himself anyways. I was more sad when Galahad died because he still seemed like the best knight in the land, so that seemed like a pretty great loss.

Lancelot

Week 11 Reading Diary: King Arthur

This week I'm reading King Arthur: Tales of the Round Table by Andrew Lang. I've really enjoyed reading this, and I can't wait to get to the second half of the reading. Before reading this, I knew many of the stories of King Arthur, but I've gotten a lot of general clarification from reading the actual stories! I especially like trying to figure out and remember who is related to who. Arthur sure seems to have a lot of relatives. When I first start reading something new it's usually hard for me to keep the characters' names and descriptions straight, especially if they have alternate names that they will occasionally go by. This particular difficulty has made reading King Arthur stories especially challenging, but by reading the wikipedia pages and going through each story slowly, I think I'm really starting to get it. Many of the British unit stories sounded really interesting to me, so I may decide to do an extra reading unit this week or next week so that I can read all the stories that appeal to me! My favorite characters in these King Arthur stories so far is definitely Arthur himself. When he started crying because the Knights of the Round Table were going to go off and probably all die it was really touching. I'll have to try and add some crying kings to this week's storytelling post. I also like the villains in these stories because they have almost no motivation and they just seem grumpy and vindictive for no reason, which definitely makes their random acts of evil fun to keep up with!

The Holy Grail Appears at the Round Table

Week 9 Storytelling: The Hope of a Warrior's Mother

There once was a mother with an extremely small son. The mother was worried about her son’s future; she knew that he could never grow up to be a successful warrior unless he became taller and stronger. They lived in a village where the only way for a man to be successful was for him to become a warrior. The mother had heard about a powerful magician who lived in the village next to hers, so she decided to pay the magician a visit.

When the mother told the magician of her small son, the magician said that she had just the thing that would cure this boy of his tiny size forever. “Oh thank you so much! I will do anything you say as long as it will help my son to be a successful warrior one day!” exclaimed the mother.

The magician said, “Tomorrow, send your son to my house. I will be on a trip, so he will need to care for my garden and ensure that everything runs smoothly in my absence. But just be sure that he stays away from the hall closet.”

The mother ran home. She immediately told her son that he should take care of the magician’s plants the next day and to be sure to avoid the hall closet. He agreed, and the next day he arrived at the magician’s home.

There was a note left out that said that the magician would return the following week with detailed instructions for the boy. The boy followed the instructions carefully but with each passing day, he became more and more curious about the hall closet. He listened at the door, peeked underneath, and finally he was so curious that he convinced himself that there was no way that the magician could possibly know whether or not he opened the door.

Closet Door

On the final day of his time within the magician’s home, he pulled the door open and to his surprise, the closet was empty. The boy walked inside, and immediately his entire body started to grow. He felt very strange, and he decided that he should go home immediately and show his mother the evidence of his growth spurt.

As soon as he arrived home, his mother shouted with joy, “Oh, my son! You have finally grown, and now you can be a successful warrior!”

In response to his questioning gaze, his mother explained how she had only sent him to the magician in the hopes that he might grow. The boy was very excited because he had always wanted to become a warrior as well. The boy became one of his village’s most respected warriors, and his story was told for generations. He gave small boys everywhere hope that they might grow one day, but of course, no one knew his secret of how the magician had helped him.

When he had his own small boys, he sent them to the magician with a warning about not opening the hall closet. And one by one, each of his sons became so curious that they too opened the hall closet and grew into a large and powerful warrior.

Bibliography: This story is based on The Legend of the Head of Gold from Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Judson (1913).

Author’s note: The original story featured a father with a lazy son who visited an old woman because he was worried about his lazy son's future. The woman said that she could help. The lazy boy watched over a house and some horses, but he was instructed to stay away from a pot of gold. One of the horses he was watching told him to dip his head in the gold, and then the boy became extremely well respected. 

I wanted to keep some of the same details, especially that the son was ultimately rewarded for going against the instructions he was given. I decided to make it about a boy in a warrior village because I thought that his mother would be equally as worried as the father with the lazy son. Both parents would have no hope for their sons because of the lack of career prospects the sons faced. I also wanted to have a happy ending since sometimes stories with magicians end in trickery that leaves many people unhappy. I had the boy take care of plants instead of horses because I wanted to have the boy break the rules because of his own desires, not because he was following a horse's instructions.

Week 9 Reading Diary: Myths and Legends of the Great Plains Continued

I finished up the second part of Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Judson (1913), and I really enjoyed this second half. I really liked the Legend of the Head of Gold. It was a different kind of story and it was unlike many others that I've read or heard of. It was a bit like Adam and Eve because there was a certain item that the boy in the story was not supposed to mess with, but he did it anyway. However, this story was different because it was good that he was messing with the gold and got a gold head because then he because well-respected because of it.

Before he got the golden head, he was a very lazy person, so I don't really understand where the shift was, expect for being motivated enough to not be too lazy to break a very important rule? I don't really understand the moral of this story besides that laziness is a big problem.

I liked reading all of the native american stories in this unit because the stories really have a purpose, but since they are usually relayed orally, they don't have the same hard-to-understand language as most religious texts. I think it's important to try and learn new things from different cultures so you can get a feel for the morals that guide diverse audiences.

 

Chief Bone Necklace, 1899

Week 9 Reading Diary: Myths and Legends of the Great Plains

This week I read Myths and Legends of the Great Plains by Katharine Judson (1913). I was really excited about getting to read some Native American stories. My favorite from the first half of the reading was the creation story. I always like creation stories because every culture has one and they are all extremely unique even though they have certain things in common at times.

This particular great plains creation story from the Osage (Wazhá zhe group) people featured an elk who helped all the animals live on earth. I really liked that the animals could fly/float. I definitely want to write a story at some point this semester that involves flying. Everyone knows that flying dreams are the best kind, so I want to be sure and bring that fun aspect into a storytelling post.

The elk in the story is totally awesome because everyone trusts him so much. He allows the animals to live in a place that is covered in water and he provides the seeds for plants and vegetables. Obviously, the elk is really important to this culture.

In the Osage (Hoga group) creation story, the animals relied on the crawfish to provide land to live on after a few other animals had drowned. I liked this simple story, but there was no flying involved so that was a slight disappointment.

elk

Future Reading Ideas

I'm really excited for this next unit so I can read  Myths and Legends of the Great Plains. I'm fairly familiar with many different Native American stories, so it will be fun to see if I've read any versions of the stories before.

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Myths and Legends of the Great Plains

After I read the stories of the Great Plain, I'm planning on reading Myths and Legends of Alaska. I really like short stories so I can sample quite a few before I decide which one I liked best and to use for my storytelling post. I once wrote a research paper over Aleut creation myths, so I'm really excited to get back into some Alaska legends!

Time Strategies

I really think Dali's clocks are a great depiction of how time tends to go during the spring semester after spring break. Things get crazy, and time seems to melt away! My biggest goal is just to get things done ahead of time whenever possible, but not so much that my to do list stresses me out more than necessary. My current schedule for this class is going really well. I get ahead when I can, and I keep the general week starting on Monday, which seems to really work for me. My workload is much lighter than usual this semester, but I can still get overwhelmed when I have big assignments in multiple classes all due around the same time. I think getting some things done ahead of time is my best bet for staying motivated and successful. 

Dali's clock

Week 7 Storytelling: Allie, Cali, and Sally

There were once three friends named Allie, Cali, and Sally. They had been living in different states since they graduated college, and now they were on vacation together in a rental house in the Colorado mountains. One day, these friends decided to have a meal together. Allie had a new recipe she was dying to try out, so she said, “Don’t worry, guys; I can stay home and cook today. You two can go shopping and enjoy your day together; I will have dinner ready when you come back!”

Cali and Sally were grateful for Allie’s gesture of kindness, so they thanked her and went to the mall for the day.

Allie began to cook a meatloaf, but she realized that she missed her friends. However, she knew they would be having a great time shopping, so she buckled down and finished cooking the meal for her friends.

When Cali and Sally returned, Sally said to Ali, “We had a lot of fun and bought a lot of new clothes, but I missed getting to talk and have fun with you! What have you cooked for us?”

“Oh, I missed you as well, but I think my new meatloaf recipe is a great one! I’m glad I could cook a meal for us to enjoy together,” Allie said.

Meatloaf

Cali and Sally looked at each other. Cali said, “Oh, Allie, I forgot to tell you that we no longer eat meat! You should still enjoy your meatloaf though. Sally and I can eat cereal!”

The next day, Cali suggested that her two friends go to see a movie while she stayed home and cooked. Allie and Sally saw the high school horror rom-com that was sweeping the nation, and they were excited to tell Cali all about it while eating the meal she had spent all day cooking for them.

When Cali saw her friends walking through the door she said, “Hey guys! I had so much fun cooking macaroni and cheese for you today, and I can’t wait to hear about the high school horror rom-com! I missed you guys while you were gone!”

Macaroni and Cheese

Sally looked a little embarrassed and said, “Oh no, yesterday when I told you that I don’t eat any animal products, I meant dairy and eggs as well; I’m a vegan!”

That night, Allie and Cali ate their mac and cheese while Sally had cereal. The next day was their last day together, and they wanted to visit an art museum.

Technically, it was Sally’s turn to cook for the three of them for their last day, but Allie and Cali didn’t really want to leave her alone all day for their very last day.

“I’ve got an idea!” said Allie. “We can just all three stay home today and cook together! That way we can be sure it’s something that we all want to eat, and no one has to spend the day alone.”

Cali looked at her friends and said, “That’s the best idea I’ve ever heard! Plus I never really understand the art in museums, but I always understand food!”

On their final day together, Allie, Cali, and Sally made a vegetable risotto that they all enjoyed. More importantly, they enjoyed their day together and realized that there was strength in unity.

Risotto

Author's note: I really liked reading The Three Friends: the Monkey, the Dog, and the Carabao, a story from the Philippines. I wanted to keep some of the main aspects, like having three friends cooking for each other. In the original story, there is a monster-like creature, the Buñgisñgis, that tries to steal the food of a monkey, a dog, and a carabao, and the three friends try to outsmart him so they can keep their food. A carabao is a type of water buffalo that is the national animal of Philippines. In this story, each animal stays home in turn to cook, and eventually the Buñgisñgis steals all of their food. Finally, when it is the monkey's turn to cook, he traps the Buñgisñgis. Unfortunately, the dog and carabao are foolish and set the Buñgisñgis free and he attacks them. Eventually, the monkey is able to kill the Buñgisñgis with the help of a boa-constrictor.

I thought that it would be fun to add the twist of having vegetarians and vegans into the story because that perfectly fits my two best friends! One of the messages from the original story is that there is strength in unity, so I wanted to maintain that message. I think it’s really important for friends to spend time together, and cooking is always more fun with more people in the kitchen! When friends no longer live in the same place, some details about their everyday life, like eating habits, can fall through the cracks. That’s why I think it’s important to find strength in unity when you can be with your friends. 

Bibliography: The Three Friends: the Monkey, the Dog, and the Carabao from Filipino Popular Tales from Dean Fansler's monumental Filipino Popular Tales, published in 1921.