Wikipedia Trail: From The Temple of Doom to Veto

This week I noticed a little blurb that included something about the Temple of Doom on the announcements page so I started here.

Wikipedia

From here I clicked on a link that led me to a page on Steven Spielberg. Scrolling through his page, I clicked on a link to Saratoga, California. Closer to the middle of the page I found a link to Veto. I clicked on this because it reminded me of the veto that just occurred in the government this week.

Reading Notes: Nigeria Part B

The Lightning and the Thunder by Elphistone Dayrell: This story is about how the lightening and thunder came to be a part of the sky. Originally they were here on earth. Thunder was lightening's mother and when lightening would act up and burn things down, thunder would rebuke him. Lightening could not control himself so they were both banished to the sky. I liked this story a lot and if I were to retell it I would maybe try to change the elements and do wind or rain just to change things up.

Lightening wikimedia

Why the Moon Waxes and Wanes by Elhpistone Dayrell: In this story the moon is a round and jolly creation. She comes down to feed a poor old starving woman and in return she cannot give as much light as before. The people are angry that she is not giving off light and scare her back into the sky. From that time forward, she goes from being round and plump and giving lots of light to being very skinny just like when she would feed the old woman. If I were to choose this story I think I would try to give a happier ending where the people appreciated what the moon was doing, or maybe change it altogether and make up a story of how the sun came to be so bright because the moon was unable to do the job during the night. 

Reading Notes: Nigeria Part A

Why the Bat Flies at Night by Elphinstone Dayrell: This story was very interesting and one of my favorites this week. It is the telling of how the bat came to be nocturnal. He had told his friend, the rat, how to make soup especially delicious: by boiling himself in the water. When the rat tries to do the same, he dies. As a result everyone tries to catch the bat, but he hides in his bush and only comes out at night. I enjoy tales where the end comes to a conclusion about something that is true of that animal...like how the bat has to now hide and that is why he is nocturnal. This is a very tragic story because the bat had no intention of killing the rat, but it makes for an interesting story.

Why a Hawk Kills Chickens by Elphinstone Dayrell: This story was pretty gruesome and tragic as well, but it is another story that explains animal behavior so I chose to write notes on it. Basically the hawk is able to kill the chickens because once upon a time the chicken that was marrying a hawk was too poor to pay her dowry to him. As a result, the king said that the hawk could kill any chicken and have no consequences. I like that these Nigerian stories are used to explain things that we see animals do today. I also see the trend that their stories are a bit brutal and sad. 

Hawk Wikimedia

Reading Notes: Bidpai Part B

The Hare, the Fox, and the Wolf by Maude Barrows Dutton: This story is not the usual animal fable that sends a direct message. The hare outwits the wolf by saying that he can get him a better meal. He leads him to the fox and tells the fox that someone is wanting to meet him. The fox is too smart and knows its a trap so he sets his own to catch the wolf. When the wolf and the hare enter, they are trapped and the wolf devours the hare. I like that this story has somewhat of a twist and that the fox outwits the other animals. I feel like a lot of the time, the fox thinks he is being cunning, but then ends up in trouble. If I were to use this story I think I would change it so that the fox is much more cynical and narcissistic and believes the hare and falls victim to the wolf. 

Wolf Wikimedia

The Crane and the Crab by Maude Barrows Dutton: I chose to write about this story because I have yet to read an animal story that includes the crab. I was unsure how this animal would be portrayed. I like the idea that the crane was trying to use his wit and manipulation techniques to survive...I think this could be a very interesting retelling. If I were to chose this story, I would use people and show them that greed and manipulation will not lead to anything good. 

Reading Notes: Bidpai Part A

The Rustic and the Nightingale by Maude Barrows Dutton: This story presents the message of mercy and forgiveness. The two characters are a Rustic and a nightingale. The Rustic takes much time and resources out of his day to care for his plants. He notices that a nightingale has been pestering his rose tree. She has been pecking at the petals and causing them to fall to the ground. The Rustic captures her. She asks him to show mercy and kindness because she does not believe her crime is worthy of her punishment. The man obliges and in return he is rewarded with the knowledge that there is a pot of gold hidden under the earth. This represents the message of "do unto others as you wish they would do unto you." It also embodies the idea of karma and the effect it can have on your life.

Nightingale blogspot

The Two Travelers by Maude Barrows Dutton: This story represents the two paths you can take in life: the safe one and the dangerous one. One man decides to take the safe one while the other decides to attempt the challenge in order to possibly be led to something great. It is so easy for us to always take the easy and predictable path. What we often do not realize is that sometimes the harder path is the one that will lead us to great things...after all anything is possible if you just believe. 

Wikipedia Trail: From the Santal People to the Andamanese People

For this weeks wikipedia trail I started with a search over the Santal People. I read their folktales and retold one of their stories earlier this week so I was interested in learning a little bit more about where they come from and what is important in their culture. I next clicked on a link to Tribal Religions in India. I thought this would be interesting because I am very interested in religion. I find it interesting because there are so many different kinds and traditions that also coincide with the specific culture. I then found myself clicking on a link to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. I absolutely love the ocean and learning about different islands. I especially like learning about far off islands that I have never heard of before. Lastly, I clicked on a link to the Andamanese People. I thought it would be cool to have started my trail with a specific culture of people and end my trail with a different group of people. I wanted to learn more about these islands and what the type of culture and traditions these people have passed down.

Andaman Island Wikipedia

Feedback Focus: 3 Strategies

This week’s feedback was concentrated on actually reading the stories and using strategies to help focus on each story. I started with the reading out loud strategy. I found that simply reading them out loud was not effective for me because I ended up going too fast and not emphasizing all of the story. When I noticed this, I asked my roommate if I could read the story to her. As a result, I realized that I was able to focus a lot easier on the story. I was also able to understand the dialogue a lot better and it made the story a lot more fun to read. I think this strategy will be really helpful when I need extra focus on a topic or story because it is like I am telling someone else about it. Secondly, I used the copy-and-delete strategy. This is actually something I use a lot, especially when reading long chapters in my textbooks or long articles for class. It is a total mind trick for me and it makes me feel like I am making more progress than I probably am. This is my favorite technique when I am trying to get through a story or article at a quicker speed than normal. It doesn’t take as long as reading out loud so I think it is something I will definitely continue to use in the future. Lastly, I used the time strategy. This was my least favorite out of the three. The timer stressed me out and I was too focused on trying to read the story at a good speed and it was harder for me to focus on what I was reading. I don’t think I will use this strategy in the future because it ended up taking me a lot longer than it should have and I was not able to fully focus on the story because I was mentally watching the timer count down in my head.

Clock timer Pixbay

Story: The Tiger and the Cow

The wild is a peculiar place. You may hear stories of animals fighting over a place to graze or the leftovers of an animal carcass. You may hear stories of fights over dominance at the watering hole. You may even hear stories of boys finding their ways into the jungles and being raised by wolves or gorillas. But you probably do not hear many stories about herbivores and carnivores defending each other and defying the laws of the land. This is a story about my mother’s best friend who did just that.

When my mom was a little calf she became friends with a tiger cub. As they grew older, my grandma told my mother it was best if she strayed from this friendship and made friends of her own kind. My mother was stubborn and appreciated the good friendship she had with the tiger. The two remained friends throughout their adolescence and even into adulthood. They did a lot of things together and had a very special bond. Every day they would go to where the grass was the greenest so that my mother could eat the best grass in the land. The tiger would protect my mother and scare off the other animals who were trying to invade her space.  When my mother was finished, the tiger would leave to go feed on her own; grass was not on the tiger’s list of desirable foods. The friends continued in this fashion for many years together.

This is where I come into the story! Not much time had passed when both my mom and the tiger became pregnant. The tiger cub, who I call T, and me were born around the same time and my mom and the tiger agreed that they would raise us together as friends. 

                                               

         Baby calf Wikimedia                                                                           Tiger cub Wikimedia

The tiger was able to keep me and my mom safe from predators during the night and in return my mom would keep the tiger and her cub, my best friend, safe during the day so that the mama tiger could bask in the sun. I had so much fun growing up with a tiger as my best friend! Tag was our favorite game, although T seemed to win every time. We were happy and did not think anything was unusual about our friendship. Unfortunately, the other tigers in the area did not share these thoughts.

Apparently, the tigers living just outside the land we lived in did not agree with my mom and Mrs. T’s friendship. They thought it was wrong that they were such good friends and that my mother and I would make a great meal that could feed the tigers for at least a week. Mrs. T tried to hold them off for a long time, but their leader decided he no longer wanted to ignore our unconventional friendship.

One day, my mother and I were grazing in our field and T and her mom had gone to hunt. After a few minutes we could feel that something was not right… It felt like someone was watching us. Turns out we were correct. The tiger leader was staring straight at my mother and me and when we saw this we took off running. The tiger leader started to chase us and we could sense that he was really gaining on our tails. Then, out of nowhere Mrs. T pounced on the leader tiger and took him down! She gave him a good beating and told him that if he ever tried to harm us again, he would never return back to his tiger followers. In return T and her mother agreed that they would no longer be welcome in the eyes of the tigers. I was amazed that they had done this for us, but my mother reassured me that friendship and love are much stronger than anything else in the world and that I was incredibly lucky to have this unique and extraordinary family.  

Authors note: The original story is The Tiger Cub and the Calf, by Cecil Henry Bompas. In this story, the tiger and the calf grow up together and have children. They are friends until one day the tiger gets a taste of what the cow tastes like after drinking after her at the watering hole. The cow senses that she is going to be killed by the tiger and tells her calf that she is about to die. After the tiger kills the calf’s mother, the baby calf and the baby tiger decide to run away together and are never to been seen from again. I was not a fan of the ending of this story, so I decided to change it and make the tiger loyal to the cow and defend her in times of trouble.

Reading Notes: Santal Folklore, Part B

The Brave Jackal by Cecil Henry Bompas: I decided to do notes on this story because I had to read it a few times before I understood what was going on. I am still not quite sure is happening at the end of the story. The writing was confusing to me at first because the author uses words like "he-goat" and "my sisters son" instead of our normal colloquial language. In the story the goat is hiding in the leopards cave and scares him away. The leopard finds the jackal and they go back to the cave together. When they get back they see the goat and run away yet again. In the process, the jackals hair is scraped off. It reminded me of the phrase "he jumped out of his skin." I think it would be interesting to retell this story in a more detailed manner and also add more dialogue between the characters, especially at the end.

The Elephant and the Ants by Cecil Henry Bompas: I really liked this story because at the end it referenced The Creator (which to me means God) and the fact that He chose to make things in their own unique way. I have yet to read a folklore story that does this is such a direct manner. I liked this story because I like the thought of the small man coming together with his friends to defeat the big man. I think it could have a very interesting retelling and there are a lot of ways in which to change the story, but also keep the same important message.

                                             

Colony of ants Pixbay                                                                          Big elephant Pixbay