Storytelling, Week 13: Too Fast To Care

     In a far away desert, tumbleweeds roll as the wind sweeps across the hills. This desert is especially particular because the cactuses grow taller here than any other place in the world. Maybe this is because of the long rainy season, but no one knows for sure. Now, this desert is full of diverse animals. From the tiniest scorpion to the towering coyote the animals here have learned to coexist in harmony. However, there is one animal in particular that leads his life differently than the rest of the animals, the roadrunner.

     The roadrunner is by far the fastest animal in the desert. This might sound great, but he is quite aware of his skills. Throughout the entire rainy season, the roadrunner spends his days running around the desert at outstanding speed. He does this to show off his quickness and agility. Every day the roadrunner runs across the barren dunes, into the rocky canyons, and back to his home in the brittlebush. Each other animal within the desert rolls their eyes as the roadrunner zooms past them.

     One might ask, why is this a bad thing? Sure, it is a little narcissistic, but who isn't from time to time? However, the change between the wet and dry season is drastic. For many months, there is a long rainy season where the desert brush grows tall and the food is plenty. Soon enough, the rain will stop and the foliage will die. This doesn't happen at a gradual pace, the plants die rather quickly. Some animals even say the bushes die over night. While the roadrunner zips throughout the desert, too fast to care about his future, the other animals gather food and prepare for the brutality of the dry season.

     Eventually, this rainy season ended and, sure enough, the foliage began to die. The poor roadrunner realizes that he does not have any food gathered for the dry season. He approaches a small rock cavern where a kind armadillo lives. The roadrunner figures that since the armadillo is the nicest animal in the desert, he will lend him food for the dry season.

          The roadrunner enters the cavern and shouts, "Hello, my armadillo friend! I have a quick favor to ask of you!" The armadillo awakes from his nap and mumbles to the roadrunner.

          "Is it as quick as your speed you run about everyday?" replies the armadillo.

          The roadrunner laughs, "Not that quick, but I have been busy all rainy season and seem to have forgotten to collect food for the dry season. Can I borrow food for this dry season?"

          The armadillo slowly walks to his food dwelling, but hesitates. "You did not look busy all season. You were too concerned with showing off your speed that you forgot to do what is important. I am sorry, but I will not help you."

          The disgusted roadrunner replies, "Why must I collect food when there is plenty in front of me? I spent the season showing the world my amazing speed. I thought we were friends, no?"

          "Fine, I will lend you some food, but only once. However, there is something you must do for this reward. Since you run so fast forwards, you must run backwards to get food from me." the armadillo says kindly.

          The roadrunner excitedly exclaims, "Run backwards! That sounds easy! Now I can show the desert that I can run fast both forwards and backwards!"

     The roadrunner and armadillo leave the small cavern and walk to a giant bare clearing. The roadrunner shouts, "Ladies and gentlemen, prepare to be amazed!" Animals come from their homes and gather around the two. The roadrunner starts to run backwards, but tramples over his feet and falls. He keeps getting up and trying again, but is unsuccessful. All the animals throughout the desert laugh at him.

     The roadrunner received his food that was fairly earned from the armadillo, but spent the next rainy season gathering for food.

Roadrunner

Author's Note:

     I based my story off of a fable of "The Grasshopper and the Ant" within Aesop (La Fontaine). In the original story the grasshopper spends all summer singing in a tree, while the ant gathers food for winter. When winter comes around the grasshopper is without food so asks the ant for some. The ant questions why he did not spend the summer gathering for food and sang instead. The somewhat narcissistic grasshopper says that his singing is wonderful and forgot to collect food. The ant agrees to give him food as long as he dances. The grasshopper can sing, but not dance so he embarrasses himself. The roadrunner within my story parallel's the grasshopper's demeanor. In the end, the armadillo uses the roadrunner's talents against him by making him run backwards. The roadrunner cannot do this so he embarrasses himself.

Larned, W.T. Fables in Rhyme for Little Folks (1918)

Reading Diary A: Aesop (La Fontaine)

Here a few of my favorite stories within the Aesop (La Fontaine) unit.

First, I really enjoyed that the literature was in poetry and adapted from oral traditional stories. It is interesting that these stories were passed down, then finally written into a story. It is also very fascinating that a lot of these stories correlate to those that were present in other Aesop units. In addition, some of the stories were even present in very different cultures such as India. I liked that all the morals of the stories were in fact puns that are delivered at the end of each poem. It made the readings very entertaining.

Foxes: The Fox has become my favorite character within Aesop's Fables. I enjoy reading about his tricky personality. He uses whit, but in a respectful way, which gives him a very distinctive personality. I enjoyed the story where his whit kind of turns on him in the story of The Cat and the Fox. He is actually driven off of the farm by a group of hound dogs.

Insects: I found it very interesting in how insects are portrayed in contrast to the other animals within Aesop's Fables. The insects shown within this excerpt appear to have "little man's syndrome." They think they are bigger and more powerful then they actually are. For instance, this occurs in both The Dove and the Ant and The Lion and the Gnat. The ant attempts to make a dove a quick meal and stings her in the foot, but she merely just flies off as if nothing happens.

Foxes & Wolves: I enjoyed reading the two stories within this excerpt. The first story of The Wolf and the Fox had an interesting writing style within its poetry. The personality within the writing was very cheery and boastful. I liked the dynamic between the fox and wolf during their encounters. The fox kept his tricky persona, but the wolf is portrayed almost as a scavenger. It is interesting that the two seem to be friends, but the fox still seems to trick him.

The Cat and the Fox

Essay: Complexity of Dialect Within Nursery Rhymes

     The use of words plays a major role in the telling or re-telling of Nursery Rhymes. Many of the stories within the unit consist of proverbs, riddles, paradoxes and even games. The amount of complexity within each of these aspects of storytelling was told and then taught to children. These writings (or sayings) became passed down for generations.

     The riddles were quite interesting if you look deeper into their meaning. For instance, one riddle suggests that the end of the mental puzzle is an egg. However, the riddle even contradicts itself. The riddle first states, "white as milk," which is obvious when looking at an egg. The next line states that the egg's surface is "soft as silk." This contradicts what an average eggshell is portrayed. An eggshell is hard and breaks easily when dropped. Another riddle that was told dealt with a thunderstorm. The storm is described as a male. "He comes roaring up the land." The thunderstorm is parallel to the King of Scots, Arthur O'Bower. It is interesting to compare a thunderstorm to a King.

     Proverbs within the nursery rhymes were fascinating. Each proverb appeared to be a riddle, but ending up becoming a saying. For example, one of the proverbs speaks of the hours of sleep. "Nature requires five, custom takes seven, laziness takes nine, and wickedness takes eleven." The pacing and use of words within the proverb give the message more of an impact.

     The paradoxes within the unit are a perfect example of the complexity of word usage. An example is a paradox that speaks of "I would if I cou'd, If I cou'dn't how cou'd I?" The entire poem contradicts itself to where the meaning is obscure. Another example is the paradox when a person states where they should be. "O that I was where I would be, then would I be where I am not!" The complexity within the writing confuses the reader, but also the paradox makes sense. It is almost as if it is chaotic writing that somehow fits together like a puzzle. 

Riddle of Thunderstorm

Storytelling, Week 12: Waking Oaks

     It was an ominous saturday evening. Clouds slowly drifted past the full moon as wolves howled in the distance. The walk to Waking Oaks graveyard was nearly a mile off of Burns highway. Waking Oaks graveyard hasn't been used as a burial since the early 1900s. These days it is just a place where the older kids hang out, drink, or do drugs. There are a few ghost stories that are told about this old graveyard. One in particular is Little Jumping Joan. Her life ended in October of 1882. Everyday she would come home from school jumping and singing with glee. However, one day she never came home. Her body was found a few miles in a forest off of Burns road near Waking Oaks actually.

     A few older kids said they saw her walking around the forest near the graveyard, but only if you summon her. Being twelve years old I even thought this was complete bullshit. So I grabbed two of my friends and we decided to walk to Waking Oaks and try to see little jumping Joan. The walk to Waking Oaks was long, but we saw a white owl perching on a branch, which was great. I had never seen one in the wild before.

     Finally, we reached Waking Oaks graveyard. The entrance had an iron archway that was overgrown with vines and dead kudzu. We slowly walked around the graveyard to make sure there weren't any older gothic kids, but we were luckily alone. Most of the trees within Waking Oaks were almost dead. It is no exaggeration that every tree had multiple crows on its branches.

     We read a few of the gravestones and some of them date back to the early 1800s. I think the earliest one we saw was being from 1819. Many of the gravestones had candles and bizarre marks drawn on them to where the creepy gothic kids would attempt to have seances. I wonder if that actually works, but I wouldn't want to be around if it does.

     We finally found it, the gravestone of little jumping Joan. To be more respectful, her real name is Joan Clark. The grave stone read, "Our Dearest Daughter - Born 1876 : Died 1882." The grave gave us all the creeps to be honest. The three of us knew what to do next. The tradition is to stand in a circle in front of her grave and sing a song three times. Each time you sing the song it is supposed to be louder than the last. Kind of like "Bloody Mary," but inside a graveyard instead in front of a mirror.

     The three of us joined hands and began to sing the song softly:

                 Here am I, little jumping Joan
                 HERE am I, little jumping Joan.
                 When nobody's with me,
                  I am always alone.

     After the first time we sang the chant the wind started to pick up. I thought this was a little weird, but we continued to sing the song a second time. We sang louder this time. The wind began to blow even faster. Finally, we shouted the song a third time at the top of our lungs. Thunder and lightning crashed around us halfway through the third tune. We all looked at each other terrified, but never stopped singing. We sang the last line the loudest. Suddenly...nothing.

     The wind, thunder, and lightning stopped. Actually, there was no noise at all. There was only silence. A silence I have never heard before. I couldn't even hear myself breathing. A few moments passed and we heard a faint sound of a young voice singing among the trees. The singing was quiet and eerie. It gave me chills to my core. The three of us looked into the trees to see who was singing. It was probably the older kids trying to scare us.

     We turned back to the grave of little jumping Joan. A small bloody girl dressed in a school outfit sat on her grave.

     "Have you come to jump and sing with me?" Joan asked quietly.

All of our eyes widened in fear. The three of us ran out of Waking Oaks screaming. I don't know where my two friends ran off to because of the terror. I continued to run down Burns road all the way home. Lets just say, I didn't leave my bedroom or sleep for days.

Graveyard

Author's Note:

For the unit this week I read Nursery Rhymes. I chose to use the paradox of the "Little Jumping Joan" as the reference to the readings. I don't know why I decided to make it a horror story within a graveyard. I haven't written a story that was meant to be scary yet so I figured that I would give that a try. I decided to make the paradox a song, which the three young kids sang in the graveyard. I just thought that the original paradox/poem could be used in a creepy way if it was sung.

Lang, Andrew. The Nursery Rhyme Book Book (1897)

Reading Diary A: Nursery Rhymes

Here are a few of my favorite stories from Nursery Rhymes.

Proverbs: I found it really interesting to read the proverbs. It amazes me how proverbs or sayings have changed so drastically over time. For instance there is one in the unit: "a sunshiny shower, won't last more than an hour." My grandmother used to tell me one that was similar, but dealt with the clouds in the sky. I wish I could remember it.

Riddles: I really enjoyed the excerpt with the riddles. I remember when I was younger and my grandmother used to tell me riddles. Even though they weren't as complex as these, at least I thought so, but it is interesting to see that this might have been their origin. It was interesting to see all the diverse words used to describe one object. For instance, an egg is described as soft, but has a stronghold.

Paradoxes: I liked reading all the paradoxes. It was interesting that they were all expressed through poetry. This made it more difficult, but also more intriguing to read. The perfect example is the paradox describing "I would if I cou'd, if I cou'dnt, how cou'd I?" (and so on). I thought that it was really cool how confusing the poetry was, but at the same time it made sense.

Games: My favorite reading from this unit was learning about the games. It was interesting to read about all these different type of games. I liked that the games didn't just have standard rules. The rules were expressed through rhyme and poetry. All this reminded me of "ring around the rosie."

Proverb

Storytelling, Week 11: Owen's Farm

     Many miles off of Arkansas' highway fifty-five is a small town named Rockton. Many miles from the main street of Rockton is Owen's Farm. Owen's Farm is a place where horses gallop around the grassy plains, chickens lay their eggs in a nice wooden coop, pigs wrestle in their muddy pens, and cows eat the thick green grass that grows on the west end of the farm. The daytime life on Owen's Farm is exciting and full of cheer. However, as soon as the sun sets beyond the horizon the dynamic of Owen's Farm changes.

     Each summer night, three pairs of ominous yellow eyes watch from the forest as the farm animals retreat into their nightly hiding places. These pairs of eyes belong to a group of three coyote brothers. These brothers have been watching Owen's Farm since the first leaf sprouted in spring. In the past, they have successfully taken chicken and pigs in the night back to their forest den. However, their goal now is to hunt the sheep.

     Months ago when the coyotes arrived Farmer Owen reinforced all the fencing around the pens, but the coyotes noticed a weak spot. There is a small hole in the fence of the sheep's field big enough for the coyotes to squeeze through. For days the predators have watched the sheep's behavior and each night the sheep would huddle into circles of four.

     This night, the coyotes decide to finally hunt for their prize. The three brothers slowly enter the field and choose a group of four sheep. The coyotes jump from the grass and scare the group, however, only one sheep runs from the group. The coyotes catch this poor sheep and drag it into the forest. With only three sheep left, they become nervous of the predators. The coyotes return and do their same trick and, like last time, one sheep runs from the group. The coyotes catch the second poor sheep and drag it into the forest.

     The coyotes return and glance at the two sheep shaking timidly under the moonlight. Once again, the coyotes jump from the grass and scare the sheep. One sheep runs across the field until the coyotes catch it and drag the poor animal into the forest. Finally, the coyotes return for the last sheep. However, they cannot find the last sheep. They search the entire field until they see the sheep shaking with fear in front of a corner of the fence. The coyotes smile and pounce on the helpless sheep.

"Divide and conquer."

Sheep

Author's Note:

     I wrote this story as an adaption from a story within Aesop's Fables: Lions. The story I chose to base my storytelling post off of was The Lion and the Bulls. In the original version, a lion hunts bulls by extracting one away from the other. Finally, the lion has successfully hunted all the bulls. I chose to use coyote and sheep to give the story a much more "farm" setting. I liked the moral of the original story in that "divide and conquer" usually succeeds.

Fables and Satires

Brooke Boothby (1809)

   

Reading Diary A: English Aesop

Here a few of my favorite stories from English Aesop.

Fables About People: I liked the story Esop at Play. I thought it was really cool that this story was about Aesop himself. I have not read (or at least I don't remember) a fable about Aesop as a person. I thought the amount of symbolism within the poem was great. I liked how the bow symbolized that people need to take time and relax by watching the world around them.

Apes: I thought the story of An Ape and her Two Brats was very interesting. However, the ending was so depressing, but the story did deliver a good message. An ape mother has two children and adores one. She doesn't care for the other. So when she runs away from something she tucks the loved baby under her arm and the one she doesn't care for on her shoulders. However, the one the cares for gets its head banged into a rock and dies, while the un-loved one is safe and sound. I took the message as don't make things your favorite or at least show favoritism.

Foxes: I really enjoyed the story of The Fox and the Stork. The fox has turned into my favorite character within Aesop fables (both from this unit and units prior). I like reading of the witty and trickster personality of the fox. I enjoyed this story because someone actually out-smarts the fox. The stork (of all animals) learns of the foxes trickery and uses it against him. Therefore, the fox has to watch the stork eat as he starves.

Lions: I liked the story of The Lion and the Bulls. I enjoyed how the bulls tried to unite together, but eventually they fell prey to the Lion's cleverness. I thought it was interesting that the comment within the unTextbook said the phrase, "divide and conquer," because that is the exact strategy the lion used to extract the bulls away from each other. I liked how the lion was portrayed as a smart, but terrifying character and not boastful (as a lion is usually portrayed in fables).

Aesop: Foxes