Wikipedia Trail: From Osiris to Bone Tools

For my Wikipedia trail, I started out with Osiris, the Egyptian god of the afterlife.  I wanted to start out with this topic because it was a character that I came across in someone's story and it really caught my interest as something that I wanted to look into further.  In this article I found that he was not only known as the god of the afterlife but he was also seen as a merciful judge that granted life by providing vegetation and the flooding of the Nile River.  I decided to click on Nile River as my next link.

In the article about the Nile River, it mostly talked about where it flows and its tributaries, however id did mention that it has been the lifeline of the Egyptian people since the Stone Age.  Curious as to what the Stone Age might have been like for the Egyptians, that was my next link. 

To my surprise, the Stone Age article gave a very wide definition of what it was.   This article simply described it as a prehistoric period where stone was used to implements with an edge. The period lasted about 3.4 million years.  The Stone Age was then followed by the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age.  During the Stone Age the article mentioned that "bone tools" were used and I was curious to what that meant so I clicked to find out.

Well, turns out a bone tool is simply just a tool that is made from bone.  Kind of unexciting.  However, some of the oldest bone tools that have been found are 1.5 million years old and come from African descent. 

Osiris- god of the afterlife.  Web Source. 

Tech Tip: Online Typing Test

This week for my tech tip I decided to take a couple different online typing tests.  The first test I took was from the website Key Hero, and the second test I took was from a site called Typing Test.  Both tests were similar in that it gave you a chunk of text to read/copy into a separate text box.  I personally liked the second website better because not only did I get to pick what text I copied (I picked a chunk from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" but you also only typed for 60 seconds whereas the first website you just kept typing until you got through the text.  According to both websites I am right in the middle of the typing scale as "fluent". Maybe I should work on my typing??

Colored Fingers. Web Source. 

Week 7 Story: Brer Rabbit and the Tar-Baby

One day Mr. Fox decided he wanted to play a trick on Brer Rabbit.  Mr. Fox went to the market and bought a large tub of the sweetest and stickiest molasses he could find.  He then went to a path that Brer Rabbit frequents often and constructed a Tar-Baby made from molasses.  Admiring his work, Mr. Fox retreated to the bushes to watch and wait for Brer Rabbit to come by. 

It didn't take long for Brer Rabbit to come along on his way. Brer Rabbit could smell the sweet molasses from down the road and was immediately intrigued by the Tar-Baby.  Coming nearer, Brer Rabbit saw that the Tar-Baby was indeed sweet, delicious molasses and he was tempted to taste a bite.  Brer Rabbit knew he shouldn't touch the Tar-Baby as he didn't know who he belonged to, but he couldn't help himself and decided one tiny bite couldn't hurt.  Sticking out his tongue he licked the Tar-Baby, however when he tried to pull away, he found himself stuck! The wolf jumped out of the bushes and burst out in laughter at the stuck Brer Rabbit.  "I've got you again Brer Rabbit!" exclaimed Mr. Fox.  "Have fun getting yourself out of this one!".  

Some say that Mr. Bear came along and helped Brer Rabbit free himself from the molasses prison, and others say he didn't.  

Mr. Fox constructing Tar-Baby. Web Source. 

Authors note: The original story is written in the dialect of Uncle Remus, so the first big change I made was simply telling the story in normal dialect from a narrators point of view.  This makes it much easier to read and understand.  I didn't want to change the story too much because it is a very famous and classic story, however in the original text Mr. Fox makes the tar baby from turpentine and Brer Rabbit ends up stuck in it after getting angry that the tar baby would not talk back to him.  I wanted to take the anger out of it and switched the tar baby to being made out of yummy  molasses that Brer Rabbit couldn't resist.  I decided to leave the ending up to reader's imagination like the original text. 

Bibliography:  The Wonderful Tar Baby from Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings by Joel Chandler Harris.

Reading Notes: Brer Rabbit, Part B

Part B consisted of more stories about Brer Rabbit and other various characters.  These tales were entitled, Mr. Fox and the Deceitful Frogs, Old Mr. Rabbit- He's a Good Fisherman, Mr. Rabbit Meets His Match Again, A Story about the Little Rabbits, Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Bear, Mr. Terrapin Shows His Strength, The Story of the Deluge, and Plantation Proverbs.

Something really unique about the Brer Rabbit Stories is that they are told in dialect from "Uncle Remus".  They are difficult to read on their own because of the dialect so it is important to either read them out loud, or listen to the recordings that are offered! For Part B, I chose the listening option and the story I enjoyed the most was Mr. Fox and the Deceitful Frogs.

In the story Mr. Fox is tricked into the pond where the frogs live and almost drowns but manages to escape.  I enjoyed it because the last story that I wrote about in Part A, Mr. Fox was doing the tricking, so it was fun to see him getting a taste of his own medicine.

Mr. Fox almost drowning. Web Source. 

Bibliography: Mr. Fox and the Deceitful Frogs from Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings written by Joel Chandler Harris.

Reading Notes: Brer Rabbit, Part A

I was excited to see Brer Rabbit as an option for the reading this week because I grew up with this tale! My parents used to read it to me all the time and I remember enjoying it very much as a child.  I was surprised however to see it under the "African Tales" origin.  I did not know that this story comes from African history. 

Part A consisted of 8 parts including Brer Rabbit and the Calamus Root, The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story, Why Mr. Possum Loves Peace, How Mr. Rabbit was too Sharp for Mr. Fox, Mr. Fox is "Outdone" by Mr. Buzzard, Mr. Wolf Makes a Failure, Mr. Fox Tackles Old Man Tarrypin, and finally The Awful Fate of Mr. Wolf.

The tale that I could see myself retelling this week would be The Wonderful Tar-Baby Story.  I like this story because it one of the specific stories that I really remember as a child.  It turns out that is is also the most famous of the Brer Rabbit stories so that makes sense as to why its the one I remember the most. 

In the story, Mr. Fox creates a tar baby from "turkentime" a sticky substance resembling tar.  Mr. Fox then hides and waits for Brer Rabbit to come along.  Eventually, Brer rabbit comes along and tries to talk to the tar baby, and of course the tar baby doesn't respond because it is made of tar.  Brer Rabbit becomes frustrated and ends up punching the tar baby and getting stuck in the tar.  Mr. Fox comes out from the bushes and laughs and the story ends with the narrator saying some say that the Judge came and freed Brer Rabbit and others say he didn't.

I am excited about potentially retelling this story, as it brought up sweet memories from my childhood!

Brer Rabbit and the Tar-Baby. Web Source. 

Bibliography: The Wonderful Tar Baby from Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings by Joel Chandler Harris.

Week 6 Story: The Ungrateful Mother

Once there was a Brahman who lived with his wife and mother.  It is traditional in the Indian culture that the son continues to take care of his mother into old age.  However, the Brahman's mother was a real witch and made life unpleasant for The Brahman and his wife. 

One day as the mother was out on a walk cursing to herself about daily inconveniences, Sarita a friendly nature dwelling ghost came to her.  Sarita asked why the mother was so unhappy and the mother just continued to complain.  Sarita saw that the mother was ungrateful for her son and daughter-in-law and took the mother in law and locked her up in her woodland house.  Sarita then dressed like the mother and made her way to the Brahman's house.

At the Brahman's house Sarita was a completely new version of the mother.  She helped around the house, thanked the Brahman and the daughter-in-law, and was pleasant to be around.  Both the Brahman and his wife were relived with the mothers new change of character.  However, after some time the wife started to notice strange things about the mother.  She was able to do things more quickly than a woman her age should be able to do, and she would stay up all hours of the night.

One day the Brahman saw his mother swimming and singing in the nearby pond and he knew he had to confront her, because all of her life she has never been able to swim.  The Brahman asked his mother who she was and Sarita confessed saying that she came across his real mother in the woods and was burdened with her negativity and wanted to make life better for both him and his wife.  The Brahman, thanked Sarita but said that as nice as its been to have her pleasant spirit around, that he must have his real mother back.  Sarita agreed to let his mother go if as long as she promised to change her attitude towards life and be thankful for her son and daughter-in-law. 

Back in the woods Sarita took The Brahman to his mother who was quite afraid.  The Brahman told his mother that Sarita has agreed to let her go as long as she changes her outlook on life.  The mother, willing to do anything to be free once again agreed and was let go by Sarita.

Back at their house the mother became much happier, helped with chores and made life pleasant for the Brahman and his wife just like Sarita had done.  They all lived happily together for quite some time. 

My character Sarita, the friendly woodland ghost. Web Source. 

Author's note: In the original tale entitled The Ghostly Wife, the wife of the Brahman is replaced by am evil ghost.  At first neither the Brahman or his mother know what has happened but eventually the mother notices the wife doing strange things such as sticking her limbs through walls and into fires.  The mother and Brahman call upon and exorcist who burns turmeric and expels the ghost from the wife's form.  The ghost takes them to where she has thrown the wife into a hole and they rescue her short from death.  After recovery, the Brahmam, his wife, and his mother live happily ever after.  I changed the story to have the mother be the one replaced and I also reversed the roles of the evil ghost and nice wife- to having the ghost actually be a friendly ghost and the mother being evil.  I used a name generator to come up with the name of Sarita. 

Bibliography: The Ghostly Wife from Folktales of Bengal written by Rev. Lal Behari Day.

Reading Notes: Bengal, Part B

Reading B of Bengal was just as enjoyable to read as Part A.  The folk tales in Part B consisted of The Ghostly Wife, The Story of Brahmadaitya, The Origin of Rubies, The Ghost who was Afraid of being Bagged, and The Bald Wife. 

My favorite of these tales was The Ghostly Wife.  This tale was very much like The Brahmin-Ghost that I wrote about from Part A.  However The Ghostly Wife had some significant differences that I found enjoyable. 

In the The Ghostly Wife, the wife of the Brahman is thrown into a pit by a woman ghost and the woman ghost takes her place. 

At first the Brahman and his mother don't notice any differences but eventually the mother starts to notice the wife doing strange things such as doing chores too quickly and sticking her limbs through walls to deliver objects to her. 

After the mother caught the wife with her foot in a fire she knew she had to be a ghost so called upon and exorcist.  The exorcist burned turmeric and immediately the ghost came forward and confessed telling them where they could find the real wife.  The real wife was rescued and they loved happily ever after. 

I thought this story was interesting because in The Brahman- Ghost story no one knew that he had been replaced by a ghost and even when he tried to tell people they did not believe him.  In this story I liked that they mother began to pick up on that the wife had been replaced by a ghost. 

The Ghostly Wife. Web Source. 

Bibliography: The Folktales of Bengal by Rev. Lal Behari Day.

Reading Notes: Bengal, Part A

The stories in Part A of Bengal were really fun to read.  My favorite story out of the few was The Ghost-Brahman.  In this story there is a poor Brahman who was having trouble getting married.  He begged for money and that he may find a wife.  He eventually succeeded in scraping together enough money to pay for the wedding and was married.

After bringing his wife home he realized that he had no money to support her, or his mother so he went to distant countries to collect money.

That night, after he left a ghost that appeared to be Brahman appeared to his wife and his wife wondered how he had returned so soon.  The ghost told the wife that he had already gotten money and continued to live with them, controlling the household.  After some years, the real Brahman returned and was confused to find another like him in the house. The ghost treated the real Brahman as a stranger and asked what his business was.  The real Brahman, angered, said the same thing to the ghost.  The real Brahman was cast away and did not know what to do.

He went to king after king and no one thought he was the real Brahman. The Brahman who weeped every day as a result was noticed by the cowboys.  The coyboy king wished to see him and the Brahman told him his sad story.  The coyboy king agreed to help him and brought both the real Brahman and ghost Brahman together.

He told them whichever could get themselves into a tiny phial would be declared the owner of the household.  The ghost quickly made himself into a small creature and put himself inside the phial.  The king put the lid on the phial to where the ghost could not get out and told the real Brahman to throw the phial to the bottom of the sea and to go back to his mother and wife.  The Brahman lived happily ever after and had many sons and daughters.

I really enjoyed this story and the trickery at the end was very clever.  I could see myself retelling this story later in the week!

The Brahman with his mother and wife. Web Source. 

Bibliography: The Brahman-Ghost from The Folktales of Bengal by Rev. Lal Behari Day.  

Week 5 Story: Sinbad's Second Voyage

My second voyage started out good, but I should've known it wouldn't last.  After sailing for 3 days we came to an island to rest.  Bountiful with lush greens and flowers, there seemed to be no human life.  Overtook by it's beauty I began to explore the island.  Unfortunately, seeming as though I was overtaken by the beautiful scenery, I wandered too far and lost my way.  After many hours I finally made to the top of a hill where I could overlook the island and see where I was.  What I saw was very disheartening.

Sailing away in the ocean was my ship, along with my crew. How could they forget about me? I tried to cry out to them but it was no use, they were gone.  Unsure of what to do next I sat down with my head in my hands.  Next thing I know I am being picked up off the ground and hoisted into the air by what seems to be ginormous claw.  I looked up, and sure enough I was being carried away by a giant eagle to my death.  I thought about throwing myself into the sky to plummet to my fate, but before I could do so, the eagle dropped me into its big next and flew away. 

In the nest was a giant egg that could easily crush me.  Great, I am going to be baby food when this egg hatches I thought.  However, relieved that the mother eagle was gone momentarily I sat down leaning against the egg trying to formulate a plan.

Not soon after I pressed my back up against the egg, the egg pushed back! Oh no, it's already happening I thought to myself.  The egg began to shake some more and begin to crack open revealing a baby chick inside.  New with life, the baby chick stretched out of its broken shell and rubbed its fuzzy head against me.  To my surprise this was the cutest, sweetest chick I'd ever seen!

Usually baby chicks can't fly until they are at least a few months old, but this chick magically stretched out its wings and flew out into the sky and circled right back to the nest landing next to me.  If only I could get it to carry me down from this nest and into that nearby valley before I have to deal with the wrath of the mother eagle.  The starts must have been in line for me that day because no later that that thought popped into my head that the baby bird scooped me up by my turban, flew me down out of the nest and to the nearby valley and set me softly on the ground and then flew away. 

To my relief, I was greeted by a group of travelers who were also on the island trying to collect great riches.  I explained to them my misfortunes and they agreed to let me travel with them back to Bagdad. 

Me being whisked away by mother eagle. 

Author's note: Inspired by the original second voyage from The Voyages of Sinbad by Andrew Lang, I put my own personal twist on what took place.  In Lang's version, Sinbad falls asleep on the island and wakes up to see that his ship and crew are gone.  While he is walking the island trying to figure out what he will do next, he finds a giant fuzzy white object that turns out to be an egg from a giant roc.  At nightfall the roc settles upon the egg and Sinbad attaches his turban to the roc's foot in hopes that it will carry him away to somewhere with humans in the morning.  His plan succeeds and in the morning he is carried away by the eagle.  

Reading Notes: The Voyages of Sinbad, Part B

The second half of The Voyages of Sinbad was almost the exact same as the first.  Sinbad continued to go on voyages where he encountered near death experiences, made it home safely, and then got bored and decided to go on another voyage.  I thought the second half was very repetitive and a little boring.  After his sixth voyage he made it a point to go on no more because of his age but alas, he went on a seventh when the commander asked him to deliver a letter to the King of Serendib in return for his friendship.  Sinbad carried out the task, again merely escaping death and finally returned home to never travel again and live with all of his riches.

Sinbad on his 5th voyage.  Web Source. 

Reading Notes: The Voyages of Sinbad, Part A

I chose to read The Voyages of Sinbad for my reading this week because in the description it said that it was much like The Odyssey, which I read last week and quite enjoyed.  It also read that many inspirations for The Voyages of Sinbad came from the The Odyssey and that was not an exaggeration! I was shocked at how similar many of the stories were between the two readings.  Much like The Odyssey, in The Voyages of Sinbad, Sinbad the main character is a merchant that loves to travel the world and collect great treasures.  Throughout this reading, Sinbad goes on 4 voyages, all of which have almost deathly encounters.  The voyage that resembled The Odyssey the most was Voyage 3, which involved a giant that held Sinbad and his companions hostage and ate them slowly.  They merely escaped by stabbing him in the eye with boiling rods in his slumber and fled the island on makeshift rafts that they had made from driftwood.  This is almost identical to a situation that Odysseus occurred during his journey home.  Part A of this reading was very exciting and I am looking forward to reading Part B!

Sinbad fleeing on a makeshift raft. Web source. 

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The Nutcracker: From Stage to Fantasy

Week 4 Story: My Great Love Story

We have all heard of Cupid. You know, the chubby baby with cherub cheeks and golden curls that goes around and shoots people in the butts making them fall in love? Well that version of cupid is only a wives’ tale my friends. And I would know, considering I am none other than Cupid himself.

Like I said my name is Cupid, I am 22 years old and you would think from looking at me that I pretty much have it made. Living in a giant palace in the clouds, being the god of love and attraction, I must be pretty happy right? Wrong. You see, as I’ve spent so much time helping others with their love life’s and happiness, mine has fallen by the wayside. I recently broke up with my one and only true love Psyche, a mortal woman that I met by accident while I was on a mission. Back to the shooting arrow thing, like I said most people just think I shoot arrows into people’s butts and I’m on my way, but trust me it is much more complicated than that, and no the arrows do not go in people’s butts.

So, you’re probably wondering why we broke up. Well you see, my job can be quite demanding at times and if I said I was good at time management I would be lying. Essentially cancelled dates, not calling enough, basically not putting enough effort into the relationship is what got me where I am now. Don’t get me wrong, I really do love her, but I’ve been going through a lot lately and it doesn’t help that my mom Venus (a.k.a Aphrodite the goddess of love), doesn’t approve of my divine/mortal love affair.

Anyway, since the breakup, I’ve tried dating around trying to fill the void that Psyche left, nut no other woman compares to her. I really want to try to win her back (that should be easy considering I’m the god of love, right?) but there’s just one problem, she has a new boyfriend and I’ve heard he is quite the catch. Apparently, he takes her on lavish dates, they spend tons of time together and he is the “sweetest man she has ever met”. (sometimes being able to listen in on mortal conversations is a bad thing).

But need not worry, I have come up with a master plan to win her back, but first I must win over the approval of my mother. If you know anything about Venus, you know that her love life hasn’t been roses and butterflies either. She got stuck with this real drag of a god that she never truly loved named Vulcan. To fill her need for love, she took on a great lover named Ares, (god of war). Let’s just say that that didn’t work out for her very well in the end when Vulcan found out about it. It’s true that she doesn’t approve of Psyche because she is mortal, but in reality, I think the bigger issue is that she is jealous that I have found great love like she never has. So, my plan is to get rid of that dweeb Vulcan, help get my mom and Ares back together and then go win back my girl.

Vulcan is the god of forge and metalworking so he’s not the brightest, but does he know how to fashion some nets! I figured that it wouldn’t be too hard trick him into one of his own. So that’s just what I did. Late one night I snuck into his shed and took one of his finest nets that he had woven himself. Using my charming powers, I cast a charm of lust and love over the net and laid it out in front of his house for him to awake to. The next morning sure enough, Vulcan awoke from his sleep and came stumbling out of his house to take on another day. Although, instead of taking off towards the shed like normal, he immediately saw the beautiful net and was enchanted so much by it he didn’t even realize it was his own work. “This must be the work of a great craftsman, far better than I and I am a god!” Unable to resist due to the charm Vulcan stepped onto the net to get a better look and the next thing you know he was hanging from a tree entangled in it. With Vulcan angry and confused, I came forward and told him that if he did not free my mother of her misery by leaving this place and never coming back, allowing her to have the great love that she deserved, he would surely hang there for eternity and suffer. Vulcan, who didn’t really love Venus much either gave in and fled the land leaving nothing behind.

I then went to my mother and explained to her what I had done. At first, she started crying and I thought to myself, surely this is not out of sadness? But then she raised her face and I saw that they were tears of happiness! Now free to go find Ares and live happily ever after she expressed her gratitude to me and in return gave me her blessing to win Psyche’s hand back and marry her if she will have me.

Now onto the biggest part of the plan, winning Psyche back. After Venus’s blessing I flew immediately down to earth to find Psyche and profess my love for her. Barging in on a date with her new man, I flew in, grabbed her from her seat and looked her straight in the eyes and said these worlds, “My love, I know that these past few months I have not given you the attention that you deserve or have I put in the effort into our relationship, but after you left me I realized just how lost I am without you. I have gotten my mother’s blessing and if you will have me, I want to whisk you away to the clouds and marry you, making you immortal and we will live happily ever after in the clouds in our grand palace. There is no one else that I would rather share my life with and I promise to never neglect you again.” A small tear fell from Psyche’s eye, and I gently swept it away. Awaiting her response, I looked over at her new boyfriend who looked quite dumbfounded and confused. After a moment of pause, Psyche said to me, “My dearest Cupid, how my heart has yearend for you to come and whisk me away, yes! I will take you back and be married to live happily ever after!”

So that’s it folks. Psyche and I flew back up to the heavens leaving a shocked ex-boyfriend behind and were wed in great celebration and feasting. So far, we have both been the happiest we’ve ever been and I cannot wait for ever after with her.

Psyche and I basking in our love. 

Author’s note: In the original story, Cupid and Psyche from Apuleius’s Golden Ass, Psyche is a girl that Venus despises because she tried to take on the identity of Venus on Earth as being the most beautiful in all the land and people worshiped her. Cupid, sent to doom Psyche to a lifetime of loneliness and wretched loves fell in love with her instead and brought her to his castle where he came to her only at night to hide his identity from her, and she loved like royalty during the day alone. Cupid warned Psyche that if she ever tried to find out his identity she would lose him forever. However, Psyche was tempted and one night gazed upon him by candlelight and saw that it was Cupid. Cupid fled and Psyche was left at the wrath of Venus. She had to complete many tasks in order to try to win Venus’s approval but it wasn’t until pity of the other gods helped her out and Cupid and Psyche were wed.

Bibliography: Cupid and Psyche from Apuleius's Golden Ass translated to English by Tony Kline.


Web Source for photo: Wikimedia Commons. 

Reading Notes, Cupid and Psyche, Part B

Venus and the Goddesses:

• Venus became very angry when she found out what Cupid had done.  Her goddesses tried to talk sense in to her but she turned her back and ran towards the sea. 

Psyche's Prayer: 

•  Psyche found goddess Ceres and asked for her protection to hide from Venus and the goddess pitied her but said she could not betray Venus and sent her on her way.  
• The same thing happened at Juno's temple and again Psyche was sent on her way. 

Venus and Mercury: 

• Venus still searching for Psyche, confided in Mercury the messenger god to get the word out and help find her.  

Venus and Psyche: 

• Psyche was found and Venus dragged her into her chamber by the hair and laughed.  Psyche pregnant, was tortured by Anxiety and Sorrow.  Venus ordered her sort a huge pile of different beans and wheat, which she would come back and check for approval.  
• A single ant took pity on Psyche and called all his ants to help sort the pile and then vanished. 

Psyche's Next Task: 

• Venus thought that the work had been done by Cupid and threw her a piece of bread and went to sleep.  The next day, Venus instructed Psyche to go get a sheep's wool and Psyche went planning to throw herself off the cliff instead. 
• A simple reed told Psyche not to kill herself but to wait until the sun set and wool would be clinging to the trees that she could collect. 
• Venus was not impressed and gave her another task to collect freezing water from am dark spring under the cliff. 

The Third Task: Task Accomplished

• The mountain was jagged with snakes and there was now way down, but Jupiter's eagle took pity on her and came to her. 
• Telling her that she would never be able to get the water herself and live, he took the phial adn filled it with water.  

The Jar of Beauty: 

• Even with the phial filled, Venus was still unhappy. She told her to go to the underworld and ask for some of Prosperine's beauty.  Psyche knew this was the end. 
• With instructions from the turret she was able to go to the underworld and back and get the jar of divine beauty.  However, she said she might as well take some for herself.  

The Sleep of the Dead

• Inside the jar was not beauty, but slumber that attacked her and put her to sleep.  
• Cupid, feeling better from his burn came to Pysche's rescue and woke her.  He went to Jupiter and asked for pity and she granted it, in return for a beautiful girl.  

The Wedding Feast: 

• With the help of Jupiter, Cupid and Psyche were married, making Psyche immortal so the wedding was equal.  
• Their daughter was born and named Pleasure. 

Cupid and Psyche's Wedding Feast. Web Source. 

Lucius and the Robbers: 

• back to the original story, Lucius the donkey became maimed during travel and the bandits said they were going to toss him over the cliff. 

The Escape: 

• Lucius escaped with the girl on his back. 

Bibliography: Cupid and Psyche from Apuleius's Golden Ass. Translated to English by Tony Kline. 

Reading Notes: Cupid and Psyche, Part A

The Captive Woman:

• Lucius, the hero of the story has been turned into a donkey and stolen by a band of robbers and being used as a pack mule. 
• One night the robbers come back with a beautiful girl that they kidnapped from one of the rich families in order to get ransom money.  They told her not to fear for her life, they  just wanted money.  
• The girl cried and cried and began to torment herself, and the old woman that was sent to comfort her became angry that she may may ruin her bandit's chance of getting money. 

Her Dream:

•  The girl explained that the kidnapping had taken place on her wedding night, and that she had had a dream about it as well where the bandits kill her lover. 
• The old woman comforted her and said not to let a dream disturb her.  Dreams that come in the daytime are proven to be untrue, and nightmares often signifies the opposite.  The old woman started to tell her "an old wives tale". 

Psyche's Beauty and the Anger of Venus

• The story starts with a king and queen who had three beautiful daughters, the youngest being so beautiful that human speech could not describe her.  People bowed to her as the goddess Venus. 
• Word spread of Venus's human state and people came far and wide to see her.  Venus's shrines and temples became abandoned as there was no need for them anymore.  
• Venus herself was angered by all the praise going to a mere mortal girl.  She swore that she would reap no joy from using her name and that she would regret her beauty. 
• She summoned her wicked son, Cupid who goes around at night with his bow and his arrow ruining marriages and committing shameful acts.  She told him to doom Psyche with a wretched man, who would become nothing significant.  

The Oracle of Apollo: 

• Even with Psyches beauty, no man wished to marry her.  Her sisters became married to royal men and she was left at home alone.  
• Psyche's father, worried about anger from the gods prayed to the oracle of Apollo that they would send a man to marry her.  Apollo replied that if the girl were married her children would be evil serpents. 
• Psyche went to her dreadful wedding and told everyone to leave her as she was actually going to her funeral.  After everyone left she was whisked from the mountain top by a zephyr and laid down in the valley on a bed of flowers. 

The Magical Palace: 

• Psyche awoke to a beautiful  palace, made by divine hands. 
• Exploring she found beautiful treasure and wealth, and a voice spoke to her saying it was all hers and to go to her room and bathe, and her servants will ready the feast when she is ready.  All the servants and voices were invisible. 

The Mysterious Husband: 

• During the night her "husband" came and took her virginity and then left and voices spoke to her for several nights consoling her solitude.  
• Psyche's family, mourning her aged greatly and lamented in sorrow. 
• Psyche's husband said that her sisters (who think she is dead) will one day come to the cliff and yearn for her and that if she answers she will bring utter ruin to herself.  She promised to behave and ignore them.  She was sad thought and wished to see her sisters and ease their sorrows. 
• Her husband agreed to let her sisters come visit but again urged her not to listen to what they had to say or she would again be ruined. 

The Jealousy of Psyche's Sisters: 

• Psyche showed her sisters all her wealth and treasure and her sisters became envious and questioned her husband.  They then became very angry that they have suffered a great deal while she has lived in paradise and said they would return and punish her arrogance. 

Psyche's Husband Warns Her: 

• While Psyche's sisters planned her murder with their parents, her husband warned her once more that if she examine his features she will never see him again.  The sisters were coming and he warned her again.  However, she wept for her sisters and giving in, he let Zephyr bring them. 

Fears and Doubts: 

• Psyche's sisters tricked her into killing her husband in his sleep. 

Psyche's Husband Revealed: 

• As she drew her blade, she saw that her husband, was actually Cupid.  She admired him and fell in love with him anymore.  However, oil from the lamp fell on his shoulder and woke him and he flew away and told Psyche that his mother told him to give her a wretched marriage, but that he disobeyed her and made her his wife instead.  He said he would take revenge on her evil sisters and never see her again. 

Psyche's Despair: 

• Psyche returned to her sisters, and both of them tried to leap off the cliff to become Cupid's new wife, and they both fell to their deaths on the jagged rocks. 

Psyche fawning over Cupid. Web Source. 

Bibliography: Cupid and Psyche from Apuleius's Golden Ass. Translated to English by Tony Kline. 

Feedback Strategies

In this weeks Feedback Strategies we focused more on giving feedback rather than receiving it.  The two articles that I read about feed back were "The difference between Praise and Feedback" and "Be a Mirror".  

In the first article- The difference between praise and feedback, the main point is that we should reinforce the effort that a child (or anyone) contributes to something as opposed to just saying "You're really good at that!" That way the person's talent does not become fixed and it allows them to continue to grow and face new challenges instead of vise versa. 

In the second article, "Be a Mirror"it touches on the same point of not having a fixed mindset so that you continue to grow.  As stated in the article this applies to being a mirror because "a mirrors job is to reflect back what is there without judgement."  And we should do the same with out feedback. 

As far as whether I am on the praise or non-praise side, I would say that I lean towards the non-praise side and definitely agree with praising effort over talent.  Being a dance teacher, my main job is obviously to teach, but to also help and critique which means giving feedback.  It is rare that I will ever say "good job!" to a student without adding something else on the end.  For example, I would say, "Good! Just try to point your toes harder next time".  There is always improving to be done and growing to do and I believe this applies to all areas of life not just dance.  As far as praising effort, I love to call out students who I can tell have been working at home on certain skills.  There is one girl in one of my classes this year who it is her first year of dance so she is a little bit behind the other girls in her class.  One week we were working on a certain step that she was really struggling with and she got frustrated.  Over the next few weeks she got better and better until one day she just showed up to class and could do it perfectly! She told me she had been practicing at home and I praised for that.  Like I said, in dance there is always improvement and I always stress to my students that class is not the only time to work on things and its imperative to work at home as well and keep growing!

Praising effort over talent. Web Source. 

Topic Research: The Nutcracker

After reading The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, an article that I had found in last weeks assignment, this article portrayed the story in a way I had never heard of before.  In the article it goes into a huge backstory about how nutcrackers became they way they are and why they look the way they do.  I personally didn't care of this version, but there is definitely some good ideas I could pull from if I decided to retell it for my project.

I then clicked on an article that was linked in the one I just read entitled simply The Nutcracker.   What drew my attention to this article is that it was more about the successful and famous ballet version of the story that is composed by Tchaikovsky.  This article had really awesome history of the ballet and its first performances and how it has transformed into what it is today.   While reading I came up with the idea to possibly retell the story from a ballerina dancing the show's point of view.  Shes dancing and when it's time for the Mouse King and Nutcracker to come out suddenly she is transported and its no longer just a ballet but real life, and by the end of the story she is transported back to the stage with a roaring audience.  This idea is much like how Marie (or Clara in some versions) is whisked away to the magic castle and then is magically brought back by the end of the story wondering "Was it just a dream?' Although in this version it has a little twist. 

I wanted to also look into the history of the Mouse King and how his character was developed so I looked into another article that I had found during last weeks assignment.  This article was entitled "No Sugar Plums: The Dark Romantic Roots of The Nutcracker".  I'm not going to lie, that title along gets me super excited! Apparently E.T.A. Hoffman (the original author of The Nutcracker) has written a lot of dark stories, one in particular being about evil inventors that create a robot girl- which get this- is the inspiration for the famous ballet Coppelia! My mind was blown.  Anyway back to the Nutcracker, in Hoffman's original text it was much darker that what it is now.  The imagination of Marie becomes much lighter as well as her family, hence the change from Marie to Clara as it is in most ballet now a days. Although, when I was in Tulsa Ballet's version of The Nutracker as a child, her name was Marie, and as of last season when I went to see it, it had been changed back to Clara.  Very interesting in my opinion.  Some other big changes that I find really interesting are the changing of character names.  In the original story, Marie's family is called Stahlbaum which means "steel tree' and Marie is "imprisoned within the regulations of the family".  Marie's godfather Drosselmeier (which means to stir up) is also described as provocative and strange.  This article had a lot of other great information and I would highly suggest reading it if anything I have said so far catches your attention! Last fun fact: the original ballet was unsuccessful, it was Tchaikovsky's composition to go with it that really made it famous and what made people fall in love with it. 

I found some really awesome information about this classic story that I didn't know and it was such a blast getting to learn all so much backstory to something that it so dear to me! Ever since I was a child, I've gone to see the ballet around Christmas, but I've never thought to look deeper into the meaning of it or how it came to be.  And to finally do that is super rewarding!

Illustration from the 1853 US edition of The Nutcracker. Web Source. 

Week 3 Story: The Lonely Cyclops

The Lonely Cyclops 

After Odysseus and his men had won the great battle of Troy, their fight was merely over.  They still had a great distance to travel back to their homeland.  There was no telling what they would come across and what monsters they would face.  

After about five days in the Ocean they came to a great island, flowing with green trees, water and growth. “This is the home of a great monster” warned Odysseus, “But we are running low on food and supplies, so we have no other choice but to stop and try to gather more.” Odysseus prepared his men for what they may face and began to explore the island, swords drawn and ready to attack whatever may come at them.  

As they were traveling through the brush they came across a large clearing with a giant cave.  Odysseus told his men to prepare to attack as this was surely where the great monster lived.  Suddenly, a huge giant walked out of the cave. He had one eye, wore nothing but sheepskin shorts and looked like he was tall enough to sit on the clouds.  “Cyclops” said Odysseus.  Gripped with fear, he tightened his grip on his sword and was about to call on his men when the Cylops with his great booming voice yelled “Hello! How wonderful it is to see fellow life on this island! From where do you little people come from?”  Confused, Odysseus explained how he and his men had traveled a great way after winning the battle and were on their way back to their homeland when they came across the island.  “Wonderful! I have been plagued with great loneliness on this great island by myself and now we can all live together in great joy and harmony, and I will keep you and take care of you forever!”  

Odysseus tried to explain that they were just merely passing through and could not stay for more than a day or two and the Cyclops became very sad and began to cry.  His tears fell like rain and soaked Odysseus and his men.  I will be stuck with this loneliness forever, let me at least feed you and your men and restock your supplies while you rest before carrying on with the rest of your journey” cried the Cyclops.  

After two days of rest and feasting, it was time for Odysseus and his men to leave the kind and hospitable Cyclops.  However, Odysseus was heart warmed by the Cyclops’ kind spirit that he had a great offer for him.  “Cyclops, I know you have been plagued with great sadness and loneliness on this island by yourself and you have shown me and my men such kindness and compassion that I want to ask you to travel back with us to my homeland and live with us forever in peace and friendship.” The Cyclops cried out in happiness and together they all set out for home, the Cyclops protecting them from everything that came their way.  

It wast then that the Cyclops was lonely no more, and him and Odysseus’s people lived happily together in harmony until the end of time. 

The Island. Web Source. 

Authors note: In the original text by Homer, the Cyclops is a great monster that is no happy with Odysseus’s arrival.  He traps them in his cave and eats his men throughout the time they are there.  Odysseus and his surviving men are able to escape by tying themselves to the underbellies of sheep.  When setting sale from the Island the angered Cyclops throws a giant stone at the ship, merely missing it.  Odysseus and his men are able to continue on their journey just barely, leaving the cyclops behind.  

Bibliography: Homer's The Odyssey, translated by Tony Kline. Web Source.