Week 6 Lab

"How Languages Evolve", via YouTube

Languages evolving seem to move along with culture. As societies branch off from each other and become their own, they developed in different ways. One way was by communication, which may differ slightly or greatly from their previous society, such as dialect. Various cultures emerged, influenced by their food, weather, and the people around them. These neighbors led to these separated societies altering their former way of life to become more accepted in the world around them, leaving their origins behind and attempting to integrate within those around them. However, despite people trying to start anew, nuances of their home language stuck around, combining with what they had learned and creating new languages. All of these minute evolutions create a richer family of language, studied by linguists for years.

"How to Use a Semicolon", via YouTube

I found it interesting that the video called a semicolon “stronger than a comma, and less final than a period”. I would agree with the statement to a certain extent. If there are several sentences in a row that include semicolons, it may be more effective to break up or rearrange the sentences into compound sentences, including a comma instead. If a semicolon is overused, it could actually be weaker than a comma when a piece is published. Just how the video said using multiple periods can become monotonous, the same thing can be said for a semicolon. While the video claimed the semicolon was an “underappreciated punctuation mark”, I feel I appreciate the semicolon more than the average person. As a journalism student, we’re taught about brevity; brevity is the concise and exact use of words in writing or a speech. If a semicolon is overused, brevity is overlooked, which can lead to uninteresting writing.

"Does Grammar Matter?", via YouTube

Before even watching this video, I already have a strong opinion on this. Grammar does matter! Nothing drives me crazier than seeing someone use improper grammar, especially something simple like “their/there/they’re” or “its/it’s”. I was interested to hear about prescriptivism and descriptivism. I feel the two go along with the previous language evolution video, in that it should be decided and developed depending on the society and culture.

"Choose Your Words Tiles", via Unsplash

Week 6 Reading Notes: Turkish Fairy Tales Part B

Patience-Stone and Patience-Knife: Part 1/Part 2

• Little bird tells daughter her fate (kismet) is death

• Mother comes home, and tells daughter to close the door/window while working

• Next day, bird tells the daughter the same thing

• Mother tells her to close door/window, climb in cupboard, and work there via candlelight

• Bird comes back and does the same thing next day

• Girl decides not to do work, mother stays home next day in order to see the bird

• Bird does not come the next day, neither of them leave the house in case he comes back

• Neighborhood girls want daughter to come play; they promise not to let daughter out of their sight

• Play in the meadow all day, they stop to get a drink at a spring on the way home

• While daughter is drinking, a magic wall separates her from the others

• Everyone freaks out; girls tell daughter’s mother, mother goes to the wall

• They cry like crazy, eventually falling asleep; daughter wakes up and sees door in the wall

• Daughter opens the door into a palace, sees a bunch of keys

• Each key leads to a room with gold/silver/diamonds, etc.,

• Daughter meets a prince in a room; Note next to him says anyone who fans him for forty days will find their fate

• She fans him/prays for forty days; sees an Arab girl and get her to fan him on Day 40 so she can wash/clean room

• Prince wakes up while Daughter is gone, Prince believes Arab girl has done all this; says he will marry her

• Arab girl acts like she’s royalty, treats Daughter like maid/housewife

• Prince is buying presents for the Feast of Bairam party 

• Arab girl asks for clothes, Daughter asks for yellow Patience-Stone, brown Patience-knife

• Prince looks everywhere for Stone/Knife; stops at a spring, and finally gets it from an Arab

• Prince is curious what Daughter needs it for, so he watches her at night to find out

• Daughter tells her story (her and her mother, the Arab screwing her over) to the Knife/Stone

• Stone breaks as she’s telling story, Daughter is despaired and tries to stab herself

• Prince stops her, realizes she’s actually the one who fanned him

• Arab girl is put to death, Mother joins Prince/Daughter at palace, happily ever after

The Wizard and His Pupil

• Mom keeps sending her son to various schools, son will run away

• They go to the market, see many men doing their craft, one is a wizard

• Son wishes to be wizard’s apprentice; wizard agrees

• After training, wizard tests the Son- wizard transforms into ram, son is to sell him at the market, but keep the rope

• Ram is sold for 500 piastres; wizard returns to human form, escapes and goes back

• Repeats the same process, except he turns into a horse that is sold for 1000 piastres

• Son returns to Mom, tells her he will transform into a bathing establishment; she should sell it, but keep the key to the door

• Wizard comes back, sees that the Son isn’t home, gets very angry at him/wants to teach him a lesson

• Wizard goes to the son’s auction, realizes that the son is transformed, and buys him

• Wizard tells Mom he will not take it unless she gives up the key; Mom reluctantly/accidentally gives him the key

• Son realizes he needs to get out of there; transforms into bird/flies away; Wizard transforms into falcon and chases him

• Fly to another town; son sees a King in his garden- transforms into rose and falls at King’s feet

• Wizard transforms into a lyric/poet, plays songs for King, asks King for the rose

• King gets angry at Wizard asking for the rose (King believes it’s a gift from God)

• Wizard says he will kill himself if he doesn’t have the rose, King eventually gives it to him

• Son transforms into grain, Wizard transforms into chicken and eats the grain (but misses one tiny bit)

• Grain transforms back into Son, breaks WizardChicken’s neck

• Son explains story to King, King is impressed; appoints Son as royalty/marries King’s daughter

• Son can now provide for his mother, happily ever after

Story Source: Forty-Four Turkish Fairy Tales, by Ignacz Kunos

The Mother and the Wizard, via the Untextbook

Week 6 Reading Notes: Turkish Fairy Tales Part A

The Wizard-Dervish: Part 1/Part 2

• Padishah had a wife, Iala, but no son

• The two come across a well, and wish to know the cause of their sorrow

• Dervish knows it’s bc they have no son

• Dervish gives them an apple, and tell Padishah and Iala to each eat half, and they’ll have a son

• However, Dervish says that when the son turns 20, he will belong to the Dervish

• They follow instructions, they have a son, his birth is celebrated

• When son was five, he was taught to read/write

• When son was thirteen, he was taken on walks, journeys, and hunting excursions

• Father finds son a wife when he is nearing nineteen and were to be married

• Dervish appears on wedding day, takes son to the foot of a mountain

• Son wakes up by a river, sees three doves- they transform into maidens

• #1/#2 return to dove form and fly away; #3 sees the Prince and starts talking to him

• #3 explains that the Dervish will take the son by the hair, hang him to a tree and whip him

• When Dervish asks “Dost know?”, Son needs to say “I know not”

• Dervish beats son for three days, but Son still says “I know not”; Dervish sets him free

• #3 returns to Son in bird form. Tells him to use the bird to identify her in the future when Dervish asks which maiden he wants to marry

• Next day, dervish brings the son which of the three girls he likes the most. Son releases bird to see it land on #3, and he chooses her

• Son and Maiden #3 get married, but w/o her Mother’s consent (Mother is a witch)

• Son and Maiden see Mother following them; Maiden turns them into a garden/gardener to disguise

• Trick works, then they turn back to normal

• Mother notices them turn back to normal, chases them again

• Cycle repeats 2 more times, Son/Maiden turn into baker/oven and duck/pond

• Mother can’t cross the pond, she gives up and goes home

• They get to an inn; dervish kidnaps son, takes him to palace (a wedding and a bride is getting set up in the palace)

• Maiden thinks the son abandoned her; transforms into dove, goes to palace and sees son, gets mad at son and flies back to the inn

• Son returns to the inn w/ a carriage, brings maiden back to the palace, they get married (first bride got mad and went home)

The Fish-Peri: Part 1/Part 2

• Fisherman (Mahomet) made living by catching/selling fish

• Became deathly ill, asked his wife to never tell their son they made living by catching fish

• Mahomet dies, son tried to find occupation but struggled

• Mom dies as well, and the son was w/o food or money

• Goes to the attic to find stuff to sell, finds his dad’s fishing net

• Takes it to the sea, caught two fish, sold one for bread/charcoal

• Decides he wants to be a fisherman; catches a fish and buries it for later

• Next day, goes to fish, comes back and finds his house was cleaned, assumes it’s the neighbor (cycle continues)

• Talks to a companion trying to figure out who did it; companion suggests watching the house in secret to find out

• Hides himself, sees a fish jump out and turn into a beautiful maiden

• Maiden/Son agree to marry; however, Padishah (Royalty) hears the news, and now he wants to marry the Maiden

• Padishah tells Son “if you can build me a palace of gold/diamonds in the sea, you can keep the Maiden. Otherwise I will marry her”

• Maiden tells Son to cast a stone into the sea to meet an Arab who will ask for “Your Command?”. He should say the lady sends her compliments and ask for a cushion. Throw the cushion into the sea where the Padishah wants the palace built.

• Son does so, and it works. Padishah also demands a crystal bridge. Son gets a bolster from the Arab and does the same thing

• Padishah then asks for a feast for all the land. Maiden tells Son to get a coffee-mill from the Arab, but do not turn it

• Son gets the coffee-mill, mindlessly starts turning it, several plates of food fall out, takes food home. The Land has the feast, tons of leftover food

• Padishah wants a mule produced from an egg; Maiden tells Son to get eggs from Arab and don’t break them

• Son drops an egg, mule pops out. Takes remaining eggs to Padishah

• Padishah asks for a baby (no more than day old) who can talk/walk

• Maiden tells Son to ask Padishah for his nephew (he’s an hour old)

• Son takes nephew home, calls Maiden his “Auntie”, Son takes him back to Padishah

• Padishah is in awe that Son pulled it off, allowed him to marry the Maiden; festival lasts 40 days/nights

Story Source: Forty-Four Turkish Fairy Tales, by Ignacz Kunos

Padishah and the Baby, via the Untextbook

Week 5 Review

I thought the punctuation personalities were pretty accurate. I always love the "Which X are you?" type of things, and the punctuation marks fit with the personalities very well. I think I would have to be a semicolon; I usually will text my friends to get together, and if someone is sitting alone at a lunch table, my friends and I will ask them to come sit with us. Even when I'm at home for just a weekend, I'll almost always text my three best friends (who go to OSU and SWOSU) and ask if they're also home for the weekend and want to get lunch. This semester, we've met up on Zoom once for a game night, and I'm thinking about texting them sometime soon to do another one. 

"Punctuation Social Personalities", from Thursday's Course Announcements

Hearing about how comics can help people become smarter was very interesting. He talked about how it helped his students absorb the information better. Honestly, I think I would have to agree. I had a class last semester that instead of a textbook, we read a graphic novel, which is similar to a comic. The graphic novel was much more engaging and interesting than any textbook would have been. It was so much easier to read and visually engaging. Graphic novels also made it so much easier to understand. I was able to connect with the characters in the novel, understand their journey and the story, and I definitely remembered more from the novel than I would have from a textbook. 

"How Comic Books Can Make Kids (and Adults) Smarter" via YouTube

Week 5 Story: Robotic Riddle

Eric took a deep breath and stepped up to the microphone on stage. He was in the finals of the National Riddle Championship, about to be asked his question. “Okay Eric,” said the moderator. “If you can answer this riddle correctly, you will be our new champion.” 

Four scientists, Adam, Becca, Charlie, and Daisy worked to create a highly-intelligent robot. Adam was responsible for collecting the parts required for the robot. Becca was responsible for putting the robot together. Charlie was responsible for programming the robot, such as speech capabilities, mobility, and obedience to the scientists. Daisy was the supervisor of the whole project.

Adam took one week to complete his assignment. Becca and Charlie used two weeks each to complete their assignments, while Daisy worked all five weeks. After hours of hard work, the robot was completed. Before unveiling their project to the media and the world, they held a private test run of the robot in their laboratory. 

They all gathered together in their laboratory. “Are we ready?” asked Daisy. Adam, Becca, and Charlie nodded in eager agreement. Daisy walked behind it and pressed the button that would turn on the robot. The robot’s eyes lit up and he observed his surroundings. “Hello! What is your name?” asked Charlie. “My name is Frank,” said the robot. “How are you tod-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay…” Suddenly, Frank began stuttering. “Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-attack!” spouted Frank, as he began charging at the scientists and destroying everything. He started ripping at wires, breaking beakers and test tubes, and throwing chairs at the others. The scientists ran around the laboratory, screaming at Frank to stop, but he would not listen. As Frank continued, bolts fell from his body, oil leaking on the floor. He began to walk rigidly, breaking anything in his path. After destroying the entire laboratory, his body fell apart, collapsing into a pile of metal parts. The scientists breathed a sigh of relief, despite their work having been for naught and all of their equipment ruined.

“Who is responsible for the project’s failure?” said the moderator to Eric. Eric looked down at his feet to ponder the question, then up to the ceiling to think some more. He then looked straight at the moderator with a beaming smile.

“Daisy is responsible,” said Eric confidently. “She saw the work the other three did over the weeks. While Adam, Becca, and Charlie did an insufficient job, Daisy should have noticed the issues with the others’ performances and provided feedback or fixed them. However, she failed to do so, resulting in the project’s failure.”

Eric threw open the doors of the building, proudly showing off his first place trophy to those around him. “Good job, Eric!” said Eric’s parents. “We are so proud of you. Let’s go get ice cream to celebrate!” Eric and his parents then loaded up in the car, and drove off to the ice cream parlor to Eric’s victory.

“Yellow and White Trophy” via Unsplash

Source: Twenty-Two Goblins, translated by Arthur W. Ryder

Author’s Notes

I wanted to make the story as realistic as I could. All of the stories in Twenty-Two Goblins revolve around answering various riddles. In the original story, four brothers each learned a different craft, and they came together to create a lion and bring it to life. The lion actually kills the four in the original, but I didn’t want my story to be as gory, so I altered it so that the robot destroys everything. I felt having scientists build a robot gave an opportunity for each person to work on a different aspect that would eventually come together to create one, presumably cohesive, project. I decided to use a “riddle championship” in place of a goblin and utilize a competitor instead of the king.

Week 5 Reading Notes: Twenty-Two Goblins Part B

The Girl and the Thief

• Jewel (a merchant), his wife Pleasing, and daughter Pearl lived in Ayodhya

• Pearl was very beautiful; many people wanted to marry her (even kings), but she did not want to get married whatsoever

• Ayodhya’s people are worried about a bunch of thieving; King Hero-Banner goes out at night with a sword to catch them

• Meets a thief, and goes to a hidden house with him

• Maid tells king it’s dangerous in the house, so king runs away; king gets soldiers to surround the house

• Thief fights the soldiers, destroys the king’s army with his sword

• King fights the thief himself, and captures him

• Thief goes to be executed next morning; Pearl begs Jewel to save the thief because she loves him

• Jewel asks for King for the thief’s release in exchange for everything he has

• King refuses, Pearl bathes and goes to the thief’s death scene to die w/ him

• Pearl and her family watch the thief get impaled and die

• Pearl removes thief’s body from stake and wanted to burn herself

• Shiva (god) rewards Pearl for being faithful to the thief

• Pearl asks for Jewel to have 100 sons

• Shiva tells Pearl to wish for more

• Pearl wishes for thief to live and be a good man

• Thief is revived; Jewel/Pearl/Thief family go home to celebrate

• Thief/Pearl marry, happily ever after

• Goblin asks King if the Thief cried or laughed when he saw the merchant/his daughter approach?

• King says Thief wept with grief, and laughed in astonishment

The Four Brothers

• King named Earth-boar rules Flower-city

• Vishnuswami, a brahman, lives with wife Swaha and four sons

• Vishnuswami dies, sons take some money and go see Grandfather in Sacrifice village

• Grandfather is dead; they live with their uncles, uncles make fun of sons’ clothing/food

• Eldest saw a corpse, saw that the corpse seemed happy, tried to hang himself

• Someone frees the eldest from hanging and comforts him, Eldest tells this story to his siblings

• Eldest says he will now burn himself at a Holy Place so he won’t feel the woes of poverty

• Younger brothers tell him that money doesn’t buy happiness; Eldest needs to find something that makes him happy

• Brothers agree to wander Earth; each will learn a different science

• #1 learns to properly put flesh on any animal skeleton

• #2 learns to put  hair and skin on a fleshed skeleton

• #3 learns to put eyes and other organs into the skeleton

• #4 learns to give the creature the breath of life

• They decide to test their skills with a lion skeleton

• They make a lion, lion kills them and runs into the forest (SHOCKER)

• Goblin asks King who is most at fault for creating the lion

• King says #4; he gave the breath of life, even after seeing that the supposed creature would be dangerous

Father and Son, Daughter and Mother

• A king named Virtue lived in southern country

• Moonlight, his wife, came from Malwa

• Daughter named Beauty

• Relatives planned to overthrow King when Beauty was grown up

• Family flees kingdom, heading for FIL’s house in Malwa; spend night in Vindhya forest

• Family comes for fortified village, full of robbers/murderers

• King sees robbers coming for them, tells Moonlight/Beauty to run into the forest

• King fought robbers, eventually dies; Robbers take jewels from him

• Moonlight/Beauty run long way; rest by ashoka tree/lotus-pond

• Father/Son (Fierce-lion/Strong-lion) are hunters; see the ladies’ footprints and follow them

• Father tells Son he should marry one of the two

• Son tells Father: “Son will marry the one with smaller feet. Father should marry the one with bigger feet” (Son’s Mom passed away)

• Father/Son find Mother/Daughter at pond; girls almost run away in fear

• Son marries Mother bc she has smaller feet; Father marries Daughter

• Goblin asks King what relation Mother/Son’s children and Father/Daughter’s children would be

• King cannot answer and walks away

• Goblin is pleased by his character of walking away; Goblin tells King that Patience (a monk) he will soon encounter will try to kill the King

• Goblin tells King to trick the monk into bowing, so King can cut off his head and claim magic power/fairies

Story Source: Twenty-Two Goblins, translated by Arthur W. Ryder

Lion chasing after the four brothers, via the Untextbook