Monday, October 26, 2020

Week 10 Reading Notes: British North America Part B

  • Turtle lived alone in a lake

  • Turtle would get hit by something several times, but didn’t know what it was (couldn’t see it)

  • Turtle goes to the woods to get help; Deer agrees to help

  • Turtle asks to see Deer’s fighting ability; Deer fights a tree and breaks his antlers

  • Turtle says Deer won’t last long enough; Bear offers to help

  • Bear fights a tree, looks clumsy jumping around while fighting

  • Turtle says Bear won’t last long enough; crowd of small turtles come out and offer to help

  • Crowd of turtles fight Turtle to prove abilities; Turtle approves of their fighting

  • Turtle leads small turtles to the lake; Turtle leaves them and goes home

  • Big stone falls on the small turtles, killing them

  • Turtle runs outside to see commotion, sees big Thunderbird

  • Muskrat explains that is the Thunderbird and he is very scary

  • Turtle now stays in the water during a thunderstorm


The Making of Lakes and Mountains

  • Group of bears steal a woman; made to obey them

  • Woman comes up with a plan to escape

  • Woman combs/gathers their hair in a pile; also gathered hair oil, sharpening stone, red Earth pigment

  • Bear/Woman gather wood, Bear walking slow because he has a lot on his back, Woman has small bundle in her arms

  • Woman runs back to the house ahead of Bear, grabs hair/oil/stone/pigment and runs away

  • Bears notice she’s gone and chase her; when bears get close, woman pours out some hair oil, and it turns into a lake

  • Runs some more, breaks off some sharpening stone, it turns into a mountain

  • Snowbirds surround her, pours red Earth pigment; snowbirds flock to it to paint their faces

  • Throws hair on ground, turns into a mass of fallen trees to impede the Bears

  • Bears get closer; woman shoves the comb into the ground, turns into a bunch of mountains

  • Bears cannot get over them, so they have to go around

  • Snowbirds surround her; does the same pigment trick

  • Makes another mountain with whetstone

  • Birds surround her again; combines hair/oil to create a lake with fallen trees in it

  • Woman gets to the seashore, asks a man in a canoe to let her go with him

  • She gets in; Bears catch up, jump in water and swim after her

  • Man puts a carved club in the water, killing all the Bears


Coyote and Fox

  • Coyote comes across an underground house

  • Rock Rabbit People live there- very small and short

  • Coyote wants to eat them; kills them, ties them up, and carries them off

  • Coyote finds a tree, makes a fire pit of rocks, puts in rabbits, covers it with leaves and dirt; takes a nap while they cook

  • Fox sees Coyote/fire pit, digs up the rabbits and eats half

  • Coyote awakens, tells Fox to leave him some

  • Coyote too sleepy/lazy to stop him, Fox eats all of them

  • Coyote wakes up and is mad at Fox, follows him to see Fox sleeping under a tree

  • Coyote uses magic to make tree fall on Fox, tree misses Fox though

  • Fox leaves and falls asleep in thick/tall rye grass

  • Coyote sets grass on fire, Fox wakes up and leaves before fire gets him

  • Fox goes to where a lot of rabbits are; Coyote sets another fire- rabbits run out everywhere

  • Fox leaves, Coyote goes for the rabbits

  • Coyote travels to a magpie area, catches many magpies, makes a robe of their skins

  • Coyote sees Fox wearing a beautiful robe of silver-fox skins and golden eagle feathers

  • Coyote offers to trade robes, Fox refuses; Coyote steals robe and runs away

  • Fox makes magic wind blow; Robe blows off of Coyote’s body and comes back to Fox

  • Coyote goes to find his old magpie robe, which is gross and broken

  • Fox wore his silver robe until he became an ordinary fox, robe turns into his beautiful silver fur


Silver Fox, via the Untextbook


Story Source: Myths and Legends of British North America by Katharine Berry Judson (1917)

Extra Credit Reading Notes, Week 10: British North America Part A

Creation of the World

  • Wyandots- people who lived beyond the sky

  • Shaman tells Indians to dig around a tree by chief’s lodge; break through the Sky Land floor

  • Tree and chief’s daughter fall through into a sheet of water

  • Swans see her falling, catch her on their back, go to Big Turtle to ask what to do with her

  • Animal Council gathers, suggest divers go down to get some Earth from its roots to create an island for the girl

  • They all go to where the tree fell, have to dive down into water to collect the Earth

  • Otter dives down, drowns. Muskrat tries, drowns. Beaver tries, drowns.

  • Old Toad offers to try, the animals laugh at her. Big Turtle tells her to go for it

  • Old Toad comes up with a few grains of Earth, spits them out and dies as well

  • Small Turtle rubs the grains on the edges of Big Turtle’s shell

  • Shell begins to grow into an island; becomes large enough for woman to live on

  • Island grows larger and larger until it becomes the Earth we know today

  • Earthquakes occur when Big Turtle moves his foot


Creation of Light

  • The whole world was dark, except inside the tepee of an old chief

  • Chief owns all light, fire, and water- didn’t share light

  • Animals go and try to steal the light

  • Everyone puts on masks and dancing aprons- goes to chief’s lodge for a dance

  • Each animal sang their own song, they all sang for Light in their own way

  • Chief constantly refused to give them light

  • Animals sang for light loudly and steadily; light begins to steal up into the sky

  • Chief notices, starts shouting “let there not be” to stop it (but he didn’t say “light” at the end so it didn’t work)

  • Animals keep dancing/singing, Chief shouts “Let there be light!” in a panic

  • Light shone throughout the sky; Men have had light ever since


Origin of Light and Fire

  • Raven/Seagull were friends who lived near one another

  • World was constantly dark; Seagull owned the daylight that stayed in a box

  • Seagull only let the light out for his own personal use

  • Raven thought that was selfish; planned to steal it/let it out

  • Puts thorn branches outside Seagull’s house; tells Seagull his canoe has been set adrift

  • Seagull runs out of his house barefoot; gets thorns in his feet

  • Raven offers to pull thorns out; says Seagull needs to let some daylight out of box so he can see

  • Raven pushes Seagull’s arm, breaking the box and letting the light out

  • Raven cleans himself, paints face black

  • After four days, Raven sees smoke on the south shore of the sea

  • Raven’s servants try to paddle in canoe to the smoke, but it was swamped

  • Borrows Seagull’s canoe; goes to house of the Fire People

  • Steals the baby in the home and runs away

  • Sturgeon, Whale, Seal and others go search for Raven and his boat

  • Raven returns to his home with the baby

  • Fire People try to give Raven presents in exchange for the baby

  • Raven refuses all gifts, but agrees to return the baby for some fire

  • Fire People give Raven fire, and teach him how to make fire


Story Source: Myths and Legends of British North America by Katharine Berry Judson (1917)


Picture of Old Toad, via the Untextbook

Sunday, October 25, 2020

Week 9 Review

I liked the photo that talked about daydreaming. People sometimes criticize daydreaming because it shows signs of being "out of it" or not paying attention to the world around them. I honestly don't see a problem with it. Daydreaming gives people the opportunity to let their imagination run wild. Everyday life can be stressful, and there's nothing wrong with taking a few moments to clear your mind and think about other things. Unless you're doing something important or something that really requires attention, like driving, daydreaming can be a great stress relief and allows the mind to work freely. 

Daydreaming Photo, via Tuesday's Course Announcements

The pen drumming video was so much fun! I did percussion in middle school and high school, and while I never played the drums during class, I would do some mindless pen drumming in class, even today. I've always loved music, and listening to him layer different sounds together to create music was pretty incredible. It brings me back to high school when we would sing a capella of random words and syllables to create music. A group of guys, which included me and my brother, did an a capella version of the "Twelve Days of Christmas" one year for our Christmas concert. I've also done an a capella jazz circle during a choir camp, and this video brought back those fun memories of those activities.

"Pen Drumming" via YouTube


Thursday, October 22, 2020

Week 9 Story: Bite of the Bully

Johnny, Kendall, and Logan all sat down at their cafeteria table, unpacking their lunches they brought from home. 

“What’d you all bring today?” asked Logan to Johnny and Kendall. Johnny opened his lunch box to pull out a container of spaghetti and meatballs, a piece of garlic bread, and a bottle of Coke. 


“I brought some spaghetti and garlic bread from dinner last night,” said Johnny. “It has my mom’s special sauce and my dad’s secret meatball recipe in it. I made and cooked the garlic bread from scratch!”


“I have some steak tacos leftover from going to that new Mexican restaurant yesterday,” said Kendall. “It has some corn salsa and sour cream. I also brought chips and queso to go along with it.”


As Logan listened to Johnny and Kendall explain their lunches, he pulled out a turkey sandwich, a bag of potato chips, and a juice pouch. He also had a small cup of red sauce. Logan proceeded to take one piece of bread off his sandwich, open the cup of red sauce, and pour it onto the turkey.


“Dude,” said Kendall. “You should really see a doctor about your addiction.” 


“Yeah man,” said Johnny. “It can’t be safe to put hot sauce on everything like you do.”


“But it’s a special hot sauce today,” said Logan. “It’s ghost pepper hot sauce. My dad found it when he was travelling for work and bought it for me.”


“Hey, Logan!” said Janelle from the other table. She waved her hand, signaling for Logan to come over. Logan stood up, and strolled to the other side of the lunchroom to Janelle’s table. 


While Logan was at Janelle’s table, Brick lumbered over to Johnny and Kendall. Brick was the school bully. He was known for being a numbskull, and a jerk, especially to Johnny, Kendall, and Logan. 


“‘Sup nerds?” said Brick.


“Leave us alone, Brick,” mumbled Johnny.


“You losers enjoying lunch? I forgot to bring mine. Maybe you can share?” chuckled Brick.


Brick then proceeded to snatch Johnny’s garlic bread and one of Kendall’s tacos, engulfing both in a couple of bites. He noticed Logan’s sandwich sitting on the table and reached for that as well.


“Uhh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” said Kendall.


“Pfft, what do you know, idiot?” quipped Brick. 


Brick then grabbed Logan’s sandwich and took a gigantic bite. It only took a couple of chews before the heat kicked in. Brick’s face went white, and lips went numb, and it looked as though he would pass out.


“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Brick screamed, loud enough to be heard from the classrooms in the neighboring building. Brick bolted from the cafeteria, desperate to find a way to ease the pain. Logan came running back to the table.


“What the heck happened?!” asked Logan.


Kendall and Johnny looked at each other and smirked. “Let’s just say he learned not to mess with you anymore,” they said, trying to stifle their laughter.


“Crop Male Chef Serving Delicious Sandwich” via Pexels


Story Source: Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit by Joel Chandler Harris


Author’s Notes

In the original story, most of the characters are animals. I decided to make them all human in my story to help the plot a bit, as I felt that trying to introduce both animals and humans interacting in the story would be difficult to do succinctly. The bully in this story is parallel to the lion in the source story. However, I decided to make it appear more of an accident than trickery. Brer Rabbit tricks the lion to get into a barrel that ends up burning him. In my story, the bully did everything himself. Brer Rabbit convinces the lion to hop in the barrel, while Kendall actually tries to convince Brick *not* to hurt himself.


Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Week 9 Reading Notes: More Brer Rabbit Part B

  • Brer Rabbit treats Brer Fox as a horse

  • Ties him to a rack as he goes to hang out with girls- smoking, playing music, etc.,

  • When Rabbit/Fox leave, Fox turns loose- tries to buck Rabbit off of him (jumping very high, tearing up the ground)

  • Fox gets tired, Rabbit runs into the forest to get away

  • Rabbit squeezes into hole in base of tree, Fox lies outside to wait/gather his mind

  • Buzzard comes along and thinks Fox is dead; Fox makes a deal w/ Buzzard to help him catch Rabbit

  • Fox leaves to get an axe while Buzzard keeps watch

  • Rabbit tells Buzzard there’s a big squirrel in the tree to tempt him

  • Rabbit tells Buzzard he’ll help him drive the squirrel out so Buzzard can eat him

  • Buzzard at one side of the tree, Rabbit will run through the tree to drive the squirrel toward the Buzzard

  • Rabbit kicks up dirt to make it appear the squirrel is coming

  • Buzzard dives into the tree, gets stuck, Rabbit runs towards home


The End of Mr. Bear

  • Brer Rabbit runs into Brer Bear

  • Asks him how Miss Brune (Bear’s wife) and Miss Brindle (Bear’s girlfriend) are doing

  • While they talk, Brer Bear secretly wants to nab/eat Brer Rabbit

  • Rabbit tells Bear that he found an “old-time bee tree” oozing with honey (aka beehive)

  • Bear wants the honey to feed his family, Rabbit takes him to it

  • Bear starts to climb the tree; Rabbit takes a pine pole to “shove the honey to where Bear can get it”

  • Bear gets to the top, sticks his head in the hive; Rabbit hits the hive to rile up the bees

  • Bees sting Bear, his head swells up so he can’t remove his head

  • Bear ends up hanging from the tree with his head stuck in the hive; Rabbit runs away in relief


How Mr. Rabbit Saved His Meat

  • Brer Wolf coming back from fishing trip; smells Miss Partridge nearby

  • Wolf sets his fish down, goes to find Partridge to eat her

  • Brer Rabbit sees fishes, takes them; Wolf comes back and finds them missing (but knows Rabbit was in the area)

  • Wolf goes to Rabbit’s house to ask where the fish are; Rabbit denies it

  • Rabbit says “If you really believe I have your fish, you can go kill my best cow”

  • Wolf goes to Rabbit’s pasture to kill a cow; Wolf hears slave patrol, runs into underbrush

  • While he’s gone, Rabbit kills a cow, skins and cuts it; sticks the cow tail into the ground

  • Rabbit calls out to Wolf; convinces him the cow is stuck in the ground

  • They yank out the tail; Rabbit convinces Wolf that the now tailless cow is still in the ground

  • Brer Wolf grabs digging tools (spade, shovel, pick axe) to try and dig up the cow

  • Brer Rabbit goes to his porch to watch Wolf dig for no reason and laughs at him

  • Rabbit and his kids have tons of cow meat to enjoy


Story Source: Uncle Remus: His Songs and His Sayings by Joel Chandler Harris


Brer Rabbit Riding Brer Fox, via the Untextbook




 


Monday, October 19, 2020

Week 9 Reading Notes: More Brer Rabbit Part A

  • Brer Bear has big/warm house

  • Lives with his wife, his son Simon, and his daughter Sue

  • One day, someone knocks at the door

  • Banging loudly, almost knocks down door

  • Homeless Brer Polecat is looking for a place to stay from the cold

  • Brer Polecat claims he’s a good housekeeper

  • Brer Bear says he can clean the outside of the house, but he’s not allowed inside bc there’s no room

  • Brer Polecat claims he can make room for himself in the house; Bear eventually concedes

  • Brer Polecat smells so bad bc of his stink spray that Brer Bear family moves out; Polecat takes over the house


Brer Rabbit Treats the Creeturs to a Race

  • Brer Rabbit goes to Rainmaker’s house

  • Asks Rainmaker to set up a race btw Brer Dust and Cousin Rain to see who’s faster

  • Brer Rabbit hypes the race to all the Critters

  • Race is on a big road, everyone is lined up along the side to cheer them on

  • Uncle Wind also helps with the “race”

  • Uncle Wind starts blowing Brer Dust and Cousin Rain everywhere

  • Everyone is coughing, sneezing, wheezing, getting suffocated by Brer Dust

  • Cousin Rain pours down, drowning people- people covered in mud

  • Critters see that Brer Rabbit is dry/has an umbrella

  • Critters chase Brer Rabbit in anger (that’s the true race)


How Mr. Lion Lost His Wool

  • Mr. Man looks to go hog hunting

  • Prepares water barrel that will scrape hair off of the hogs he catches/kills; also has a fire

  • Does his thing with the hogs, leaves behind the barrel/fire

  • Brer Rabbit pops out of a bush, goes to the fire to warm himself

  • Brer Wolf and Brer Fox show up

  • Rabbit asks if Wolf and Fox want to join him for a bath with Mr. Man’s contraption

  • Mr. Lion shows up, growls and asks what they’re doing

  • Rabbit tells him, Mr. Lion is excited because he needs a bath

  • Rabbit tells him to hop into the barrel; Mr. Lion jumps in up to his shoulder blades

  • Mr. Lion gets burned from the bath and is scalded

  • Mr. Lion screams in pain which is heard from miles away

  • All his wool from neck down is burned off; runs away in pain


Story Source: Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit by Joel Chandler Harris



Lion Getting Burned by the Bath Water, via the Untextbook


Week 11 Story: A Rocky Rescue

Brother and sister Mat and Sharn walked through the forest. They were going to their secret hideaway, a beautiful spring deep in the trees. ...