Week 3 Curation

My three favorite web discoveries for this week:

Project Gutenberg - It got into my bookmarks because I like the free stories that i can read there.

Mythology Pictures - I searched about Mythology pictures and this came up. If I choose the Greek Mythology section, then I will for sure use this for the images.

Drawing of Zeus. Found on the Mythology website.
Source: Greek Mythology.

While looking through Growth Mindset on Twitter, I came across this picture. It was talking about the brain and Growth Mindset. I thought it was interesting. 

Week 3 Growth Mindset

I wrote this past week's story at a different location. I usually write the stories in my room in my desktop computer. But this week, I decided to write it on my laptop in the living room. It was a different experience as I had the TV on while I was writing the story. I might try it again!

Difficult is not impossible meme
from Growth Mindset.

Week 3 Review

I backed up my files. I missed a deadline for reading the units part b, but I am making up for it by doing some extra credit assignments. I like the daily announcements when I open my e-mail as there are always some fun things in them. 

The one I found to be the most interesting is shown below. It is most interesting because it is really true! I get the same way when I am writing stories. 

Waiting for the story to the come to the head!
Source: Sunday, September 13 announcement

Bengali/Indian Ghost Stories: Styles Brainstorm

Topic. My Storybook will be about different ghost stories found in the Bengali and Indian folktales. My goal is to find three to four different ghost stories and tie them together for the storybook. One story I am confident enough to include is, A Ghostly Wife, and another story I want to use is, The Boy Who Was Caught. There are lots of ghost stories to choose from for the others so I don't think that will be too hard.

Bibliography:

1. A Ghostly Wife, from the Bengali Folktales unit found on UnTextbook, by Lal Behari Day (1912).

2.The Boy Who Was Caught, from the Indian Ghost Stories book, by S. Mukerji (1917).

Possible Styles: 

Me telling the stories. My first choice is to write the story in a  first-person style. I am going to be the main character in the story who tells the ghost stories to other characters. For this, I am going to go with a frametale to connect my separate stories. I could be in a classroom where I am telling the stories from my own experience or I could be camping with some friends and telling the story there. 

Field trip. This could be a toss-up between a first-person or a third-person. I could insert myself with some friends who are taking a field trip around India or Bangladesh where they stop at different places to listen to the ghost stories of that particular place. The ghost stories might be told by some elderly of that place or by me as I have heard the stories beforehand. 

Some crazy person being a storyteller. This would be an anthology or a frametale. I could have a crazy person tell different ghost stories of different places as a warning for people to not visit that place. But people will avoid his warning and visit anyway. Only to find out what he said were true. They escape barely. And I could have them come back to search for that crazy person only to find out there never was a crazy person there to begin with.

Kids being kids. This could be a first-person story where I might talk about my experiences with ghosts as a kid. Or it can be third-person story where some kids are talking about ghosts while visiting a old holy site where they are not supposed to go. I can have them trapped inside that site and have them tell the scariest ghost stories they can tell to scare the others. I am not sure if it will be an anthology or a frametale. It could be a frametale as I am having them sit inside a place and tell those stories.

Since I am talking about ghosts, I have to include this picture:

Casper: A Spirited Beginning movie poster.
Found on Wikipedia.

Extra Reading Diary: Aesop (Jacobs)

My favorite stories from the second unit of Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs are:

The Ant and the Grasshopper. Some Ants and a Grasshopper are the main characters. The story reminded me of people who waste all of their money instead of saving some for bad times. And then when they run out of money, they start to rue their luck similar to the grasshopper. I liked how the story was told. The lesson it provided should be heeded by everyone: It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.

The Woodman and the Serpent. A man and his family and a Serpent are the characters of this story. This story shows that no matter how hard you try or trust, bad things tend to stay bad. The man brought the Serpent home and brought it back to life, but it's instinct when alive is to kill things. Hence, Crane provided this lesson: Beware how you entertain traitors. 

The Man and The Snake is Crane's version of The Woodman and the Serpent.

Source: The Man and The Snake (Crane).

The Wind and the Sun. I heard of this story when I was little, hence, it is on this list. It was fun to read and recall from childhood. I like how it was the Sun who suggested how they should resolve their dispute knowing that he would win as the only way to have someone take off their clock is making them warm not cool. 

The Man and His Two Wives. I liked this story as the ending was really funny as the two wives made their husband bald trying to make him look better. Hence, the lesson: Yield to all and you will soon have nothing to yield.

Week 3 Storytelling: Things are not always what they seem

One day, a man named John traveled to a new city. He parked his car and started walking down the sidewalk when he came across a person sitting down on the ground. The person was wearing torn clothes and looked as if he hadn't eaten for days.

John was feeling bad for the guy and decided to help him in any way he can. He approached the person as he wanted to help and also because he was curious as to why that person was sitting on the ground when there was a perfectly good bench ten feet away from him.

He decided to inquire, "Good day sir. I was curious as to why you are sitting on the ground when you can sit on the bench over there?"

The man answered, "The bench is not up to my standards. Too many people sit on the bench and I don't want to be one of them as I don't associate myself with those people-- commoners."

John didn't know what to say right away, and started to talk to himself, "Who is he calling commoners when his attire is worse than everyone else's".

After some time, John replied, "Are you not a part of the commoners?"

"NO! Of course not," answered the person. He continued, "But you are probably wondering why I am in this state"

He continued, "I happen to be the CEO of Stardeer, but I do not like to spend my money as that would make me poor and a commoner."

John still did not understand why this person spends way less than him even though he earns way more than him. He left scratching his head as the CEO looked more like a homeless person rather than a CEO of such big coffee stores. He kept walking, thinking this must be how everyone in this city lives.

After some time, he came across another person sitting on the ground. He was more curious about this person than the last one as this person had a suit on. John thought to himself, "He must be rich as well, living similar to the CEO, but not as badly it seems".

He decided to inquire as he was very curious, "Good day sir. I know it is not any of my business. But I was curious as to why you are sitting on the ground with such good clothes on. Will they not get dirty?"

"I will answer your question if you give me 5 dollars," replied the man.

John thought this request was odd as he seemed to be doing well for himself. He took out a $5 bill and handed it to the man in order to satisfy his curiosity.

The man started to speak, "Very well then. These are not my clothes. I got them from the charity store down at the corner. They give free clothes to people like me who cannot afford them otherwise. Dirty or clean doesn't really make much of a difference to me".

The man continued, "Thanks to you, I can now go get something to eat as I haven't eaten in a while".

John was left speechless again. He didn't know what to do. So he took out some more money out of his wallet and handed them to the man and said, "Get yourself a better lunch and some dinner".

The man was very thankful. He said his goodbyes as he got up and started walking toward McKing, the big fast food restaurant.

John left in a very confused state. He started wondering why things were not always what they seem. He finally understood the saying, "Appearances can be deceptive" and the saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover".

The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing picture from a blog.
Source: Liberty Carter Blog

Author's Note. This story is based on the fable "The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" found in The Fables of Aesop book. This book was written by Joseph Jacobs (1894). In that story, a wolf finds some skin of a sheep. Which he wears to deceive the shepherd and other sheep. He is successful as he gets inside the herd and eats many of them. In my version, I changed everything, including changing the characters to people, but I kept the important lesson intact: Appearances can be deceptive. I wanted to write the story in a real life situation, that's why I made the changes from animals to people in a society. The picture I found is from a blog and represents how things are not always what they seem and how appearances can be deceptive. The image is from the original story, but the symbolism it provides ties it to my story. I chose this story because it seemed interesting and I wanted to see how I can write my own version of it. The story was coming to me while I was writing so it may not seem like a good story, but I hope it gets the message across as that was my main goal.

Bibliography: "The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing" by Joseph Jacobs, from The Fables of Aesop (1894). Web Source: UnTextbook.

Reading Diary A: Aesop (Jacobs)

My favorite stories from Aesop's Fables by Joseph Jacobs are:

Androcles and the Lion. A person named Androcles, a Lion, and The Emperor are the main characters. I heard of this story before and I liked it then, and I still like it now. The story started out as a typical story where the Lion seemed like eating the others, but the ending provided some nice moments where the Lion and his friend got along and both got freed. I liked how after doing a good thing, both of them were rewarded. 

The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. The lesson here caught my attention the first time I read it: Appearances are deceptive. The story is really short, and it has two characters: a Lamb and a Wolf. 

Belling the Cat. This is a famous old story. Main characters are the mice and mentions of the Cat. I liked this especially because of what happens. Suggesting is easy, but implementing is the harder part and takes more deliberation. Hence, the lesson: It is easy to propose impossible remedies. 

Mice in Council is Crane's version of Belling the Cat.
Source: Mice in Council (Crane).

The Lion and the Mouse. This story is fun and has a great lesson: Little friends may prove great friends. Another lesson could be added here: Appearances are deceptive. A mouse and a Lion are the characters. The Lion doubts the little guy, but the little guy ends up saving him. 

The Hares and the Frogs. Hares, Frogs, and some Horses are the characters. The lesson is what makes this story great: There is always someone worse off than yourself. This lesson is perfect for those people who thinks lowly of themselves. 

The Hare With Many Friends. Great lesson: He that has many friends, has no friends. Hare, goat, ram, and calf are the main characters. This caught my attention because in this day of modern technology, this is especially true.