Week 5: Styles

Styles that interest me for my Portfolio project:

Telling the story as a villain. This is one of the topics that I thought could be interesting for the original storybook idea. I think that this is an interesting style to use to retell a story mainly because it gives the reader a very interesting perspective to hear and visualize it from. The villain can be very one sided and make it seem that they have done nothing wrong, so I feel this could be an interesting approach to take!

            One story I read that was titled Alexander the Great, Reborn! used the style of “futuristic” to tell the story. I think the main thing that draws me to this style is that most of the stories we are reading in the Un-Textbook are very old and told in very old grammar and language. I think it could be really fun to retell these stories and put somewhat of a futuristic spin on them to help modernize them. I also think it could be a style that has an advantage because if the stories are being told in a manner that “we” now days can really follow we are more likely to be engaged and want to know more!

            The story The Towers That Be took a very interesting approach on choosing a style; the story was told through inanimate objects. I think that this style choice is very interesting because it allows for something that is not necessarily apart of the story to be the one telling it, so like an outsider. With that kind of a style I think the storyteller will be much less bias because they are not directly involved in the story. I think this would be an interesting style to try out and play around with!

            In the story Delilah's Radio Hour, the author took on the approach of telling the story through an interview approach. I think that this can be a very useful approach to telling a story because it involves at least two characters heavily and really allows for direct questions and information to be asked and obtained allowing for clarity. I also think the radio interview approach is more modern and so it can put a fun new spin on a story that may be a bit older and dry. It is so important to find a style that will really catch your reader and draw them in. I think this approach could really do just that, so it is one that I will definitely be considering when I edit my portfolio stories each week!

            One story that really caught my eye was Rate my Rishi, this story used the style of telling it though a social media aspect. I think this approach is interesting because social media is something that is so prevalent and popular in the society that we live in today so it will always attract people. I also think the “rate my professor” spin off idea was great because that is something that we all use in this day and age to figure out who we what as our teachers before we enroll each semester.

            The final style idea that I really thought was interesting was seen in the story; Legendary Heroines: The Diary Accounts of Four Courageous Women. This story used the style of writing in a diary, the thing that drew me to this style is that it allows for multiple people to do entries in one area and also allows for entries to be done at various times. I think allowing for different times can definitely be a strong suit for a story because it can show progression of the story.

            

Storytelling Week 5: The Ring

Once upon a time there was prince who was about to take over the kingdom as his father was very ill and didn’t have much time left. The only thing he was missing was his beautiful queen to help him rule all of the lands. . .

Days passed and his father grew sicker and sicker, all his father wanted was to know he was leaving his kingdom in good hands, so he gave a green jewel ring to his son and told him “this ring will lead you to your wife”. The son did not believe that his would work nor did he understand how it would play out but he wanted to make his father happy so he devised a plan.

Source: The Green Jewel Ring

 The next morning he called upon his scribe to gather ten of the most beautiful women in the land and bring them before him. The scribe did as he was told, and once they had all arrived in the palace the prince informed them that they would be going on a boat ride.

Once on the water the prince was talking and getting to know all of the women but nothing seemed special. He was holding the ring his father had given him and as he was gazing at its beauty they hit the river bank and the sudden thump knocked the ring out of the princes hand and in to the water! He had no idea what to do and couldn’t spot it anywhere. He knew how disappointed his father was going to be, but then out of nowhere one of the girls spotted it floating on a lily pad and picked it up.

The prince immediately knew that this was the sign his father had prepared him for and he ran to the girl and asked for her hand in marriage and to help him rule the kingdom. She accepted and they lived happily ever after.

The end.

Authors note: I am translating the story of The Green Jewel. I decided to get pretty creative with my storytelling this week. In the original story a price is having women row a boat for him and one of the girls loses her green jewel in the river. Then the scribe is able to part the river and she gets her ring back. I decided to keep the green jewel ring constant but overall kind of change the whole storyline. I had a lot of fun interpreting this story and changing parts to make it different!

Bibliography: Egyptian Myth and Legend Ronald Mackenzie (1907)

Reading Diary Week 5: Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories

Below I have presented my favorite stories from Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories.

The first story that really caught my eye was The Sun's Journey. The main reason that this story caught my eye is because of how it was written. I found it to be very interesting in the sense of wording. It was a very hard read for me; the old language and placement of words proved to be difficult for me to understand and grasp fully. From what I read I think that the just of the story was trying to explain how there was an underworld and many soles and reptiles were cast there, there was also a journey through that underworld that one could take. When the sun arose from the darkness each day the souls of the underworld rejoiced.

Another story that was interesting to read was The Wax Crocodile. I thought just by the title that this story would be interesting. This story was still a bit hard for me to read but it was much easier than some of the others in this section. This story was about a king that molded a small crocodile out of wax and then had it cast a spell on a youth that was bathing in a pond. The small wax crocodile grew in to an enormous crocodile and took the youth away. The crocodile was to only return upon request of the king; he never let the youth go and was eventually shrunk back in to a small wax figurine.

A third story that was an interesting read to me was The Green Jewel. This story caught my eye initially because it was about a stone so I was intrigued. This story was also an easier read than some of the other stories that were presented in this unit. This story is about a group of women rowing boat for a King until the lead rower drops her green stone in the water, the scribe parts the water and the jewel is retrieved. The king says how much he has enjoyed this outing and how impressed he is by the scribe.

Another story that I found to be an interesting read was The Book of Thoth. This story was again one of the few that were a bit harder for me to read. I think that because of the way this story was worded it didn’t make total sense to me but I tried hard to understand it in its entirety. This story was only part one, but it talked about a boy who was reading foolish messages on the church walls when the Priest decided to send him on a mission to find The Book of Thoth, he has a girl accompany him on the journey.

The very last story of the bunch was titled The Tale of King Rhampsinitus. This story was very interesting to read because it had so many things constantly going on that you were intrigued the whole time. Overall this story was a pretty easy read and I think the wording and phrasing was done in a way that is easy for most to understand. This story was about a man who was building somewhere for the king to store his riches and then he died but left the information to his sons, they stole treasure after treasure and eventually got caught. The brother that was not trapped killed the trapped brother so the king wouldn’t do it. They eventually got his body back and the other brother ended up marrying the kings daughter.

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Hi all, my name is Emily McLean and I am a senior this year studying Marketing! I would love for you all to leave comments here!! Thank you!

Image Source: Personal Photo

Week 4 Essay: Persian Tales

This week I read Persian Tales from the Un-Textbook. This unit caught my eye mainly because it was something that seemed different and also was something that I had never really been exposed to before. I was excited to try something new out this week and to learn a little more about how other cultures write and to maybe gain some ideas for my storybook from themes or ideas I could grasp through reading this unit this week.

One common character or presence that I noticed to be present in most of the sub-stories in this unit was a wolf. This wolf took on different character roles and personas in each story but overall was a very common central theme. I think that most of the time the wolf was representing something bad or negative in one way or another so it is easy to place association on the animal and character.

Image Source: Wolf

 When I think of a wolf the first few things that pop in to my head are; fear, dark, powerful, large and so on. There is a commonality that can be seen in these adjectives and that is that they are not usually thought of as positive things. Why are we so scared of these animals and why do the stories present the animal in such a negative light? I think that what we read and more importantly how we read and interpret the material at hand heavily influences our feelings towards things. I feel that if the wolf were presented in a different way than the readers may have a different opinion and a different take on the animal as a central character.

Overall I feel that this was a great story and I really enjoyed reading it, I would recommend this story to all the other students in this class!

Week 4 Storytelling: The Journey for Luck

Once upon a time there was a man by the name of Martin, he had what everyone else in the town wanted; pure luck. Everything in his life always seemed to flow so perfectly and then at once it was all gone. His luck seemed to have vanished away in to the night, and be no more. Now Martin knew that there was a place far far away that his elders had told him about where people could reclaim their luck, but the travels there were long and traitorous, only the chosen would survive the journey.

He awoke at dawn of the next morning and began his journey, he had packed all he needed and felt that he was prepared for the road that was ahead of him. The first obstacle he faced was a monstrous maze that seemed to have no end; only few had ever made it out. For Martin though this maze seemed to pose very little threat as he finished the maze in a matter of only a few hours. Next he had to cross a rushing river without getting swept away by the force of the current. Again he seemed to prevail in the obstacle as he built a bridge out of wood to safely cross over the river. Days went by and he continued to succeed in this challenges he was presented with.

Image Source: Maze

 The final test came, he had to search for the tiny ruby that was lost in a sand pit, and this challenge seemed to almost stump Martin. He spent day after day constantly picking through all the tiny grains of sand. He almost gave up when suddenly he found it! He joyfully rushed the gem to the cave where there were several mentors eagerly awaiting his arrival. They saw that he was able to overcome all these obstacles without his luck so they felt that he was deserving enough to have his luck back. He received his luck and went on his way back to his home to spread the gift.

The end.

Authors Note: I am retelling the story of The Man who Went to Wake his Luck. In this original story a man is on a journey to wake his luck and along the way the man is approached by many to have his ask the luck why they have been cursed lately. He locates the luck and asks all the questions, then reports the answers to the others. At the very end he ends up getting eaten by a wolf. I decided to change most of the story and only keep the idea of luck the same!

Bibliography: Persian Tales, translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer, illustrated by Hilda Roberts (1919).