Week 12 Storytelling: The Battle

The Battle

I was nestled up in the forest under a large oak tree. I awoke to some birds chirping and looked around. For the life of me I could not remember if I was still in a dream. I felt that it was maybe my dream but maybe someone else’s! I looked around and saw nothing that seemed familiar, until all of a sudden I heard loud galloping. I saw the evil Red Knight named Luther coming towards me and I began to feel nervous.

‘You belong to me now!’ the Red Knight Luther said to me.

I did not know what to do, but I did observe him to be very clumsy. It seemed that he kept falling off his horse and this was all I could notice. He was explaining to me how I was going to be his prisoner now but more galloping shortly interrupted it.

‘I have come to rescue you!’ the White Knight Arnold shouted.

‘She is mine and you can only have her if you win a battle!’ responded the Red Knight Luther.

Source: Flickr

I was so overwhelmed and did not know what to make of this situation. I backed up and hid behind some sort of tree to try and protect myself. The battle commenced and I began to observe. 

I noticed that there were several rules that were part of this particular battle. One of the rules seemed to be that if one of the knight’s gets hit he will fall off his horse, but if that knight instead misses then he will tumble off of his own horse. Another rule I took note of was that when they fell off their horses they always fell on their heads. This was so peculiar to me.

Finally they both ended up falling off their horses at the same time on to their heads so the battle was over. They shook hands and the Red Knight decided to give Alice to the White Knight. He ventured away and the White Knight was feeling very victorious.

‘I want to be queen.’ Alice explained.

Authors Note: For this story I decided to retell the story of In My Own Invention.  I really liked this story because it was still including Alice and it was about a section I had never heard before. I kept the story pretty much exact to the original with just a few minor changes. I decided to tell the story from Alice’s point of view since she was the main character. I also decided to give the two knights names because they had no real identity without them!

Bibliography: Through the Looking-Glass. Lewis Carroll (1871) My Own Invention.

Storytelling Week 9: New Life

The Powerful Raven

Once upon a time I the almighty Raven was the only creature to live in the land. The land was a barren wasteland. I was quite lonely and that was when I decided it was time to bring someone else into the world.

Image Source: Flickr

Now I had a very special gift….I could transform from human to raven whenever I pleased. This was a gift that I greatly appreciated. It came in handy when I went to the ground to plant vines. These vines were normal, well, most of the time anyway. Every once in a while the vine would produce a pod and the pod would grow a human. I hadn’t seen this happen in years, though, so it was nothing worth getting your hopes up about.

I had a feeling about today however. It felt very special. So I decided to plant some vines and see if anything would come of them. I planted them near the river’s edge and hoped that they would flourish being next to the water. I carefully placed the seeds in the hole I had dug and then gently positioned soil on top of them. I cupped my hands together and gathered some water from the river and put it on the seeds. I decided to let them sit for a few days and I flew off.

I gave it a few days and on the fourth day something began to stretch out its arms and legs from the pod on the vine. I was ecstatic that something had grown but suspicious of what it was.  I decided it was time to investigate. I approached it and flapped my wings to turn back into a human. He was astonished by my ability and confused as to who I was. I then asked him, “Where did you come from?” He answered, “That hanging pod over there." I told him how I had planted that pod on the vine and really hoped one of them would produce life.

I explained to him how there were no other creatures living in the land. I also described how if he followed me to the river I could create other creatures.  We ventured to the river and I grabbed some clay. I shaped that clay into a fish. I then gently placed the fish into the water and it began to swim away. I explained how it would multiply and we would have an abundant amount in just a few days. I was so excited to have someone else here on the land to share this food with.

Next I formed the deer out of the clay and explained that they would move quickly so nobody could kill them. They would bring a lot of life to the land and would multiply quickly too. He was astonished by the power I had and asked that I do one more thing. He explained how he was very lonely and that he would appreciate if I could create a companion for him. I said, “Of course!” I formed a female out of the clay and told him that they would keep each other company for the rest of time. They loved each other and helped make the land prosper. I was so happy with my creations!

Author's Note: I am retelling the story of Raven’s Creation. This story is from the Alaskan Legends unit and it is about the culture of the Inuit (Eskimo). For this storytelling task this week I preferred to stick pretty close to the original story. I did decide to change who the voice was telling the story. I decided to tell it from the Raven’s point of view. I think that telling it from this point of view was a beneficial choice because he was the main character in the original. Another advantage to telling it from the raven's voice is that he is the main creator of everything. Without the raven, there would be no life, so he played a key role. In the original story the raven used the clay to make mountain sheep, reindeer and caribou. I changed the animals that the raven changed the clay into just to add a different detail to the story. The deer was similar to the mountain goat and reindeer but just a different animal. I wanted to also make an animal that would be able to escape any danger and be able to flourish quickly. Also in the original story the raven was surprised when a human came out of the pod. I changed this to having the raven anticipate it. This story was overall very interesting to me because the raven held all the power in creation and through creating this man he was then able to begin a whole society.

Bibliography: Myths and Legends of Alaska Katharine Berry Judson (1911). Raven's Creation.

Week 12 Reading Diary: Looking Glass

This week I am retelling stories from Through the Looking-Glass.

In My Own Invention Alice has been captured by the White Knight. They then run in to the Red Knight and he wants Alice. So they decide to fight for her. She gets very nervous during the battle and hides behind a tree.  They both fall off their horses so the Red Knight decides to give up.

In My Own Invention (cont.) the knight and Alice are venturing on and on along the path. He presents her with his box that is to hold his clothes and lunch, Alice points out that it is upside down though and that all of it’s contents have fallen out. Later on she notices that he seems to fall off the horse a lot and he becomes offended by that statement.

In My Own Invention (cont. again) Alice and the White Knight are still going along on their adventure along the path and Alice wants to know some of the things the knight has invented. He tells her he will give her the secret to getting over a fence in a new way when he thinks of it. He also explains various helmets he has invented.

In My Own Invention (end) the knight and Alice were still traveling along but the knight was getting sad and low-spirited. He expressed to Alice that it was officially time for them to part ways. He left her and she watched him ride off, falling on each side of the horse. She crossed the eighth square and tumbled down a hill. She came across a golden crown that fit perfectly on her head.

In Queen Alice, Alice is enjoying her newfound glory of being a queen and her marvelous crown. She happens to stumble upon the White Queen and the Red Queen who are playing a game. She asks them about the game and it frustrates them so they lash out at her.

In Queen Alice (cont.) Alice and the Red Queen and White Queen are having debates over many things. Alice asks them both if they can do sums, they say they can do sums but cannot do subtraction under any kind of circumstance. Alice is the main speaker in this story.

In Queen Alice (cont. again) Alice is approaching a door that has ‘Queen Alice’ written on top of it, with two bells. She knocks and is denied entry. Then a frog with giant boots comes over and advises her to stop knocking. Then the doors fly open and Alice is welcomed in, she is then at a feast and everyone is cheering for her as the new Queen!

In Queen Alice (end) Alice is forced to sit in-between the Red Queen and the White Queen at a dinner. She feels especially uncomfortable having to be in-between them. The Red Queen is shouting out orders the whole time and Alice feels that it is unfair for her to be the only one ordering.

In Shaking and Waking Alice is still at the dinner and things are beginning to become very tense. She yells out at the Red Queen that she is going to shake her in to a kitten. She grabs her and shakes her until she becomes a kitten.