Essay for Week 14: Analyzing La Fontaine's Fables

La Fontaine's Fables

(La Fontaine's Fables)

This week's unit caught my eye because they are originally French stories! I love French stories! Because I love France and all things French. It was fun to see that a lot of French stories are similar to American stories that I grew up with. I've heard so many of those stories before, it was great! I don't think I had heard them in poem form, though. That was different and nice! I especially loved the Tortoise and the Hare story along with the Dogs story. Those two have really good distinct morals. I didn't have any that I disliked!

These stories are really good for little kids because of the simplicity and the rhyming. I don't know why, but kids seem to really love rhyming. I think I'm going to read these to my kids at the church sometime soon! This is wonderful. It contributed to my goals in this class because I wanted to find things to read that were similar to my interests. France is an interest and so this unit matched perfectly! I know I said last week that I did not like how much the British Units paralleled with my background. And here is La Fontaine's Fables matching a lot of things I've read and I loved it. Sounds a little hypocritical, but I think I just have a bias against America and Britain. What can I say? We're bullies to the rest of the world.

I didn't need to know any additional information before I read this unit. Everything was wonderful and I followed along very easily! It is very safe to say that this half of the last two week's of the class and the Native American Units were my absolute favorite! Yay! Definitely don't change this part of the British Unit. Keep the French!

Storytelling for Week 14: Morals Every 20-Something Should Live By

Morals Every 20-Something Should Live By

(A Picture of 20-Somethings!)

Have Empathy

Everywhere you go,
Everyone you meet,
Might be putting on a show,
Almost a performance in the street.
That is why,
We must try,
To counter their denial
With a loving smile.
Everyone is made
In their own special grade,
Of flesh and blood
And not one of us is a dud.

Have Humor

Life is hilarious
If not a bit precarious
And we must live
In order to give
A smile to
People that are going through
Crap.

Change is Consistent

Nothing remains the same
This does not require shame.
In anything we go through
And no matter what we do,
It will change again.
Change is the reason for growth
We as humans must endure both.
No need to fear the alternations
For it happens to even the greatest nations.
We must keep our chins up,
Buttercups,
And never let anything dull our sparkle.

Food is Good

Never diet.
Don't even try it.
Food is a gift to the planet
You want healthy? Do a pomegranate.
Don't worry about your weight
God made you great
It's our fate
To live beyond ourselves
So stop looking at your pantry shelves
Deciding what has fat
You have better things to do than that.

Author's Note: I decided to not base my Storytelling on any of the poems from this week's unit. They were all too short and simple. They all had morals at the end and I loved that. I also found this article, The 9 Morals Every 20-Something Should Live By by Lilliana De Ciantis  and I love it. I decided to use four of those morals in my version of La Fontaine's Fables. I rhymed everything and I feel like we, as 20-somethings can easily relate!

Week 14 Reading Diary: Fables of La Fontaine

Fables of La Fontaine

Foolish Animals

Hehe. I always love the tortoise and the hare race story. It's a wonderful reminder to tame one's ego! I especially loved that it rhymed. I love rhyming things.

Foxes

Hahaha this one's cute! Poor fox though...grapes are supposed to be so sweet! I can just see him hopping up to reach them in my brain!

Insects

Aw...that makes me so sad. He brought joy to the people around him all summer..the ant should give him food...

Foxes and Wolves

Wow. That was a good one. Poor wolf though..the fox was dumb to begin with though...going in the bucket of a wall would never cross my mind as a good idea.

Dogs

Aw! Humans don't treat dogs that badly...at least I don't. That wolf valued his freedom more than food. Wow.

Mice

I like the moral of this story. Looks can be deceitful. I'm glad that mouse escaped the cat though.

The Tortoise; The Bat

Dawh, the turtle died! This is like another unit but it was a frog that spoke while holding the bar between his teeth. The bat story was cool too.

The Astrologer; The Dairy Woman

Aww poor astrologer! I feel so bad for him...he was just doing his work! The Dairy Woman was kinda a sad moral.

Essay for Week 13: The Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre Analysis

The Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre Analysis

(Queen Navarre)

This was not my favorite unit. The past two weeks have not been my favorite units. I think I am more of an international person. The French/British/North American stuff does not interest me. I think I was born in the wrong country! Or race. Or both. The Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre  Unit is what I am referring to.

I think what I originally did not like about it was the dialogue before and after the stories. It seemed pointless and redundant. A lot of the conversation just reiterated what the story had told, which was too repetitive for my taste. The stories themselves were okay. They were a bit dark and brooding. They also touched on topics that were uncomfortable to me. The Virgin With Child was disturbing. Incest is a very taboo topic to society. It's taboo in the story too, so it's not like a difference in culture thing. I think my favorite story was The Lady From Milan and Her Lover. This was so because it was the least weird and most romantic. Even though the guy stalked her for three years...that's also disturbing. It was the best out of them all though.

Another thing that bothered me was the language. It was difficult to smoothly read. I got through everything alright, but I was easily stuck on a few sentences and phrases that just would not register for me.

One more thing I found troubling about this week and last week's readings is that they're all too familiar to me. I've heard all of these stories growing up and they are a part of my ancestry. I chose this unit because I had never heard of this Queen or any of her stories, so at least it was new information. If I have to read one more Alice in Wonderland story, I'm going to croak.

This unit helped my goal in life and for this class by just reconfirming that I am not a fan of Western culture. Including stories. That's good to know! I can avoid it. Haha :)

Storytelling for Week 13: Pester Hrynne

Pester Hrynne

(Pester Hrynne [Hester Prynne from the Scarlet Letter] before her and her brother's exile)

Charles knew he had a problem. His younger sister was always rather attractive to him. More attractive than she should have been considering the hereditary relationship. He was a priest as well, so this was an especially immoral situation to be in. He fought his urge to act on his feelings for his sister for many years. As she continued to grow into a young woman, though, resistance became futile.

One day Charles broke. I will spare you the details of the horrendous act he committed on his sister. I will tell you, however, that Charles and his sisters' lives were changed forever on that day.

Time went on and neither brother nor sister spoke a word of what had occurred. If words were to slip, both of their reputations would be tainted, if not destroyed, in a heartbeat and they would be sent into exile. Because of their silence, Charles relaxed as time went on and no longer worried about the ramifications of his actions. That is until two months after the act had been committed.

Charles' younger sister was with child. He panicked. His sister was distraught but slightly excited at the idea of having a child. Just not with her brother. Charles, not sharing in any of his sibling's excitement, sat down to create a plan.

He decided that the two of them were going to play the second Virgin Mary card. His little sister would claim to be a virgin in front of the entire congregation of the church during Charles' next service. Being the mastermind of this plan, he would not blaspheme the Lord because he would use a book instead of a Bible and use regular water during the ceremony than Holy water. This would make the ritual of his sister's testimony seem true to the congregation, she would be hailed the new mother of Christ, and Charles' would be the honored priest that officiated the ceremony. It was a perfect plan.

The day of the ceremony came and the little sister knelt at the alter with her large belly in front of her brother. He asked her to swear on the "Bible" (book) that she was a virgin and no one had touched her. She swore to this statement with "No man has touched me more than my brother would" and was washed with the "Holy water" (drinking water). The congregation, not considering incest to be an option, were instantly in awe of the pregnant woman and her belly.

There was one bishop in the sanctuary that held a spot of suspicion, however. The bishop could not get over the young girl's phrase of "No man has touched me more than my brother would". He had a gut feeling that the brother had indeed touched her in the way needed for a baby to be conceived. He acted on his suspicion and listened in on the pastor's conversation with his sister that night. What he overheard were the plans of the two siblings to keep their baby a secret.

"I will be our baby's father by assuming the position of adoptive father in front of the congregation. That way I can sincerely fulfill my paternal duties without guilt and under the approval of the congregation. All will be well."

The bishop with his newly acquired knowledge ran to inform the congregation of what he had heard. The next day during Charles' sermon, the congregation interrupted him and began the confrontation. Everything came crashing down and Charles was denounced as the church's pastor and the brother and sister were sent into exile with their incestuous child.

Author's Note: Yeah, I know this is a weird story...it's based off of The Virgin With Child in the Queen's Stories Unit. This was a very unsettling story to when I read it. I decided to switch it up a bit and let the audience know the entire time what was going on. The original story does not let the reader know that there is incest until the very end. I did not like that surprise, so I changed it! And the ending is different, too. In the original, the pastor just openly admits to his fraud when asked, which is dumb since he went through so much to cover the secret to begin with. I invented the bishop to eavesdrop in order to make the story more interesting.

Week 13 Reading Diary: The Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre

The Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre

The Lady of Milan and Her Lover

Awe! I loved this story! The guy is kind of a stalker though. Good thing the woman loved him back the whole time or she should have called the police. I'm surprised that she didn't actually...he literally followed her everywhere she went. She played a good trick on him though, I wish I were that clever! And she was so strong willed to ignore him even though she loved him for three years! I have got to learn to guard my heart like she does. The second half of the story was good too.

The Virgin With Child

Wow. Incest. Covered up by the claim of the next Virgin Mary? That's horrible. I hate that people use religion to cover their horrendous actions. Religion is something that is Holy, not a scapegoat. Oh that makes me irritated. The second half was similar.

The President of Grenoble's Revenge

Ah the cheating wife and the husband finding out. Very original. But why did the husband pretend he didn't find them? That was weird to me. Very weird. Okay, now I read the second part. It's all about image! Wow. What an obsession he has with the image of his household. Good grief. Well at least it worked out for him!

The Spanish Widow

This is a weird story. 99 for a cat and 1 for a horse? So strange. I wonder how much a ducat is…

Secrets Revealed

Um. This one is about rape. And how the woman was the one that sinned in the end. And it was her fault and they were laughing? That is not okay. I did not like this tory.

Woman On Her Death-Bed

Wow. This gives men a wonderful reputation. I'm not actually surprised at the husbands actions…that's sad. Poor wife…I am so glad she 

Essay for Week 12: Nursery Rhyme Analysis

Nursery Rhyme Analysis

(My brain's image of Nursery Rhymes which did not match the reality of this unit)

I was going to do a story analysis this week for the Nursery Rhymes Unit, but there was really no similar theme or moral running through all of the poems other than morbidity. I have written on the theme of morbidity before so I did not want to be redundant. In this case, however, it would be worth it to say that the rhyming of morbid topics makes them less morbid and therefore seems like a defense mechanism in a way.

I did not really enjoy this week’s readings. A lot of them made no sense and had no point. Some of the stories I have read before are like this, but they were longer and I could use my imagination to create a point. These were so short that my imagination has nothing to go off of. I think I read for purpose and functionality. I do not read for fun…that is what I have discovered about myself this semester. I like to feel productive while I read and I feel frustrated through these shorter, nonsensical readings.

I think the Paradoxes and the Songs were my least Favorite parts of the Nursery Rhymes. They were weird. My favorite stories would have to be the Riddles. Those are functional. There is brain involvement in reading those. Kept me on my toes! There was not really any information that these rhymes lacked, I appreciated you providing the Wikipedia links for explanations. I think people really need to pay attention to the fact that each of the parts of the unit consist many different rhymes. They just have to remember that for their reading adventures!

This unit did not fit my expectations or goals for this class. I cannot really put my finger on why I did not enjoy this unit other than its lack in productivity and purpose. In comparison to the Native American stories which were my favorite, the nursery Rhymes fell short. The Native American stories had purpose and I learned a lot from reading them. I like being productive. But I did not learn anything from this unit aside from a final confirmation that I do not read for fun. I must have substance in what I am reading. My imagination is not as active as others I guess!

Storytelling for Week 12: Girls Scout Nursery Rhyme Collections

Girl Scout Camp Nursery Rhymes:

(Picture of Girl Scouts!)

Miss Suzy had a steamboat

The steamboat had a bell

DING DING

Miss Suzy went to heaven

The steamboat went to—

Hello operator

Please give me number nine

And if you disconnect me

I’ll kick you from behind—

The refrigerator

There lies a piece of glass

Miss Suzy sat upon it and broke her little—

Ask me no more Questions

Tell me no more lies

The boys are in the bathroom zipping up their—

Flies are in the meadow

Bees are in the park

Miss Suzy and her boyfriend

Are kissing in the D-A-R-K, D-A-R-K

Dark, Dark, Dark—

Darker than the ocean

Darker than the sea

Darker than the underwear my mommy puts on me

Now I know I know my ma, and I know I know my pa

And I know I know my sister with the forty acre bra!

                               ~~~ 

Oh I wish I were a little juicy orange (juicy orange)

Oh I wish I were a little juicy orange (juicy orange)

I'd go squirty, squirty, squirty over everybody's shirty

Oh I wish I were a little juicy orange (juicy orange)

Oh I wish I were a little girly scouty (girly scouty)

Oh I wish I were a little girly scouty (girly scouty)

I'd go tramp, tramp, tramp through the boyscout camp
Oh I wish I were a little girly scouty (girly scouty)

                               ~~~

Out of my tent flap looking in the night
I can see my counselors, OOO what a sight
Cold cream on their face
And rollers in their hair
I can even smell their dirty underwear

Counselors, I would like to kick you out
I would like to kick you out, out, out
Counselors, take a swim out in the lake
You might get eaten by a polka-dotted snake

                               ~~~

(Circle of girls is formed and there is one person in the center. She skips around the inside of the circle while everyone sings the following song. When the song gets to "she stopped in front of me", the person in the center stops at a girl and does a jig. Then the girl in the circle switches with the center girl and does the dance. This is the new center person.)

Little Sally Walker, walking down the street
She didn't know what to do so she stopped in front of me
She said: Hey girl do yo thank, do yo thang and switch
Hey girl do yo thang do yo thang and switch!

                              ~~~

Grasping the neck,

I keep your finger in check

Holding so tight,

I make your hand gleam bright

(Answer: a ring)

                              ~~~

Beautiful sounds I can provide

The only catch is I must go inside

Keep me on low

Or your hearing will go!

(Answer: headphones)

Author's Note: I read Nursery Rhymes for this week's reading unit! A few of the first stories I told for the storytellings were completely in rhyme because I enjoy writing like that so much, so this unit was an obvious choice for me. All of these rhymes were from the British Isles so I decided to make my storytelling this week on the rhymes I grew up with in Girl Scouts! I can't believe I still remember all of these...guess it just goes to show you how much repetition can really engrave something into your brain!

Week 12 Reading Diary: Nursery Rhymes

Nursery Rhymes

Nursery Tales

Some of these are really weird and pointless and short! Little Jack Horner sounds like an old nursery rhyme I knew...it might have been this one but worded differently. There aren't really morals or points to these stories. There is a lot of vengeance though. Death is prevalent through the tales and they're a bit morbid in general! Maybe this is to bring a lighter mood to serious topics?

Nursery Proverbs 

I knew the proverb: "See a pin and pick it up, All the day you'll have good luck"! But it's always been "penny" and not "pin". Maybe that changed with the times? The sneezing one was cute! Gives a bit of a folklore to sneezes since no one really knows their total significance (other than expelling germs) and are kind of like yawns. Same with the wind proverb. These rhymes seem to be providing rules of thumb? Like how to think of things and how to interpret situations. Motifs to live by, these are cute and I like them ;)

Nursery Rhyme Songs 1 and 2:

Yeah I didn't enjoy these two sections...There isn't much point at all to these "songs" and the language is a bit difficult. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had known the tunes of each of the songs. So I could sing a long, ya know?

Nursery Riddles 

I love riddles! I love reading the rhymes of them and also trying to solve them! These were really difficult though. Partially because of the language but also because the objects that were chosen to be described were weird and really random. Nothing I would think of. I didn't even know what a couple of the objects were..

Nursery Games

I loved the nursery rhyme games growing up! I wish I knew these one in the unit..there's just so many! Kids love to have rhyming games and chants, it's so cute and fun!

Nursery Love and Matrimony

Yeah I thought I was going to like these better. They weren't the romantic gestures I had hoped for or imagined. They weren't bad though! I hadn't realized that Jack and Jill was a love and marriage story..I thought they were brother and sister!

Nursery Accumulative Stories 

Oh mah gawwww I really don't like these types of stories. I get so bored. It just repeats over and over and over again. So redundant my brains melt.