Reading Notes (EC): Khasi Folktales

The Tiger and the Monkeys

I thought this was a nice little entertaining story about how the monkeys had outwitted the tiger. This story could definitely be the basis for a retelling, as it's got a lot of components that make it so good. My favorite part was how the monkeys decided to trick the tiger by dressing up a fake clay figure. It's quite bold and genius if you think about it. I didn't understand how the tiger could so easily "fall in love" with the singing of a tiny insect. I thought it made him blind and rash, which ultimately led to his beatdown by the monkeys. I thought the story highlighted the tiger as almost being the villain, due to his arrogant and self-centered nature. I think this story could be retold from the point of view of either the tiger or the monkey, which would give a new perspective and greater insight into their thoughts.

The Legend of the Lei Tree

I thought this was another interesting story in this unit about a tree that threatens to take over the livelihoods of people in the surrounding area. After much consideration, a handpicked group of men were sent to the tree in order to cut it down. No matter how hard they worked, all progress they had made was reversed at night as the bark regenerated. A bird comes and tells them that the reason that the tree keeps healing so quickly is because a tiger comes by to lick the trees wounds because he does not want it to be cut down. It helps him hide in the shadows when he hunts for prey. This story would also be a good one for retelling because there are multiple directions for the story to branch out into.

Hokenakal monkey; Wikimedia

Bibliography

Khasi Folktales by K.U. Rafy 

Portfolio Index

1. The Blizzard - A retelling of the classic tale of Noah's Ark.

2. Notscha vs. Sun Wu Kung - A story detailing the epic fight between Prince Notscha and Sun Wu Kung, the immortal monkey king.

3. Left Behind - An extension to the Apache creation stories with a wicked twist.

4. Mouse Escapes - A continuation to the Brothers Grimm stories with a taste of revenge.

Course Improvements

I kind of like the review weeks. It gives me a chance to catch up and evaluate how well I am doing in the class at the time. However, I can see the benefits that come with adding planning weeks into the schedule. I guess the preference would vary from student to student and I personally think the schedule is fine the way it is. The review weeks work out perfectly, at least for me. I do like the idea of including more audio recordings! I think that's a great idea. I was also wondering if there are any cartoons or little episodes that depict the stories. I think watching these myths as vidoes would be another fun way to learn about the different stories that comes from different cultures around the world. Tutorial videos would also be pretty helpful, but I think your instructions and links to helpful websites are already really beneficial. I don't see the harm in having tutorial videos to people who really want to improve their writing! As for the thematic reading units, I think I would've enjoyed being able to pick from themes rather than locations. It also gives students more options (or so it seems). Overall, I think all these suggestions seem great and could help the class in some way or form! I would really just like to see more video options implemented into the course.

Famous Last Words: Week 14

It's the end of the fourteenth week and everything is chaos once again, just like the beginning of the semester. I procrastinated quite a bit this semester, a product of senioritis no doubt. However, I would like to say that I did make some progress towards alleviating my habit of procrastinating, so all is not lost. As the semester comes to a close, I found myself wondering how much better I could have done or how differently I could've done other things in order to make it an even more successful semester. But at the end of the day, I think I did pretty well considering it was my last semester ever as an undergrad. My other classes are going alright, although my Capstone course has been tough! It's way more difficult than I was anticipating, but I've enjoyed it nonetheless for the most part. It's a relief to almost be done. I can definitely say that I'm looking forward to my gap year! I'll probably be studying for the OAT and working full-time, but I like knowing the fact that I don't have to worry about grades, assignments, and exams for a whole year.

As for my writing over the semester, I think my most creative work was about Cat and Mouse and the little feud they had. The story that I enjoyed the most out of the ones I wrote was the when where the old couple get left behind in the underworld. I struggled a bit more this year than when I took Epics of India when it comes to getting assignments done on time. I'll barely be pulling of an A this semester, when in the other class, I finished it early and had extra time to study for finals. I thoroughly enjoyed this class though, I think even more than Epics of India, because I was able to branch out and read other stories that I wasn't as familiar with. I ended the week with a bit of bad news, but overall, great week!

How I feel studying during dead week; Flickr

Week 14 Review: Procrastination

After backing up my blog, I came across an interesting post in the announcements. It was an image about time management and it was titled Stages of Procrastination. I thought the image was pretty accurate and I got a kick out of it because I'm guilty of procrastinating all the time. It kind of made me feel a little better knowing I'm not the only one who goes through these stages, although it could be avoided if I just planned my time better.

Stages of Procrastination; Learning by Heart

Tech Tip: Create a Pinterest Board

I actually forgot this was even an option as extra credit for this class. I have used Pinterest before, but only because I took Epics of India a couple years ago and it was an extra credit option back then too. I enjoyed this option so I figured why not try it again, even though there's only a week left in the class. Better late than never!

Link to Pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.com/parthjayaswal/mythfolklore-portfolio/

Reading Notes (EC): English Fairy Tales

Tom Tit Tot

I thought this was an interesting story that has the potential to be retold in a variety of ways. It was about a girl who was told to watch the pies her mom had made until they had softened again. The girl though, was impatient and ended up eating all five of the pies. The mother had no food to give the King, so he asks to marry the girl in exchange that she sows him things one month out of the year. The mother agrees and marries her daughter off to the king and for eleven months, the daughter is treated lavishly. At the beginning of the twelfth month, the king takes the girl to a room and tells her she must sow five things a day or else she will be killed. Unfortunately, the girl does not know how to see but a black creature appears out of nowhere and offers to sow for her as long as she can guess his name by the end of the month. She would have three guesses a day or else he would get to take her. So the girl takes this deal, but each day she got the name wrong and each day she got more and more nervous as the creature became more and more confident that she would not get his name. Then one day the king came by and said he had seen a tiny little black creature who had said his name was Tom Tit Tot. So on the last day, when the creature thought he had her, the girl told him his name and he took off, never to be seen again. I'm wondering what it would be like to tell this story from the creature or the king's perspective. It would be a cool concept to consider.

The small little black thing with a tail; UnTextbook

Bibliography

English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs