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Showing posts from April, 2020

Week 13 Story: Separation is Weakness

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Hi, my name is Rob, and I hunt quails. I come from a small village where I was very poor. Day in, day out, I survive the day and make the living by trapping and these quails so I can either eat them or sell them for a little bit of money. I have a special talent of catching these quails, as you can see. I've spent a long part of my life training and perfecting the quail calls that would attract these birds. So, as the quails come, I would hide in the bush; and when there were enough of them close together in one place, I would throw my net out and catch them all. One day, however, the strangest thing happened. As I threw the net out and waited for the other birds to fly away, the whole net rose up and flew off to the distance! It was the most bizarre thing I have ever seen! Unfortunately, I came home that night without the quails to eat, and also having lost my net. I went the next day to try again, and again, the net alongside the birds flew off! I figured that it wasn't b

Reading Notes: The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India; Part B

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All readings derived from  The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse Union is Strength Very clever lesson that was incorporated in the story. Here, the trapper knows that, even though his tactics were not working on the clever quails, eventually they would begin to quarrel with each other and get trapped This is a common tale regarding the faults of human nature, even when they are in a good position, eventually conflicts do arise and it can lead to the down fall of the whole group! The dialogue was very fanciful and exaggerated speech For example "A lie, is it? Hoity, toity, how high and mighty we are, to be sure! I suppose it is you life up the net, all by yourself, when the man throws it over us!" This is something that is uncommon in today's conversation but is very prominent in stories such as this. This story does not start nor end with any stereotypical introductions or conclusions (if you consider "there once ... " a

Reading Notes: The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India; Part A

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All readings derived from The Giant Crab and Other Tales of Old India , by W. H. D. Rouse The Crocodile and the Monkey Story is told from 2nd person point of view, with references to the narrator talking to the readers directly with uses of "you." Vivid description of the crocodile, including the size of the animal, the hardness and color of its scales, the length of the jaw, the sharpness of its teeth, and how to refer them to things in real life such as a bed. Animals' names are usually just the name of the animal itself. In this example, the case of the wife and husband crocodiles were with prefixes such as "Mr." and "Mrs." This story was another author's recreation of the "Monkey's Heart" as I've read in previous Jataka tales. However, in this one, there was more emphasis on the point of view and background of the crocodiles and the dialogue between them The Wise Parrot and the Foolish Parrot Starts off with

Week 12 Story: Kindness of The King

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There once lived a King in a beautiful palace. The king was known for his extraordinary kindness throughout the kingdom and spanned even across the nation themselves. However, with all his kindness, he couldn't stop misfortunes from his kingdom. Dark times hit them drastically. Fruits were not blooming, crops were failing, and his subjects became unhappy. He needed to find a way to support his people with food, but he didn't know where to look. One day, one of the fisherman noticed a large fruit, a mango, drifting down the great Ganges river. And, being hungry as the fisherman was, he took a big bite out of the mango. It was the sweetest and juiciest mango he had ever eaten! He knew the kingdom was in dark times, so he took the other half of the mango to the king. "Wow! This is the best mango I have ever eaten! Tell me, dear fisherman, where did you find such a divine fruit?" The King asked. "It was drifting down the Ganges, the spot where I was fishing at

Reading Notes: Twenty Jataka Tales; Part B

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All stories retrieved from Twenty Jataka Tales  by N. Inayat The Two Pigs Usage of onomatopoeia as the introductory sentence to create curiosity within the readers. This can be a great way to get the readers' attention by using simple sound-like descriptions, such as "tick-a-tack" in this story Also included traditional fairy tale-like ending "... lived happily ever after" to create sense of comfortability and sense of happy ending in a story meant to be read to children Again, inclusion of something mystical that influenced the behavior and thought processes of humans and their faults, which in this case is the power of love to conquer all Also included the instance of royalty, such as a king What is the effect of inclusion of a king and why is it effective? What feelings does this inclusion create? How does it essential to the plot of the story? Ways to rewrite this From the perspective of the drunken men From the perspective of the king Told

Reading Notes: Twenty Jataka Tales; Part A

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All readings were retrieved from Twenty Jataka Tales , by N. Inayat The Monkey Bridge I've noticed that most of these Jatakas originating from India bear many significant geographical locations. Such as for this story, it doesn't mention some river, but does mention the Ganges, which is a culturally important river in India. Another indication is the Himalayas. Diction is simple and easy to understand, no usage of complex words Senses, such as taste and smell are heavily emphasized and inclusion of exclamation points to start the emphasis of feeling Again, inclusion of some form of leader and/or royalty, which in this case, King of the monkeys. The actions and sacrifices of the monkey King was significant in its effect on how he treated his kingdom after he had found the Monkey King, which in way teaches a lesson for both the readers and the character in the story. The Guilty Dogs Just like the story above, there included the aspect of royalty such as the king of

Reading Notes: More Jataka Tales; Part B

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All readings were retrieved from More Jataka Tales , by E. C. Babbitt The Foolhardy Wolf Here, the dialogue of the characters in the story developed in a format that is each line is its own separate dialogue, makes it easier for the readers to read and follow along the conversation of the story The theme of the story talks about the reckless and arrogant nature of the wolf, which is another reference of human fallacy Story depicts the wolf first as humble and well-doing, and from there is where the story changes accordingly to the growing arrogance and greedy nature of the wolf, which saw its end. Images in the story is also separated within the context of the story, which allows for the readers to gauge in captivation of the reader's attention (Elephant Kills the Wolf. Source: Gateway Classics )

Reading Notes: More Jataka Tales; Part A

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All notes below are derived from More Jataka Tales , by E. C. Babbitt The Girl Monkey and the String of Pearls Presentation of the story itself is in format of shot paragraphs, usually around 2-3 sentences, creates a sense of the developing of the story The dialogue, whether it was between the guards or the monkeys, was never divided into separate lines, but in concise paragraphs Pictures was inserted between the stories, rather than just the end. Theme in the story showcases the human weakness of arrogance, as in the monkeys showing off the pearls that she had to the other monkeys as a brag, which led to the confiscation of the pearls back The Tricky Wolf and the Rats Alike most of the traditional stories of the faults of humans, this one was showcased in the wolf, where his trickery ended in him being exposed by the Chief Rat Images were also included This time, both images were included between the lines of the story, neither being at the end of the story as usual.

Week 10: Story Lab, Mythology Crash Course

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What is a Myth? Crash Course Mythology #1 One of the most interesting notions that I've got from this video is how that myths have no definite and clear message intended by the author themselves. Instead, all the myths are up to interpretation. What is it about myths that make them worth telling again? I find it interesting where the one of the general concepts of myths were to explain the questions of the universe and generally how things work. In these day and age, of course, science can take place of myths in explaining the reasons. However, back then, there were no science to back up the reasons for these existential questions, so they propose an explanation for it by the powers of their "gods."  For instance, in the video, the interactions between the Greek gods, Persephone and Hades, were the reasons for the coming and go of seasons like winter and spring.  It does make me wonder, how did the first person come up with these gods and how did a single story o

Reading Notes: Jataka Tales, Part B

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The Elephant Girly-face, by E. C. Babbitt Sets apart a preface for the story that showed how the story could possibly change as it progresses. Here, the elephant, Girl-face, was depicted as kind and harmless, which sets the effect that foreshadows how the development of such as statement would change The elephant here depicts human traits, much of that of a small child where will act accordingly to whatever is being taught to them. Shows that humans can be a product of their environment and upbringing, shadowing what they observe. Traditional beginning start with "once upon a time, ..." The Banyan Deer, by E. C. Babbitt Here, there is no deceit found in terms of the relationship between the animals and the humans, however, there is a system of dialogue between the deers themselves that would drive the story The general theme of the story shows the main difference between a good and bad leader, with subtle differences in between The bad leader would tell the m

Reading Notes: Jakata Tales, Part A

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How the Turtle Saved His Own Life, by E. C. Babbitt A classical story about how a non-human character, namingly a turtle, outwitted his/her human counterpart in benefit of itself Includes instance of royalty, mainly to underscore that even one of the most powerful and important humans can fall for such trickery and ignorance Usage of easy to understand, modern language  Underlines faults of human thinking, such as ignorance and being gullible The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking, by E. C. Babbitt Again, usage of non-human characters but this time, story is not directly influenced in the story, but instead as accompanying and emphasizing components to the the story between the geese and the turtle Contrary to the first story, the Turtle here is depicted as the ones with fault Fault: talking too much, even in inappropriate situation that is emphasized as life-threatening Usage of the village children almost like the narrators to depict the theme of the story, "