Reading Notes: Africa, Brer Rabbit, Part B

A depiction of Brer Rabbit in Uncle Remus Songs and Sayings 

The Brer Rabbit stories, originating from the collection of stories known as Uncle Remus Songs and Sayings in the late 19th century in the post-Civil War South in the United States, serve as an important development and resource in the African-American folklore in the United States post-slavery, as these people were separated from their ancestral cultures, values, and stories by the slave trade. Additionally, these stories, written by Harris, are written in dialect, which means every word is spelled phonetically. This is important because not many African-Americans, let alone people in general, were literate in this period, which allowed these stories to be accessible to the public. In Reading B, there are stories of Brer Fox trying to trick Brer Rabbit, a slight detour from the tricky rabbit trope he has used for so long, Old Man Terrypin fishing, Tarrypin talk, which is how the turtle character speaks in the context of the story. In one thrilling story, Brer Rabbit sneaks into Brer Fox's garden in hopes of stealing his goober peas, also known as peanuts at this time. Unfortunately, Brer Rabbit is caught in a trap and help upside in the air by a rope. He shutters at what Brer Fox will do to him, but quickly notices Brer Bear approaching, who is notoriously slow. Brer Rabbit convinces Brer Bear that he is there for a job as a scarecrow and that he makes a dollar an hour being in the trap, but he'll swap with Brer Bear if he wants to make some money. Brer Bear agrees and takes his place, while Brer Rabbit steals the peanuts and heads home. 

Bibliography: Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings by Joel Chandler Harris. http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-brer-rabbit.html

Reading Notes: Africa, Brer Rabbit, Part A

A depiction of Brer Rabbit and the Tar-Baby from the famous folklore of the American South

The stories of Brer Rabbit and many other "Brer" animals originates from the stories of Uncle Remus written in the times of the American South in the 19th century. These tales are so ingrained into the fabric of American storytelling that they even serve as inspiration for the theming of the water rollercoaster at Walt Disney World's Splash Mountain ride. These stories often involve Brer Fox, a cunning character that is always trying to eat Brer Rabbit and trying to trick him. In one instance, Brer Fox makes a "tar baby" made of sticky turpentine and tar and dresses it in clothes and sets him out. Brer Rabbit, an amiable fellow tries to talk the baby and is angered and shocked by the lack of manners of the baby and punches him, only to be stuck. After more kicking and punching, Brer Rabbit only gets more stuck, and Brer Fox ponders how to dispose of him. After feigning pleading to not be put into the briar patch above all else, even getting skinned, roasted, and murdered, Brer Fox chucks him into the briar patch, where rabbits are at home, and Brer Rabbit escapes the tar baby. This is generally the most famous of the Uncle Remus stories. This similar premise of getting caught and pleading to not be punished in a certain way that is actually beneficial is repeated in the story with Brer Fox and Old Man Terrypin, a turtle character similar to a terrapin in name. After getting caught by Brer Fox, Old Man Terrypin convinces Brer Fox that being thrown into the water would be unbearable, but it actually would be the most helpful. This idea of a trickster and antagonist has influenced many cartoons, including Disney's own cartoon of Brer stories, as well as influences in Tom and Jerry. 

Bibliography: Uncle Remus: His Songs and Sayings by Joel Chandler Harris. http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-brer-rabbit.html

Reading Notes: Ancient Egyptian Myths, Part B

A depiction of the Egyptian god of the sun, Ra.

This segment of Egyptian mythology is one that I am actually familiar with and have spent some time reading before this class. Reading B covers the Tale of the Two Brothers, a classic. Anpu, who is the god Anubis, and his brother Bata live together, along with Anpu' wife. One day, the wife of Anpu attempts to seduce Bata, who remains strongly rejects her advances and is disgusted with her conduct. The wife then proceeds to tell Anpu that Bata tried to rape her and beat her up, which makes Anpu furious. Anpu tries to murder Bata, but he escapes before Anpu can finish the deed. Bata prays to Re-Harakhti, who puts a crocodile infested lake between them so that Anpu can calm down and hear Bata's side of the story. Bata explains his version of the events, and even cuts off his genitals and throws them into the lake, where a catfish swallows and consumes them. After seeing this, Anpu returns home and kills his wife. Bata heads to the Valley of the Cedars and hides his heart for Anpu to find to bring him back to life. After three years of searching, Anpu finds his heart and resurrects him in the form of a bull. After the bull is killed for food by another wife, she is impregnated by Bata as he takes the form of a tree. The child grows up to become the crown prince and ives with his brother in harmony. Another story recalls Thoth, the Egyptian god of writing, and the son of Pharaoh Ramses, whose name is Setna. Setna steals it from a tomb and a god who is upset with creates an illusion of a woman that convinces him to humiliate himself and murder his children. To appease the god, he finds the body of his wife and kids and lays them to rest, allowing them peace, and causing the events to end. This reflects the idea that knowledge, especially from the gods, is not meant for the people. 

Bibliography: Mackenzie's Egyptian Myth and Legend. http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/myth-folklore-unit-ancient-egyptian.html

Reading Notes: Ancient Egyptian Myths, Part A

A depiction of ancient Egyptian paintings and hieroglyphs from mythos.

The mythology of ancient Egypt is one of the most iconic and influential groups of stories in the history of the world. Its effects on popular culture in America, among many other countries in the world, are very pronounced and noticeable even to this day. The story of creation, which involves Ra, the god of brightness, speaking the world into existence is reminiscent of other creation stories from various religions and mythos. Another story concerns Isis, the enchantress goddess, seeking the secret name of Ra, which gives him his power and is from his father Nu himself. Another involves the goddess of all, taking the form of the holy cow often, named Hathor and her issues with Ra ruling over men for so long. There is another story involving Anubis and how the day came to be, coming in 12 hour periods and ruling over the earth at various periods of time. Another great story involves Osiris, the god of the Underworld and Death, who is similar to Hades in Greek mythology, ushering in a new age from the Ra himself. 

Bibliography: Mackenzie's Egyptian Myth and Legend. http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/myth-folklore-unit-ancient-egyptian.html

Week 5 Story: Aladdin and the Magician

An illustration of Aladdin and the Magic Lamp from an Arabian Nights book

Now it had been many a day since Aladdin and the sultan's daughter had returned from Africa, having defeated the evil magician by tricking him into drinking a poisoned glass of wine, and the happy couple had ruled over their kingdom and lived very well in their palace. However, unbeknownst to Aladdin and the sultan's daughter, the evil magician had a brother who was supposedly even more wicked than the brother Aladdin had dealt with so long ago. This man was cunning, decisive, and cruel to the extreme. Knowing the secrets of the jinn from having practiced magic for so long, he knew the very thing that would be able to destroy Aladdin and his kingdom for having killed his brother. So, he dressed a divine, holy woman and entered the kingdom, arriving at the gates of the palace to meet with Aladdin in order to bestow a blessing from the Gods themselves. After being granted their audience with Aladdin and the sultan's daughter, the brother in disguise convinces the sultan's daughter to request a hanging roc's egg in the palace for protection and prosperity, and Aladdin, not wanting his darling love to be left unfulfilled, asks the jinn to grant his wish. At this request, the jinn begins yelling and cursing at Aladdin for such a dangerous and evil wish, as the roc is the jinn's master. Unable to listen to reason because of his immense anger, the jinn unleashes his full potential of magic into the kingdom, wiping its very existence out of the scope of this world and history, leaving only a well-polished oil lamp in the sands of the now barren desert.

Author's Note: I began with the part of Reading B of Arabian Nights where Aladdin and the sultan's daughter are together and living in prosperity, and the magician's brother returns Asia to destroy Aladdin with his wish. I changed some of the details so that the jinn's rage is too great and he is unable to see the deception from the magician's brother.

Bibliography: Scheherazade, Arabian Nights. http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/myth-folklore-unit-arabian-nights.html

Reading Notes: Arabian Nights, Part B

An illustration from the classic story of Aladdin from the Arabian Nights anthology

This specific story in the Arabian Nights reading is the basis for the Walt Disney adaptation of Aladdin, a classic and defining movie of my own childhood. Though not entirely based on the original story, it is very interesting to see the inspirations from the story itself. This story begins by introducing Aladdin, a lazy boy that lives with his mother in poverty. One day, a man appears claiming to be Aladdin's uncle and able to make him rich. His mother releases him to the man. Afterwards, the man, a magician, uses Aladdin to fetch an oil lamp in a cave, giving him a magic ring to protect him. After locating it, he refuses to hand the magician the lamp before he allows him to exit the cave, fearing that he will trap him in the cave. In a fit of rage, the magician seals Aladdin in the cave. After two full days, Aladdin accidentally rubs the ring and a jinn (genie) appears. Aladdin asks to be sent home, and the jinn complies with his wish. After cleaning the lamp, intending to sell it, an even more powerful jinn appears and grants their wish for food, at the hesitation of Aladdin's mother. After seeing the sultan's beautiful daughter, Aladdin uses the lamp jinn to conjure jewels and food and wealth to impress the sultan and win over the daughter, but his greedy vizier convinces the sultan to wait 3 months so his own son can compete. Aladdin loses the daughter, but uses the jinn to teleport him into the bed with the daughter on their wedding night and for a month until the couple divorce, allowing Aladdin to marry her. The magician hears of this and steals the lamp from the palace, transporting the palace and daughter to Africa. Aladdin uses the ring to get their, and the sultan's daughter poisons the magician, and they move the kingdom back. Later, the magician's even more wicked brother sneaks into the kingdom and tries to summon a roc for the sultan's daughter by convincing Aladdin to do so. This enrages the jinn, as the roc is his master, but realizes the trickery of the magician's brother and sparing Aladdin. The jinn grants prosperity to Aladdin and the sultan's daughter forever, and Aladdin eventually becomes the sultan himself.

Bibliography: Scheherazade, Arabian Nights. http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/myth-folklore-unit-arabian-nights.html

Reading Notes: Arabian Nights, Part A

An image from the classic Middle Eastern collection of tales, Arabian Nights

Arabian Nights, also known as One Thousand and One Nights to others, is a collection of tales from the entirety of the Islamic Golden Age and compiled and framed into the following story setting: The sultan Shahrayar has been cheated on by his wife, and has put her to death to prevent her further betrayals. He then marries and kills a new wife every day to spite his wife and prevent betrayal by another woman. This cycles continues until Scheherazade, his vizier's daughter, marries him and begins interesting tales at night before bed, and then leaves the ending for the next night so he will not kill her because of his interest in the story. The stories covered in Reading A cover the tale of the Merchant and the Genius, a tale about a merchant that has been given one year to live by the genie and spends it doing good deeds, which then leads into many more stories about the Old Man, the Second Old Man, and Two Black Dogs that are sequential and connected to the first. In the Fisherman story, the fisherman demands a story from a genie before he kills him, which illustrates a second level of storytelling (a character telling a story about another character who tells a story), which was revolutionary at the time. The later stories of the Greek King and the Husband and the Parrot take place within the genie's story in the fisherman tale. These stories are so wonderfully woven and complex and their framing is so unique, which I really enjoy about this collection of stories. 

Bibliography: Scheherazade, Arabian Nights. http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/myth-folklore-unit-arabian-nights.html

Comment Wall

A dramatic depiction of a scene in the Dante's Inferno, the subject of my project.

Here is the link from my blog to the comment wall on my website!

Reading Notes: Adam and Eve, Part B

An image of Eve convincing Adam to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, leading to the Fall of Man

Following the aftermath of the events of the Fall of Man, God was very displeased with Adam and Eve for not obeying and trusting him and his judgment. God cast them away from the Garden to the west, the worst part of the Garden because it had no pleasantries to remind them of their sins and transgressions against God and the world. God sent them to a place called the Cave of Treasures for 5,500 years as penance for his transgressions. Again, God had pity on them and allowed them to stay in the cave and not be killed by the cherub with a flaming sword, and instead allowed them to serve out their sentence. After grief and sadness and torture overcame them, Adam and Eve committed suicide only to be raised by God and given comfort and assurance. Again killed by the Beasts of Creation, God again raised them from the dead and allowed them to feel life and love from Him. They were punished with heat, thirst, sorrow, and darkness as well during this time. After another suicide and raising, their atonement had been paid in the eyes of the Lord and they were granted salvation after their 5,500 years of atonement and pain, to forever feel love, warmth, and happiness. 

Bibliography: King James Version of The Bible; The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg. http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-adam-and-eve.html

Reading Notes: Adam and Eve, Part A

An artist's rendition of the Biblical tale of Adam and Eve, as well as the creation of Earth and sin

The story of Adam and Eve from the Bible is easily one of the best known stories in the world, let alone in the Bible itself. The story begins with God's creation of the universe itself in 6 days, with a rest on the seventh day, which is why there is a Sabbath day of rest in Jewish culture. God was lonely and created Adam, a mortal man created in his own image, from the dirt and breathed life into him. Eventually, Adam grew lonely with only the presence of the Lord in his illustrious paradise, which was called the Garden of Eden. God obliged Adam and created another being for whom to grow and love with, a woman named Eve, created from the rib of Adam himself. He began to love and follow and grow with Eve and they lived naked together, unaware of their nakedness, knowing only one another and the Lord. One day, the serpent, the craftiest and most vile animal of them all and representing the Devil, began to convince Adam and Eve to eat the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. This leads to an argument about what knowledge is and why God would not want them to know. Eve convinces Adam to eat the fruit, and they immediately realize that they are naked. They head to find cover in the bushes to avoid being seen, and use leaves to cover themselves. God finds them and admonishes them for disobeying him, causing The Fall of Man. This is the Christian idea of the first and original sin. This creates a rift between God and man, increasing the pain of childbirth, shortening our lifespans, and creating disease and discomfort in man. This is the idea behind evil being in our world and why God allows it, and it is because we allowed it to, since we were in paradise beforehand. 

Bibliography: King James Version of The Bible; The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg. http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-adam-and-eve.html

Feedback Strategies

A hilarious and classic meme I found with a twist and focus on the idea of feedback

The two articles I read this week were really eye-opening and after some pondering, I realized they had a lot of truth to them! In the article How to Give Feedback Without Sounding Like a Jerk, the biggest takeaway for me was that, sadly, a lot of positive praise and gratefulness falls on deaf ears, which I realize is true of me because I am often quick to hear negative words more loudly and clearly than I am positive news. To me, that really seems to be an issue with era of social media, that we are always on display and trying to win approval, whether we acknowledge it or not. Some strategies for feedback from the article include asking if they WANT feedback, taking yourself off a pedestal, and explain why you are giving that feedback. In 5 Reasons to Stop Saying "Good Job," the biggest takeaway for me was realizing how too much unnecessary praise (note UNNECESSARY) can create praise-junkies that constantly need validation to exist, and saying good job takes away an incentive to work hard and improve, since they feel they've done an adequate job. 

Topic Research

An illustration from Dante's Inferno, part of The Divine Comedy.

At this point in the semester, I am fairly certain that I would like to focus my semester-long project on Dante's Inferno, though I am still very interested in The Man in the Moon and Homer's Odyssey. The Divine Comedy really appeals to me as a result of my faith in Christianity, as well as the interesting moral ideas that come up specifically in Inferno. Are there levels of morality or sin, or is all sin the same in God's eyes? Why do we punish humans for crimes for severely for others? These are all such interesting concepts that people have very different ideas about, and I enjoy discussing my faith with others because the strongest believers tend to have challenged their beliefs the most, at least in my experience. The Man in the Moon is still interesting to me because I am from Oklahoma and native culture is around us constantly, and even OU is on former native land. I am also interested in the Odyssey still because of its classic status and perseverance through time. Additionally, Greek mythology is what got me into reading regularly and even taking this class!

Week 3 Story: Odysseus' Dilemma

A visual of the Greek hero Odysseus attacking the suitors who are trying to seduce his wife

Now Odysseus, having been in disguise as a strange wanderer, had found in his way into Eumaeus' hut. Eumaeus, being the hospitable man and servant of a fine person such as Odysseus, has given this fine stranger a place to stay and eat in warmth and comfort. Eumaeus has explained to the stranger the story of his master, the great hero Odysseus and his strange disappearance after the Fall of Troy, as well as the situation that his illustrious wife, Penelope, has been approached by a horde of suitors who refuse to leave their palace until she has chosen one of them to be her new husband. After all of this, Telemachus, the son of Odysseus, enters the hut of Eumaeus and greets the stranger kindly, much like how Odysseus had hoped he had been raised. After going outside to get some air, Athena reveals Odysseus' true appearance to Telemachus, a tender moment for the two. They hatch a plan to rid their palace of suitors and return Ithaca to greatness and glory. The very next morning, at the begging and persistence of the suitors, Penelope states that anyone that can string Odysseus' bow and fire a bolt through 12 axe heads can be her husband and rule Ithaca with her. They all try and inevitably fail. Simultaneously, Eumaeus and Telemachus have taken the wandering stranger to the palace to carry out their vengeful plot. As all of the men have failed, they decide to wait until tomorrow to sacrifice to Apollo, the God of Archery, in order to stand a chance of stringing it. The stranger approaches the bow and easily strings and breaks all 12 axe heads in a single motion; however, the plan has stopped there. Odysseus' true form has been revealed by Athena for all to see and the suitors are terrified. Odysseus takes a look around and realizes that violence is not the answer, and that his absence has been a great strain on his family unit, and his kingdom as a whole. Odysseus puts down the bow and says the following: "I am very sorry for what I have almost done to you. You all are just here to find love and restore Ithaca to its former glory, while I have abandoned it for 10 long years. Please do better than me, and make good on my longing promises." And with that, Odysseus literally walks away from Ithaca and sails away for the final time. 

Author's Note: I am a huge fan of Greek mythology in general, so I wanted to be able to pay homage to the original story, but then I had a funny idea that I couldn't stop chuckling about, so this story was really the result of that ridiculous idea! I hope it wasn't too horrible to read!

Bibliography: The Odyssey by Homer (translated by Tony Kline in 2000). http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-homers-odyssey.html