Starting Assumptions for
Week 10
|| March 13, 2009 at 5:30pm
When I think of fairy tales, several things come to mind. Usually, the setting is long ago in a far away place. This gives it an other-worldly feel that is meant to put some distance between the events described and current circumstances. This, in turn, allows greater freedom and creativity to be expressed when it comes to the actual details. Magical or supernatural elements are often included. Fairies, elves, gnomes, ogres, and other unusual characters are common. There is usually some sort of moral lesson embodied within the fairy tale and this makes it possible to pass along family or cultural values from one generation unto another.
Growing up, fairy tales were certainly influential in my life. Some of my fondest memories come from either Disney cartoons or cartoon storybooks. Each unit appeals to me, but I have chosen to read the fairy tales from the Hans Christian Anderson unit. I am familiar with several of the stories, but I am curious about the other ones. I may also read a few stories from the other unit as well. It would be nice to freshen my memory on some of the details from a couple of vaguely familiar stories.
Essay for Week 10:
The
Emperor || March 28, 2009 at
8:30am
This image depicts a fairy tale scene from Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Suit and it sums up the story quite nicely. The guy with the scissors is so caught up in his own world that he's not even paying attention to the emperor. The man next to him, however, is totally enamored by the emporer's presence. I get the feeling that this guy would do just about anything to please the emperor if it means getting ahead in life. The emperor's advisers are sort of de-emphasized in this image, but without a doubt they have their own agenda as well. The more cynical side of me suspects that they are plotting and scheming the emperor's untimely death so they can be the object of adoration and attention for a change. The emperor seems to be somewhere between naive, innocent, and clueless. He simply enjoys the fine things of life, especially when it comes to new clothing. After all, it is appropriate for him to look his best as he travels about the empire.
Ultimately, this fairy tale is about an emperor who is constantly looking for new clothing to wear and his ever-flattering subjects. Different versions of the story emphasize different morals or values, but that's the underlying theme. It has been fashionable to condemn the emperor for his extravagant tastes and his subjects for lacking the courage to confront him for his unreasonable demands. I have certainly felt this way growing up in the middle of the Bible Belt of America, but I tend to see things much differently now that I have formally converted into the Catholic faith. These days, I can't help but feel bad for the emperor who deserves better subjects than what he has to work with. (lol)
Image Information: Emperor, by Jan Marcin Szancer (1902-1973). Weblink.
Famous Last Words for Week
10 || March 28, 2009 at 9:30am
For this week, I really did not feel inspired when it comes to renarrating a story. It is not that the stories from this week were lacking in the inspirational department, for this week includes a number of classic fairy tales. It's just that this semester is starting to wear a bit too long and the novelty of this course is starting to wear thin. I was about 2 weeks ahead of schedule when spring break started, but I simply could not bring myself to doing this week's renarration assignment. I still have few days to work on it, but I have decided to cut my loses in favor of pressing forward. Maybe next week will bring better luck in the writing department.
Speaking of which, my storybook has also suffered from some sort of mental block. I had good ideas, coming into this course, as to how I would want to write the first two stories. So, those came to me without too much trouble. My third story, however, is not yet materializing in my mind. I have several fragmentary ideas of what I would want to write, but I can't seem to connect anything together in a coherent manner. My initial 'draft' version is not due for another week, so I have some time to work with. Yet, I am beginning to think that I may need to jump ahead to my fourth story and come back to the third later. We'll see.
As for something outside of class, my spring break wasn't nearly as refreshing as I had hoped. I basically stayed home to do some spring cleaning. In itself, that was sort of enjoyable. The problem came during the later half. Not only did my mother-in-law come to town, but I also came down with some sort of cold. I generally consider myself to be invincible to sickness. All things considered, this cold wasn't all that bad. It was, however, bad enough to make life rather unpleasant and it ultimately kept me from some weekend activities that I had planned. It took about five days to overcome, but thankfully I now feel much better.
Starting Assumptions for
Week 11
|| March 28, 2009 at 10:00am
As for which myths, folktales, and fairy tales that have made the biggest impression on me so far, it's hard to say. The Egyptian mythology unit is probably the most influential given the connections that I was able to draw from Ra & Isis as primordial images of Adam & Eve. The adventures of Odysseus from the Greek mythology unit also left a lasting influence. It was rather interesting to see how the New Testament authors could have possibly modeled some of their writings on the Homeric epics. I also enjoyed the Japanese unit with the trickster hedgehogs and the story of the traveling frogs.
For me, the important thing about myths is that they accurately describe our individual and collective experiences together as a people journeying through this world. This makes myths more reliable than both history and the current news cycle, for they transcend time altogether. Folktales and fairy tales perform a similar function except that they generally transmit values, morals, and ethics in a more detached manner. That is to say, they generally take place long ago in a far away place rather than a time or setting that is familiar to the audience. This allows for greater creativity and flexibility compared to that of myths, but with less influential power as a result.
Famous Last Words for Week
11 ||
April 4, 2009 at 8:00am
Much like the previous week, I very much enjoyed this week's reading assignment of European Fairy Tales from Denmark. Hans, The Mermaid's Son was my favorite story because strangely enough I actually identified with the plight of Hans, the naive giant. I can't really explain why this is, I can only say that I was very much amused by the various situations that he found himself in. Even when it seems the whole world was plotting his downfall, he somehow came out on top. I am not sure that this actually relates directly to my own life, but the point is simply that I really liked the character. There were a number of other stories that were good as well, but it's been a week since I read them. So, I'll leave my comments at that. Also, I have chosen not to do a story renarration or essay posting this week. Like last week, I am omitting a few items now rather than later.
As for the storybook, I wrote a version of my third story but I will almost certainly rewrite the entire thing before publishing it this coming Monday. The problem is that the current version is more appropriate for my "commentary" page, which means that it's not well suited for standing alone as a story unto itself. I have some ideas as to how I can change some things to make it more story-like, but that remains to be seen. Sometimes, deadlines can be a good thing or else I might be stuck on this one story for months. (lol) Seriously though, priorities are becoming more important at this point in the semester. This is why I am omitting some things now as I prepare to wrap up my storybook in addition to my Greek reading of Homer. Speaking of which, we have been reading Homer's adventure to the cave of the Cyclops in recent weeks. It's been quite an adventure to say the least!
Starting Assumptions for
Week 12
|| April 4, 2009 at 8:30am
As for music, my dad's side of the family is quite musical. My dad, uncle, and grandfather all played the guitar around the campfire, at home, and in various bar settings. They played a wide range of musical styles, but it was mostly of a country-western style. I personally have never really taken to any musical instruments but I absolutely love the whole concept of song and chant. The problem, however, is that I was not blessed with a voice to match my love for the art. Yet, I spend a lot of time singing and chanting anyways; albeit that it's mostly in the shower or otherwise by myself. (lol) Thankfully my voice has improved a little bit with age, but I think it's fair to say that singing will never make for a viable career path for me. Much more likely would be for me to someday teach or instruct in the finer details of how to lead a congregation into the presence of God apart from all the liturgical abuses that commonly take place in today's rock-style worship services. But I digress... My actual family ancestry is a bit of a mystery to me, so I am not sure where my lineage comes from. It's not like my family hasn't told me, it's just that it's never been all that important to me. Perhaps I should get check into it sometime, then I might be able to say whether I have any English or Scottish ancestry. As a "white" Caucasian, I suspect that it's a save assumption that I do.
Essay for Week 12: The
Three
Bears || April 4, 2009 at 1:00pm
In this image, a scene from the Three Bears is depicted. A large bear, a medium-sized bear, and a small bear had gone out for a walk while their breakfast cooled down. In this version of the story, an old "bad" woman invites herself into the house to take advantage of the things belonging to the three "good" bears. First, she tries to eat their food. One is too hot, another is too cold, and another is "just right" except that there's not enough to satisfy her hunger. Next, she proceeds to sit in their chairs. One is too hard, another is too soft, and another is "just right" except that it breaks on her. Finally, she goes into the bedroom to take a nap in their beds. One is too high at the head, another is too high at the foot, but she falls fast asleep in the other one.
Meanwhile, the three bears return from their walk to eat their morning breakfast now that it had cooled down. This particular image shows the big bear inspecting his chair now that they had already established that someone had eaten some of their breakfast, which is sitting on the table next to the middle and small sized bears. In fact, the middle sized bear is looking down at the small sized bear as he grieves both the destruction of his small chair and his empty breakfast bowl. It's a bit difficult to tell, but it appears that an open doorway exists in the background of the picture which leads into the bedroom where the three bears will later discover the old woman sleeping in the little bear's bed. Overall, I would say that this image does a good job in presenting a specific scene or moment from the story itself. It would be difficult to understand the whole story from this one image alone, but this image does have the ability to bring the entire story to conscious memory provided that one has had even a casual amount of exposure to it. So, it serves its purpose quite well in my opinion.
Image Information: Crane, Walter. The Three Bears. London: George Routledge and Sons, 1873. Weblink.
Famous Last Words for Week
12 ||
April 10, 2009 at 2:00pm
At the risk of sounding like a broken record player, I found this week's readings to also be quite enjoyable as well. I chose the English Fairy Tales for my unit given that I don't much have the patience for ballads right now. Some of the "fairy tales" are quite familiar, such as: Jack and the Beanstalk, the Three Pigs, and the Three Bears. Albeit that these versions from Joseph Jacobs seem a bit different than what I remember from childhood. Others are vaguely familiar and interesting in their own right. Probably my favorite story from this week would be The Old Woman and Her Pig. I'm not sure that I can explain why, but I was quite entertained throughout in spite of the "headache" that comes from reading such repetitious words. At any rate, I chose not to renarrate a story for this week. I did, however, do a reflections essay on the Three Bears image.
As for the storybook, I finally came up with a third story that I am reasonably happy with. I published it on Monday just in time for the deadline and resubmitted the revised version yesterday. It is now Friday and I am wondering whether I'll move on to my fourth story or first update my commentary page to reflect the addition of third story. One of the things that I hope to bring out is why the body and soul tend to make for such an unfaithful bride to the spirit dwelling within. I'll eventually get to it, but I may spend the next week or two finishing up the core requirements of the course. Speaking of which, my planned fourth story is a bit more open-ended or fluid than my previously planned ones in that I am not so much interested in a specific encounter with Christ as I am an extended testimony of collective encounters with Christ documented through the name of John. I have a number of different ideas as to how I want to do the fourth story, but it's still a bit unclear as to which direction will work best.
Starting Assumptions for Week 13 || April 10, 2009 at 4:30pm
During my first semester, I took Indian Peoples of Oklahoma (ANTH 1613) as a course at OU. I really enjoyed the class and the teacher was great except that the grading scale cost me a letter grade that it shouldn't have. I made something like an 82 but got a C in the course. He had adjusted his course grading scale to 8 point increments so that you had to make an 84-92 to get a B. Supposedly this was because everyone routinely got A's in his course, but several of us managed to mess up this so-called "easy-A" opportunity. Such is life I suppose.
Regardless of the grade, I felt that I learned a lot from the class. It's hard to explain, but I have always had a certain attraction towards / respect for tribal life that is rather uncommon for a typical American. In my mind's eye, I can remember a time in which the concept of land ownership was foreign to humanity. It was a time in which it was simply understood that the earth belonged to the Lord and we were its stewards. Those were the "good ole days" that I tend to daydream about while others long for the Victorian age and other such things. (lol) Anyhow, both units appeal to me for different reasons, but my plan is to start with the Cherokee unit. I may also read a few of the creation myths from the other unit as well.
Note: I had acquired enough extra credit to omit some of these last reading assignments, hence their absence.