Myth-Folklore 2019

They say a mother's love can heal all wounds, but how can a mother heal her own heart after losing a child? Thirty years ago today, my precious son Ailaq was born, a beautiful and inquisitive boy who made my life a whirlwind of happiness and joy. Ailaq was truly the most loving son a mother could ask for and grew into a brave and kind young man who cared for me and his sister upon the death of my husband. Ailaq stood in sharp contrast to the lazy, no-good man my daughter married against my wishes, a man named Papik. Yet Ailaq tried to guide his brother-in-law, even taking him hunting despite the fact that, while Ailaq himself was a brilliant hunter, Papik was an incompetent one and never caught a single animal. My son's catches sustained us all, including the ungrateful Papik who grew increasingly jealous of Ailaq's skill and popularity in our village. One day, after a long day of hunting, Papik returned without Ailaq. He denied any knowledge of where my son was and furio...

For this week, I chose to read Inuit Folk Tales from  Eskimo Folk-Tales  by Knud Rasmussenwith illustrations by native Inuit artists (1921). My favorite story from this part of the reading was Papik, Who Killed His Wife's Brother which I though was extremely interesting and intriguing. Papik, Who Killed His Wife's Brother: Papik and his brother-in-law Ailaq go out hunting together often, with Ailaq always returning with something and Papik returning with nothing. Papik grows jealous of Ailaq and kills him while they are out one day, returning without him. Ailaq's mother accuses Papik of killing her son and swears to take revenge on Papik. She dies after deliberately drowning herself in the tides and Papik lives in fear of her spirit, but cannot escape it in the end. While out with some other men, a thick fog descends and the two other men hear the screams of Papik as the spirit monster of Ailaq's mother attacks, mutilates, and kills him. These men and a large gro...

For this week, I chose to read Inuit Folk Tales from Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussenwith illustrations by native Inuit artists (1921).  My favorite story from this part was The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son  as I found this story touching and engaging. The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son: A mother bear is killed and her cub is given to an old woman to raise. The old woman raises the bear and trains it to understand human speech and to act like a human. He is taught to take care when playing with children (and adults) and to help the hunters catch animals for food. The bear is almost killed by another group of hunters who mistake him for a normal bear, so he is made a collar in order to distinguish him from other bears. Members of other groups vow to kill the bear, but he manages to stay safe, his foster-mother always reminding him to not harm humans unless they attack him. One day, the bear brings home a dead man, presumably because the man attacked him, ...

One beautiful summer day, a rich merchant decided to take a trip across a nearby lake, hoping to enjoy the gorgeous beach on the other side. Upon reaching the edge of the lake, he spotted three men in tattered clothing hanging out by the only boat in sight. He approached them and inquired whether he would be able to pay them to take him across the lake and then back again in a few hours, to which all three of the men readily agreed, none of them being in a position to pass up a chance to earn a few coins. So the four men set off, the rich merchant trying desperately to protect his fine clothing from the dirty bottom of the boat and wishing that he had gone ahead and bought the fine vessel his wife had pointed out to him the week before. Halfway across the lake, the men heard a giant tearing sound and bubbling as water began to fill the small boat--they had hit a mostly sunken rock and were sinking quickly. All four men panicked as none knew how to swim, and the rich merchant's ro...

For this week's readings, I chose Tibetan Folktales as seen in Tibetan Folk Tales by A. L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925). My favorite story out of those listed for Part B was How the Raven Saved the Hunter . I found it incredibly touching and sad how the hunter tried to kill the very thing that was trying to save him. How the Raven Saved the Hunter: A hunter is thirsty and makes a cup from a leaf. He attempts to drink water from a local stream but a raven flies down and knocks the cup out of his hands. This happens three times before the hunter decides to kill the raven. He shoots it down, killing it, and then decides to explore the source of the water. He finds that the water is coming out of the gaping mouth of a huge snake and that tons of animals have died from drinking the water, their bones accumulating on the side of the stream. The hunter then regrets killing the raven that was only trying to save him. In my retelling, the story will be told fro...

For this week's readings, I chose Tibetan Folktales as seen in Tibetan Folk Tales by A. L. Shelton with illustrations by Mildred Bryant (1925). My favorite story out of those listed for Part A was The Ingratitude of Man because I think it teaches a very important lesson--sometimes those we don't think can help us are actually the most willing to help whereas those we believe could help us a lot are the most unwilling to help. Oftentimes the most wealthy and fortunate people are the most ungrateful and the most selfish. The Ingratitude of Man: A man, a rat, a crow, and a snake are all walking together at night when all of a sudden they fall into a pit. They cannot get out and believe that they will starve, though why the crow cannot just fly out of the pit, I do not know. Anyway, a man hears their screams for help and saves them, expecting that he will be repaid in the future by the man but not by the animals. The crow is the first to repay the kind man, giving him jewelry...

I am pretty happy with my progress so far--I have managed to keep up with everything and have never turned in anything late. I have also managed to do about one extra credit assignment every week, which has helped put me a little ahead as far as points go. I am proud that I have remembered to do everything every week so far and that I have managed to do some extra credit--what with work and my other classes, I was worried that I would forget about assignments for this class but that has definitely not happened. I find myself looking forward to each week's readings and assignments! I kind of have difficulty keeping a routine what with my work schedule and the demands for my other classes, but I am not really a procrastinator so I always manage to get my work done and turned in on time. I have fairly good time management skills, which I learned in high school and in my first year of college, so I don't really have to have a routine to get everything done (though I would definit...

Overall, I would rate the quality of the feedback I have received anywhere from 8/10 to 9/10. Most of the comments have been very helpful and specific and I think the various feedback readings and methods suggested in this course have helped people create better comments as the semester progresses. The comments I find more helpful are ones were they say what they like about the post and also give ideas or suggestions for how to better the post. I find these comments to be the most balanced and helpful, personally. Specific suggestions in particular, ones that are well-thought out, are the most helpful. The quality of my feedback is probably about 7/10 to 8/10. I am getting better at leaving actually helpful comments on writing and have found the strategies mentioned in this course to be particularly helpful in the process. Leaving comments helps me to be more engaged in reading others' posts, as I have to read carefully enough to come up with comments and suggestions at the end. ...

Overall, I would say that the reading and writing assignments are working well for me. I am not really a terribly creative person, so having to write my own stories has helped me grow as a writer and has pushed me a bit outside of my comfort zone, what with the fact that other people can read what I write. I have also learned so much about making blogs and websites and about various methods for taking notes and writings stories. I've found all of the readings so far extremely interesting and informative and have learned about other cultures and time periods through the weeks. I am happy with by blog and the way it looks and am pretty satisfied with my website, though it can be difficult to have fun backgrounds like the jungle while still keeping the text readable. Overall, I like the way both look and probably will not be making any major changes to them. I am also quite happy with how the writing is going for my project, although I only have the introduction and first story done...

For this week's extra credit reading, I read Japanese Mythology, Part A. The story I will be writing my notes over is the story of The Miraculous Mirror in Romance of Old Japan, Part I: Mythology and Legend by E. W. Champney and F. Champney (1917). The Miraculous Mirror: Amaterasu, the Japanese sun goddess, is busy weaving the "dark web of Doom" when her brother, Susanoo, the Japanese storm god, frightens her and causes her to run off and hide in a cave. The people and gods of the earth miss her rays of light and warmth and desire her to come back and let everyone experience the sun again. However, Amaterasu remains in her cave. One god fashions a mirror and the goddess Uzume dances about and makes noise until Amaterasu emerges from her cave. The mirror is right in front of her and Uzume exclaims about a beautiful goddess that everyone loves. Seeing her own reflection, Amaterasu assumes she is looking at her rival and emerges, at which point Taji-Karao rolls a huge b...