Famous Last Words Week 13

The Week Where I Actually Look At The Grades

I have actually been kind of slacking in the assignments. At this moment, I am writing this because I had planned on doing the extra credit that was available to me for the next couple of weeks to guarantee an A. I just did the grade check one, and actually I am still on par to get an A even with my multiple skippings of writing comments on other's stories. Some of the stories are really fun to read, and doing the assignment for those is super easy. However, sometimes you just get that person who clearly had a busy week, so they just retold the story in modern english without changing any part of the story. Those weeks make me want  to quit the assignment early. Anyway, this week has not been a week where I will quit early. I still have to do a storybook assignment (I think), and I promised myself I would do the rest of the assignments until I got enough points to get an A.

Anything other than an A on an online class where I get to make up stories is unacceptable. I have actually really enjoyed getting to write silly stories, and I think I have not been able to do anything like this in so long that stuff just pours out really easily. The only times I have had trouble while writing is making sure that my storybook pages actually somewhat fit the theme and intro that I have. At this point, I am probably going to have to rewrite a lot of the intro. Also, since I have The Doctor as a narrator, there are a lot of people who keep looking back on mine to see what more I have written. Everyone has in their own mind how The Doctor would react in these situations, and I do not want to disappoint them. I really do not let him make any decisions because that is probable the hardest part of a character to reproduce. By just having him narrate, I can repeat his mannerisms and vocabulary easily without having to psychologically dissect the character to find out his actions in a new storyline.

On the other hand, I do not really care if other people think he would react differently because I am the only one doing it. I really was surprised that no one had done it since it was an example in the notes for a narrator.

The Doctor Who Title from the BBC.  Image Info

Essay Post Week 13

Grimm Fairy Tales Are Basically YouTube

I am sure you have all heard how dark and horrible the original fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm are when compared to the magical, watered down versions of today. I would agree that they are dark and can be scary for little kids, but that was partially their purpose. Making kids afraid to go alone in the dark or to take candy from strangers is a good thing. However, there are points in the story where people get pregnant out of wedlock, like in Rapunzel, or where characters die in pretty horrible ways. But, if you were to look at some of the cartoons of today, I feel like you would be just as surprised at the weird things that you find. And if you were to go on YouTube, there is no limit to the odd, offensive, and inappropriate things you could find.

I think that if you compare the stories from The Brothers Grimm to modern day stories that are intended for a younger audience, then you will find that they are basically at the same level. One of the stories in particular that I read this week struck me as what would make a hilarious YouTube video. In "The Straw, The Coal, and The Bean," the titular characters survive a long, scary night of cooking and decide to run away together to increase their chances of staying alive. The bean, coal, and straw all talk to one another and they say a lot of nonsense. When they come to a small stream, they decide that it is a good idea for the coal to walk across on the straw. The coal freaks out, catches the straw on fire, and then they both fall into the stream. The bean is watching on the bank and laughs so hard that he splits open. This story is basically pointless, but I thought it was hilarious. If it was on YouTube, I would share it and watch it and tweet it and force my friends to watch it.

The ability for such a weird, humorous story to be in the middle of these dark stories, made me think that the dark parts were not actually meant to be taken that seriously. Apparently, people who write stories for children have always been really weird. When people look back at Adventure Time, I am sure they will wonder why anyone would watch such a weird, nonsensical show. But, they are forgetting that we know how weird it is and we like it anyway. Everyone has always seen how violent and odd these fairy tales are, but that will never stop people from sharing their magic and entertainment.

 Adventure Time poster. Image Info.

Read the stories here.

Storytelling Week 13

The Traveling Band of Heroes

In the little town of Smallville, there lived an old donkey on a farm. This donkey had worked all his life, but now he was getting too old to be of any use. One night, he overheard his owner saying how he planned on buying a new donkey and selling the old one to the dog food plant. When the donkey heard this, he knew it was time to go, so he said, "I will leave at once and pursue my dreams of becoming famous!"

The next morning, the donkey had made it all the way out of town when he came across an old, sad dog on a farm. When the donkey inquired about the sadness of the dog, he explained that he was of no use to his owner anymore because he could not see well enough to help hunt. The donkey invited him to come on his quest for fame, and the dog quickly agreed.

They continued their journey on to two more towns and picked up two more companions: a cat who had lost her quickness which helped to catch mice and a rooster who no longer had the ability to crow. The group was quite an odd combination of animals, but they all made a pact not to fight with one another in honor of their efforts to become famous in the big city. After a week of traveling, they finally made it to their destination, Metropolis.

Metropolis was even bigger and more crowded than they had imagined. When they made it to downtown, they were worried about losing each other in the crowd, so they decided to stick together by carrying one another. The cat offered to let the rooster get on his back. The dog offered to carry the cat. The donkey told the dog that he could ride on his saddle. So there was a sort of pyramid of animals in walking around downtown Metropolis. Everyone was pointing and taking pictures and the animals loved it! This may be their chance to become famous. With the confidence found from the beginnings of true fame, they strutted down the middle of the street, each animal making noises as they were ogled at.

As the walked past a bank, some men in masks ran out with bags and weapons. The dog, thinking this to be a hunting group, jumped off the donkey, causing everyone to fall and let out a loud screech of pain. The robbers were frightened by the sudden sight of the animals, then the horrible combination of noises and a dog lunging toward them, and they immediately surrendered. The animals were caught on video and suddenly become heroes through the power of the internet. Before they knew it they were on every local and national news broadcast that could get their hands on them. They successfully ended their journey for fame, and it only took a couple of weeks.

The animal pyramid. Marcks statue in Germany. Photo information.

Author's Note: "The Traveling Musicians" features the same characters accidentally frightening a group of bandits in an old barn, but no one is around to see it. I tweaked it to be in front of a lot of people as well as cameras. I also added the wish to become famous because the donkey in the first one really wanted to be a musician even though he is a donkey. Being a youtube famous donkey is actually a lot more common than a musical donkey.

Bibliography: The Brothers Grimm. "The Traveling Musicians." Librivox. Original Story

Reading Diary Week 13 Brothers Grimm

The Frog Prince
-The frog kind of tricks her into letting him become her pet because he gets her ball for him
-this is like the third princess with a golden ball that I have seen in the classic fairy tales
-NOT a kiss,  eating from her plate and sleeping in her bed three nights
-marriage happens. happiness and riches too.

Rapunzel
-More about the parents than I have ever heard.
-The prince stays the night for quite some time, resulting in some babies later.
-The witch cuts off her hair and moves her from the forest to the desert, never seen that
-He jumped out of the window of the tower, barely surviving but being blinded, so dramatic
-eventually he wanders to the desert and finds Rapunzel and their children

The Straw, The Coal, and The Bean
-Inanimate objects come to life and go on an adventure
-Like the Brave Little Toaster but with more food
-They all die anyway
-I actually thought it was really funny

The Mouse, The Bird, and The Sausage
-Each had a job, one gets jealous
-The illustration of a sausage cooking gets weird quick
-Death

The Traveling Musicians
-Donkey, dog, cat, rooster, run away to become musicians
-and so they aren't put down
-they beat up robbers, so basically they are rock stars

Clever Elsie
-I do not understand
-They are not clever, but they think they are
-marriage
-Dude tricks her into thinking she is not herself by changing her out of her clothes


Briar Rose
- Sleeping Beauty
-It starts out basically how I remember it
-The entire castle and its inhabitants fall asleep instead of just her
-For 100 years!
-the prince didn't even have to do anything, he just happened to show up when everyone was waking up
-He still kissed her, but it was not magical





Read the stories.