Week 10 Story: Escape

     Anne was not afraid of the pains of childbirth. She had already known such great pains that she couldn't imagine anything worse.
     She had lost both her parents. Her stepmother had done everything in her power to make her life hell. She had been forced to marry the prince, who only wanted her for her great dowry. Her stepmother had wanted the prince to marry her own daughter, but money and power was everything for the prince. The prince was especially cruel.
     When she gave birth to her first child, and it was a girl, she was beaten for weeks by the prince. Anne wanted to love her child, but there was something about her. An inexplicable lack of connection between mother and daughter prevented Anne from caring for this child who caused her pain.
     Now it was time to give birth to her second child. When her stepmother, the midwife, announced that the child was again a girl, Anne was aware she should feel sad. Instead, she felt void of feeling. She had learned long ago that if there was a God, He wasn't on her side.
     It was announced the next day that due to Anne's inability to produce an heir, she would be beheaded, and the prince would marry her half-sister. Anne's stepmother would win after all.
     Anne sat behind bars, awaiting her death. Suddenly, a shadowy figure emerged from the recesses of the dungeon. Anne recognized her, but couldn't quite place her.
     "Princess Anne, my name is Sophia. I was your stepmother's assistant during the delivery of your children. She told me she would kill me if I ever told you the truth. But I must! I can't live with this!"
     "Perhaps you aren't feeling well," Anne said kindly. "Go lie down."
     "No princess! I must tell you, or this guilt will kill me before your stepmother can lay a hand on me. Your daughters are not yours. You gave birth to two, healthy sons. Your stepmother switched them with girls from the village so that the prince would give up on you and have you beheaded. She did all this so that her daughter might marry the prince!"
     Anne didn't know what to say, didn't know what to do. Unlike her lack of feelings after her second delivery, she now felt overwhelmed by every emotion she had been suppressing over the years. So much anger, grief, and sadness suffocated her, leaving her silent.
     "Hurry princess! I have made arrangements to rescue you and bring you to your sons! For I was in charge of killing them. Instead, I had a family watch over them until I could reveal the truth to you."
     Behind her, Sophia removed a large stone from the wall that led to a winding hall by which the two escaped the dungeon. Sophia explained that she had partnered with others in the castle who had turned against the crown due to the prince's brutality. They had put their plan into motion as soon as Anne's second pregnancy was announced.
     Anne lived happily in the countryside with her two boys for years. She was so happy that the only reminder of her pain was a few scars given to her by the prince. She had shared with her boys the truth of her past, but had taught them that they need not be anything like their father. They shared blood and nothing more.
     One day while Anne watched the boys play in the garden, a party of knights rode up to the house. "Anne, we are here to bring you and the prince's sons back to the castle."
     Anne pinched herself to wake up from the nightmare, but the knights remained in the garden. "What is the meaning of this? The prince is married. He wanted me killed. Does he want to finish the job?"
     "Your half-sister could not perform her duties and produce an heir. Rumor spread that you were in fact successful. The prince has already had your stepmother and sister killed and awaits your arrival to be remarried."
     "Very well. But I must ask that we do not depart until tomorrow. My sons know nothing of their origins. For indeed, who could explain to their children that they have the blood of a prince while they live like paupers?  We must also rest for the journey, for we have worked in the fields all day.
      The knights agreed and made camp just outside the house. But Anne had no intention of returning to her wretched life in the castle.
     In the dead of night, she and her sons escaped. They hardly stopped until they had arrived at a different kingdom where they could begin new lives. They were never again bothered by the cruel prince, and they lived happily ever after.

Portrait of Anne Boleyn
Source: Wikimedia

Author's Note: This is based off of the story of The True Bride from the Marriage Native American series, but inspired by the stories of Henry VIII and his wives. In the True Bride story, the sons are replaced by a cat and a snake. It doesn't say that the prince beat her, but he did try to have her killed. At the end of the story, the wife does go back to the prince, but that bothered me, so I gave her a happy ending far from a prince that tried to murder her. Also a much happier story than that of Anne Boleyn and the other wives of Henry VIII. In the original story, the prince is attracted to her by her beauty, but also the fact that she could spit out golden nuggets. I wanted to remove all magic from the story and make it seem historical, since this pretty much happened with Anne Boleyn. So instead, I just gave her a huge dowry (and made the children girls instead of trying to explain how humans could give birth to animals). It is evident that this prince doesn't care for her, which is how he can beat her and easily have her and her family executed.

The True Bride: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

Reading Notes: The True Bride, Part B

• Diamonds and Toads meets the story of Romulus and Remus. 
• Did the prince really love her? Surely he wouldn't have had her killed if he loved her?
• The Stepmother getting rid of the sons she gave birth to is especially cruel. 
• Gives her a cat, then a snake instead of her children
• Children are raised by dog
• How old were they? Seem old enough... would they have known about their true origins?
• How could that woman go back to her husband after he has her killed? 
• How did she forgive him?
• Once she was turned into a goose, why couldn't she be with her kids?

Photo by Dick Daniels. Source: Wikipedia

The True Bride: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

Reading Notes: The Rolling Head, Part A

• The use of the snake being the woman's undoing in very similar to the Hebrew creation story of Eve and the serpent
• Father doesn't seem to feel guilty, only the children "regretted what he had done to them". 
• As in they are not sad that he killed their mother. They are sad he made them eat her
• Exploring the relationship between the father and children more
• Maybe they don't mourn their mother?
• only felt bad due to the rolling head
• If there wasn't a rolling head, would they care if their father had killed her?

Photo of woman at a lake. Source: pxhere

The Rolling Head: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson (1929).

Famous Last Words: Back on Track

This week I got back on track! I wrote my first storybook story, which I think went really well and I am excited to receive feedback on it. I had chosen the original story source long ago, towards the beginning of the semester. I have been thinking about that story since, so when it came time to actually sit down and write my retelling, it felt daunting. However, once I started typing, it started flowing. I am now ready and pumped to write the next story for my storybook. I hope I am doing Eleanor of Aquitaine proud!
I thought I knew which stories I wanted to do next for my storybook, but now I am not sure. I think I may have to spend a lot of time thinking about that this week, planning for my storybook. Unfortunately I am behind, so I can't do a planning post instead of writing the story. I am not too worried about it, it will just be harder since for this first post, I knew exactly what I wanted to do for the storybook.
I am also looking forward to the homecoming game this weekend! When I went to OU/Texas this year, I had really great seats in the student section. Sitting nearby was the "Soonerman" who dresses in an OU unitard for every game. He also waits the four hours before the game in order to get a front row seat at every home game! I started talking to him and I told him how I had always wanted to sit on the front row, but that I didn't have friends who were that interested in football who were willing to do it with me. So we decided for that this week's home game, I am going to wait with him ad grab a front row seat! I am so excited to see how different of an experience it is, being so close to the field. Hopefully it's worth the four hour wait, but only time will tell!

Week 9 Story: Waiting

     Dimena could never understand her mother. Nzambi was a beautiful goddess who lived on earth with everything she could ever want. And yet, she forced Dimena to stay with her at all times. She could never leave. She couldn't make friends, and explore the world.
     Sometimes her mother had visitors, mostly supplicants who begged her for help with their crops or their families. This was the most exciting time for her as she was able to see people talk to them about the world and their lives. They could never understand why the daughter of a deity would be interested in the lives of mere mortals, but they answered her questions nonetheless.
     Rumor soon spread of her beauty that was beyond what anyone had ever seen before. Dimena didn't feel comfortable with the men and women who stared at her so longingly, but they kept demanding that she be able to leave her mother and marry. While she didn't want to be subjected to the power of just another guardian, the idea of getting out of the same home she had always lived in, waiting on her mother, sounded wonderful.
     Her mother said that she would only allow Dimena to marry whoever could bring back heavenly fire from Nzambi Mpungu, the creator god who stayed in the heavens. Many tried, but none succeeded.
     Finally, there was a band of animals who were able to work together to bring the heavenly fire back to earth. Dimena silently cried tears of joy and pure relief as they entered her mother's throne room. She stood by her mother's side as she always did, ready to heed her commands. She couldn't help but think that this could be the last time she would have to stand waiting for her mother's decisions, owned and controlled by her.
     "I deserve to marry her as I risked my life, almost being burned alive in the bamboo!" said the rat.
     "But I pecked the hole by which we enetered heaven." said the woodpecker. "She should be mine!"
     "But it was my quest! I am the reason she was rescued!" said the spider.

Nzambi Figure
Source: Wikimedia

     Dimena stood smiling, wondering which would be her husband. No matter what, she would be leaving the same throne room where she had been forced to stay for more years than she could count.
     "Well, if I give her to any of you, the others who do not win her will make her life miserable. I cannot do that to my daughter. So she will simply have to remain here with me. You are all dismissed." She waved her hand and Dimena's rescuers disappeared.
     "Dimena, fetch me something to drink. Perhpas the juice from yesterday. On second thought, I want fresh squeezed juice. Why are you just standing there. Go!"
      Dimena couldn't move. She couldn't feel. She didn't know what to think.
     "How?"
     "How what, my precious?"
     Dimena tried to speak, but she couldn't find her voice.
     "Speak up, Dimena. You know I won't tolerate mumbling."
     "How could you keep me imprisoned here?"
     "Imprisoned? Imprisoned! Ha! You live in a beautiful home with a mother who loves you more than anything. I am keeping you safe. The world is dangerous. You are too precious to risk. The world doesn't deserve you!"
     "I'm leaving," Dimena could hardly believe the words coming out of her own mouth, but she continued anyway. "I will not stay here, your slave whom you claim to love. I will be free!"
     "No you won't." And with that, the earth around Dimena rose. It envelopped her legs. She couldn't walk. "My only other other love, the earth will keep you here. Home. Where you will be safe."

Author's Note: This is based off the story How The Spider Won And Lost Nzambi's Daughter. In the original, we know nothing of the daughter except that she is beautiful. I thought it bizarre that the story mentioned how the daughter served her mother, even though her mother is a deity. So I decided to give her a voice, and imagine how the daughter would have felt I gave her a name and tried to explain why she would have remained with her mother after learning she would never be able to leave. 

How The Spider Won And Lost Nzambi's Daughter: Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort by Richard Edward Dennett (1898).


   

Reading Notes: Nzambi's Daughter, Part B

• Animals must work together to free a maiden to be married
• When they present necessary item to mother, the animals disagree on who should really have her
•  The mother says because they all deserve her and are fighting over her, none of them can have her
• The maiden waits on her mother for the rest of her life
• People only want her because she is beautiful
• is she smart? dumb? funny? serious? 
• Does she want to get married or stay? 
• Does she really want to serve her mother for the rest of her life? A servant in her own home?
• Doesn't she want to get out and live her own life???
• Maybe she wants to be married off, but is afraid of her mother's wrath. 

Nzambi Figure
Source: Wikimedia

How The Spider Won And Lost Nzambi's Daughter: Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort by Richard Edward Dennett (1898).

Reading Notes: The Vanishing Wife, Part A

• Guy gets the perfect wife, house and servants 
• He has one job: don't let his wife see a fish's head. 
• He gets lazy and stops cutting the heads off right away as he should, and so she sees it and he vanishes
• Why wasn't the guy grateful enough or what he had that he couldn't follow through on his  one job??
• Who else does this?
• probably everyone.
• In life we do the one thing we knew we weren't supposed to do. 

Dude would press this button.
Author Chris Mckenna Source: Wikimedia

The Vanishing Wife: Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort by Richard Edward Dennett (1898).

Week 8 Progress

Overall I am really enjoying this class. I love the writing assignments and I definitely do as much of the extra cedit as possible. I did this because I knew I would reach a point in the semester where I had no motivation. Well the time has come. Last week I totally fell off the wagon and didn't most of the assignments. Everyone has those weeks, right?

For the rest of the semester, I want to change my schedule just a bit to start working on the coming week on Sunday. That way I can get ahead and have more time I can devote to story planning for the class project.

My motivation to push through the rest of the semester is to get to Christmas, drink lots of hot chocolate, and be a woman my dog can be proud of. 

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

I definitely enjoy reading the comments from my peers. They're always really nice and supportive, which is cool little ego boost at the end of the week. The class project feedback has probably been more constructive than the story feedback. Often time I do not get a critique for my stories, which is fine since I don't usually go back and edit. But perhaps more constructive criticism would help me for the following week.

Reading other people work is inspiring and motivates me to work harder on my own writing. I try to always give something for the writer to improve on, but my peers are doing so great on their stories! Sometimes it's hard to find anything wrong!

By reading other people's blogs, I definitely get a sense of their personality! However, I am not getting to know people through commenting. I don't stick to reading the same people every week because I would rather read lots of different writing styles and switch it up often. I think the same can be said for my blog. I am very candid in my writing, so I think people are seeing the real me, but I don't think that anyone is really getting to know me.

I need to be better about bookmarking class projects I like. I think that it's fine to read different people's blogs every week, but these class projects are more comprehensive, so I should probably stick to a few people's projects!

(cheezburger)

I chose this image because while criticism is not often, there are definitely patterns which is what is important. If it mentioned twice it's doubly important.

Week 8 Reading and Writing

I have loved doing the readings, but I mostly enjoy doing the stories. I love to write so this has been such a great experience. I think that my favorite readings were the Egyptian stories, second place was the Japanese stories.

Notes: I definitely use my notes every week. I like writing a synopsis (even though that's technically not what we are supposed to do) because it helps me remember what are the big takeaways, the major plot points of the story. That way I am sure that my story is reflecting those major points. I also make notes to myself to remember what I wanted to focus on.

Stories: My biggest accomplishment of the class I think has been the Introduction for the class project as that was the most difficult, but it cam out well and I am proud of it. However, the story I had the most fun writing was the first story, Beauty Fight Backs. I was excited to write it, and I based it off of my favorite story formula: Beauty and the Beast. I am still most proud of that.

Image: Finding images is my least favorite part of the assignments every week. I don't put as much thought into it as perhaps other people do. I would much rather write. My favorite image used is from my story Martyrs Imprisoned. When I was writing and thinking about Christian martyrs being held by the Roman government, I immediately thought of Paul's cell which is in the Rome which I saw when I went.

Prison cell of Saint Paul in Rome.
Photo by Edith OSB Source: Flickr

Looking Forward: I think to get more out of the reading and writing experience, I need to get back on top of my Class project. I feel so behind last week that I didn't have much time to write the first story for the project. That definitely isn't something that should be rushed, so instead I just decided to wait until next week to get started on it. I still am sure that it will turn out well, I just need to devote more planning time to it so that I can sit down to write effectively.

Week 7 Story: Mother's Love

She ran frantically through the forest. She would have stopped several times and let them take her, but she was running for someone else now. Her swollen belly carried the most important person she had never met.
She had told her husband not to get too deep into court politics, but he hadn't heeded her warning. He was murdered by his enemies, and now they were after her and his unborn child.
No time to worry about the past. She had to keep running.
Her legs were weak, her chest pounding. But suddenly, a more powerful shooting pain struck her.
"No! It can't happen now! No!" But her words couldn't stop her baby's arrival.
She searched everywhere and found a small gathering of trees in the middle of which she might be able to stay hidden. There she tried to stay as quiet as possible as her son broke out into the world.
She stared at her precious bundle, trying to calm the crying baby. She felt overwhelmed by her joy, until the reality of her situation dawned on her.

Mother of Yellow River in China
Posted by Farm Source: Wikimedia

She was without a husband, without a home, and in the middle of the woods. Her husband's enemies wanted her and her son dead. Only the strongest of children could grow in such an environment. She must make make him strong.
She wondered the forest searching for a river, pain in each step. When she arrived at a rushing body of water, she dipped the baby down into the water and whispered a prayer of hope that her child would be strong enough to endure all things. The baby wiggled in her arms, and then went still. Once she had finished her prayer, she brought the baby out of the water. 
He wouldn't have looked any different to a stranger, but a mother sees all. She could detect the gold aura that clung to her son. And so she named him Kintaro, The Golden Boy. He grew to be the strongest of all men and the mightiest of warriors!


Author's Note: This is based off of the The Adventures of Kintaro, The Golden Boy. I stayed true to the story except in the original, it is never explained why Kintaro is supernaturally strong, which bothered me as a reader. So I decided to create a reason. Partly inspired by the story of Achilles and the River Styx, I gave him his strength by his mother praying while practically offering her son to the rushing river. Make of that what you will, but I see it as the river blessing the child with its force and energy.

The Adventures of Kintaro, The Golden Boy: Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908).

Reading Notes: Princess Hase, Part B

Japanese Cherry Blossom
Source: pexels

• Princess Hase writes a poem which saves the life of the emperor
• stepmother is so jealous, she has a servant go out to the woods to kill her
• instead of killing her, the servant builds a house for him, the princess, and his wife
• they live out there as she waits for her father to find her
• Father finds her, takes her home, she lives out the rest of her life happily
• Hase is too obedient! Cinderella feel about the story
• Why does she go with servant? Better reason needed
• Maybe the emperor can get involved? He has seen and heard from her, and been saved by her on several occasions? 
• Empower her or make her even more less capable of taking care of herself

Princess Hase: Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908).

Reading Notes: Kintaro, Part A

Woodblock print
Posted by Amcaja Source: Wikimedia

• father is disgraced and woman must run away to escape his adversaries at court
• lives in woods. gives birth to son there
• Son has crazy super-human life strength. 
• Kintaro= golden boy
• What made him so strong?
• From living in the woods?
• His father?
• his mother? 
• Why is he a golden boy?
• What could his mother of done to make this "golden boy" truly special and different?
• dipped him in a mystical river? 
• prayed to the gods?
• maybe his father was like that?

Kintaro: Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908).

Famous Last Words: Getting it Together

This past week was a week of getting my life together. I had two presentations at the end of the week that I wasn't super prepared for, but went really well! It was a good weekend as I rewrote my Fulbright essays (AHHHH!) and I got hang out with my mom on Sunday. While I didn't have much time to do homework to prepare for this coming week, I still feel serene as I start this Monday.
However, as previously mentioned, I am working on my Fulbright application because it is due this Friday, October 6th. And I am freaking out. If this weren't for a class, I would be sharing some choice words. I'm scared as I finalize my application because not only am I applying for something that means a lot to me and would be so great, but it feels bigger than that. This is the most important thing I have ever applied to, both in terms of prestige and my own personal life. This could set me on a path that leads to greater things than if I do not get it. Honestly Fulbright is all I can really think about, and my school work is reflecting that. I am hoping that after October 6th, I will be able to refocus my priorities and get back to what's important in the here and now. We can only hope for the best!

Me on the Second Floor of the Eiffel Tower.
France: the country I will be living in for Fulbright!

It doesn't help that I am having some tension with my roommate recently, so I am hoping to resolve that going forward this week. Last week this tension was just an extra thing that was always weighing on me. So I really want to work this week on talking it out and being honest with her. Life is just a little bit harder when you and your best friend aren't on the best of terms.

Review: Languages

What grabbed my attention from the announcements was the note about the etymology of pundit. This was from the announcement on Friday September 29. I never knew that it was originally a sanskrit word! I love languages and how they get so mixed up, especially English since it's already such a mixture. I would love to learn more about what words we get from languages I would never think we have much contact with!

The Sanskrit alphabet!
Madhumita1052 Source: Wikimedia

Reading Notes: Scheherazade, Extra

Sceherazade by Sophie Anderson
POsted by Irina Source: flickr

• King is marrying woman, killing them the next day because he hates women, thinks they are deceptive
• Daughter of sultan's grand-vizir offers herself up to save all women
• Tells her sister stories to stall being killed
• This girl is so brave, I think that Queen Eleanor would love her character and story
• I think I would want to cut the sister, keep it between her and the sultan so that I can further develop the sultan's character
• Maybe the grand-vizir tries to save her, everything goes wrong?
• Why didn't she run the plan by her dad? Where's her mom?

Scheherazade: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).