Wikipedia Trail: Persephone to Aristaeus

I was first intrigued by Persephone when I was doing an extra credit reading on the Overview of Mythology. I have heard many tales about her, but I have never sat down once and truly read her tale all the way through. I wanted to know more about the different versions of her story. I found that she was categorized as chthonic. This means "under or beneath the earth." I had never seen this word before, and I was curious as to what this meant. I really like learning new words I do not often hear, and I wish I could use new words more often. I found that chthonic can also be related to the earth which is where Gaia came into my trail. I have heard about her many times, but I have never known specific details about her. Looking more into her, I realized I have heard of her by another name which is Mother Earth. While reading about her, I saw that Gaia made Aristaeus immortal. I thought this was pretty neat because it is not every day that one comes across someone that is immortal. His name was also unfamiliar to me, so I decided I should look into him. Apparently, he is famous for the art of bee-keeping. This trail was fun to learn more about goddesses.

Image Information: The Return of Persephone by Frederic Leighton (1891)

Reading Notes: Overview of Mythology

In the reading for Crash Course Myth: Overview of Mythology, there were three videos listed to watch to get the introduction to their approach to mythology and theories they do or do not ascribe to for the videos. The video I liked best from this list was The Hero's Journey and the Monomyth. I have heard stories of many heroes growing up and the different variations of each of their tales. This video helped break down the different segments of telling a hero's journey. The main parts are when a hero separates himself from the world, trials and victories, and a return to their home. While seeing this all explained, I thought of the heroes I had grown up learning about and saw how their stories somewhat followed this progression. I am a major Avengers fan with an emphasis on Captain America, so I am no stranger to watching how their stories play out while watching them struggle to defeat the villains.

In America, I feel that we have a lack of mainstream female heroes though, so when the video brought up a tale of seven sisters, I was intrigued. Their story took a path off the traditional path of super heroes, and they were wanting to overcome hunger, pain, and fear. So this was more a personal journey to become better versions of themselves which resulted in them becoming cosmic beings for succeeding. I appreciated how the story was told in the third version. This was more of an approach of a retelling to get the ideas of the story across to the viewer. The storyteller clearly sectioned the  story into three separate chunks to show how the trend of call to action, road of trials, and returning home were relevant to this story.

Bibliography

The Hero's Journey and the Monomyth by Crash Course World Mythology

Image Information: Hero, Wikimedia Commons

Tech Tip: Canvas Gradebook

The Canvas Gradebook was a new addition to the list of Tech Tips. Apparently, Canvas updated the way they work their gradebook just this semester. Reading through this Tech Tip helped me learn a bit more of how this class is arranged grade-wise. I learned that the current week's assignments are at the top and the previous week's assignments are moved to the bottom. Luckily, each week's assignments are grouped together, so this makes finding your grades for that week super easy. I have already been referencing my gradebook a lot to make sure that I am staying on track of the assignments that are due.

Another useful part of this tech tip was that the weekly totals are located at the bottom of the gradebook page. This will help me know that I am hitting the required amount of points each week to stay on track. I am hoping to do some extra credit each week, so this will help me figure out how many points I should aim for each week to achieve any goals I may have of finishing early.

Feedback Thoughts

Feedback can often be a critical tool in progressing and growing as an individual. If there is no feedback, then there is often a lack of an outside perspective which is helpful in knowing what cannot be seen normally. In Silence the Critical Voices in Your Head, feedback is addressed as a useful way to learn how to be a better leader. This article expanded on how many people most often only address negative feedback as they see this part as the most important. I believe people do this because they think the positive aspects of their behavior that was mentioned is something they have already mastered and, therefore, do not have to work on in the future. What this leads to is only having the negative parts to focus their attention on for improvement. While this can be meaningful, I think the article brought up a valid point that people should not just brush aside the positive comments. There are pros and cons to essentially everything in life. Focusing on the positive every once in a while can become a refreshing exercise to those that constantly feel overwhelmed with the negative parts of life.

Overcoming the mind is a challenging task for those that have not already achieved it. Those who still experience struggles and new difficulties in life each day are especially prone to doubt themselves when attempting to do something new. In Seven Ways to Crush Self-Doubt in Creative Work, the author details ways to try and circumvent the self-doubt many people may feel. The author brings up how people should abandon perfectionism which can be useful because trying to be perfect can negatively affect your performance and mood. Trying to be perfect is a nearly impossible standard and those who try to meet it can often find themselves unhappy with their life situations or will refrain from attempting new skills to avoid being bad at something. This happens to me in my own life, and I hope to one day get past the perfectionism I feel is necessary to achieve everything I want to in life. Once I fully believe that making mistakes is an acceptable part of the process of learning, and not something to be punished for, I believe I will be more willing to learn about subjects that do not initially capture my interest.

In general, I have learned from constructive criticism the most when their is a clear list of what I did wrong. I try my best to do what is right, so when I have a list of skills to work on, I have a focused way to approach what I need to improve first. My most feedback negative experience happened when I was not asking for feedback, and I was bombarded with numerous negative things with no clear advice on how to fix what was wrong. This was not helpful for me as it destroyed my motivation to want to fix anything since nothing positive was listed. Moving forward, I want to incorporate more positive feedback when evaluating myself and others. I believe this will help the learning process be less discouraging.

Image Information: Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down: Pixabay

Topic Brainstorm

The topics I am interested in are Filipino Tales, Japanese Fairy Tales, creation stories, and dragons for the topic of my project.

Filipino Tales: This topic interests me the most because I am half Filipina. Since I was born and raised in America, the most exposure I have gotten to my culture is whenever my dad makes us Filipino dishes. I feel that reading these stories will expand my knowledge about my culture past just the food aspect. Just as I have grown up learning stories about princesses and heroes here, I am excited to learn about what children in the Philippines may learn as they grow up there. I hope this opportunity will teach me more about part of my identity that I never had the chance to know.

Creation Stories: I have considered before, as most people do, what came before us. I think pondering the idea of creation and how we all came to be is a meaningful exercise. Was there a greater being that simply wanted more life to help fill the meaningless amount of space? Or were we just a mere accident that happened in the massive expanse of nothingness? I am intrigued to see the approaches that different places from around the world have taken to try to answer these questions for themselves. I believe how people decide to answer these questions tells a lot about them and their mindset towards life.

Japanese Fairy Tales: Since I was young, I have had a fascination with Japanese culture. Their culture seemed so different from mine in America while growing up, and their stories often captured my attention. My family realized how much I enjoyed Japanese culture that they even planned a special visit to Japan for the whole family. They had great food, clean cities, and so much culture embedded in the makeup of their towns, clothes, and people. The incorporation of good and evil, heroes and villains, and princes and princesses often capture the whimsical side of my mind and keep me entertained.

Dragons: As numerous others have over the past few years, I have developed an interest in Game of Thrones. The most captivating part of this series for me is when the dragons are involved. I have enjoyed seeing the dragons' stories play out more than any of the character arcs in the series. These creatures are so pulling on my attention because of how majestic and ethereal they are compared to the boring repeats of every day life. We do not have a chance to witness dragons in real life, and this sparks imagination in me that pulls me deep into their story.

Image Information: Earth Dragon by jaci XIII at flickr.

Week 2 Story: Never Trust a Jackal

A tiger was searching for sustenance when he came upon a box-like structure. The tiger's curiosity got the best of him, and he investigated further. From behind, the tiger heard a clank, and he was trapped. The tiger did his best to free himself, but all this effort was to no avail. Three days passed before a Brahman came near the cage.

The tiger, now desperate to be free of this cage, called out to the Brahman, "Please, Brahman, set me free! I have been here for three days without food or even a drop of water!"

On edge, the Brahman replied, "If I were to set you free, what guarantee do I have that my life will not be endangered at the moment of your freedom?"

"Please, I beg you! I just need to be let go from this horrible place!" 

The Brahman and tiger exchanged this way for awhile until the tiger began to cry.

The Brahman had never before seen a tiger cry, and he felt pity arise in his heart for the tiger. Even though the Brahman knew this could be a life threatening choice, he decided to release the tiger from the cage. 

Once free from his holding cell, the tiger turned on the Brahman and said, "Oh my, the hunger in my body is so strong. Brahman, your scent is too enticing to turn down."

"I just let you free! Why would you turn on me so quickly? Let me leave with my life!" exclaimed the Brahman.

"Fine, fine. I will let you ask three things their opinion of this matter. Choose carefully."

The Brahman thought for a moment. The pressure of needing to save his life prevailed, and he hastily chose a nearby tree his opinion.

The tree dryly answered, "I have provided nothing but cool from the sun and places for wildlife to build their homes. Yet, those like you cut my kin down merely to feed your cows. As my life is meaningless to you, yours is meaningless to me. The tiger may do as he wishes."

Taken aback, the Brahman chose the road next as he thought there was nothing he had done directly to offend the road.

"You stand on me now with me below you, and you ask me to give you a pardon? All of you walk across me relentlessly everyday with nothing even close to a thanks. The less of you there are, the less I have to be walked on each day. Let the tiger eat," smirked the road.

Dejected, the Brahman made his way back to the tiger. On the way, he heard babbling coming from off the path. He saw there was a jackal muttering to himself among the trees. The Brahman was disoriented by the jackal talking nonsense, so he tried to discreetly slip past the jackal without being noticed. Unfortunately, the jackal perked up as the Brahman neared him.

"Why do you look so down on a day so sunny and bright?" inquired the jackal.

Unwillingly, the Brahman stopped and explained his situation with the tiger. The jackal seemed spaced out and kept looking around while the Brahman told his story. Once the Brahman finished his telling, the jackal asked him to tell him again as the first time made no sense. This time, the Brahman tried to take the story slowly and simply in a way that even this dull jackal could understand. This seemed to provide no help as the jackal still decided that the story was too confusing.

"I have an idea! Take me back to where this story occurred! I understand tales like these much better when I can see what happened, and right now all you are doing is throwing words at me!" barked the jackal.

The Brahman reluctantly took the jackal back to where the tiger was waiting.

"Ah, you have returned," smiled the tiger, "I have been waiting for dinner to be served!"

"This jackal is my last chance at getting an opinion. He is slightly slow at absorbing information," explained the Brahman.

The Brahman then proceeded to go through the story in excruciating detail to the jackal. The Brahman relished this time as he had decided he was doomed to be eaten by the tiger. Each word was a precious gift. Finally, he finished telling his story, and he asked the jackal if this time he understood.

"Hmm, not exactly, so you were in the cage? Or was the tiger?"

"I was in the cage," snarled the tiger.

"In a cage? I do not understand how or why you would end up there. How does one even get into a cage?" laughed the jackal.

"You simply walk inside, and then you are in the cage. This is not a hard concept," glared the tiger.

"Yes, but how did you get in the cage? All these words are just floating around, and I still do not get how you ended up there."

Losing his temper, the tiger decided to prove his point by going into the cage himself. "See? Like this, now I am magically in the cage, you dull jackal."

As the tiger was turning around, he heard that dreaded clank as the jackal locked the tiger, yet again, in the cage.

"Oh, I see now! You are in the cage! And now, it will stay this way," said the jackal triumphantly.

Author's Note

I wrote this story as a retelling of the tale of The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal. I chose this story as I did not expect the ending. I enjoyed the twist that occurred which set this story apart from the others. This version set me up in a way that I thought I knew what would happen at the end, but I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong.

Bibliography

The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal, Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1912)

Image Information: Jackal from Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

Indian Fairy Tales: The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1912) was the story that stood out the most to me from the Myth-Folklore Anthology. This story began as most other folklore stories with a general setting with a proposed problem. In this case, the issue at hand was if the tiger should eat the Brahman. This story went on in the normal rambling sense of stories of this nature. I was expecting this story to go along the guidelines of trying to teach the reader some important bit of wisdom through example, so I initially thought the tiger was going to eat the Brahman. Where this story diverged was when Brahman encountered the jackal.

(Illustration by John Batten)

When the Brahman asked the tree and road, he did not have favorable answers to keep the tiger from eating him. When the Brahman met with the jackal, the jackal came across as a very confused character that did not seem at all to know what was going on at the time. This is why I believed the Brahman's fate was sealed. At this point, I thought the story would end with the Brahman being eaten by the tiger to teach the reader to follow your instincts and leave dangerous problems, like a tiger, where they cannot hurt others. This was where I was wrong. I had underestimated the seemingly dull jackal. This twist was quite pleasant because by the jackal playing dumb from the first telling of the Brahman's story to the last, he cleverly knew how to manipulate the tiger and save the Brahman.

This twist in the plot is a technique that I would like to incorporate in my story. I thought using the underdog in the story was a refreshing way to turn the story around in a way that I did not expect. Creating this sort of suspense about the Brahman's impending doom with no clear way out kept me intrigued. In addition, having the resolution at the very end helped drive the conclusion home.

Bibliography

The Tiger, The Brahman, and The Jackal, Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1912)

Week 2 Reading Overview

Below is my list of reading that I have chosen to do throughout the semester.

Choose from CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units for Weeks 3 and 4.

Week 3: Adam and Eve

Week 4: Saints and Animals

Choose from MIDDLE EASTERN and/or INDIAN units for Weeks 5 and 6.

Week 5: The Voyages of Sindbad

Week 6: Turkish Fairy Tales

Choose from ASIAN and/or AFRICAN units for Weeks 7 and 9.

Week 7: Japanese Mythology

Week 9: Filipino Popular Tales

Choose from NATIVE AMERICAN units for Weeks 10 and 11.

Week 10: Eskimo Folk Tales

Week 11: Great Plains

Choose from BRITISH and/or CELTIC units for Weeks 12 and 13.

Week 12: Beowulf

Week 13: Faerie Queen - Britomart

Choose from EUROPEAN units for Weeks 14 and 15.

Week 14: Dante's Inferno

Week 15: Hans Christian Andersen

I looking forward to the Asian unit during weeks 7 and 9. I am half Filipina, so I am quite interested in reading the Filipino Popular Tales. I have not heard of any from my family, so this will be a great chance to learn more about some aspects of my culture. The description for the Japanese Mythology stories look fairly interesting as there was mention of gods, goddesses, and dragons.

(Japanese Dragons: Wikimedia Commons)

The stories about Saints and Animals is something I looking forward to reading mainly because I have not often thought about how animals played a role in some saints' stories. I have heard of Beowulf and Dante's Inferno, but I have never made the time to read these stories. I am intrigued as to what their stories hold and what has made them so popular throughout time. Reading these stories is a wonderful opportunity to bring back some imagination and creativity into my weekly routine.