Pip Pip Hurray!

I can't believe this is my last reading of the whole class! This has been so much fun and I have really enjoyed getting to read stories from so many different countries, cultures, and backgrounds. I decided to focus my last set of notes on the story called "The Cat and the Mouse." I enjoyed most of the stories from part B, but I liked this one the best because it seemed familiar to me. For this note-taking post, I decided to do the note style focused on sentences. I love picking out beautiful sentences, and so I thought that would be a good note to end on. A dog passed by and said, "Do you want me?" this made me laugh, trying to imagine a cat standing on the corner advertising how she wanted to get married, but then being asked by a dog if she wanted to marry him. This was a funny sentence!  The cat accepted him and said, "Let us go and be married, for you please me." So they were married. This was just as funny as the first sentence because he...

This is crazy that it is our last week of reading! I am so excited about reading some of the Italian Popular Tales. I wanted to focus my notes today on the story called "How the Devil Married Three Sisters." I have never heard of this story before and so when I read it I thought it might be fun to focus my notes on it. I loved all of the stories that made up part A of the reading, but for some reason, this one stuck out to me most. I decided to keep it simple with my note-taking style for part A, and then I will do something new for part B. The devil decided he wanted to get married so he left Hell, disguised himself as a handsome young man, and built a grand house he introduced himself to a family with three daughters and won over the oldest, and they got married soon after  the devil asked his new wife to not enter one door of the house, though she could go to every other part of the house this part reminded me of Beauty and the Beast and how Belle was not allowed to...

I am doing another set of reading notes on Alice in Wonderland. This has been one of my very favorite weeks of reading yet this semester! I think the stories are so sweet and enjoyable to read, and I really have been loving the throwback to my childhood. Of part B, my favorite story was "Who Stole the Tarts?" and so that is what I am going to focus my notes on. I am doing the same style of notes as part A; summarizing and sharing some of my own thoughts. The first paragraph did an amazing job of presenting imagery and explaining the setting to readers. I immediately understood what was going on, and I even felt sort of hungry when Alice mentioned how good the tarts looked!  I loved getting to read Alice's thoughts and feel her confidence as she knew the names of all of the people, creatures, and animals that made up the court system. It was so cute how proud of herself that Alice was.  It made me laugh when the pencil was annoying Alice and she went and took it from ...

This week, I get to read Alice in Wonderland! At the beginning of the semester, I remember being so excited to read a story that was one of my favorites as a kid. I have such strong memories of my grandpa reading this story to me and my sister, and so it is really sweet to get to read Alice in Wonderland again with that memory in mind. I think for this week, I am just going to do a normal note-taking style since I just want to appreciate the special aspects of this story and record my favorite parts. It was cool for this reading to get to see a lot of the different Alice in Wonderland stories. I remember reading the story that was shorter and what the movie was based on, and so I liked reading the more in-depth stories. I am focusing my notes on the Pig and Pepper story. To start, I love the way this is written. The story-telling style really makes it easy to imagine what is going on and actually feel like I am there in the story.  It made me laugh when the delivery men said th...

I am focusing my notes for pt B over the love and matrimony rhymes and poems. I love reading poetry because my grandma used to always write and read poetry. I think it is so sweet to think about how important it was to her, and it makes the poems much more meaningful to me. The first few rhymes I read did not make much sense, but there were definitely some that stuck out to me that I really enjoyed. I decided to do the beautiful sentences note-taking strategy since rhyming and poetry are often very beautiful. "Jack fell down and broke his crown" I love this sentence because I always heard it as a kid but never thought anything of it. Calling someone's head a crown is such old-fashioned language, but it's very pretty sounding.  "Sylvia, sweet as morning air" I think this is such a beautiful sentence. It obviously shows and explains how much someone cares for Sylvia and what they think about her. I wish that people nowadays still used some of the same lang...

I absolutely loved reading the riddle section of the nursery rhymes. This is one of my favorite readings from the entire semester! As a kid, I used to always make my parents tell me riddles because I thought they were so fun to figure out. I hadn't heard most of these riddles before and so it was fun to read them and try to figure them out before I saw the answers. Although I loved this reading, it was somewhat hard to take notes about since it was more like a list of jokes instead of an actual story. I decided to stick with my normal note-taking strategy and just jot down the main idea of each riddle as well as some details about my favorites. the first riddle made it seem like the thing the main character got was a gift of some sort until we read the third line. Then, when the author said that they brought it home because they couldn't help it, it gave readers an understanding that it was something that happened to the person. I would have never guessed the right answer, b...

I am focusing my notes on The Fairy Bride, which is the last story in the American Indian Tales section of the readings. I chose to focus my notes on this story because I thought it was a neat story and it was based on Lake Superior, which my family has visited many times. I am doing a regular note-taking style. There was an Indian girl whose father was the chief her parents cared for her and protected her greatly, they never wanted bad things to happen to their only daughter.  the daughter saw many interesting things when she went off exploring on her own, but no one really knew what she saw.  the mother wanted her daughter to stop being so adventurous and to settle down and get married.  There was a place that the fairies lived and danced and played, and it so happened to be somewhere that the daughter liked to go.  no one could ever see them, though some fishermen heard them and saw the fairies' footprints.  the fairies would often play pranks o...

Because I am planning on entering the health field, I thought it would be interesting to focus Wednesday's notes on "How Sickness Entered the World." Although I really enjoyed all of the readings from the Tejas unit, this one stuck out to me. I am doing a normal, classic note-taking strategy since I tried a new strategy for Tuesday's notes. The style I usually stick to is bullet points of important sentences and topics, that way I can look back and easily remember what is going on. How Sickness Entered the World: two young Indians killed a messenger from the Great Spirit before this happened, there was no sickness and people lived very long lives a very old, wise man was dying  the Great Spirit wanted to teach the man how to leave his wisdom with his tribe he was going to send a messenger (remember above^^) to tell him how to do this  because the old man was so sick and dying, he needed people to go to meet the messenger for him.  he sent two young Ind...

I chose to read the Tejas Legends for week 10 readings. I was excited about this because these stories were originally from east Texas. I've spent some time in east Texas, and so I thought it would be really cool to be able to read stories when I could actually picture the place in which they were written. My favorite of the stories was "Why the woodpecker pecks," and so I decided to base my reading notes off of this. I chose to focus on the beauty of how this story was written and pick out some of my favorite sentences from this story. "a Tap! Tap! Tap! sounding in the top of a dead tree..." I love how they used onomatopoeia in the very first sentence so that readers could immediately picture and hear the sound that a woodpecker makes.  "looking just like a little man in a black coat and a red hat." This allows readers to visually picture how the woodpecker looks after hearing its noise in the first sentence.  I love the way the author uses sound...

I am focusing my notes on the story of The Ant. For some reason, I had a really hard time focusing on these notes/readings today. The noting strategy I am going to use for this week is the bullet point notes of the main ideas from the text. I want to utilize this strategy because I had a hard time focusing and did not retain much the first time I read it, and so making points about the most important parts of the story will help me to look back and remember everything! God made both the ants and the snakes from the ground after he created the earth.  These were made from a rock  the snake wanted God to give him power he wanted to kill those who were troublesome people and also the rebellious people.  God put poison into the teeth of the snake which allowed him to kill the bad people.  he was instructed to be conscientious of the people's actions before biting them. The ant got jealous and wanted the same powers that the snake had just gotten.  Go...

This week, I am reading the Filipino Tales. The story that stuck out to me most from the section A was The Clever Husband and Wife. I wanted to try a new note-taking strategy that I partially made up for today's reading notes. I am going to break down the story and share how I felt when I read each different section. I think this will help me to potentially write a story based on this reading because I will be able to think back and remember my thoughts and feelings as I read this story for the first time. I am excited to try this new note-taking strategy! At first, when I read that the husband was going to get to marry the love of his life, I felt so excited! We didn't know the character of the husband yet, and so I felt as though he deserved to get married and spend his life with his love. Next, when I found out that they did not have any money and they were just planning on using the doctor's money to live off of, I became a little bit suspicious. I didn't think ...

For these reading notes, I am going to break down important sentences of the story and write my opinions and thoughts about these sentences. I think this will help me to see things from the writer's perspective, as well as potentially start to get some ideas about a story that I can write. I read part B of the Nigerian Folk stories, but I am just going to do these notes over "Of the Fat Woman who Melted Away." "There was once a very fat woman who was made of oil."  this first sentence really caught me off guard! I wasn't expecting to read about a woman who was made of oil, though the title said that she melted away.  "men...offered dowry," "her mother always refused."  This shows that it was arranged marriages during the time of this story, but that because this girl was made of oil she was not able to get married. Her mother said that she would not be able to work on the farm or in the fields because she would melt in the sun. I ...

This week, I decided to do a normal note-taking style instead of changing it up like I normally do on Tuesdays. The style I consider normal is what I do in most of my lecture classes. I read/listen and take notes on the aspects of the lecture or story that I find most important or that stick out to me most. Taking notes while I read and listen helps me to retain the information better and to stay focused instead of drifting off and daydreaming. I usually will do big headings and then bullets underneath each heading. Sometimes I write in complete sentences, but most of the time it's shorter, more concise notes. The Elephant and the Tortoise:  elephant used to have eyes that were in proportion to its giant body.  elephant ate so much at the feasts that the humans and animals shared with each other  (animals and humans were friends at this time) tortoise seemed to be mad that elephant ate more than others he wanted to stop the elephant  tortoise went to el...

I really enjoyed doing the repetition reading notes from yesterday for part A and so I decided to try them out again today. I think the Fables of Bidpai is a really great unit to use these reading notes because all of the fables have lessons that show repetition. For these reading notes, I am focusing on the three stories about snakes. The first story I read was The Sparrows and the Snake. The sparrows had just hatched their young in a nest by a house. The father sparrow went to fly and find food for his family, and when he was returning he saw the mother sparrow out of the nest. He asked why she left the nest and she said it was because there was a snake in the nest who had eaten their young. The father bird flew to the house and snatched the flame from the owner's hand. He then dropped the flame on the snake in the nest, which killed the snake. This teaches readers to not pick on people or underestimate the underdog. The next story I read was The Frog, The Crab, and The Serpent. ...

Poor Man, Rich Man, Young Man: This week, I chose to try out the new style of reading notes called Repetition. In this note-taking style, I was instructed to read and take notes over repetition patterns I saw in the readings. I read the Poor Man, Rich Man, Young Man, which was a great story selection to practice this note-taking strategy. All three stories about the men are written in the same style and include a lot of repetition. In the Poor Man and the Flask of Oil, the poor man found himself wishing for things that the oil might bring him. Throughout all his wanting, he was not being grateful for what he had. Because of this, the oil fell and spilled all over him. This lesson taught him to not be greedy and be thankful for what he had. In the Rich Man and the Bundle of Wood, the rich man was also greedy. He never paid full price for anything, even if it was to help someone else who really needed help. In the end, his house and barn ended up burning down because he was greedy and ...

Focusing on the Setting: This week I am starting a new note-taking strategy using the "Focus on the Setting." I thought it would be cool to talk about the setting when reading the Aladdin and the Lamp stories because I have seen the movies and I have a picture in my head. Although, I can imagine that the imagery will be different in the story. I am excited to be able to write about the imagery that I read instead of just see it on a screen. "Play all day in the streets with little idle boys like himself" This sentence allows me to imagine Aladdin playing in the streets with all of the little boys who were poor and only knew the streets. Aladdin went on a journey through gardens, fountains, and to the mountains. I picture this as green and luscious and beautiful, and then becoming desert-like as they neared the mountains. This would have been so cool for Aladdin to see because he was used to only seeing the streets. I picture the part of the story when Aladdi...

I found beautiful sentences for part A of my reading notes for this week and I really enjoyed it, so I figured I would do the same for part B. Although, I am going to specifically focus on beautiful sentences from one story so that I can feel fully prepared to base this weeks story that I write on the story from part B that I write all of my notes from. The Flood: "He answered, and said: 'I saw thou wast very busy, and I did not wish to add to thy cares." I thought this sentence was so sweet. This was said by one animal whom Noah found in the corner of the ark. The animal had not eaten and when Noah asked why the above sentence was his reply. He saw how busy Noah was while he was trying to feed all of the animals aboard, and he did not want Noah to feel anymore stressed than he already was feeling.  "The lions began to roar, the oxen lowed, the wolves howled, and all the animals gave vent to their agony, each through the sounds it had the power to utter....

I wanted to focus my reading notes this week on beautiful sentences. I never spend much time really paying any attention to sentence structure or appreciating the complexity of sentences, and so when I saw this option for a new style of reading notes, I figured it would be something good to try. I love the way the Bible is written, but I don't think I've ever read scripture purely to enjoy the beauty of the sentences. Something I have been studying recently is the concept of what beauty is and how it is portrayed in the Bible, and so I thought this could be a stellar way to view beauty in the Bible in a different sense. Here is my list of beautiful sentences and why I think they are beautiful: "And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, "I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done." ...

Mary and Martha Although I read each of the different stories in the Bible Women unit, I kept coming back to Mary and Martha. Ever since I can remember, I have always loved the story of when Jesus comes to visit their home. I think the reason I have always loved it is because every time I read it, I learn something new. When I was younger, I related to Mary because I was a child and I didn't understand why Martha felt like she had to be so busy and be doing all of the preparation. In my mind I just thought, "Martha, Jesus is at your house, why would you be scrambling around doing other things when He is at your house and you could be spending time with him?!" Now that I've gotten older, I feel like I relate more with Martha in a lot of ways. I know that I should stop and spend time with Jesus, but a lot of times I get caught up in the routine of my daily life and I start to only think about what I think  Jesus would want from me--preparing a great "meal" a...

Bible Women pt. A includes Eve, Sarah, Hagar, Rebekah, Rachel, Leah, Potiphar's Wife, Jephthah's Daughter, Delilah, and Hannah. Characteristics: Eve: Eve does not like to follow directions Eve is easily influenced!  Eve is really not that great at listening Eve's sin of eating the forbidden fruit was the first sin to be committed.  Sarah:  Sarah starts out as disbelieving and does not think she will bear a child.  Sarah is very old. Sarah has never been able to have kids but her and Abraham have stayed faithful to each other.  Sarah ends up having a child and everyone celebrates.  Hagar:  Hagar was forced to conceive a child to Abraham, who was Sarah's husband.  Sarah hated Hagar when she conceived a child.  Hagar went to the wilderness.  Rebekah: Rebekah was beautiful and a virgin. Rebekah gave water to the man at the well.  Rebekah was a great hostess to the man at the well and ended up being sen...