Reading Notes: Italian Popular Tales, Part A

Italian Popular Tales Unit from the UN-Textbook
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/07/italian-language-of-animals.html)

Depiction of the eventual Pope and son

The story begins with a father whose son has been away studying at school for the past ten years, when he received a letter from the son's teacher claiming that he needed to take his son back as he could not teach him any more. Upon the son's return, his father set up a large feast to celebrate him even inviting many different powerful noble men from all across Italy. The noble men all gave speeches like in most ancient feasts, but once they were done on of them asked the son to tell him one thing that he had learned in his ten years of schooling. The son claimed to have learned the language of various animals including: dogs, frogs, and even birds. The whole crowd erupted in laughter at the answer and all left almost immediately. The father was mocked for being so proud while the son was made fun of for being a fool. The father became so enraged at this that he ordered two of his servants to go out and kill the son. After they did this they were supposed to bring back his heart, but they could not do it and instead decided to bring back a random dog's heart instead. After this the boy flees for a long time until he came across a rich treasurer's castle and asked to stay inside as he had been on the move for some time. Upon his arrival though a group of dogs came to gather outside the castle and as the son understood them he found out that a large group of assassins were coming to attack the castle that very night. The treasurer set up the guards to eliminate the assassins and was so grateful to the son that he offered his daughter's hand in marriage to him on the condition that he couldn't come back until a year and three days had passed. Next, the boy met the king's daughter and was able to help her finally sleep by calming the frogs in the nearby pond as she had thrown a cross into the fountain, so after removing she was saved and also offered to the son in marriage. The son finally left and went to Rome where he made three new friends along the road only to be followed by a flock of singing birds. The son finally interpreted what they were saying as they were trying to pick the new Pope and suddenly it landed on the son who shortly after became Pope. The newly-ordained Pope summoned all the people he had helped as well as his father, who instantly wept as he realized he was wrong, and they lived together in peace.

Week 13 Story: The Sky is Falling!

Swiper the Fox

Once upon a time, there was a small hen named Pat who was resting peacefully in her nest out in her home field when all of the sudden something shook her awake as it felt like something had fallen from above on her head.

"Oh my!" Pat squawked
"The sky is falling!"

And just like that Pat shot up and began to go throughout the forest looking for her friends as she had to find someone important to tell this life-altering news. Pat first went to her brother John who was a mighty rooster and he was perplexed by just how the sky could be falling, but tagged along as he was worried about his little sister. Next, the group found their friend Don the duck, who was out near the pond looking at lily pads, and hurried up to him to tell them about their predicament. Don agreed to help as he felt someone had to know about such serious news. Lastly, the group went out onto the pond to find the biggest of their friend Gina the goose who offered to ferry the birds back across the pond and take them on the fastest route to get to the king.

The party was moving along on the trail that Gina had showed them and were nearing the king's mighty castle, when they noticed a shadow shifting in the nearby brush. Gina ran up to the brush flapping her wings out wide and out popped the local forest trickster Swiper. He was a devious fox who would pick on all of the other animals of the woods, but the group was taken aback when he offered to help them out as he knew an even faster way to get to the king's castle. After agreeing they followed Swiper to a tunnel that he claimed led right into the castle, but everyone was skeptical.

"Swiper that's no tunnel!" Pat called out as she noticed what looked like multiple sets of fox eyes.

She knew that this was yet another one of his plots so they all went back forgetting all about the sky.

"Ah man!" Swiper cried out knowing that he had been caught.


Bibliography:
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/03/english-fairy-tales-henny-penny.html from the UN-Textbook)

Author's Notes:
Kept all of the original animals and introduction, but changed the names as they were all rather long and silly as they rhymed (ex: Henny-Penny). Also changed the ending as instead of having the fox successfully attack/trick the party besides the main character I had a familiar childhood ending where the devious fox was found out.

Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales, Part B

English Fairy Tales Unit from the UN-Textbook
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/03/myth-folklore-unit-english-fairy-tales.html)

Depiction of Henny-penny having the "sky fall down"

Before getting into the actual telling and plot of this story it is interesting to note that each of the characters have a sort of second name after their own that rhymed with their first name. For example. one of the main characters of this story is know as "Henny-penny," or "Cocky-locky," and I will omit the second name for ease of reading / referencing. To begin, Henny was going around in her local cornyard when suddenly she was hit on the head by something from above. This led Henny to call out that the sky was falling and that she needed to go to tell the king, so she set out to and on her way first met Cocky who was a rooster and after Henny had told him what she was going to do, he gladly joined along. Next, Henny and Cocky kept going along the path to the king when they encountered Ducky who followed Cocky's suit for after he heard about Henny's mission he too wanted to tag along. Then, the three continued along the path to the king when they encountered Goosey who did the same as the two prior and joined the party to tell the king that the sky was falling. The last animal the party encountered was Foxy who after being asked by the group the same line of questions, told them that they were all headed the wrong way to get to the king and offered to show the group the right way there. Foxy lead the group to a nearby cave and offered them to come through one by one and killed them each as they came down. This happened in the reverse order the animals joined the party until Cocky was bitten twice and Henny knew something was wrong so she ran home and never got to tell the king that the sky is falling.

Reading Notes: English Fairy Tales, Part A

English Fairy Tales Unit from the UN-Textbook
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/03/myth-folklore-unit-english-fairy-tales.html)

Visual of a skein

This unit begins with a woman making five pies in her kitchen with her daughter and when the mother took the all of the pies out of the oven she noticed that they all had been overcooked. Because of this, the pies all had too hard of crusts to eat, so the mother told her daughter to go and set the pies up on the nearby shelf so that they could go soft over time. The daughter instead decides that since the pies were going to eventually soften up then surely she could eat them now despite their hard crusts. After only a moment the daughter ate up all five pies with their hard crusts and it was not until dinner that the girl's mother called her to bring a pie as they likely had softened up by now. When the daughter went to go check the shelf that her mother told her to set each of the pies on, she looked and saw only the five plates that they were supposed to be on top of. She turned to her mother and lied to her saying that none of the pies had softened up yet to save herself. The mother decided she was going to have one of the pies regardless of the softness of the crust, and the daughter finally cracked telling the mother that she had in fact eaten all of the pies. The mother began to spin around and sing that her daughter had eaten the five pies. The king was heading down the street and overheard the singing only to ask her if he could marry her daughter. His only caveat was that she had to spin five skeins everyday or he would have her killed. The daughter did get to enjoy the high life until it came time to make the five skeins until an imp came to try and help, but was eventually banished with a simple rhyme.

Week 12 Story: Feline Fiddle

Depiction of Felix 

Long ago, their was a cat named Felix who wanted nothing more than to be able to woo his longtime crush Diamond. Felix paced around wondering how he could do this and had been practicing to serenade her, but every time he tried there was only a horrible scratching noise. Felix tried and tried to get his song down, but could not manage to hit a single note. He was devastated as he thought his plight was hopeless, for if he couldn't even learn a simple song, how could he ever win a perfect cat like Diamond. Felix went out to a nearby pond and began to look up to the stars to think about what he would do next. Suddenly, Felix noticed a star seeming to grow closer until it crashed down in the thicket across the pond. Felix hurried over to see the glowing object, and after pushing the brush aside saw a golden fiddle. He picked it up and felt a power rush over him and suddenly he felt light as air. Felix grabbed the accompanying bow and tried to play a few notes only to be shocked as he played the most beautiful ballad he had ever heard. Felix took off knowing he had to act fast and rushed over to Diamond's house. Felix positioned himself outside of her window and began to play the same stunning ballad that he felt perfectly showed how he felt for her. Soon after Diamond poked her head out of the window to try and find where this heavenly sound was coming from. She was floored that Felix had done all of this for her and ran out to give him a big hug. Felix was taken off guard at first and dropped the fiddle only to see it instantly disappear when it hit the ground again.

Bibliography:
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/nursery-rhymes-jingles.html from the UN-Textbook)

Author's Notes:
Extrapolated on the old nursery rhyme with the cat and the fiddle by creating characters and a plot. Also made the fiddle come to the cat rather than the cat just have the fiddle already. Also tied in the moon/space aspect for the violin's origin.

Reading Notes: Nursery Rhyme, Part B

Nursery Rhymes Unit from the UN-Textbook
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/nursery-rhymes-jingles.html)

Depiction of the cat with his fiddle

The main theme across these tellings is that they are all in a sort of sing song type of pattern as they are all defined as "rhymes," with certain rhyme schemes that differ between each of the stories. The first telling is a much shorter story than most of the others in this unit and revolves around the teller describing his son, John. His son had gone to bed, but left on his pants as well as only one of his shoes.

The next story has each of its verses begins with the phrase "Cock a doodle doo!" This was due to the main character of the story being a rooster calling out. The rooster starts out by explaining that his "dame," had lost her shoe as well as his master had lost his fiddling stick. The next verse describes that his dame does not know what to do with his master not being able to find his fiddling stick. The third verse repeats the first verse, but instead of the master losing his fiddling stick he instead found his fiddling stick. Then the dame begins to dance as the master has his fiddling stick and begins to play for the rooster and the dame. The final verse wrapped the story up with the dame still unable to find her shoe and left to bed unsure of what to do next to find her shoe.

The next story is a classic rhyme with many different characters quickly being introduced to many different wacky characters. This is also quite a short story as well and begins with a cat and his fiddle being introduced. Next, their is a cow who had jumped over the moon being introduced. Then, a small dog is introduced who laughed at all of the sites and chuckled to himself. Lastly, the story wraps up with the last characters being introduced as while all of these characters were being introduced a dish chased after a spoon.

Reading Notes: Nursery Rhymes, Part A

Nursery Rhymes Unit from the UN-Textbook
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/04/myth-folklore-unit-nursery-rhymes.html)

Depiction of Simple Simon

The main theme across these tellings is that they are all in a sort of sing song type of pattern as they are all defined as "rhymes," with certain rhyme schemes that differ between each of the stories. The first in this set is centered around two young children who were taken from their homes. These children rename anonymous in the story as per the speaker in this story. Both of the children were left out in the woods by their kidnappers and they remained there late into the night. They became sad as they realized their situation especially as the sun went down. After some time of crying, the two children "...lay down and died." After this a group of red robins came to spread strawberry leaves on the two children all throughout the day singing out about the "Poor babes in the wood!"

The next story is much shorter as it revolves around someone known as the Crooked Man who goes out and about encountering many different crooked objects and animals from a coin he finds on the road to the cat he purchased with that caught a similar mouse. After this whirlwind of crooked animal and objects the Crooked Man went back with his new friends to his crooked house.

The next story revolves around a character known only as Simple Simon. Simon begins by approaching a local pie man at a fair and asking him to let him have a taste of his pie. The pie man asked Simon for to show him that he has money to pay for it before letting him try his pies, but Simon tells the pie man that he does not have any money. So Simon went out to go fishing to make the money for some pie looking to catch a whale inside his mother's pail that was filled up all the water he had.

Week 11 Story: Igloo Spirits

Depiction of  one of the various spirit hybrids

Long ago there was a small village that was home to a simple Inuit tribe, who had one strange habit, when they would bury their dead they would do so by throwing them out into sea. This tradition had gone on for as long as all the village elders could remember or even remember hearing from their elders as this was the way of life for the tribe until one fateful night. There seemed to be a faint clicking in the distance, but no one stirred at first as the noise was so far away. The noise persisted though, where it at first only clicked every couple of minutes it grew to two minutes, then one minute. The noise grew louder each time as well until it almost became a sort of pounding and this had caused the whole village to wake up and go out to the nearby sheet of ice where they would fish. Underneath the sheet of ice they could see what seemed to be spirits in the form of various animals that also resembled many of the past tribe members that the current members remember taking out to the sea. Everyone in the tribe was overjoyed to see something so beautiful and to be reunited in a sense with all of the people that had lost over the many different years, but it felt like the spirits became more of a work of art rather than a free spirit so the tribe began to bury their dead in the snow and earth to cease the spirits, but some say if you go out onto a sheet of ice late enough you can still see the old Inuit spirits trapped under the ice.

Bibliography:
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/03/eskimo-folk-tales-papik-who-killed-his.html from the UN-Textbook)

Author's Notes:
Focused the story more on the spirits and not on the actual tribe members like in the original and had the passively end the story rather than the spirit coming back to kill one of the tribe members.

Reading Notes: Eskimo Folk Tales, Part B

Eskimo Folk Tales Unit from the UN-Textbook
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/03/myth-folklore-unit-eskimo-folk-tales.html)

Depiction of the beast spirit

The story begins with two men, Papik and the brother of his wife, Ailaq, who both are fisherman by trade and would always go out to hunt seal together. Every time the two went out for a hunt, Papik would not catch anything, while Ailaq managed to always catch a seal. Each time this happened, Papik grew more jealous of Ailaq until one day only Papik returned in absolute silence. Later that night, Ailaq's mother came and confronted Papik claiming that he had been the one who had killed her son. Papik denied it vehemently, but the old woman became almost delirious as shes began to threaten Papik that one day she will eat him alive as she believed that he had killed him. She went out to the nearby shore and covered herself in a large blanket before letting the tide come up over her so that she may pass away to become a ghost for the purpose of exacting revenge on Papik. Because of this Papik had decided to stop hunting as he was terrified of this threat until one day he went out on the ice to hunt only to be attacked by a large spirit like a bear. The spirit tears Papik to shreds then makes its way through the village for everyone to notice its the old mother based on the bear pelt nd human bones. This legend was passed down by those who wanted to tell a tale of forewarning of killing someone else without just cause.

Reading Notes: Eskimo Folk Tales, Part A

Eskimo Folk Tales Unit from the UN-Textbook
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/03/myth-folklore-unit-eskimo-folk-tales.html)

Depiction of men during the great flood

The story begins by explaining that the forefathers had told tales of how the world came to be back before the invention of writing even and that the tales their elders have told them since they were children were to be heeded. The creation story began with the Earth falling from the sky including the mountains and hills. It was only then that man came from the Earth being birthed from it as infants who had relied on the Earth's sustenance. No one knwos how man and woman came to be or how they aged, but they created clothing for these children and because of this grew in number rapidly. Now established the humans desired companionship and more specifically dogs. They went out with leashes and called to the dogs who all came hurrying to them, but after this the humans began to have children of their own and this is when they began to grow exponentially in population. These men and women knew not about death and all lived to be extremely old to the point of blindness and immobility. All the while, these men and women lived in the darkness as they had not ever seen the sun, for the only light they had was the water that they burned in their lamps inside their homes (water apparently burned and glowed in this ancient time). Although these humans did not die they were eventually killed by a great flood that washed all the way up to the tips of mountains in some places thus wiping out many of the humans. During all of this calamity to older women argued until one of them wished for both light and death as the humans had not experienced either yet and so it came to be like a wish almost. Now with both light and death the humans felt complete and could go out and experience this world in which they had come from.

Week 10 Story: "I'm hunting Wabus"

Wabus the Rabbit (story inspiration)

Long ago, in the lush forests of the Mississippi Valley, there was a cunning, yet extremely boisterous rabbit whom all the animals despised due to his arrogant nature. This rabbit's name was Wabus and he claimed to be the greatest healer in the entire forest, but that wasn't the claim that boiled all the other creature's blood. Wabus claimed to be the fastest runner in not only the forest, but the entire world. This was a much bigger deal for the animals than us humans as it was vital to the survival of a species, whether it be hunting down a meal for the night or running to save one's own life.
Among these rather upset animals was the mighty mountain lion known as Elmer.
Elmer swore to all the creatures that would listen that he would catch the "pesky Wabus," with his raw speed as he felt he was the fastest creature in the land himself, but seemed to have a bit of a biological advantage over the small hare that he despised.

Elmer set out for Wabus' wigwam that he had set up on one of the forest's largest hills so that he could see any potential predators and run off in time. With this in mind Elmer came up with the brilliant idea to sneak up on the wigwam late at night with his night vision, while Wabus slept and was vulnerable. Elmer lurked up to the wigwam with feet as light as the still night air until he was right up next to the wigwam's back door.

Elmer looked into the dark room and couldn't believe his luck, as there was Wabus sound asleep in his bed with his back turned to the big cat. Elmer gleefully pounced on the figure laying in bed and dug his claws right into its back with a triumphant roar. Elmer, proud of ridding himself of Wabus, was shocked out of his victory to the sound of an all familiar chuckle from below him. Wabus was poking out a hole he dug and pointing at what Elmer now realized was a decoy laying under Wabus' blankets and couldn't believe that he was so easily tricked.

Wabus popped back into the hole right as Elmer lunged for him, and to Elmer's surprise the hole was much deeper than the initial entrance conveyed and he fell snoot first into a surprisingly deep hole. Elmer raged and tried to claw up the dirt walls, but was only dragging more dirt down into the hole. In a final attempt to persuade Wabus to let him out Elmer tried to claim that he was merely trying to help Wabus with his medicinal work and claimed that he too was a medicine man that aspired to learn from the "Prolific Wabus."Wabus laughed to himself as he went away from the hole while Elmer threw a fit and brought back a large rock.

"Sorry 'Doc'," Wabus called down as he laughed to himself.

Wabus then slid the rock over the hole and left Elmer to think about coming after him again, while he hopped in bed with a carrot and a grin.


Bibliography:
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/mslakes-two-rabbit-stories.html from the UN-Textbook)

Author's Notes:
Initially the big cat hunting Wabus was a panther, which didn't make since at least to me, as someone who is from a town right on the Mississippi River in Illinois, so I changed it to a mountain lion. Also changed the plot by making it a bit more whimsical such as making Wabus act like Bugs Bunny (hence Elmer the mountain lion) as he was killed instantly by the panther in the original story as he was overconfident.

Reading Notes: Mississippi Valley and Great Plains, Part B

Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes unit from the UN-Textbook
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/mslakes-creation-chitimacha.html)

Depiction of the boisterous rabbit 

This story begins with a rabbit, known as Wabus, who was know for being a boaster, and wanted to open a medicine lodge so that everyone would think he was some kind of medicine man. So one day he and his wife were going around and found a perfect little hill in which they could potentially make a home and began constructing a wigwam up on the hilltop. He then created a path each way down from the hill so that he could see anyone who approached his newly built home. Upon finishing the wigwam, Wabus told his wife he was going to go out and dance, but instead circled the property and checking each individual path to see if anyone could have been watching him. Wabus found nothing during this search so he came back up to his wigwam and began his dance. Just as Wabus came back up to his home, Panther was lurking up the hill just after his check and hid nearby to watch Wabus and his wife's dance so that he may pounce when they least expect it. Wabus sang to his wife as he was going through and opening up his medicine bag and as if he knew that the Panther was nearby, he mentioned in his song that he was a good runner and that the Panther would inevitably be unable to catch him if given the chance. Wabus, feeling confident due to his new setup on the hill, told his wife he was going to go out and hunt, but when he went down the hill Panther pounced on him. Wabus turned and started going back up the hill, but Panther caught him in a flash and jeered that he thought that no one could catch him, but he was able to and asked "Now who is the fastest runner?" Before Wabus was able to crack back at Panther, he was eaten up whole despite being such a confident, little rabbit.

Reading Notes: Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes, Part A

Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes unit from the UN-Textbook
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/mslakes-creation-chitimacha.html)

Depiction of The Earth-Maker

The first tale in this unit covers the creation story where it begins with a being referred to as the "The Earth-Maker," who came to and noticed that all around him was nothing but a void. This caused much pain leading The Earth-maker to cry and then instantly took action by taking a small amount of matter from where he was sitting and threw it down from his place, but nothing seemed to grow on it and it just simply turning. The Earth-Maker tried to add grass by doing the same thing and taking it from where he sat and throwing it down onto his creation, but still it was not effective. Next, The Earth-Maker created a man, who was known as Tortoise, to be this place's first inhabitant that would coexist with the men he also created for this new planet. When The Earth-Maker sent Tortoise down to his creation he gave him only one task which was to "bring order into the world," as their were malicious spirits trying to destroy The Earth-Maker's delicate creation. He sent Tortoise down with only a knife, but Tortoise began to instead cause war, so after a short time The Earth-Maker sent the next creature down, which was the Hare who began having a philosophical struggle with "his grandmother," who was the mother of The Earth-Maker (his father) and pleaded that he wanted the humans to live forever like himself. Hare's grandmother explains that how can Hare make the humans live forever if The Earth-Maker could not while creating them, and Hare began to realize that without death that the humans would inevitably run out of resources and space on The Earth-Maker's creation. After seeing the death of the people on the creation, Hare accepted the way in which The Earth-Maker and went to the edge of this creation where the fires raged all around the edge.

Week 9 Story: The Fate of the Lucky

Depiction of the princess

Our story begins in Ancient China, where a noble prince and his wife lived in peace except for the troubles that plagued their poor daughter. Despite all of the prince's fortune and accomplishments, his daughter was victim to having something known as "ill luck." This plagued his daughter all her life up until it came time for her to marry when noble men from all over China came to offer her their hand in marriage. In this large crowd of princes and lords was a beggar who happened to wander into this event. The princess decided that she would choose her husband through a sort of ceremony where she was to throw a ball of red silk into the crowd and whoever catches it will win her hand in marriage. The princess noticed the beggar in the crowd and could see a small dragon moving through his nose and ears, and she knew that this man had luck on his side. She immediately threw him the ball of silk much to her father's anger as he spoke out against it and tried to forbid her. This led to the princess running away with the beggar as she believed that his good luck could fix her luck if they were together, so she moved into his measly hut and left her life of fortune back at the palace. After a few months living happily with her new husband, the princess was approached by her husband as he wanted to go out and get a fortune for her to be comfortable again. She agreed reluctantly, but believed in this man due to his luck and waited for almost 18 years when suddenly a powerful lord rode into town claiming this territory to be his. Confused the wife came out and instantly recognized her husband and pleaded that he spare her father and mother in the castle, so the two made their way to her childhood palace. The once beggar looked at his wife's father wondering if he could recognize him from the ceremony. The now old prince couldn't seem to piece it all together in his old age and was prepared to surrender to the mighty lord who stood before him until he threw him something in a flash, a red ball of silk. The prince was amazed and knelt before his son-in-law as he knew now the error of his ways. The family lived in the palace and finally were as one, thanks to what can only be described as luck.




Bibliography:
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/p/weeks-7-8-9.html from the UN-Textbook)

Author's Notes:
Changed the back half of the story as in the original the wife somehow does not recognize her husband as well as he becomes this powerful figure and just comes back to test his wife to see if he remembers her. The original also ended with the two going off and the wife dying shortly after due to bad luck, so I incorporated the father back into the story and added a happier ending.

Reading Notes: Chinese Fairy Tales, Part A

Chinese Fairy Tales (From the UN-Textbook)
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/china-favorite-of-fortune-and-child-of.html)

Depiction of the Prince's daughter

The tale begins in Ancient China, where a high class prince has a daughter that has what is known as "ill luck." Fast forward to when this daughter was to be married and a large gathering of many noble men such as princes and counts all came to offer her their hand in marriage. Among these many noble men there was a lowly beggar who somehow found himself at this event and also joined in offering his hand in marriage to the prince's daughter. The daughter decided she would select her husband by casting out a red ball of silk and whoever catches it among the gathered men will get to marry her. Before throwing out the ball of silk, the daughter noticed that the lowly beggar had a dragon crawling through his ears and popping out his nostril and instantly knew that this man was someone who had luck on their side. She threw the ball of silk right to the beggar who caught it much to the dismay of her father who exclaimed that he would not allow such a thing to happen. His daughter insisted that this man had luck on his side and she hoped it would cure her ill luck, but her father cast her out only for her to move into the beggar's hut and marry him. After some time, the beggar came to his new wife and told her he was going to leave to get a fortune for them and she agreed as she believed in this lucky man. Eighteen years past and the beggar was still gone, the daughter barely hung in patiently waiting for her husband to return some day with a fortune and only stayed alive during these hard years by having her mother secretly give her money behind her father's back. The beggar had become a powerful emperor with many riches in this time and came back to retrieve his wife to take her to their palace. She did not recognize this now powerful emperor and was confused when he asked her if she took another husband or wanted to, and after his wife denied it he revealed himself. The two went happily to live in their new palace, but sadly his wife, who had always been a victim of ill luck, fell sick and died only eighteen days after moving back in with her husband.

Week 8 Progress

I am happy with the progress of both my blog and my storybook so far. So far I have a weekly routine that has worked for me outside of a couple fires needing to be put out with my capstone by doing most of my writing during the weekend. The class assignments that I enjoy the most I would say are the retelling of stories as they allow for different creative styles to be tried weekly. My website has gone good in terms of its creation, but I would like to include some different and new images. The only change I want to make is to avoid the pitfall of not budgeting enough time in my weekend to complete the necessary amount of posts. I do want to try and add more dialogue in my writing moving forward, but I will do so slowly to make sure I do it correctly. The one thing I want to change about my website is to change the header photo for each of the different pages.

My hometown of Alton, IL where I will be relaxing before starting my job this summer is my current motivation

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

I would rate the comments that I have received quite well as they have helped me improve aspects of my writing. The comments the suggest alternatives for my content make me brainstorm more and more before writing as they show me different ways that I could have retold my stories. I think that I am leaving constructive and positive feedback on stories I read while inquiring about aspects of each retelling. I found that posing questions is an excellent strategy to get the author thinking about their content and their future content. Also reading others work has inspired many of my different writings and helped me become more dynamic with my writing styles. I do feel that you can connect with others through commenting on their blogs throughout the semester. I feel like my intro and other stories were a great place for people to get to know about me. I need to offer more alternatives for material that I am reading while commenting. Overall I don't want to make any changes currently to either my comment wall or introduction.

I chose this picture as it applies for my storybook as I need to take feedback that I am getting to help adjust my future writing on my story.

Week 8 Reading and Writing

I feel as though my writing has become more dynamic and creative as the semester has gone on because I am starting to write with a more creative focus unlike the technical reports I have been doing as a mechanical engineering student these last four years. I am happy with both my blog and my storybook as I feel I have creative stories on both platforms. I feel like my biggest accomplishment so far in writing was creating my storybook as it is a much larger story and project than any of my other writings. I feel like the author's notes are essential as they help fill in any blanks the reader may have as well as provide your personal touch even further on the stories. Lastly, I wouldn't say that I have discovered any new topic, but I have refined the process of story writing by writing out a rough map of the story arc on paper beforehand.

Author's Notes (Week 7, Entering the Inferno)

Changed the guide for Dante as he goes through the circles of hell from Virgil to Johnny, who is also the Grim Reaper as to give him so kind of modern significance as to how he would know his way around Hell and acts as a transition for Michael who also dies from (currently) mysterious circumstances. Changed the First circle to focus more on the aspect of great thinkers only being there as there is not much time to dwell on each individual circle, but just enough to highlight a famous person or specific aspect of the circle. Changed the main character of the First circle to be Albert Einstein as he would be considered a great thinker of the time and would be dead at the time of the book taking place. Changed the second circle to seem more like a Las Vegas style area where apparently a large amount of Kennedy's go out and fraternize, but there is not an in-depth description of whats going on due to Michael being a "boy," as well as length and appropriate content. The last circle talked about in this page is the Third circle, which is Gluttony and not much is changed as their is still a disgusting rain, but there is not yet a mention of how cold it is nor who the inhabitants are outside of Pluto who is introduced by Johnny at the end of the page.

Week 7 Story: Every Spider Has Their Day

Depiction of Anansi

Long ago, mankind often told tales to show praise to the gods as a sign of respect, and for as long man has existed these legends have been known as Nyankupon tales. He was the chief of all of the gods and demanded to be revered due to his powerful status. One day, the spider god known as Anansi approached Nyankupon pleading that he change the name of these stories to Anansi tales as the spider was extremely conceited. Nyankupon thought on the idea for some time then agreed, but only on the terms that Anansi bring him three different animals: a queen bee, an alligator, and a panther, as an offering before the sun set. Anansi agreed to the terms and swiftly went down to Earth to begin his mission. Anansi first set out for the queen bee as it was the smallest and he knew he could trick a bug. Anansi approached the hive which hung low on a leaning branch and set a web around the many entrances. Anansi knew the other bees were off scavenging food for their queen, so he then pretended to make noise outside as if he were the returning worker bees, as he had heard the sound many times in his home web. The queen bee rushed out of the hive only to be stuck in Anansi's web, who promptly sent the first of his gifts back up to Nyankupon. Anansi went to a nearby swamp to begin his search for an alligator when he suddenly saw a massive gator resting in the mud on the opposite bank. Anansi began to sneak around the swamp towards the gator when suddenly he heard a commotion break out and couldn't believe his luck, a panther was sizing the gator up and a fight was brewing. Anansi rushed over to the two killer beasts and began to holler and shout until they both turned to him. Anansi convinces the two predators to go prove who the better hunter is and sets the challenge to be whoever catches a rabbit first wins. Anansi declares the start of this competition and quickly sneaks away again only to set a massive web trap under some leaves after spotting a nearby rabbit. He rustles some bushes to attract the two beasts who promptly come racing for the innocent hare. Instantly they realize what happened, but a moment too late as they both become trapped in Anansi's web trap. Anansi overcome with joy rushes back to Nyankupon to show him his offerings and tell him off his trickery. Impressed with his wits and swiftness Nyankupon agrees to change the name of the legends to forever be known as Anansi tales.

Author's Notes:
Changed the offerings from a jar of bees to a queen bee as it is a harder to obtain and made more sense then using a jar for measurment. Also changed the tiger to a panther as well as he boa constrictor to an alligator to make the task seem more daunting for a spider. Changed how the two larger creatures were captured by playing into he spider's web abilities rather than have him sew his own eye shut and convince the tiger to sew his own in the original tale.

Bibliography:
West African Folktales from the UN-Textbook
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-west-african.html)

Reading Notes: West African Folktales , Part B

West African Folktales unit from the UN-Textbook
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-west-african.html)

Depiction of the spider Anansi

This first tale begins by establishing that the men of the world only told stories of the "chief of gods," Nyankupon. This upset the selfish Spider named Anansi went to Nyankupon pleading to have the men of the world tell stories of him rather than the mighty god. Nyankupon agreed to Anansi's request on one condition, he must bring him three offerings: a jar of live bees, a boa constrictor, and a tiger. Anansi descended onto Earth to begin collecting these three animals for Nyankupon and first went to where he knew a number of bees would be. Anansi began conversing with the bees as he thought they would not be able to fly into his jar that he had brought, but after explaining his deal with Nyankupon, the bees happily flew into his jar. Anansi set out the next day looking for the next offering, a boa constrictor, and grabbed a long stick before coming to a place where one lived. Anansi began feverishly talking to himself claiming that the stick was longer than the snake and then that the snake was the same size repeatedly. The boa constrictor came out of its home to see what the commotion was and asked Anansi what was troubling him. Anansi asked to measure the snake against the long stick he had brought with him and the boa gladly agreed. Once the snake laid himself out next to the stick, Anansi instantly tied the snake to the stick using his webs and promptly sent the second of his offerings to Nyankupon. The next day, Anansi set out for his last offering feeling inspired as he was so close to his goal. He brought with him a needle and thread and after sewing one of his eyes shut, he set out for a tiger den. Upon reaching the den, Anansi began to sing and shout until the tiger came out to see what all the commotion was. Anansi began to ask the tiger if he could see the wonderful sights that he was seeing, but the tiger saw nothing. Anansi explained that after sewing his eye shut that he began to see the most wonderful things, which convinced the tiger to have Anansi sew both of this eyes shut. With the tiger completely blind and helpless, Anansi sent the final of his offerings and returned to Nyankupon. Nyankupon, impressed with all of the tricks that Anansi was able to come up with to obtain such a difficult items, agreed to let all tales of old to be known as Anansi tales.

Week 6 Story: The Name Game

Depiction of Egyptian god Ra as a man

The sun beat down on the ancient kingdom that Ra had watched over since the creation of this planet. Ra could feel the age in his bones with every step he took in this human form he had taken on so long ago to live among his creations and rule. Ra knew this form was weak but it held too deep of an emotional connection after the years that he had grown fond of it. Isis, a fellow god and creation of Ra, took the form of a powerful sorceress when joining the humans, but became annoyed with them rather quickly. Ra's love for the humans as well as his superior power, drove Isis to begin planning a sinister plot against him. Isis had heard that apparently Ra had been given a secret name from the ancient god Nu that granted him such tremendous power. Isis began trailing Ra to try and obtain something from him until finally Ra's humanly form's age began to show by drooling in his sleep. Isis, filled with malicious delight, hurried back to her lair and prepared a spell from this and created a viper that was to strike Ra while being invisible to humans and the gods alike. Isis quickly sent the viper out to attack Ra, who was walking alone in a quiet garden. Ra cried out after being bitten and injected with the viper's deadly venom. Ra cried out to his children, the gods, and pleaded for help as he could feel his strength fading quickly. Isis stepped forward among the gods and asked Ra to tell him his ancient name so that she could save him. Ra held out for as long as he could before he could feel the venom reaching further through his body that he caved to Isis' demands. Ra leaned in to Isis as he uttered,

"Ra"



Author's Notes:
Tweaked the ending of the original legend between Ra and Isis as Isis is victorious in getting Ra's secret name which didn't make sense as it seems like her plot is obvious once she asks for Ra's name. Ra being the creator (or father) of the world and gods I thought it would be funny to give him a dash of "dad," by taking Isis' inquiry literally.

Bibliography:
Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories Unit from the UN-Textbook
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/myth-folklore-unit-ancient-egyptian.html)

Reading Notes: Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories, Part B

Ancient Egyptian Myths and Stories Unit from the UN-Textbook
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/06/myth-folklore-unit-ancient-egyptian.html)

The legend begins with the creation, when the world was only water and known as "Nu," that a shining egg came upon the waters and thus came Ra the strongest of all the gods. Within Ra was "Khepra" at dawn and "Tum at eventide" when Ra commanded the lands to rise above the waters and they obeyed. After creating several gods, with Shu and Nut being the most prevalent, Ra then created all living beings including man and went in their form to live among them for many years. Ra was given a powerful name at the beginning of the creation by Nu as it blessed Ra with his power and if any other being were to know it they would be able to become as powerful as Ra himself. This name went unknown for many, many years as the gods lived both in their heavenly domain and among the humans. One of the gods living among the humans was the god Isis, who disguised herself as an enchantress to disguise herself to fit in with the humans. Meanwhile, Ra still led over the kingdom of Egypt as he had created all of the land and its many bounties, especially the mighty Nile River. While Ra was seen as the absolute king, Isis was envious of Ra and his superior power. Isis wanted to learn of Ra's secret name as she knew it would be an instant way to become as powerful as the great god Ra himself. She concocted a plan and managed to capture a sample of Ra's saliva as in his old age he began to not use the best manners. After obtaining the sample of saliva, Isis created a magical serpent that was invisible to man and gods alike as it was made from the strongest of gods own saliva. Isis sent the serpent after Ra and it struck him with a menacing blow instantly. Ra went down in shock as the venom began to run its course. Ra began to cry out at what could have attacked him so lethally and calls for his children (the gods that is) to gather to witness and potentially aid him. After arriving, most of the gods grieved as they knew their creator was in grave danger, but Isis stayed composed and began to ask Ra if she could know of his ancient name so that she could "become as powerful as you to heal you." This was all part of Isis' plan as she watched Ra struggle and make more decrees about how much he did for the world. Isis inquires again and Ra is finally desperate enough to make the deal and tells Isis his ancient name. Isis becomes extremely more powerful and feels it, then returns the venom from Ra and cheers at the crowd of her devious plan to become the equally-most powerful god.

The Egyptian goddess Isis 

Week 5 Story: Beginner's Guide to: Becoming "The Buddha"

Step 1: To begin your journey towards becoming the ultimate form of enlightenment you must begin as a high class citizen with a father in a position of religious power. This will act as a way for you to gain knowledge of the ancient religious ceremonies and you will then grow to find them outdated and restrictive. 

Step 2: Turn your attention to the local group of monks (known in the original story as the Samana) and eventually beg your aforementioned, strict father to join them on a quest for spiritual enlightenment.

Step 3: Upon joining this group you now must wear rags and only eat the bare minimum to stay alive as is custom in this group as it is a way to rid oneself of their own ego and physical form. 

Step 4: Begin learning from this insightful group of spiritual individuals about their many different teachings about the individual outside of their physical form for a number of years (preferably with a childhood friend that you convinced to come along to also become enlightened) until you eventually hear news of a Buddha arise somewhere. 

Step 5: Go seek out this "Buddha," and join his following to learn of his advanced spiritual enlightenment and with this completing your studies of the spirit. (But somethings wrong!)

Step 6: Confront the "Buddha," and challenge the idea of not incorporating the physical world while also preaching the idea of being "in unison with the physical world and the world around you." (This leads to an inevitable falling out with you and fake "Buddha")

Step 7: Leave the camp in search for enlightenment on the physical world (Yes this includes leaving the optional childhood friend behind) and become charmed by a local courtesan.

Step 8: Learn about the physical world for many years after spending countless hours with this courtesan you become fascinated by while also becoming involved in local business in the city to help provide.

Step 9: Realize after all those years that true enlightenment comes from the harmony of the spiritual and the physical, thus making you the ultimate form of enlightenment, "The Buddha"

Depiction of the Buddha 

Author's Notes: 

Kept tru to most of the story arc of the original telling of this legend, but made it more fun by turning it into a "How To" sort of list or guide. The ending also ends at Part Two of the book instead becoming the Buddha right after spending the long stretch of years with the courtesan (Kamala in the original story) in the city. 

Bibliography:

"Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse (Part Two)

(https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2500/2500-h/2500-h.htm)

Reading Notes: The Life of Buddha, Part B

"Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse (Part Two)

(https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2500/2500-h/2500-h.htm)

The next part of this legend picks up with Siddhartha still in the woods after his confrontation with Gotama the supposed "Buddha," and subsequent deep thought about the spiritual world as a whole. Siddhartha is feeling like a new man after his "Awakening," finding joy all around him as he walked through the woods. It wasn't until Siddhartha found a nearby hut that things began to go awry, when Siddhartha began to have strange dreams about his old, hometown friend Govinda as Siddhartha likely felt guilty for leaving behind his friend. The next day, Siddhartha made it to a city close to his hut and met a wealthy, beautiful "courtesan" named Kamala. Siddhartha became interested by her instantly as she could be almost a sort of learning experience for him as he had spent so much time focusing on his internal being. After getting cleaned up after being a Samana for years, Siddhartha goes back to Kamala asking to be taught her physical world way of love. She agrees and also sends Siddhartha to join a man named Kamaswami, a local businessman who was to teach Siddhartha more about the material world. Siddhartha quickly found the world of business to be trivial and found himself learning more and more from Kamala as she understood the spiritual world like Siddhartha did. Siddhartha and Kamala grew close and knew so much about one another, but it was always apparent that they were never actually in love with one another as that was Kamala's job to love, while Siddhartha was merely trying to "test the waters," so to speak of love in the real world. Years go by and Siddhartha finds himself sucked into this life of business through Kamaswami and companionship through Kamala, when he finally has a moment where he thinks of all of the time he had wasted delaying his search for enlightenment. Siddhartha begins having nightmares and seeing imperfections in the world that once kept him occupied all those years such as his graying hair or Kamala beginning to age. The part ends with Siddhartha leaving without telling anyone to find this enlightenment and Kamala eventually finding out only to be carrying Siddhartha's child.

Siddhartha and Kamala

Reading Notes: The Life of Buddha, Part A

"Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse (First Part)

(https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2500/2500-h/2500-h.htm)

This legend begins with a wealthy Brahman named Siddhartha, who lived in ancient Indian village. Siddhartha had many things going for him as he was wealthy, educated, and  handsome, but his father who is a religious leader in the village does not want him to go and learn new things as Siddhartha wanted to join with a traveling group of clerics in town. His father kept refusing and ignoring Siddhartha, but he stayed in his place even as his father slept until he was finally given permission. Siddhartha begins his journey with the Samana, the name for this priest group, and takes up there way of life by starving almost and wearing only rags to destroy all ego within himself. Siddhartha does this to escape the rigid, forced nature of his religious father and village, and after some time he hears of someone known as "Gotama the Buddha," to have appeared as they had overcame their own ego. Siddhartha, with this hometown friend Govinda who had joined him on his Samana journey, went to seek out this person as they wanted to learn from his newly enlightened teachings. Once they had arrived they were welcomed in instantly among Gotama's followers and began to take part in his teachings, until Siddhartha once again began to doubt the message despite Gotama's deity-like aura. Siddhartha questions Gotama only to be told that Gotama was far superior at this sort of religious knowledge, and following this Siddhartha leaves the camp and his hometown friend behind. The first part of this legend then comes to a close with Siddhartha exiting the camp and in the nearby woods contemplating all of the different teachings he has studied until he realizes that the enlightenment he is searching for cannot be taught, but instead must come from within.

Siddhartha book cover (by Hermann Hesse)

Storybook Plan

The main theme I have for my story is retelling the legend of Dante's Inferno, but setting it some time in the 1980's with a character (for now known as Michael) who is the distant descendant of Dante Alighieri from the original tale. This will go through the same nine circles of hell once Michael goes over to his ancestor's country of Italy and will feature instead celebrities and figures from the era to represent each ring instead. If this idea seems to narrow, I can be convinced to setting it in other era.

For the episodes of this storybook I was planning on doing nine or ten, which sounds like a rather large undertaking, but it would be shorter sections that each cover one of the circles.

Some resources that will potentially be useful:

http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/index2.html
http://freebookapalooza.blogspot.com/2016/06/macgregor-stories-from-dante.html
https://historylists.org/art/9-circles-of-hell-dantes-inferno.html

Comment Wall

Read the story here

1935 "Dante's Inferno," movie poster (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32844342605.html)

Week 4 Story: Ark Restart

The landing of the Ark

It was a cold, still night when Noah went out to fetch some firewood to keep his three sons and himself warm through the night. Noah looked up to the stars and sighed deeply as it had now been almost a year since he had last heard from God following the Great Flood. Noah knew that God brought this catastrophe to wipe the planet of sin and wicked beings that resided there, but felt lost without his messages to guide him. When Noah came back into his tent he cast a log into the fire and a large plume of sparks formed into a ball of light above the flames and beckoned Noah over. The orb told Noah that "you need to build another ark as the planet will soon run dry." Noah took off from his tent and began deconstructing the old ark to make his new ark from God's new instructions. After toiling for almost twenty days, Noah finished despite the worsening conditions he was facing, where ponds grew smaller and the creeks began to slow. Noah knew he, his family, and the animals he had brought through the flood would not make it for more than a day or two, so he began boarding right away. First, situating all of the animals, Noah made sure they all were safe in their pairs and finally loaded himself and his family on the boat before making one final prayer to God. Noah felt a wave of comfort come over him as he shut his eyes to rest as he didn't know how long it would be until he landed. Noah could hear the rushing waves and the ocean spray all around him, but knew not where these waters were taking him. Noah awoke to an oddly still ship and walked out to see land all around the ark and a single dove on the bow of the ship. Noah knew God had taken him to another world to begin anew, so Noah lowered the ark doors and set out into the vast unknown for the first time.

Author's Notes:
Set the classic legend of Noah and the Ark on a foreign planet where this bleak, dying planet is left behind by Noah to come to a new world to start again with his family and pairs of animals.
Bibliography:
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-noah-and-ark.html
(From the UN-Textbook)

Reading Notes: Noah, Part B

Noah and The Ark unit by multiple authors (from the UN-Textbook)
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-noah-and-ark.html)

The second part of this reading began in Paradise with Adam and Eve getting visited by Samael and his son, where Eve promises Samael that she will watch over the child. After the boy began to scream and cry following Samael leaving, Adam first killed him and then tried to cut him up into pieces and eat him in an attempt to stop the sound. God gives Adam a powerful book, known as the book of the angel Raziel, that becomes long-lost over time after only being found and then re-hidden by Enoch. This was until God gave this book to Noah prior to the flood as it contained instructions for the ark among many other things. The water for the flood then came, but in order to cleanse the Earth and punish them properly the water was heated incredibly before falling from the sky. Despite all of these harsh conditions, Noah's biggest problem was taking care of everyone/everything on the ark for a year as the animals became more and more restless over time. After forty days, the flood water ceased and began to go down little by little until a year passed, and Noah finally returned to land once God accepted his offering of animals. God gave Noah and his descendants permission to eat animal meat now as well as set up a vineyard from a vine that Adam brought from Paradise. Noah began to overindulge in his new vineyard and became drunk and passed out naked. He was dicsovered by his three sons and since his son Ham did not look away and cover his father, all of Ham's descendants were cursed by God. Following this Ham and one of the other sons, Japheth, left Noah and built a city of their own before all of the new world was divided up and given to the three sons: Ham being given the South, Japheth the North, and Shem between the two in the middle.

Noah and his three sons building the Ark prior to the Flood

Reading Notes: Noah, Part A

Noah and The Ark unit by multiple authors (from the UN-Textbook)
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-noah-and-ark.html)

This legend begins with the a man named Noah, who God favored despite seeing how evil man on Earth was and wanting to destroy them. God tells Noah that he plans to flood the Earth to rid it of the violence and evil of man, so Noah needs to build a giant wooden ship of specific dimensions. On this ship he is to bring two of every animal on board as well as his family to begin anew. On the seventh day the flood water came and Noah boarded his newly-built Ark with his family and animals where the flood raged for forty days. Noah began sending birds to monitor the water and for land, first a raven then a dove. Noah told his sons to "be fruitful and multiply" as God had told him to and they respected his wish each of his three sons creating large families. They all journeyed west on land and made a new city with a large tower, which upon seeing God scattered the city and "confounded their language." Next the legend goes back to discuss the birth of Noah and how man came to get to the point to where God felt they needed to be flooded. In the midst of a curse and famine Noah was born unto Lamech and ceased all of this upon his birth. While all the men around Noah pursued a life of gain, Noah lived a more simple life. Meanwhile the fallen angels who began to become part of the Earth with the women of Cain. On top of this there were other mortal families acting against God thus setting the stage for the devastating flood to come. The legend ends by circling back to Noah and his building of the massive Ark, while highlighting what kind of man he is in the eye's of God.

Illustration of Noah's Ark

Feedback Strategies

A "Good Job" Sticker

The two feedback articles that I read this week were both insightful as they both were centered around the notion of praise or in the case of the first article "good job." The first article I read tackled five reasons not to tell someone "good job," as it harmful for children especially. I specifically enjoyed the section where it discussed children struggling to accomplish their next task after being praised heavily on the first as it shows an interesting correlation between praise and success as well as the article providing multiple alternatives to the phrase. The second article focused on why managers seem to avoid praise, which started by explaining that roughly the same percent of managers avoid positive and negative feedback. This is interesting as they are both for different reasons as negative feedback tends to hurts people's feelings while positive feedback tends to boost ego in some cases and create a praise craving possibly. Regardless this article finishes by saying that praise is a good thing, but in moderation as it has some negative side-effects when unchecked.

Topic Research: Dante's Inferno

http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2017/07/project-idea-dante.html

Topic: Dante's Inferno

Map of Hell from Dante's Inferno

I chose to research this topic after brainstorming last week as it a legend that can be retold so many different ways as it comes down to the main principle of going through the various rings of hell meeting figures who represent that ring in some way. With that said I still would like to set the story in a different era and I think that that would be a unique take on this legend. The first idea I have would be for the retelling to be set in the 1980's and the people Dante meets in hell would be adjusted accordingly. The second idea would be to set it in today's world, but this feels slightly more played out as many legends are retold in the modern day. Despite this, a retelling of this legend in modern day could be a fresher take than I am giving it credit for. The last idea I have for retelling this legend would be to keep the legend in its era, but change the main character from Dante to another Greek historical figure. This idea came to me when writing about Homer's Illiad seeing many different interesting characters that were mortal ancient Greeks.

Week 3 Story: Achille's Sacrifice

Patroclus fighting Hector the Trojan prince

This legend begins at the ancient Greek city of Troy where the forces of Greece all gathered to help their king's brother Menelaus get his bride Helen back from the Trojans as the Trojan Prince, Paris, had stolen her from Sparta. Achilles and his dear friend Patroclus were in Achille's tent as Patroclus was trying to get Achilles to rejoin the Greek forces. Achilles was completely against the notion as he had been shamed by the king of the Greeks, Agamemnon by having his plunder taken from him for speaking out against him earlier in the siege. Patroclus knew the end was near for the Greeks as the god Zeus himself was on the side of the Trojans due to a deal Achilles made through his mother, Thetis, out of anger after Agamemnon's actions. The Greek ships were being burned by the Trojans as they spoke and Patroclus begged Achilles to at least let him use his armor to go into the battle and potentially turn the tide of the battle. Achilles reluctantly agreed and offered him a prayer to the gods as he left to keep him safe in the coming fight. Patroclus led the Greek forces from Achille's homeland in his signature armor and chariot to the Greek ships like a bolt of lightning from Zeus himself. Patroclus took down ten men before taking down the Trojan general Sarpedon. This caused the Trojans to retreat from the ships and give the Greeks a chance to save them all while being viewed by the mighty Trojan prince Hector. Hector saw Patroclus and his men charging his way, but stayed calm as he knew he was the superior fighter as well as having the god Zeus on his side. Hector and Patroclus met and exchanged blows as they whizzed by one another, with Patroclus taking a significant hit causing him to have to take a large turn to evade Hector momentarily. Achilles back in his tent felt a strange dread as if he knew his best friend was in danger, so he sprung on his feet and with only his famed Pelian spear. Achilles moving as swift as an arrow towards the battle could now see Hector and Patroclus clashing about 500 yards away. Achilles could tell Patroclus was weakening and lowered his head and began to take an adrenaline-fueled sprint towards the battle. Achilles took a massive leap and took a plunge at Hector as he stood over a near-defenseless Patroclus. Hector noticed Achilles attempt to save his countryman and flung his spear wildly to try and land a blow, but only grazed Achilles' heel before Achilles' speared plunged through his heart. Patroclus let out a cry as he saw Achille and Hector crumple to the ground as he knew from a feelin deep in the pit of his stomach that Achilles was gone. A golden aura rose from Achille's body as he was carried to Mount Olympus to be honored by the gods by his mother Thetis, and prophesied that Patroclus would be victorious in the siege of Troy thanks to Achilles' sacrifice.

Author's Notes:
First established a bit of background information that was the original myth to let reader's know the story's setting. Then changed the ending of Homer's Illiad by not having Patroclus die to HEctor, but instead have Achilles sacrifice himself to save him. This also differntiates from the original material as PAris does not kill Achilles by firing a bow at his heel, but instead by Hector.
Bibliography:
http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-homers-iliad-retold.html
(From the UN-Textbook)

Reading Notes: Homer's Illiad, Part B

Homer's Illiad retold by A.J. Church (from the UN-Textbook)
(http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-homers-iliad-retold.html)

The second portion of the Homer's Illiad reading begins right where the previous had left off, over the dead body of Patroclus. After an intense battle between the Trojans and the Greeks over the body, Hector took off his arms, but his body was rescued by a fired-up Ajax. Hector put on Patroclus' armor that he had gotten in the fight, which was formally Achilles' armor. He charges at Ajax and the others due to their jeers in his new armor, but this upsets the god Zeus. The battle rages on over Patroclus' body and Menelaus had Antilochus go and inform Achilles of Patroclus' death in an attempt to convince him to come and fight the Trojans. Upon hearing the news Achilles was heart-broken and cried out so much so that his mother Thetis came to ask what was bothering him. Upon hearing his request to fight and die as it is prophesied that he will shortly after Hector's death, Thetis went to get new arms for Achilles from the god Hephaestus. Zeus then sent Iris to tell Achilles to go immediately to the fight as his presence alone would cause the Trojans to retreat. Athene equipped Achilles with a large shield on his back and a fiery halo. Achilles shouted three times shocking both sides and causing a frenzy of panic. The Greeks were able to get Patroclus' body back to Achilles tent so that he could mourn. Hector insisted on fighting rather than staying within Troy's walls and Achilles was making way to the city gates. Achilles would have gotten in if not for Apollo intervening and switching place with a Trojan general and transporting safely back in the walls while sending Achilles after a phantom clone. All the Trojans rushed into the gates except for Hector, while Achilles argued with the Apollo phantom. Old Priam, Hector's father, begged Hector to come back into the city walls as he was so important to the city. Hector stopped and thought about the idea of staying outside of the wall and what the outcome would be until he sees Achilles charging at him. Hector instantly runs away to the city gates with Achilles gaining on him, which caused the gods to meet and discuss what Hector's fate would be. As Apollo helped Hector evade Achilles running around the city gates several times, Athene finally appeared to Achilles and assured him a victory over Hector. Athene then took the shape of Hector's brother and came to him to make him feel as though he could face Achilles. They exchanged spears and when Hector asked for another the clone vanished, so they charged to fight one another. Achilles being the far superior warrior landed a fatal blow on Hector and fastened his body to his chariot to drag to the ships. Old Priam struck with grief contacts the gods and sneaks into Achilles' camp after sending a massive ransom for Hector's body. As Old Priam slept that night in Achilles' tent, Hermes came to him and urged him to flee the camp thus ending the Illiad.

Achilles fighting Hector outside the gates of Troy