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.