Week 14: Brothers Grimm (Ashliman) Reading Diary

This week I read the Ashliman Grimm Brothers Unit. Story source: The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales translated by D. L. Ashliman (1998-2013).

For Part A, my favorite stories were the story of Seven Ravens and the story of Old Sultan.

I thought the ending of the Seven Ravens story was really sweet. I was shocked when the parents at the beginning decided it was okay that their seven sons turned into ravens, as long as they had their one daughter. Also it seemed so strange to wish your seven sons to turn into ravens, of all things. I understand being upset when you think your daughter is about to die and your sons have disappeared, but deciding to curse them as ravens seems a bit extreme, then to actually be okay with it after they do become birds and just decide to never mention them again was weird. So, while I wasn't very keen on the parents, the daughter was very brave and selfless when she learned that her brothers had been turned into ravens. I loved that she traveled across the earth to try and find her brothers and change them back. When she finally learned about them she could have just decided that they were gone and didn't matter anymore, as her parents had. But instead, she went to save these seven brothers she had never met.

(illustration by Hermann Vogel)

The story old Sultan was also a good story with a nice, happy ending. So many traditional fairy tales end very unhappily so I was so glad that both of these ended well for the characters.  I felt so bad for the dog, Old Sultan, when his master decided to kill him since he was old. This has been the beginning of quite a few folk and fairy tales that involve old dogs that I have read in this class. I thought that Old Sultan handled the dilemma the very cleverly with the wolf. I love that they plotted to have the wolf steal the master's child so Old Sultan could rescue him and be the hero. I was worried that after the master would still decide to kill him, so I'm very glad that didn't happen. I wasn't surprised when the wolf wanted something in return from Old Sultan. Him helping the old dog seemed a bit too good. In the end I'm glad they made their peace. Although I was expecting the wolf to lash out after he showed so much fear. But I'm glad the ending was happy. 

(illustration by Walter Crane)

For Part B my favorite stories were The Peasant and the Devil and Death's Messenger. 

I liked the Peasant and the Devil because of the cleverness of the farmer. I would have thought that after the first time the farmer tricked the devil, I would have thought that the devil would have realized the farmer could change crops and give him nothing again. I thought it was pretty stupid of him to just switch the deal when anything else could be planted. However, the farmer was so smart by making the deal. He got everything. All the crops and the gold and silver of the devil. In so many stories the devil as written as a crafty trickster but he was the complete opposite in this story. I was expecting him to try to get our of the deal to give the gold and silver to the farmer at the end. I was surprised the devil didn't at least try to trick the farmer out of it. 

(illustration by Otto Ubbelohde)

The story of Death's Messenger reminded me a lot of the story of the Deathly Hallows in Harry Potter. I thought this was a very clever story. I love that the messenger ends up being the sickness and disease itself. It is very true to life, especially back when this was written. I also love the idea of death approaching people as he did, which is what reminded me of the Deathly Hallows story, as well as the man going willingly with death at the end. This may have been my favorite story of the unit, although there were quite a few good ones. 

(illustration by Matthaus Schiestl)

Week 13: Russian Folktales Reading Diary

This week I read the Russian Folktales Unit. Story Source: Russian Fairy Tales by W. R. S. Ralston (1887).

For part A my favorite stories were The Treasure and Wednesday. 

All of the stories in the Russian Folktales unit were unique and often morbid. I hadn't heard most of them before and I really enjoyed reading them. I thought the Treasure story was interesting because it was so different and it really pushed the idea that helping others and being kind will reward you in the end. When everyone is refusing to help the poor man bury the old woman, but he persists in his attempts, he is rewarded with the money that he finds. It was so realistic how after he finds the money and becomes rich, everyone wanted to help him and be his friend. I thought it was interesting how the corrupt pope decides the best course of action steal the money is to dress up like the devil. But in the end he also got what he deserved. 

The story of Wednesday reminded me of one of the stories I read a while back. I can't remember what unit it was in but the witch comes into the house and they ask for cakes from the woman and she can't get them to leave. Wednesday's story had the interesting twist that instead of just showing up, the woman accidentally summoned the bad spirit and let it in by not crossing herself before bed. 

For part B my favorite stories were the story of Two Friends and The Headless Princess.

The story of the Two friends was just sort of bizarre and I'm not really sure what the moral to the story was. I thought at first that it was going to be that you always need to keep promises, because of the living friend going to the dead one to invite him to the wedding. But then the whole three hundred years of time passing while he drank with the dead friend kind of kept that from being a reasonable moral. Maybe don't trust dead people? Spend your time with the living? I don't know, but I did love the ending to this story how the living friend went to a priest three hundred years later and found out he had disapeared centuries ago. It was kind of meta and I thought it was an interesting ending.

The story of the Headless Princess was also very strange and unusual. The ending where they staked the princess into her coffin reminded me of the TV show Supernatural a lot. While they said the princess in this story was a witch or sorceress, she seemed much more powerful than many other young witches in stories. Also the fact that she took her head off to clean it and brush her hair was really creepy. While I'm glad the boy didn't get harmed the horrors the princess conjured, I would have liked to have known what happened if he had turned around and stopped reading. Would the circle have been broken? The horrors hurt or kill him? I thought this was a very unique story.

Week 12: More English Fairy Tales Reading Diary

For this week, I read the second English Fairy Tales Unit. Story source: More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1894).
For Part A, my two favorite stories were the story of Johnny Gloke and the story of the Old Witch.

I liked the story of Johnny Gloke a lot. The beginning of the story made me think of Jack and the Beanstalk, and the ending made me think of a story from the Persian Tales Unit called Muhammad Tirandaz, The Archer. I loved how Johnny knew he couldn't beat the giants so he made them angry at each other to tire themselves out so he could defeat them and claim the prize the king had promised as reward for slaying the giants. I also thought the end was great when Johnny is sent to crush the rebellion, once again knowing he can't defeat it. But his ineptitude, causes the rebellion to end. I thought it was funny how the horse got caught and dragged out the gallows, which the rebels though was Johnny bringing the gallows with him to hang them all. It was an unusual end to a hero-type story. So far, this has been my favorite story of the unit.

The second story that I liked in the first half of this weeks unit was the story of the Old Witch. This story surprised me at many points. I do like the moral that if you help people in need, when you need help they will be there for you. That was clearly seen in the differences in the two sister's experiences, one who helped and got away unscathed and one who didn't and was beaten. I did not like that the first sister got away with stealing the witch's money. While the witch was the antagonist of the story, she didn't seem as evil as other fairy tale witches. She was paying the girl to work as they had agreed. Then after one sister got away with stealing the witch's money, the second decides to go do the same thing once again. Even when the witch caught the second sister, she didn't kill her, which is what I was expecting. I was glad the second girl didn't get away with the money she stole, but also glad the witch didn't kill her. 

For Part B, my two favorite stories were King John and the Abbot of Canterbury, and Rushen Coatie. 

I thought the story of King John and the Abbot of Canterbury was very clever. I don't think I've ever heard a story quite like this one. The shepherd, even being uneducated was very witty and thought ver well on his feet to trick King John into sparing his and the Abbot's life. I thought his answers were really creative. I definitely wouldn't have known how to answer King John's questions but the shepherd did great. I do have to say though I was surprised that the Abbot let the shepherd go in his place. For all the Abbot knew, he was sending the shepherd to his death which was supposed to be the Abbot's fate.

The last story I'm going to talk about, Rushen Coatie was a type of Cinderella story, but there were some interesting differences. I thought that it was interesting how instead of a fairy godmother, Rushen Coatie had a magical red calf that granted her wishes. That seemed really random to me, but it was very unique, especially after the calf was killed but it's bones kept helping Rushen Coatie. I also thought it was interesting that instead of the ball being where Rushen Coatie was forbidden to go, it was church. The three day church event was an interesting place for the Prince and Rushen Coatie to meet. Overall I liked this story a lot. I think I like the Rushen Coatie version of the Cinderella tale more than the Tattercloak version which was earlier in this unit. 

Week 11: Celtic Fairy Tales Reading Diary

This week I read the Celtic Fairy Tales reading unit. Story source: Celtic Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1892).

For Part A my favorite stories were The Shepherd of Myddvai and Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree.

The story of the  Shepherd of Myddvai surprised me. I had heard some similar stories before, but the endings were never like this one. Other stories I had heard that were like this one started the same, where a man won over a mystical woman and she said she would be a good wife to him if he didn't hurt her. In the other stories I had read, they usually ended with the man beating her and she either left and took the children and everything they owned back to her mystical land or she killed him. But this one, I felt sorry for the man. When she said that when he tapped on her shoulder, he had  "struck her without cause" it surprised me. All of the times she said he "struck her" were innocent gestures. It almost seemed like she was trying to find any excuse to leave. I was also surprised that she left her children behind, and only visited them once more when they became adults.

The second story that I liked in the first half of the readings was Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree, which was a version of Snow White. One thing I liked about this telling of the tale was that Gold-Tree (the Snow White of the story) married the prince before she was poisoned by her mother, Silver-Tree. I also found it interesting that while the father knew his wife wanted to murder their daughter he found her a ship to go and see her on, believing she only wanted to visit, even after she asked the father to kill Gold-Tree and serve the mother her heart and liver. I also thought that it was interesting how after Gold-Tree was poisoned by her mother, the prince didn't think to remove the poisoned stab from her finger before locking her in a separate room.  It took him to remarry and the second wife to resurrect Gold-Tree, and then both wives being okay with both staying.

For Part B my two favorites were the story of Beth Gellert and the Tale of Ivan. 

The Story of Beth Gellert was very sad. I felt awful for the father and the dog. I could definitely see how the father would make the mistake he did by believing his beloved dog had killed his son. I was thinking it as well while reading the story. As soon as the father heard the baby cry I realized what had happened. This reminded me a lot of the scene in Lady and the Tramp when Tramp is taken to the pound because they think he attacked the baby but he was actually saving the child from the rat. In the end it was an honest mistake on the man's part, and it showed how awful he felt for killing the dog. Still, the poor dog must have been so confused and hurt and scared by his master's reaction when the dog had been just protected the baby. 

The last story I'm going to talk about is the Tale of Ivan. This story left me very curious about the master who Ivan worked for for three years. It seems that somehow, the master knew what was going to happen, and withheld the wages to make Ivan pay attention. I was very confused about why Ivan would agree for three years to give up his salary for one piece of advice, but I guess its a good thing he did because head he not he would have gotten robbed, framed for murder, and not had a job when he returned home. I liked that the ending had Ivan's three years wages which he thought he gave up for advice cooked into the cake. Overall I thought this was a clever story. 

Week 10: British North America Reading Diary

For this unit I read the British North America Folklore unit.

For part A, I had two favorite stories, Creation of the Earth, and The Burning of the World.

The Creation of the Earth story, was unlike any creation myth I had heard before. Like most myths, the story says that in the beginning there was nothing, only blankness. However, there were also living things (people or personification?). I'm not quite sure how all of the characters Earth, Sun, Moon, and Stars change from the beginning to the end. In the end, the everything is placed by an the Old Man, who seems to have a god like role in the creation and placement of the universe. But at first, the characters seem to be much more human like where they live in a house together, although I'm not sure why there's a house in all of the blankness the story describes. I'm also not sure where the Old Man came from, because he wasn't mentioned as one of the exceptions to the nothingness in the beginning as the other characters were.

(Thompson River, photo by A. Bowden)

The Other Story I liked was the Burning World. It reminded me a lot of Noah's ark, except fire instead of water. Similarly to the Noah story, very few people (besides the man's mother and sister) believed him that the world would burn. I thought it was very interesting how in the story, the animals seem to want to switch roles with each other and the man has to straighten out their role in the ecosystem. This part of the story reminded me of Adam in the Garden of Eden. Only this story was much more entertaining. I loved how the animals tried to convince him that they should be something else. My favorite was how the rabbit jumped into the water to try and be like the beaver.

"Fire" Source: Wikimedia

Week 9: California and the Old Southwest (Reading Diary)

For the California and the Old Southwest reading unit, click here.

For part A my favorite stories were The Creation of Man and the Creation of Mankind and the Flood.

The Creation of Man was unlike any creation story I had ever heard, but I felt as though it showed a lot of natural human tendencies through the animals of the story. This story was from the Minwok people from California. It was a story which took place after Coyote created the world (which I think is interesting in itself that there isn't a divine being, but an animal creator). I thought it was very interesting how the animals together consciously decided to create man. Also, how they went about doing it was very unique. With the animals forming a type of council to decide what humans should look like, with the animals basically ranked according to hierarchy around the circle was fascinating. I think that the ideas for man's appearance by the animals revealed human nature, in that we often think the people in charge should look, act, and think as we do. It was only coyote, who was the most clever, who could think outside of himself to create a superior being that didn't look as he, or any other animal did. I thought this was a very unique story.

(Coyote)

The second story I liked from the first section was the creation of mankind and the flood. Unlike the first story, this story was from the Pima tribe in Arizona. One reason I found this, and the other flood story in the unit, is the similarities cross culturally, around the world of flood stories. In this story the flood is caused because of a competition to rule the world, between Earth Doctor, Coyote, and Elder Brother. In Greek and Roman religions, which I have taken a couple classes over, there are also worldwide flood stories, as well as in Christianity, Mesopotamian and Babylonian cultures. I find it very interesting that total earth destroying/purifying flood stories are found in so many religions and cultures around the world. 

"The Deluge" By John Martin Wikimedia

For part B, my favorite stories were Coyote's Eyes and The Children of the Cloud.

I thought the story about the Coyote's eyes was bizarre but intriguing. The last thing I was expecting when the coyote asked the bird about his beauty, was for the bird to take out his own eyes, throw them in the air, then call them back down into his head, at which time they would be cleaned. Then the coyote deciding to do this multiple times was also weird but interesting, so he could get his eyes as clear as he could. But then, when the eyes didn't come back down, I was also shocked when instead of finding the coyote's eyes the bird just made him yellow eyes out of pinon tree gum, which are still what coyote's ares are according to the story. It was definitely a unique and unusual myth about the often-featured coyotes. 

(Coyote, by Larry1732)

I also thought the Children of the Cloud story was very unique and interesting. Unlike, say demigods, the children in this story seem to be the children of a human woman and a primordial force which sort of has a human life and appearance. I was never quite sure what to think about Uncle Wind and Father Cloud. I thought it was interesting that he insisted on testing the boys more than once. I'm pretty sure normal children can't usually create thunder and lightning at will, so I didn't understand why Cloud needed further proof of their paternity, nor how them not drowning proved they were part cloud. But these types of stories are meant to be taken at face value, so I know I'm reading too much into them, but those were my main thoughts about this story. 

"Dreamy Twilight" by Jessie Eastland. Wikimedia

Week 8: Reading Diary Assesment

For my reading diaries, I've always always used the same format. First, directly after I've finished reading a story (or a section of a story if they are multiple pages) I type up a quick summary of the story just for my own records, which doesn't end up published. Then after each half of the readings I write an analysis of two or three of my favorite stories. I do the same thing after the second half.

It helps me to have both, the summaries for each story and the in depth look at a a few of the stories in the unit. I've found the short summaries help a lot when I'm deciding what story to rewrite for the storytelling assignment as well as the essay if I review the readings. I also try to write a sentence in my summary if there is something about the story that I want to mention in the reading review survey.

I also like having the deeper reviews for the few stories that I particularly like in each reading, which is what I end publish. Especially for the units which have twenty or more short stories, you don't have time to think about each of them deeply and critically. Without the instructions on the Reading Diary assignment saying to focus on your favorites, I wouldn't have done this. However, I feel like I get a much better understanding of the stories that I talk about in the reading diaries.

With my reading diary posts, I always try to include one picture from each story I talk about. This isn't as helpful when the stories aren't from an illustrated book, but it still helps me remember what a main part of the story was. Where there is an illustration from a book that the story comes from, the picture is very helpful in remembering more of the details of the story which the picture depicts. I think having pictures in my posts helps a lot by breaking up the information. That is why I add the picture directly after I finish talking about one specific story.

Looking back, I do think me reading diary posts are helpful, but they are most helpful when I also look at my short summaries/notes from every story.  I think that gives the analysis that I publish more context. Overall, I think the reading diary is very helpful. I think the combination of a short summary for myself and deeper exploration of a few of the stories for a blog post helps me a lot when keeping track of past readings.

Week 7: Laos Reading Diary

For the Laos Reading Unit, Click here.

For Reading A: I liked many of the stories from this unit. However,  I had two favorite stories from this half of the reading unit. The first was Lover's Leap. This was the story I read first after reading a storytelling post of it last week. I liked the story a lot. It reminded me quite a bit of Romeo and Juliet although I thought this one was much better. The young couple loved each other in secret so long that their families believed she had moved on from her young love. I liked this story very much.

(river in Laos)

The second reading I liked was The Giant's Mountain and the Temple. This story reminded me of many group projects, throughout high school and freshman year of college. The moral of everyone working and doing there part is a great moral for the story. I liked that at the end the people who didn't help the giants advise others to put in their fair share of effort after seeing how much harder it was. Also, the story had giants carrying mountain tops. There is few things as cool as that. 

(temple in Laos)

For Reading B: I very much enjoyed all of the readings for this unit. Once again, I have two favorite stories I'll write about for this reading diary. The first I'll talk about was The Legend of the Rice. I thought this was a very interesting explanation of a type of 'golden age' for humans, and how it came to pass. In many religion classes I've taken we have discussed a golden age of humans that disappears because of human error. This is interesting, because not only did people not have to work very hard for food as in most stories, but the grains of rice were so plentiful that they would bring themselves out of the field. Overall I thought this was just a very interesting story. 

(planting rice, Laos)

The second story I am going to talk about is The Magic Well. I enjoyed reading this story because it ended on such a happy note for everyone. Not only was the chow was healed, but the water was used to heal everyone from maladies that hadn't had a cure. I also liked the idea of a special journey to reach this well. When the first man to visit there, that dreamed of it and had spirits guiding him, he knew he was the first to go along that path. I thought it was a good story. 

(Mekong River, Laos)

Week 6: South African Reading Diary

This week I read the South African Unit. Story source: South African Folk-Tales by James Honey (1910).

From the first half of the unit, my favorite stories were The Monkey's Fiddle,  and The World's Reward.

Many of the stories had very clever characters, which were made to look even more clever by foiling them with characters who didn't know what was really going on. This was especially true in the World's reward story. To start, I loved that all of these old animals united to find a better place in this world. Then, the way that they scared the thieves off so the animals could have the food and shelter was fun to read. I think if a third party was observing this story happening, they would be laughing hysterically.

I also liked how all of the animals coordinated to keep the thieves out once they were ready to sleep. They all had a part to play and were prepared to defend their area. All of that said, my favorite part of the story was when the thief who was attacked by all of the animals went back to his friends and told told of these tortures that people had put him through, not realizing it was actually a group of old animals.

(African bull)

The other story I thought was described very well and taught an important lesson. I could see this story being told to children to keep them from stealing. I like that the monkey was still humble, even when he had everyone at his control with the fiddle. When he kept playing and made everyone dance, the lion offered him the entire kingdom. The monkey refused the offer and just asked for his life and the return of his bow and arrow, as well as the wolf admitting he lied. I think that this has the best morals of any story in this first half. It also taught a practical lesson of justice not always being just or correct. I enjoyed this story a lot. 

(vervet monkey)

For the second half of the reading, my favorites were the White Man and the Snake, and the Judgement of the Baboon.

The White Man and the Snake was also a clever story that had morals enveloped in it. One of the things it reminded me of was the old saying, "Don't bite the hand that feeds you". When the snake was helped by the man and then began trying to bite him, It make the man regret what he did, and by the end of the story, refuse to help the snake again. 

It also would teach the lesson of not trusting everyone you meet. Just because you want to do the right thing, you shouldn't assume others will. In this case, both the snake and the hyena both wanted the man to be killed by the snake even though he helped her. Even though he did the right thing by helping her, they were willing to kill him for personal gain.I love how in most of the stories Jackals are very clever animals. I would love to know the cultural thinking behind this reoccuring theme. 

(Jackal)

I thought the Judgement of the Baboon was interesting because it set up a hierarchy of animals and elements. This set up would be used to explain why certain animals fought and why some natural elements like wood, fire, and water had extreme effects on each other. I thought the end was interesting how the baboon was kind of punished for his judgement, even thought the tailor was happy with the outcome. I wasn't expecting there to also be a punishment of getting the honor of only walking on two legs getting taken away from the monkey. 

(baboon pic by Jason Wharam)

Week 5: Arabian Nights Reading Diary

For the Arabian Nights reading unit click here. 
Story source: The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang and illustrated by H. J. Ford (1898).

For Reading A: I'm going to do this reading diary a little different than I have done my others. This reading unit is different than the others I've done so I thought I'd take this opportunity to try something new.

While there were many interesting stories in this unit, I particularly liked how they all fit together into the stories that Scheherazade is telling the Sultan. In the first section, they talk quite a bit about the education that Scheherazade has received and how clever she is. Her wit and education really show through her tellings of the stories, how she sets them up and ends them each while still leaving some questions opened is very clever.
I saw this throughout the stories, but in particular I liked how she transitioned from the stories which came out of the Story of the Fisherman. I loved how the story of the Physician was developed to mirror the Genie and the Fisherman's dilemma, but also how more stories were inter-laid throughout the secondary stories to show the different choices the characters had, like the Parrot and the Ogress stories.

I also thought it was clever how, at the end of the man with the black dog's story (the end of the Merchant and Genie story line), how Scheherazade said she didn't know the third story told, but knew it was better than the other two. That was a great transition between the two overarching stories which she told to the Sultan. Because of this, he would be left wondering and not quite satisfied with the story Scheherazade had told. This probably made him more willing to hear another story which led to the Fisherman's section.

For Reading B: This part of the reading diary will also be different, because all of the second half was one continuous story. The second half was the readings were of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp.

The only Aladdin story I had ever seen or heard before this, was Disney's Aladdin. Overall I really enjoyed this story, and liked it more than the movie. The only thing I wish that was a little different was that I hoped it would still have some references or connections in the story of Scheherazade telling the story to her husband.

I was very creeped out when the princess married the Grand Vizir's son, that Aladdin kidnapped them each night until the boy was scared away. That was weird. I also didn't like the ending very much, just because of the second magician. I kind of feel like adding a brother was unnecessary. To me, the added ending after they returned home and everything went back to normal, didn't add anything to the plot. Therefore, I wish they had ended it with them returning home after killing the first evil magician.

That being said, I liked the inclusion of the magician in the story. I thought that was great, instead of just making the vizir the antagonist, although we are still not meant to like him in the story. I was also unaware that the original story was mostly set in China, but I thought that was an interesting choice. Although I can understand, in the context of Scheherazade telling the Sultan the story, she would want it to seem as exotic and mysterious as possible.

I really enjoyed reading the story of Aladdin and all of the other stories in this reading Unit.

Week 4: Persian Tales Reading Diary

For the Persian Tales Unit, click here. ( Story source: Persian Tales, translated by D.L.R. Lorimer and E.O. Lorimer and illustrated by Hilda Roberts (1919)) All illustrations are from the book.

For Reading A: In the first half of the reading, my favorite two stories were Nim Tanak (Half Boy) and the Praying Baker.  However, I really have enjoyed all the readings so far. The story topics are so unique and diverse from one another that it has  been fun to go through them. I think so far, this is my favorite unit.

Nim Tanak was a great story because it was a classic underdog story. When the two strong sons couldn't save the sister, Nim Tanak, who was only half of a person did. I also liked that in the end, Nim Tanak was made the heir of the king for his deeds, in front of his brothers. I was a little confused why the div (demon) was so unfrightened of his brothers and their armies because they were eating or drinking slowly, but he was terrified of Nim Tanak because he was drinking and eating everything. Maybe it was a Persian cultural thing, but I was confused by that.

The other story that I really liked was the Praying Baker. I thought the king was a jerk in this whole story, but I liked the baker’s response to obstacles and I thought the ending was great. I couldn't believe the king set the baker up for failure and planned on actually killing him if he couldn't find the ring that the king stole back from him. I could understand the king wanting to test him, but I thought that was way too extreme. I also didn't understand if the king dropped his ring in the water purposefully or not. In the description, it seemed like it slipped off on accident, but then the king said that if the baker found it, he wouldn't be killed. I loved that the baker bought the fish as a ‘last meal’ since he thought he would be killed the next day, but it turned out that was what ended up saving him.

For Reading B: I really loved this unit. I had two favorite stories in the second half of the reading. My favorites were Shah Abbas and the Poor Mother, and The Apparition of Prophet Khizr, I also really liked the Story of the Baker and the Grateful Fish, but I won't be talking about that one in this post. This has definitely been my favorite unit. All the stories were interesting and some were really surprising as well. I think part of the reason these three were my favorites, was that at the end of each, the wrongdoers received what they deserved.

 I liked the Shah Abbas, for a few reasons. One was that the king was actually very kind and tried to help his people as much as he could. I also liked that he went back to the family after, and didn't just figure he had helped and he would be done with them. Also that he took the family to the palace to be cared for when the mother's ears were cut off was very nice of him. He also punished both the baker, and the law enforcer who ordered the woman's ears cut off. However, my favorite thing was that he gave the woman and her children all of the money and property owned by the two who wronged her in the end. 

I also liked the Apparition of the Prophet Khizr, because the men who supported the torture and slow death of the poor man were fired and the one who wanted to show mercy was the only one kept. But my favorite part of this story was that the poor man used the money he received from the king to pay off his debts and to make sure his wife would have a good life after his death. This was a noble and selfless thing to do. He could have continued as he had, and just gotten more in debt, or he could have used the money to buy extravagant things for himself. But instead he wanted his wife to have a good life. I also like that he went to the king on his own. It showed that he knew what he had done and was willing to accept whatever punishment the king saw fit. That was also seen in the fact that he never argued with the kings advisers who wanted his slow death. I also liked that the Prophet did appear to vouch for the man and let him keep his life. The king’s reaction to the prophet was also funny, when he said he should have grabbed his sleeve to keep him from escaping.

Week 3: Women Saints Reading Diary

For the Women Saints reading homepage click here.

Reading A: In the first half of this week's readings, my favorite stories were the ones about Saint Marine and Saint Christine. These two stories have other similar stories in the unit. Many stories were of parents hiding a child in a tower to perform pagan offerings and later being tortured for refusing to convert from Christianity. My favorite of these was the story of Christine. Another common story that was told in different ways was of women disguising themselves as men and joining monastery, later to be accused of impregnating or fornicating with women. My favorite of these stories was the story of Marine/Marina.

The main reason Christine's story stood out to me, more than the other similar stories, was because of how much she went through. While all of these women suffered, I feel like Christine when through the most of any of them. She was tortured by her father, as he tried to kill her time and time again. Then she was also tortured by the judge Dion, as he also tried to kill her again and again. Then she was again tortured by the new Judge Julianus who eventually did kill her, although there were many miracles before he achieved his goal. Still through it all, Christine remained hopeful and faithful to her chosen religion and never renounced her God, even when it would have been much easier and less painful to do so.

(By Francesco Cairo, Painting of Saint Christine)

Marine's story stood out to me also, even though there were numerous stories of women dressing as men to become monks. I like that Marine's father is involved and dresses her a boy so he can stay with her, unlike the story of Pelagien, who runs away from her family to the monastery. I also like, that unlike the Pelagien story, there is more of an explanation on why the monks thought that Marine was the father of the virgin's baby, because she was staying with the family around the time. The last thing I liked more about Marine's story than Pelagien's was that Marine wasn't just imprisoned and died, but she raised the baby as her own once she was cast out of the monastery.

( By joeatta78, Saint Marina)

Reading B: For the second half of the Women Saints reading, my two favorite stories were the stories of Saint Theodora and Saint Daria. While Theodora's story is much like Marine's and Pelagien's stories, there are some different aspects of Theodora's that I find very interesting. As for Daria, her story is a bit different from all of the others and I think her story is great. 

Once again, Theodora's story is very similar to the other stories of women running away to become monks. What I like most about her story is that she runs away for a reason. Theodora feels so much guilt and sorrow when she cheats on her husband that she feels she isn't worthy of being his wife any longer and that she must pay a steep price of penance for her sin. This drive is very different from the other saints who go to remain pure or please their family. Theodora legitimately believes that this is her punishment, and while she knows she isn't pure, she hopes to help others to atone for her wrong doing. I also like the ending much better. While she does die, like all the others, the son she raises mourns her and continues with the monastery to finish what Theodora started. I also think it's really sweet that after all these years, when her husband learns of her death, he goes to where she died. Although it's quite sad that he stays there until he dies as well. 

(Russian icon)

I also liked Daria's story, although some of it I had a hard time with. The main thing that troubled me about this story is that before Daria converted to Christianity, she was a Vestal Virgin in the story. I did a big research paper on the Vestals last semester and I don't see how, in this time period, they every would have sent a Vestal to a man alone, to convert him. The Vestals were too important to managing the hearth, which they thought kept the city from falling to ruins. Also, purity was paramount to the Vestals. If a girl was suspected of not keeping her chastity vows, she would sometimes be buried alive. Therefore, I don't think they would have sent a Vestal in with a man alone. But besides that, I liked the story. I like that the lion protects Daria, but when she instructs it not to seriously harm anyone it listens to her. I also like that while she and Crisaunt converted many people, most seemed to convert after talking to Daria.

(14th-century medieval manuscript)

Week 2: Bible Women Reading Diary

For the Bible Women's reading homepage, click here.

Reading A: For this week, there were twenty different stories in the Bible Women's unit. Of the first ten, two stood out to me the most. Those were the stories of Jephthah's daughter and Hannah. Both of these stories involved loss of only children in one way or another. 

Okay, so first was Jephthah's daughter. Many elements of this story surprised me. One of those elements, in my opinion was the father's stupidity. I understand why he wanted to make a vow or deal with God to win the war. And it's obvious by his reaction when he sees his daughter he is distraught and regretful and expected to sacrifice some animal, but how he worded the vow led to that happening. 

This is a man who has been off to war for a while. So when he words the vow 'whatever greets me first at home'... does he think a sheep will walk up to him before his only child after he has been gone so long? He should have thought through his wording more and just promised God an animal or the 'first of my livestock that I see'. He could have been a tad more specific and everything would have worked out great for him.

Then there is his daughter, who seems scarily okay with her father killing and burning her. She agrees immediately and asks for time to more the loss of her virginity and life. I thought she wouldn't return after the two months and her dad would die or something. But she willingly returns and lets her father sacrifice her. I know this was a different time and I am not religious like these characters, but I feel like most children would not be okay with being killed for God. 

(By Debat-Ponsan, The Daughter of Jephthah )

 Now on to Hannah's story. This story I had more prior knowledge of but it brought up some similar questions to Jephthah's story although not nearly as extreme. Once again I understand where the vow came from. Hannah has been craving a child, and wanting to be a mother for years. But what I don’t understand is making a vow with God for a child, which will cause you to permanently lose that child from a young age.

Especially in the biblical time period, while children were loved, they were also needed to work, to carry on the family line, and to care for the parents in their old age. Promising to give a child up if you are given one seems counter intuitive for many of the desires for a child. To me it goes to a debate that have heard, is it better to have and to lose or to never have had at all. 

(By Van Den Eeckhout, Hannah Presents Her Son)

For Reading B: The two stories I'm going to discuss from the second half of the readings are of Susannah and Herodias. All of the other stories from this unit I had encountered at least once before, although some only briefly. However, the stories of Susannah and Herodias I had never heard or read before.

I'll talk about Susannah's story first.  I had never even heard of Susannah before this. Her story is one that I wish was still in the modern Bibles. The story was disturbing and thought provoking. The story itself, of attempted rape, is very applicable even today in modern society.

Susannah stood up for her principles even when it would have been easier to give in. And because of her morals, she is sentenced to death for a crime she didn't commit. Susannah is the type of woman that people should admire and look up to.

I also found it interesting that this story had a young Daniel in it. I had grown up hearing about the lion's den and such but I loved that the story included this well known biblical hero standing up for a girl who everyone else condemned.

by de Boulogne, "Daniel and the Elders" 

The story of Herodias just generally disturbed me. This woman was obsessed with having John the Baptist executed because he called her and her husband out about marrying when her previous husband had been brothers with her current husband.

But I think the most disturbing thing about her is that she used her daughter, Salome's request to have John executed. When her daughter came to her for advice on what to do with the request, she could have helped her make a wise decision that would have bettered her daughter's future. Or if she was intent on John dying, she could have just asked to have him killed. But instead she tells her daughter to ask for John's head at the feast they are attending.  This is just overall disturbing in so many ways.

(by Ansaldo,"Herodias and Salome". )