Famous Last Words: Last Week of Class

This week is my last week of undergraduate classes, so it feels only fitting to cap off four years of hard work with a final post. I have deeply enjoyed Myth and Folklore this semester, and wish that I had given more time and attention to it throughout the past fifteen weeks. Regardless of my time management in relation to this class, I have loved learning so much more about mythological traditions, and how those myths express world cultures. I have grown in my creative writing abilities, and have learned the value of meaningful feedback.

Senior Photos - kaitmaddox photography

It feels surreal that I will no longer be taking college courses, but I am so thankful for the classes I went out on. Along with Myth and Folklore, some of my favorite courses this semester have been Genesis: In the Beginning and African American Religious Traditions. In some ways, I think the three classes are connected: that catalogue a few of the most important ways that people make sense of the world around them.

As I complete all of my finals in the coming weeks, I am growing more and more excited to graduate and pursue my career with Teach For America. I am eager to see new places and grow through new experiences, and am especially looking forward to sharing stories with the children in my class! I know that my time in Idaho with TFA will be a tremendous challenge, but I am ready to face that challenge and see how it changes me.

I have plenty to do before I leave Norman for Idaho, in order to give a fitting goodbye to the people and places that have been integral to my four years here. However, before I can do any of that, I want to finish my academic semester well, giving my classes my best effort!

Wikipedia Trail: Brothers Grimm to

The Brothers Grimm

1. The Brothers Grimm: This week, I read some of the Grimm' fairy tales, and was interested to learn more about their lives and background. 
2. The Frog Prince: In this story, a princess finds her prince by kisses a cursed frog. 
3. Robin McKinley: This author wrote multiple;le adaptations of fairy tales, including an adaptation of Beauty and the Beast called Beauty, which I wrote about in several of my comments this week. 
4. Newberry Medal: This award is given to the author of the "most distinguished contribution to American literature for children." 

Reading Notes: The Brothers Grimm (Ashliman), Extra Credit

This week, I read from Dan Ashliman's adaptation of The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales. I loved the reading, as it introduced me to original (or closer to original) versions of some of my favorite fairy tales, while also presenting new tales that I had not heard of before this week.

In previous posts, I have written about Rumpelstiltskin and The Peasant and the Devil, both stories from this unit. After reading posts from other people I class however, I have been thinking about another story from the unit, called The Little Lamb and the Little Fish, and I felt compelled to share my thoughts on the story.

A Brother and Sister Playing Together

The Little Lamb and the Little Fish
In this story, a brother and sister are very close, and love playing in their fields together, especially near the pond. Their mother is dead, and they have a stepmother who is unkind and bitter. She is said to know the ways of witchcraft, and one day turns the girl into a lamb, and the boy into a fish. Both were sad about their transformations, but lived their lives that way for some time.
One day, the stepmother was hosting special guests, and commanded her cook to kill the little lamb as their meal. The cook had captured the girl in her lamb form, and was preparing to kill her while the fish looked on from the gutter. Suddenly, the girl cried out to her brother, the fish. The cook, suspecting that the lamb was a person bewitch by the evil stepmother, cooked another meal instead, and delivered the lamb and fish to the wet nurse. The nurse blessed the animals, returning them to their human form. She then took them to live in a hut in the woods, freed from their stepmother forever.

After reading a classmates' project about a wicked stepmother, I have many frustrations and questions about this story. Where is the children's father?? Why didn't anyone notice that two children had gone missing? When the children were returned to their human form, why wasn't their stepmother brought to justice??

If I were to rewrite this story, I certainly couldn't ignore these plot holes, and would work to better develop a storyline that accounts for my questions.

Reading Notes: The Brothers Grimm (Ashliman), Part B

Today, I finished my reading in our European unit with a few more stories from Dan Ashliman's adaptation of the Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales. Unlike yesterday's reading, this section featured many more unfamiliar stories, at least by their titles. However, in reading The Hare and the Hedgehog and The Peasant and the Devil, I found they mirrored tales like The Tortoise and the Hare and Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens. 

Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens 

The Peasant and the Devil
In this story, a peasant comes across a devil as he is working the fields. The peasant suspects that the devil holds great riches, and seeks to make a deal with him. The devil wants "fruits of the earth" and promises the peasant his treasures in exchange for half of the growth of the field for two years.
In the first year, the peasant plants turnips, giving the devil only the top leafy half. The devil is angry that he has been outsmarted, and demands the bottom half of the crop in the next year. Thus, the peasant plants wheat, leaving the devil only roots. Ultimately, the peasant inherits the devil's treasure, and the devil is thwarted.

In Tops and Bottoms, the peasant is represented by a poor by clever hare, and the devil by a lazy bear. The bear agrees to let the hare have a portion of his crops, but only if the hare and his family do all of the work of planting and harvesting. In the first harvest, the hare plants carrots, giving the bear the tops. This trickery goes on until the bear is poor and hungry and the rabbit has stockpiled enough food that his family can survive.

If I were to rewrite the story of The Peasant and the Devil, I would love to put an animal twist on it like the one above, or possible make it a more realistic tale of human dishonesty.

Reading Notes: The Brothers Grimm (Ashliman), Part A

Once again, we are reading from the European unit in Myth and Folklore. This week, I have chosen to read Dan Ashliman's adaptation of the Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales. I enjoyed reading from this unit, as it includes fairy tales that are both familiar and new to me.

A Statue of the Grimm Brothers

Rumpelstiltskin
In this story, a thoughtless miller brags to the king that his daughter can spin gold out of straw. The kind requests the opportunity to see the girl's skills in action, and locks her in a room in his castle, with instructions to spin all night. The girl immediately begins to cry, because she cannot spin straw into gold, and will be killed if she fails the king's task. Eventually, a little man enters through the locked door, and offers to spin the straw into gold, so the girl offers her necklace in return.
The next night, the king locks the girl away again, this time with the expectation to spin more straw into gold. Th small man again comes to the girl's rescue, this time in exchange for her ring. On the third night, the king has left more straw than other before, but the miller's daughter has nothing left to offer the small man in return for his spinning the straw into gold. Thus, the little man suggests that the girl give up her first child as payment. The girl, with nothing else left to do, agrees.
A year later, the girl has had the king's child, and the mysterious man has returned to claim his payment. When the girl is obviously distraught at the idea of giving up her baby, the small man agrees that she can keep the child, but only if she can guess his name in the next few days.
The girl, who is now queen, sends messengers across the kingdom to learn his name. It takes the entirety of the three days to discover the man's identity, but eventually, the queen identifies him as Rumpelstiltskin.

Wikipedia Trail: From The Little Mermaid to Hamilton

An Illustration of The Little Mermaid by Edmund Dulac

1. The Little Mermaid - Hans Christian Andersen's classic tale was a significant part of my reading this week. I sought out this article because I was curious as to how the Walt Disney version arose from the original fairy tale, which is incredibly different from the animated film. 
2. P.L. Travers - The Mary Poppins author criticized Hans Christian Andersen for the ending of The Little Mermaid, claiming that it blackmailed children into the belief that if they were good, they could extend their lives. 
3. Broadway - A musical adaptation of Travers' Mary Poppins opened on Broadway in 2006. This article also featured a list of shows currently playing on Broadway. 
4. Hamilton - My favorite Broadway musical, Hamilton tells the story of Found Father Alexander Hamilton. In 2016, Hamilton was nominated for 16 Tony awards, of which it won 11. 

Learning Challenge: Watch for Empathy

A Quote from Brian Andreas

This is easily my favorite phrase and image that I have come across in class this semester. (I've even put it on my letter board at home!) I recently had the opportunity to share the quote with one of the most empathetic people I know. A. is kind and warm; she is constantly laughing and a great listener. Just this week, she bought a hurting friend a milkshake, and never hesitates to share a kind word.

I would love to develop the bravery referred to in this image, and the kindness that I think A. emulates!

Growth Mindset: Four Ways We Learn

Drawn by Tanya Vora

Today, I did a Growth Mindset Challenge using the above graphic. This graphic reminded me of the importance of practice for learning and growth, and I appreciated the reminder that practice is not always an act, but can sometimes be a conversation. I love the phrase "Most of the learning is under the waterline." This week, I will take the time to research that statement, ad find more information about subconscious learning!

Tech Tip: Canvas Dashboard

This week, I completed a Tech Tip about the best ways to use your Canvas Dashboard. I use my Dashboard frequently, and find it incredibly user friendly. Although some part of me will always miss D2L (I had just figured it all out before OU changed platforms), Canvas is undoubtedly the better option. The dashboard better allows me to visualize all of my classes, and lets me access them easily. I especially appreciate when professors use class images, as that helps distinguish one class from another!

Week 14 Story: Emmett's New Clothes

Emmett was surfing the internet at work again, as he so frequently did. Because he was the owner of his company, New Clothes, he never worried about getting caught or criticized for his lazy behavior. Emmett simply hired smarter and more driven people to handle business functions for him, while he chose how to spend the profits. Emmett considered it an excellent set-up.

Each year, New Clothes hosted a fashion and lifestyle fair in their offices. They invited several up-and-coming designers to promote their creations to Emmett, in the hopes that they would be sold as a part of New Clothes' newest fashion line. New creative talent registered each year, so Emmett and his staff thought nothing of the group named Swindler and Swindler, but were eager to see what they would bring to the fair.

The Swindler and Swindler Logo

As the fair began the next week, Emmett was quickly swept into the flurry of beautiful fabrics, luxury accessories, and skilled young salesmen. However, there was one group at this year's fair that greatly surprised the New Clothes team. Swindler and Swindler were not designers at all - they were bartenders. The brother and sister team wore matching suits, and sold a still, clear liquid that they promised tasted like the nicest champagne, but only if its drinker was smart, savvy, and destined to be successful.

Emmett, who was always seeking to prove himself in the fashion industry, downed his first glass in one gulp. He tasted nothing. Refusing to acknowledge this to anyone around him, Emmett began raving about how delicious the beverage was; he had never tasted anything like it. He immediately ordered fifty cases for the whole office, and in his excitement, missed the sly glances exchanged by the Swindler and Swindler siblings.


Author's Note: This story was inspired by Han Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Suit. In the fairy tale, a proud and vain emperor spends extravagant amounts of money on a new suit that is supposedly invisible to anyone who is stupid or unworthy of their position. No one in the kingdom can see the suit, because it does not exist, but they go on pretending, because no on wishes to be known as stupid. I worked to give this story a more modern twist by making the emperor a naive businessman, who is still obsessed with clothing.

Reading Notes: Hans Christian Andersen, Part A

Tonight, I finished my first reading from our European unit, Hans Christian Andersen's Fairy Tales and Stories. While section B was entirely The Little Mermaid, Part A was five different stories: The Princess and the Pea, The Emperor's New Suit, The Brave Tin Soldier, The Wicked Prince, and The Little Match-Seller. Much like The Little Mermaid, the themes of this stories were fairly dark. In my opinion, only The Princess and the Pea ended on a light-hearted note.

Hans Christian Andersen 

Overall, I enjoyed reading his stories, and can appreciate that at one point in history, children's stories and fairy tales were not what we would consider child-friendly by today's standards. Whichever of Andersen's tales I adapt this week, I feel that it is important to maintain his dark tones.

The Emperor's New Suit
In this story, a prideful emperor commissions new clothes from traveling merchants. The merchants claim that their products hold great power, such that stupid people cannot see them. In reality, the clothes do not exist. However, the merchants had spread the news of their fabrics so well that everyone played along with their lie, refusing to admit that they cannot see the clothes. Eventually, the emperor walks in a parade, entirely nude, because the entire kingdom pretends that they can see the beautiful garment, too scared to be revealed as stupid. It is not until a child points out the emperor's impropriety that the plot of the merchants is revealed.

Reading Notes: Hans Christian Andersen, Part B

This week, we are reading from the European unit, and I was immediately attracted to the option to read Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales, adapted from his Fairy Tales and Stories. I have always heard that his original Little Mermaid is nothing like the Disney version with which I grew up, and was eager to discover those differences for myself. As such, I made the unconventional choice to read Part B of the unit first, which included the entirety of The Little Mermaid. Tomorrow, I will start again at the beginning and read Part A.

The Little Mermaid Statue in Copenhagen, Denmark

While Andersen's Mermaid certainly has darker themes than Disney's retelling, the hype surrounding the story had me expecting something particularly heinous. While I would argue that the fairy tale is not the most suitable for children, the story is not a miserable as I had anticipated. If I were to write my own story from the original Little Mermaid, I would definitely work to create something dark, yet meaningful and moving.

The Little Mermaid
The little mermaid is a princess, the youngest of the widowed king's daughters. She has been raised primarily by her grandmother, and spends her days tending to her garden and waiting her turn to travel to the surface. On her fifteenth birthday, the little mermaid is finally allowed to journey above the waves, and witnesses a shipwreck that results in her meeting the prince. The mermaid saves him from drowning, delivers him to shore, and then returns home, only to dream of how she might see him again. The mermaid's grandmother tells her that she may obtain a human's afterlife, but only if the prince loves her completely and shares a part of his human soul. The princess eventually visits the sea witch, who promises to grant the mermaid human legs, so that she may visit the prince in his world. In exchange for these legs, the mermaid agrees to a lifetime of pain in her feet, and allows the witch to cut out her tongue as payment.
As a human, the princess is cherished by the prince, but he does not love her romantically. This poses a significant problem - if the prince marries another, the little mermaid will be turned to sea foam immediately. After years of considering the mermaid his closest friend, the prince meets a bride. The mermaid's sisters attempt to rescue the mermaid from her fate, trading their hair for a knife from the sea witch. With this knife, the little mermaid is to kill the prince, thus sparing her own life. Instead, the mermaid tosses the knife back into the sea. For her kindness as a human, the mermaid is transformed into a daughter of the air, where she must serve another 300 years before entering the kingdom of heaven.

Famous Last Words: Three More Weeks!

This week, I am gearing up for the end of the semester, as graduation is only three weeks away. It's hard to believe that the past four years at the University of Oklahoma have flown by so fast, but I am incredibly excited for what's coming next in my life! I will spend the next several weeks soaking in academics, friendships, and my favorite parts of Norman. Then, in one month, I will be moving to southwest Idaho to pursue a position with Teach For America, and am eager to face important challenges in a new city. My summer will be a complete whirlwind, with the weeks split between Norman, OK, Boise, ID, Houston, TX, and my hometown of Muldrow, OK. Until then, I hope to slow down and fully enjoy the moments immediately ahead of me. 

THREE MORE WEEKS, AHH 

photo by kaitmaddox photography

I plan to finish this semester strong in all of my classes, which will require me to buckle down and test my self-discipline and I complete remaining homework assignments and papers. In the midst of studying and writing, I want to set aside time to make genuine connections and heartfelt memories with my friends. Time to pour into relationships is incredibly important to me before moving so far away for two years, but I will need to carefully balance social desires with academic requirements. Finally, I want to thoughtfully choose a few locations and activities in Norman as part of a farewell tour – it will be my last opportunity to enjoy Norman for awhile. I'll definitely need one last gelato from il Dolce, a vulcan and cream soda from Midway Deli, and a long afternoon snoozing and reading in my hammock at the Duck Pond! Past that, I would love to hear some suggestions about Norman experiences that I should not miss before I go!

Wikipedia Trail: Lewis Carrol to Betty in Blunderland

This week, I decided to do a Wikipedia Trail for extra credit. My trail took me from Lewis Carrol to Betty in Blunderland.

1. Lewis Carroll: Earlier this evening, I commented on a classmate's post about the Jabberwocky, and Carroll's tendency to create delightful poems from gibberish words. As a result, I decided to read more about his interests and writings outside of the Alice books, with which I was already familiar. 
2. Through the Looking Glass: However, familiarity won out, and I found myself on the page for Through the Looking Glass. I loved learning more about the Jabberwock, and especially love The Walrus and the Carpenter. 
3. The Walrus and the Carpenter: This has been one of my favorite poems since childhood; although I was creeped out by its depiction in the Walt Disney movie. From this article, I was delighted to learn that the poem was the inspiration for the Beatles' I Am the Walrus. 
4. Betty in Blunderland: This is a short film featuring Betty Boop. In the animated short, she is completing an Alice in Wonderland puzzle, when she falls asleep and dreams of her own Wonderland adventure. 

The Jabberwock

Learning Challenge: I Wish My Teacher Knew

For this week's Learning Challenge, I read an article about the book I Wish My Teacher Knew by Kyle Schwartz.

An example response collected by Mrs. Schwartz

I was already familiar with this book through my work with Teach For America, and am always moved by selections from it. I think it is absolutely touching that Mrs. Schwartz went to such efforts to get to know her students, and I hope that I can implement a similar project in my own classroom. 

I also admire the project Humans of New York, which I think does an excellent job of promoting empathy for people, and telling their unfiltered stories, without revealing identifying information. 

Growth Mindset: 10 Reasons Why Failure is Important

10 Reasons Why Failure is Important

This graphic confirmed for me that failure helps to make us more resilient, and builds character, while also teaching me that failure can be a valuable tool for perpetuating a growth mindset. After studying this graphic, I'm curious about the work of George Couros and Kim Pollishuke, and will definitely look up more of their writings! 

Tech Tip: Canvas Mobile App

For some extra credit this week, I tried downloading and installing the Canvas App on my iPhone. I found the entire process very simple, but was somewhat annoyed by the amount of time the application took to download and install (I blame OU WIFI). In the future, I expect that I will use this app mostly to check updated grades, or announcements posted by my professors.

Reading Notes: The Brothers Grimm (Crane), Part A

For an extra credit reading this week, I have chosen selections from The Brothers Grimm, from Household Stories by the Brothers Grimm, translated by Lucy Crane and illustrated by Walter Crane. I chose this unit in hopes of finding new twists on familiar stories, and was not disappointed. Within Part A, I found an adaptation of Cinderella called Ashenputtel, and a story reminiscent of Hansel and Gretel called the Robber Bridegroom.

The Bride leads her rescuer home through the woods.

The Robber Bridegroom
In this story, a maiden's father has promised her to a suitor, but the young woman has some doubts about her potential husband. Despite all of his attempts to win her heart, the woman simply does not trust him, and doubts that his feelings for her are true. Eventually, the suitor insists that his bride come visit his home, and leaves a trail of ashes in the woods so she may find her way. As the bride travels to meet her groom, she drops peas and lentils along her path.

Once in his home, the bride is met only by a bird, who warns her of the dangers that await her there. As the bride explores the home, she stumbles upon an old woman, who tells her that her "groom" is a member of a band of cannibals, who will force the old woman to cook up the bride for dinner. The old woman hides the bride, who watches as another younger lady is killed, cooked, and eaten by the band of robbers, who the old woman drugs into a deep sleep, allowing herself and the bride to escape.

The bride and the old woman find their way home along the path of peas and lentils. Later, at the wedding, the bride reveals the crimes of her groom, who is captured and killed by the bride's family.

Along with being generally disturbing, I found this story to have several major plot holes. First, why isn't the bride's community concerned with the number of young women that has gone missing? How did the old lady come to work for the band of robbers? Why should the bride burst her? If the bride knew of their crimes, why did she wait until the wedding to reveal the true nature of her groom? If I were to rewrite this story, I would aim to answer some of these questions, while maintaining the dramatic nature of the original.

Reading Notes: Nursery Rhymes, Part B

Today, I am completing my reading of our British and Celtic unit for Mythology and Folklore. For this week's reading, I have chosen selections from The Nursery Rhyme Book  by Andrew Lang, with illustrations from L. Leslie Brooke. As I wrote on Wednesday, nursery rhymes are going to prove rather challenging for this week's storytelling assignment. Nonetheless, I am excited to accept that challenge, and am eager to see how I can redevelop and interpret these classic rhymes.

Jack and Jill

Part B, while mostly similar to Part A in length and style, contrasts significantly in content. As I previously mentioned, I was surprised by how dark some of the nursery rhymes in Part A were, as they feature themes like death and abuse. In Part B, however, I truly enjoyed the section of rhymes entitled Love and Matrimony. There were familiar rhymes like Jack and Jill and Georgie Porgie within this section, but they were accompanied by surprising new stories like Sylvia and Simon and Jack Sprat. Furthermore, I found it interesting that many of these rhymes referred to food as an important part of the relationship between the two characters. From Part B, I primarily learned that the nature of nursery rhymes, while humorous, is also concerned with the lives and needs of the rhymes' audience.

Jack Sprat
This short rhyme (five lines) tells us Jack could eat no fat, and his wife could eat no lean, so together they could always lick their plates clean. As a basis for a relationship, complementary eating habits seem silly, but so do many of these rhymes.

There was a Little Man
In this somewhat longer rhyme, a little man asks a little maid to marry him, to which she replies "But what shall we have for to eat?" this rhyme signifies the importance of provision in a marriage. If I choose to write a more romantic or loving nursery rhyme, the concerns of the audience, such as where their food will come from, must be considered.

Reading Notes: Nursery Rhymes, Part A

This week, I went in a different direction with my reading choices. We are still working out of our British Isles unit in Myth and Folklore, and I was intrigued by the option to read nursery rhymes. I ultimately opted for selections from The Nursery Rhyme Book by Andrew Lang, with illustrations from L. Leslie Brooke. While I was familiar with a handful of the rhymes, and ultimately enjoyed the reading, I quickly realized that I had unwittingly stumbled across a challenge for this week. I am most comfortable with writing short, episodic prose, but these rhymes are typically very short, humorous, and of course, rhythmic. I have some doubts about my ability to write in this style, but am excited to test myself with this week's storytelling.

Traditional Punch and Judy Puppets

What I found most fascinating about Part A was how many of the rhymes have dark themes, such as Babes in the Wood, Punch and Judy, and Solomon Grundy. As I write, I want to capture that essence of the rhymes, emphasizing a light tone while exploring a heavier idea.

Babes in the Wood
This rhyme tells the story of two children who were kidnapped and left in the woods to die. It relays their fear and tears over their fate, and even describes how their corpses were treated by the woodland animals. I struggle to think that such content was once considered suitable for children, and would like to learn more about the nature of this story. Was it meant as a warning to children, or as some sort of social commentary?

Punch and Judy
This is a very short rhyme, only four lines, and tells of Punch giving his wife, Judy, a black eye over a pie. Typically, Punch and Judy puppet shows include depictions of violence, yet are considered humorous. Again, I cannot help but question if this is truly child-friendly content.

Solomon Grundy
Another short rhyme, Solomon Grundy tells how Solomon was born, married, and died over the course of a week. I can't seem to derive any deeper message or commentary from this one, although I have heard previous references to it in popular culture.