Essay for Week 11: Heroes of Robin Hood Ballads

Throughout mythological and folkloric tales, many examples of heroes can be found. The Ballads of Robin Hood provide no exception to this trend. Although Robin Hood may not fulfill the traditional idea of the chivalrous knight in shining armor, his many noble deeds more than prove that he is a true hero.

(Robin Hood: Wikimedia Commons)

In the tale Rescuing Three Squires, our heroic protagonist Robin Hood one day happens across a crying old woman. When Robin Hood questions the woman as to why she is crying, the old woman informs Robin Hood that each of her three sons have been sentenced to death for simply hunting a deer in the forest that the king claimed as his own. The hero Robin soon comes up with a plan to save the old woman's three sons. Robin Hood first seeks out a old beggar, and trades clothes with him to gain a disguise. Dressed as a lowly beggar, Robin Hood meets up with the Sheriff and offers to be the hangmen for the three men. The hero Robin Hood, risking his life and limb for three strangers, blows loudly upon his horn, calling his men to his side. With the help of his men, Robin Hood and the three squires escape into the forest.

Robin Hood's noble deeds do not end with him saving three lives. In the tale The Noble Fisherman Robin Hood once again takes to a disguise, this time pretending not be be a beggar, but instead a poor fisherman. Robin Hood meets a woman at the docks, who offers him a job on her boat.While Robin Hood is out at sea, a group of french pirates attempt to board the boat that Robin Hood is working on. The Hero Robin Hood draws his bow and shoots each and ever last one of the pirates. If saving the whole crew of the boat isn't heroic, I don't know what is!

Week 11 Reading Diary: Robin Hood Ballads

Here are a few of my favorite stories from Ballads of Robin Hood

The Ranger After the winter ends, and the snow melts away, Robin Hood sets out to hunt a deer to bring back for him and his merry men to eat. Along the way, however, he runs into a forester, who tells him that the deer here belong to the majesty, and threatens Robin Hood. Robin Hood rejects the words of the forester, saying that he has hunted in the forest for years, and will not be stopped. The two men engage in combat with their swords, fighting evenly for three hours! Eventually, Robin Hood's men appear, and he offers the skillful ranger a place in his ranks.

Rescuing Three Squires In this tale, Robin Hood comes across a crying woman, who he soon discovers has three sons that have been sentenced to death for killing the king's deer. Robin hatches a plan to save these three men, and trades clothes with an old beggar to give himself a disguise. Robin Hood then goes to the Sheriff and offers to help hang these men, but instead blows loudly on his horn, calling upon his men. They quickly arrive and save the three squires.

Little John a Begging In this story, Robin Hood sends Little John to go out begging. Little John agrees, and gathers his things to set out. Eventually, he meets up with a number of other beggars, who recognize Little John as not one of their own. The beggars decide to rob Little John for his bread and cheese, but he fights them off and instead finds a large amount of gold on them.

The Noble Fisherman Robin Hood takes to a disguise yet again in this tale, this time making himself up to be a poor fisherman. Robin Hood is offered a job on a boat by a woman, and soon sets off to sea. While out on the ocean, however, a band of french robbers attempts to hijack the boat. Robin Hood, with his swift bow and arrow, takes them all out.

Robin Hood and the Valiant Knight In this tale, the king sends Sir William and a hundred men to confront Robin Hood. After Robin Hood refuses to surrender, the two groups of men clash. Robin Hood survives this battle, but soon after becomes sick. A monk comes to let his blood, but this only worsens his condition. Robin Hood soon dies.

Einstein Tech Tip

Here is the picture I made with the Einstein generator

Week 10: Famous Last Words

I can't believe it! Week 10 is over already. In just 6 more weeks, the semester will be over and winter break will begin. Although, I think for many of us, winter break will really just be the beginning of the December intersession! The busy life of the college student, eh?

Another round of testing has passed, so this week has been a little bit slower. I've been trying to use this additional time to finish up my second story for my storybook, but I've had a little bit of writers block. I think I know where I want the tale to go, but it has been difficult to come up with the appropriate language to direct it there. Hopefully with some coffee and a little luck I can get it finished up.

(Coffee: Wikimedia Commons)

With the Principles of Physiology test out of the way, the normal lectures have resumed. This Thursday, however, we are supposed to have a guest lecturer. I am excited to see what they have to add to the class, but it has also been strongly suggested that we may have a quiz that day; something I am not so excited about.

With OU Texas canceling physics lab two weeks ago, and the lab practical last week, this week has been the first real physics lab I've done in a while. It was an interesting lab measuring the angles of reflection from different types of mirrors and through quartz crystals. The lights in the classroom had to be off for the experiment to work properly, but this did made it a little difficult to set up.

Organic Chem lab was short and sweet this week. Although I have to go directly to work after class, getting out of class early allowed me to get off of work early, which allowed me to go to sleep before 2am.

Essay for Week 10: Tricksters and Fools of Myths of the Cherokee

Throughout most folkloric tales, one can find numerous examples of both tricksters and fools. The Myths of the Cherokee are no exception to this trend.

In the Cherokee tale The Rabbit Goes Duck Hunting, a story is told of a rabbit who was so boastful that no matter whatever he saw anyone else do, he would claim he could do it as well! This trickster was even known to devise schemes to convince the other animals of his lies. The boastful rabbit one day sees the otter diving down deep into the water and eating fish, and decides to claim that he can do this as well. This tricky rabbit convinces all of the other animals of his ability, however, the otter claims that he also eats ducks, and the rabbit immediately claims to do the same. When the trickster rabbit attempts to fulfill this bet by placing a noose around one of the ducks necks, it takes off into the air, taking the rabbit along for the ride. In the end, this former trickster only shows himself to be a fool.

(The Cherokee's Ultimate Trickster, the Rabbit: Wikimedia Commons)

We see the rabbit once again take on the role of trickster in How the Rabbit Stole the Otter's Coat, albeit this time more successfully. In this story, the rabbit hears that among all the animals, the otter had the finest coat of them all. The rabbit soon hatches a plan to steal the otter's coat. The rabbit locates the otter on his way to a council meeting and travels with him. When they come to a place that the rabbit calls The Place Where it Rains Fire, the rabbit warns the otter that he should place his coat on a nearby tree limb so that it does not get burnt during a fire storm in the night. The trickster then throws hot coals over the otter in the middle of the night, shouting to him"it's raining fire!" When the otter runs to the water for cover, the rabbit steals his coat.

Week 10 Reading Diary: Myths of the Cherokee

Here are a few of my favorite stories from Myths of the Cherokee
  

The Rabbit Goes Duck Hunting This tale tells of a rabbit who was "so boastful that he would claim to do whatever he saw anyone else do" and "so tricky that he could usually make the other animals believe it all." One day, the boastful rabbits sees the otter diving down deep into the water and eating fish, and decides to claim that he can do it as well. This trickster even manages to convince the other animals of his ability! However, the otter claims that he also eats ducks, and challenges the rabbit to do the same. When the rabbit attempts to put a noose around one of the ducks necks, it takes off into the air, dragging the rabbit along for the ride.

How the Rabbit Stole the Otter's Coat In this story, it is told that among the animals, it was said that the otter had the finest coat among them all. Upon hearing this, the rabbit devises a scheme to steal the otter's coat. The rabbit finds the otter, and travels with him for a time. Eventually, they come to a place that the rabbit calls The Place Where it Rains Fire, where the rabbit warns the otter should place his coat on tree limb so that it does not get burnt during the fire storm. The tricky rabbit throws hot coals over the otter during the night, shouting "it's raining fire!" When the otter runs to the water, the rabbit makes off with his coat. 

How the Terrapin Beat the Rabbit This story tells the tale of a boastful terrapin (turtle) who challenges the rabbit to a race. Knowing that he would be unable to beat the rabbit, the terrapin instead gathers several of his identical friends to position themselves along the race track, pretending to be the single terrapin. The tricky terrapin cheats his way to a victory in the race.

The Owl Gets Married This tale begins with the story of a widow and her daughter. The widow tells her daughter that any man she marries must be a great hunter able to providing for her and her family. One day, a man appears, claiming to be a great hunter, and wins the daughters hand in marriage. Despite this, he consistently only brings back scraps from his "hunts." Suspicious, his new wife follows her husband down to the river where she witnesses him change into an owl! The young woman angrily drives him from their home when he returns that night.

The Snake Boy This story tells of a boy who bird hunted each day, bringing the gains of his hunt to his grandmother. This, however, made the rest of his family jealous, who then treated him badly.  Angry at his family, the boy sets off into woods without breakfast, returning that night with only a pair of deer horns. At daybreak the next day, the grandmother finds that the boy has turned into an uktena (horned serpant). The boy-serpent slithers away and plunges into the river, where the grieving grandmother soon follows.

The Snake Man This tale tells of two hunters forbidden from eating squirrel or turkey meat. After a long day of hunting, one of the hunters begins to prepare several squirrels he has killed for his supper. The other hunter warns him that if he eats the squirrel, he will turn into a snake. Sure enough, after he eats the squirrel, the hunter turns into a serpent and slithers to the river bank.

OU Email Tech Tip

I had never heard of the option to create new folders to organize emails before. I will definitely be using this in the future!

Week 9: Famous Last Words

Week 9 is over and the semester is showing no signs of slowing down! This past week as been one of the most stressful this semester, and I am not sad to see it over.

(Stress: Flickr)

This week I had both an exam in Principles of Physiology, as well as a lab practical in my Physics II Lab. My procrastination of studying for these tests certainly didn't help either! As a result, some of my work for other classes was put on the back burner. Unfortunately, I failed to complete the weekly reading as well as the storytelling post for Mythology and Folklore. This left me unable to complete a few other assignments as well. Fortunately, however, there is a large amount of extra credit available to make up for the assignments I did not complete! I am really thankful for the flexibility that this class provides! My Principles of Physiology grade is thankful as well.

Organic Chemistry Lab this week was certainly an interesting one. I had received an email a couple days before the lab informing that the lab we would be conducting would produce a terrible smell that could linger on for some time. The email even went so far as to suggest not wearing any clothes that you valued as they could be permanently contaminated! I was very concerned as we have to take our backpacks into this classroom and I really was not looking forward to having a smelly backpack for the rest of the semester, or buying a new one for that matter. Fortunately, I think the email was a little bit of an exaggeration, as the smell produced was really nothing worse than the smell of a chlorine pool. I had expected much, much worse after reading the suggestions from the email.

Week 8: Reading Diary Assessment

Reading back through my diary entries, I noticed that not much has changed since I begun my diary. I think I have found I format that I enjoy writing in, and have stuck with it throughout the semester. My strategy for writing my diary entries usually consists of picking a few of my favorite stories spaced throughout the reading and summarizing them in my own words. This helps me retain these stories that I have read in my memory, and also creates a nice entry to go back and look at when I need to recall the details of a story. Usually I read through the entire reading first, and then go back and pick my favorite stories to write about. I then reread the stories that I have picked, taking notes about them as I go along.

The length of my journal entries has been pretty consistent each week, usually ending up at about six hundred words per entry. This seems about the right length to me, but adding some more notes to these entries may be beneficial. I usually don't add an image to my diary entries, but the thought hadn't occurred to me before. This may also be a way to improve my diary assignments; taking the time to seek out a relevant image may also help me retain these stories for later, and having and image would definitely be more pleasing to those who may read my entries.

In general, I think I remember the stories that I write about fairly well. However, for my other classes it seems that I learn the material in preparation for an exam and then lose a lot of this information after the exam has passed. Perhaps a reading journal of sorts for my other classes would help with information retention!

Week 7: Famous Last Words

I can't believe it is week seven already. The semester is almost halfway over! This week has been a very busy one, as my coworker left and I am having to cover additional days!

My classes this week have been interesting. In Physics Lab we had and a few interesting labs involving electromagnetic fields. There were about 6 different apparatuses set up at different tables around the room, and each group took turns switching tables, experimenting with phenomenon of electromagnetic fields. Organic Chem lab was a little bit easier this week, as we just did worksheets on infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. This means no lab report due next week!


In Mythology and Folklore this week, I read Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton. I really enjoyed this reading. The folk tales reminded me strongly of Aesop's fables, as many of them involved animals and they all had a lesson to teach.

For my storytelling post this week, I rewrote the Tibetan Folk Tale The Tiger and the Frog. In the original story, there is a hungry tiger who one day while out prowling comes across a small frog. The Tiger's first instinct is to eat the frog up, but this clever frog declares that he is king of all frogs, saying that he can jump any distance and do anything. The frog decides to challenge the Tiger to a contest to who can jump furthest across a nearby river. However, the clever frog bites onto the tigers tail and uses the tiger to catapult himself across the river instead. When they get to the other side, the frog tricks the tiger by spitting up his own fur and claiming he had eaten a tiger the day before. The scared tiger then runs away! I kept my telling of the story mostly the same, but changed the contest to a race.

 (Tiger. Wikimedia Commons)

URL Shortener Tech Tip

Short: http://goo.gl/KeqxHg

Here's the original URL:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lopadotemachoselachogaleokranioleipsanodrimhypotrimmatosilphioparaomelitokatakechymenokichlepikossyphophattoperisteralektryonoptekephalliokigklopeleiolagoiosiraiobaphetraganopterygon

Essay for Week 7: Tricksters and Fools of Tibetan Folk Tales

Tricksters and fools play a large part in many mythological and folkloric tales. In the Tibeten Folk Tales, we see many examples of these characters.

In the tale The Tiger and the Frog, the trickster Frog creates a ruse that convinces a hungry tiger not to eat him. When the Tiger and the Frog first meet, the Tiger's first instinct is to gobble this small creature up. However, the frog declares that he is king of all frogs, saying that he can jump any distance and do anything. He proceeds to challenge the Tiger to see who can jump further across a nearby river. When the Tiger jumps across, this trickster bites his tail and uses him to get across the river! He then spits up the Tiger's fur and deceives him into believing that it was from a Tiger he had eaten the previous day. The scared Tiger runs away!

(Tiger: Wikimedia Commons)

One of these tricky creatures from the Tibetan Folk Tales falls victim to his own ruse in How the Fox Fell a Victim to His Own Deceit. This tale begins with a mother tiger bringing a baby fox back to her cub to be a playmate. While out on her hunt one day, this mother tiger finds a baby calf, and brings it back to be a playmate for her cub as well. When the calf arrives,however, the fox becomes jealous. The mother tiger dies, and the trickster fox tells both the calf and the tiger that the other is planning on killing the other! In the end, the calf and the tiger figure out that the fox has tricked them, and instead it the the fox who is made to be a fool.

In the story How the Sacred Duck Got His Yellow Breast, a rabbit and a frog find a golden pot on top of a mountain. Unable to decide who would get the pot, they decide to race for it. The frog, however, knowing that he would be unable to beat the rabbit in a race, gathers two lookalikes to sneak in and take his place along the path!

Storytelling for Week 7: The Tiger and the Frog

Once upon a time, in the rainforest of the amazon, there lived a frog. This frog slept through the day and lived out his nights hopping to and from, eating flies and playing games with his fellow frogs, as did so many other frogs living in the rainforest. Each frog of the forest knew, however, that when daylight approached their games were to end, for the predators that lurked in the rainforest were sure to awaken.

One day, as all the frogs were winding down and preparing for rest, the Frog realized that he had left his glasses out while playing.

"Drats! If I don't go get my glasses now, I may never find them!" said the Frog to himself. "If I hurry I should make it back before daylight."

The Frog quickly dashed into the forest and retrieved his glasses, but he had taken too long; the sun was appearing on the horizon. Just then, the Frog heard rustling from the trees beside him, and soon appeared a large and ferocious tiger. 

(Emerald Glass Frog: Wikimedia Commons)

"Why, hello there little frog. I think you'll make a fine snack on this beautiful morning." said the Tiger, inching his way closer to the Frog.

"Wait!" yelled the frog. "I'm ah.. I'm.. I'm the king of all the frogs! I can do anything and beat anyone!"

"Is that so, little frog?" questioned the Tiger. "Tell me, can you beat me in a race? Can those tiny legs of yours carry you faster than these great haunches of mine?"

"Of course they can!" replied the Frog. "I'll race you straight to the tree trunk down there!"

"Very well." said the Tiger. "On the count of three. One.. Two.. Three!"

On the count of three, the Tiger set off at a rapid speed. The Frog, knowing that he could not beat the Tiger in a flat out sprint, instead jumped and grabbed the Tiger's tail in his mouth.

When the Tiger arrived at the tree trunk, he glanced around and found no sign of the Frog in sight.

"Hah!" laughed the Tiger. "I outpaced him so much he's not even in sight."

"Over here!" said the Frog. "What took you so long?"

The Tiger turned around, startled to see the Frog sitting before him. The Frog spit down in front of the Tiger, cleaning out the fur that had stuck in his mouth from the Tiger's tail.

"That fur, how did you get that in your mouth?" questioned the Tiger.

"That uh.. that's from a Tiger I ate just yesterday!"

Afraid of the Frog's apparent strength and speed, the Tiger ran off into the forest to never be seen by the frog again.

Author's Note: This story is based on The Tiger and the Frog from Tibetan Folk Tales by A.L. Shelton. This story tells of a hungry tiger who one day comes across a small frog. The Tiger's first instinct is to gobble the frog up, but the frog declares that he is king of all frogs, saying that he can jump any distance and do anything. This frog challenges the Tiger to a contest  as to who can jump across a nearby river. The frog bites onto the tigers tail and uses him to jump across the river. When they get to the other side, the frog tricks the tiger by spitting up his own fur and claiming he had eaten a tiger the day before. Scared, the tiger runs away.