Mythology and Folklore

Italian Popular Tales By Thomas Crane Part B of Crane's Italian Popular Tales contained many stories that I have not heard of or read before. A story that really caught my eye was An Incident in Rome. I enjoyed how right off the bat there was an element of mystery that got the reader thinking. This mystery continued through the whole story until the end where there was not a clear ending. This is the only element of the story I did not like as I wish there was a definitive answer as to what had occurred. Cinderella: Wikipedia

Italian Popular Tales by Thomas Crane I chose to read from the Italian popular tales unit this week because my storybook project is based on Italian fairy tales. In part A of Crane's tales, I noticed there was a higher quality of storytelling than I have read previously in this class. All of his tales in this section, had a magical quality that made the reader want to continue on to the next story. While dialogue was used in this section of stories, I liked how it did not over power the stories, but it aided in progressing the stories.  Sleeping Beauty: Wikipedia

The English and Scottish Popular Ballads  by Francis James Child. Part B of Robin Hood was just as interesting as part A. I feel as though the story lines throughout this section was more intriguing and exciting than that of the previous section. The whole story line really climaxed and I was interested to see how the ballad format would translate with such exciting story lines. Overall, I enjoyed reading Robin Hood. The ballad really brought the story to life and kept me on my toes.  Robin Hood: Wikimedia Commons

The English and Scottish Popular Ballads  by Francis James Child. This week I chose to read Robin Hood because there are so many different versions of these tales that we have been exposed to throughout our lives and I thought that it would be interesting to read where they all came from.   I found it interesting that in these tales, Robin is depicted as not only the thief and creator of mischief that we are used to in such tales, but also as a murderer. In many of the depictions Robin is misguided but we do not usually see him as a killer. I enjoyed how Robin Hood was a ballad. This isn't something that we see very often and I thought that it was quite an idea to be able tot get the readers involved in other ways than reading. Robin Hood: Public Domain

Advice to Writers Here are my favorite pieces of advice: 1. If you get stuck, get away from your desk. 2. Find Your Optimum Hours for Writing. 3. Dialogue in fiction should be reserved for the culminating moments and regarded as the spray into which the great wave of narrative breaks in curving toward the watcher on the shore. 4. Think of what you skip reading a novel: thick paragraphs of prose you can see have too many words in them.  5. Sometimes you can lick an especially hard problem by facing it always the very first thing in the morning with the very freshest part of your mind. Tip: pixabay

The Story of Beowulf by Strafford Riggs Part B of Beowulf was full of excitement as this is where Grendel attacks and the big battle takes place. There was not a lot of dialogue used to depict the battle and all of the excitement that occurs. The author uses great imagery to describe what is taking place and to make sure his audience can picture what is happening in the story. My favorite story in part B was Seeking Grendel's Mother. I think it served as a transition from the last battle to the next and gives readers a little break to think about what is going on. Beowulf: Wikimedia Commons