Essay Week 14: A Place for Grace

What is incredible to me is the place that grace holds among these stories. Most stories have some element of grace in them, whether that is abundant grace or grace that is lacking. The Italian Popular Tales unit is full of all kinds of examples.

When the stories with varying levels of grace are juxtaposed like they are in the storybook, it truly highlights the role that grace plays. I will go into detail on two stories that are in the storybook and elaborate on the role grace plays for each.

The Ingrates 

In this story, there is a man, a snake, and a fox. The man helps the snake from under a rock, but then the serpent wants to eat the man. They both inquire with others what is right, and the fox basically tricks the snake back under the rock and all is how it started. Now, instead of thanking or repaying the fox for saving his life, the man ends up killing the fox. The moral of that story being that evil is repaid to those who do good. Basically, this story lacks grace. You know how when you are eating something while on the beach, at some point you accidentally get a few grains of sand in your mouth and you are left with it grinding in the teeth? That is how I felt at the end of this story. Where is the redemption?

The Story of Crivoliu

In this story, a brother and a sister end up having a son together and he ends up being raised in a different place. At some point he finds out how he was conceived and pays his penance for his parents sin. Long story short, he ends up becoming pope. Later, his parents come and confess their sins to the pope. Instead if being bitter, he forgives them and they all lived happily ever after. In other words, full of grace. You know how you feel on a hot summer day when your mom pulls out a sleeve of frozen iced pops and that sweet, frozen nectar hits your hot tongue? That's refreshing, just like this story.

Both of these stories, grace plays a role. I think to me I realized that we all in some form or fashion long for redemption, and that comes through grace. I find both stories equally entertaining, but I truly enjoy when grace is present. It also reminds me to show grace as often as possible!

Image Credit: NBC News

Storytelling Week 14: The Three Brothers

There once were three brothers. They all three were adventurous, studious, brilliant young men who were trying to fight their way into the world of business.

The three of them decided that it was wise to go all in together because there is strength in numbers.. as well as less business risk. They looked into a variety of options for their business and decided on an industrial equipment sales company that would distribute as well as repair manufacturer equipment to smaller "mom and pop" companies. The three of them drew up a business plan and got to work.

Half a year down the road, the business was up and running. The three of them had poured all their effort into the structure of the company as well as into building up a broad clientele base. The oldest brother saw a ton of potential in the company and had been in charge of the legal side of the business. When it came time to divvy up the profit, the oldest brother greedily thought it the right time to tell the other brothers they had been "written out," meaning that they were not owners of the company and therefore would receive nothing for their work.

Enraged, the other brothers fought him in court, but to no avail due to the eldest brother's infallible contract work. The two of them counted their losses and set to work again, their entrepreneurial spirit as alive as ever. The middle brother proposed a new business, one that managed, bought, and sold real estate properties. Seeing the potential, the younger brother agreed. They both made a promise that they wouldn't let the same thing happen that had the last time. They hired out a contract lawyer to do the work.

So they set to work, and the business was again up and running within the first year. After they had acquired enough properties, the middle brother turned over a new, yet ugly leaf. It turns out that the contract lawyer that was hired to do the work had been paid off by the middle brother to write the youngest out of the contract. The same thing happened again. When it came time to reap the reward of their hard work, the middle brother kicked the younger one out.

Dejected and hurt after being kicked out of two businesses he had rightfully started, he set down and rethought his approach to business-building. He analyzed the markets like never before, and tried to combine that with all of his passions. He started out, this time with no other business partners, to build his very own outdoor adventure store. It would offer access to all extreme sports, renting out equipment, as well as selling high-end retail.

Again, the business thrived within the first year. The youngest brother was happier than ever, and found himself almost glad that he had been thwarted by his oldest two brothers.

Five years later, the youngest brother had grown his company into an empire, with store locations all around the nation. The market turned unfavorable and the middle and eldest brothers had been "wolfed" by the downturn. By the end, the youngest brother was the only one still standing, taller and happier than ever.

Image Credit: Real Adventure

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Author's Note: This story is based on the Three Goslings from the Italian Fairy Tales book written by Thomas Crane in 1885. This story is also very well known in the states as "The Three Little Pigs." Here, I gave it a modern twist by changing the pigs into three brothers, and the wolf into the volatile market. I thought instead of dying physically, as the goslings did in the story, I would have the brothers' careers die instead. In this day and age, some people would argue that that death is just as bad (although it isn't). I like that the third brother combined his passion for business and passion for adventure and opened an outdoors store; this is something I hope to do one day, too!

Reading Diary B: Italian Round 2

The second half of the Italian Popular Tales unit proved to be just as fun as the first! There were a few of the stories that I had heard before, but with a twist. For instance, The Three Goslings is the equivalent of The Three Little Pigs. A lot of the stories, however, were very new to me and in my opinion had a variety of lessons.

I found An Incident in Rome to be entertaining yet serious. It is a story where a group of men stumble upon this hole in the ground. A man descends into it to find a door and a man sitting in the room behind it. After a series of events, we find out that this man is Pontius Pilate, who is neither saved nor condemned. He is to stay and read over and over the sentence he gave to Jesus Christ. It is no light subject matter, that is for sure!

My favorite of the unit was The Feast Day. This is a story about how a cat, a dog, a maiden, and her husband all get stuck on the top of the house. They are later saved by a friend who came to visit and managed to pull them all down. The reason it was my favorite is really just because it is a story that in context means something completely different present day. They use the following expressions:

"... Where the deuce are you fastened?"
"Where the deuce have they hidden?"

I find this entertaining because a lot of college kids use similar expressions. I don't know if this is the style of story from which that slang term originated, but it added such value to the entertainment of the story. Not to mention the way that it ends:

So he gave a great pull: the cat's tail was loosened, the cat fell into the dog's mouth, the dog into his mistress' mouth, the mistress into her husband's, her husband into his friend's, and his friend into the mouth of the blockheads who are listening to me.

I just like that the author used the term "blockheads" to finish of a great story!

Image Cred: StripGenerator

Reading Diary A: Italia What, These Are Some Good Stories!

Read Italian Fairy Tales, the first half, today. It was right up there with some of my other favorite units in the class. I think I have come to the conclusion that I really enjoy the middle ages where there are kings and enchantments and the works.

The beginning of this unit had the story of Rapunzel, but not Rapunzel. It was an Italian Rapunzel whose name is The Fair Angiola. What I liked about this story is that it reminds me of the movie Tangled (happened to watch it this past weekend). But it truly does help paint the picture whenever we have something to which we can compare the imagery used in writing. I picture the old witch very similar to the old lady in Tangled!

Image Credit: YouTube

I also thought that The Ingrates had a very interesting ending to its story. In it, there is a serpent trapped under a rock, and a man helps him escape. The snake then wants to eat the man. They seek advice of those around them to see what is fair. Eventually, they ask the fox, and the fox tricks the snake back to being trapped from under the rock and frees the man. Then, the man gives the fox a gift that actually contains dog inside. The fox opens the gift and is killed by the dogs. It definitely is an ending that is bittersweet. I like it because it is different- not that prefect happy ending. But I also think it is so sad that so much injustice was done. Although it was entertaining, to say the least.

Extra Reading Diary: The Little Mermaid

I read The Little Mermaid from the Andersen Fairy Tales Unit. It was broken into six parts, but goes through the entire story of the Little Mermaid.

My first observation is just how different it is from the Disney movies. Granted, I have heard that a mall ion times- that Disney always "Disneyfies" their stories to always be a happy ending. I would say the end of this story is a sad ending, and it was sad the way the prince called her "my dumb foundling." It just kind of paints a picture of the little mermaid being pathetic and like a little puppy dog. Also, the ending is of course completely different! How she doesn't actually end up with a prince, but she floats into the air to become a "daughter of the air." Just all around different!

Another observation is how descriptive the stories really are. Especially Part 1. The way the undersea kingdom is described makes me want to visit. It is vivid detail and creatively thought up! For instance:

Outside the castle there was a beautiful garden, in which grew bright red and dark blue flowers and blossoms like flames of fire; the fruit glittered like gold, and the leaves and stems waved to and fro continually. The earth itself was the finest sand, but blue as the flame of burning sulphur. Over everything lay a peculiar blue radiance, as if it were surrounded by the air from above, through which the blue sky shone, instead of the dark depths of the sea.

I just can picture the colors and the intertwining creatures! The way that Andersen uses color to truly enhance the imagery makes me want to write the same way. Although... to be of equal stature would take quite a bit of time and some extremely favorable circumstances!

 Image Credit: Disney Blogs

Storytelling Week 13: Desserted.

"Scoot it over towards me!" Brady directed, indicating with his hands the stool that stood between him and his older sister Jamie. 

"No, I think this is right!" Jamie responded. Getting on her tippy toes and stretching her legs as far as possible, she was barely able to reach the first step on the bottom of the stool. Climbing up step after step, she had made it to the very top of the stool. Extending her hands as far as possible, they came just short of the cookie jar.

Earlier that morning, the toddlers' mom had spent a few hours making all kinds of baked goods for the party they were hosting that night. She forbid Brady and Jamie from touching them until the party, something about "spoiling" something or other. However, the kids just saw this as a challenge. They watched as she placed the last of the cookies in the tall, crystal jar and scooted it to the back of the counter. Bring it on, Brady thought. He was already devising a plan.

Mom had gone back to her room to 'work on bills', which the kids knew really meant that mommy was taking a nap. By their approximation they had around thirty minutes to retrieve the cookies. Their first attempt being to take the stool out of the pantry and see if Jamie was tall enough to reach the jar.

She wasn't.

"What are we gonna do now?" Brady asked. "That was my best idea!"

"I know! Let's see if we can get one of the stools from our bathroom and put it on top of this one!" Jamie exclaimed excitedly.

They ran to their bathroom and took one of the stools they used to see the mirror when they brushed their teeth. Lugging it behind the two of them, they came to the kitchen and pondered how they were going to get it on top of the other stool. In the same manner as the first time, Jamie climbed as high as she could on top of the first stool. Brady did his best to shove the other stool as high up as he could, managing to also climb on top of the first stool. The two of them, while balancing together, managed to lift and place the second stool on top of the first. The best news? The top of the second stool was even with the countertop!

Jamie began to climb as Brady tried to stabilize. She got about halfway up, but accidentally took a step a little too far to the left, throwing Brady off balance, and sending the two of them toppling down to the tile. The commotion was too much- and Mom came running out of her room.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING?" she was breathing hard and fast. "Oh..." she said quietly as she digested the situation. Then she began to chuckle and chuckle and chuckle. "Not today, you two!" And with that remark, she swept up the cookie jar and put it in the very top cabinet- forever out of the reach of her two little cookie monsters. (Well, until that night anyway!)

Image Credit: The Cripple Gate

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Author's Note: This story is based on The Fox and the Grapes from the La Fontaine Aesop's Fables unit. The original story is short and sweet:

Rosy and ripe, and ready to box,

The grapes hang high o'er the hungry Fox. —

He pricks up his ears, and his eye he cocks.
Ripe and rosy, yet so high! —
He gazes at them with a greedy eye,
And knows he must eat and drink — or die.
When the jump proves to be beyond his power —
"Pooh!" says the Fox. "Let the pigs devour
Fruit of that sort. Those grapes are sour!"

I like this idea of having something that is so sweetly desired almost dangling in front of your face, and then realizing that it isn't going to happen. When I first read this I immediately thought of my cookie jar days, and knew immediately that it would be a fun story to write. Obviously, the cookies represent that grapes and the toddlers represent the fox. It was just out of reach for both stories! Not really a central theme or lesson, just a fun story!

Reading Diary B: La Fontaine Fables

Read the second half of Fontaine's Aesop's Fables. The second half was much like the first. It grouped the fables and broke it down by the animal involved in the story. I liked a lot of them but for some reason my favorite part was in the story The Bear and The Amateur Gardener.

"The bear, with thoughts the same,
Down from his mountain came;
And in a solitary place,
They met each other, face to face."

This is an excerpt from the story where the bear and the gardener are about to "face off" if you can call it that. At the end the bear ends up living with the man and everything is great. But at the very end a very trivial instance made the bear kill the man. It just teaches to be aware of your surroundings and intentions of your friendships.

I guess the reason why I liked it so much is that it seemed to me like a very dramatic face off between the two. Like I can just imagine the bear clambering down the mountain side and coming to a complete stop right as the man has his chest puffed out standing tall in the middle of a mouton meadow. The creatures of the forest stand in awe to see the outcome... it could be a cool movie scene, that is for sure!

If I were to imagine this scene, here is how I think it would end up:

Image Credit: io9