Welcome to the Portfolio!

This Portfolio is a compilation of what I believe are my five best, and favorite, Storytellings I have written for Mythology and Folklore. Each story is unique and they cover a variety of different topics. I definitely had a lot of fun writing each individual story on this list. The majority of them were ideas that hit me like a lightning bolt and then just seemed to flow. Feel welcome to read as many of my stories as you would like. Who knows what will spark your creativity? Enjoy!

Week 2 Storytelling: The Magical Mouse

Week 5 Storytelling: Madhavi's Memoir

Week 4 Storytelling: Good Night, Tommy

Week 10 Storytelling: Ghost Diary

Week 11 Storytelling: What Really Happened Up on that Hill

Week 15 Famous Last Words

I have to say that I am actually really sad that this class has to come to an end. I do not think I have enjoyed any of my classes nearly as much as I have enjoyed this one. I think part of it might have to do with the consistency, but I also had a lot of fun with the assignments and the material. For some reason the classes that I have found to be the most fun have absolutely nothing to do with a major. As A communication major I am able to take a variety of classes, which is just perfect for my crazy way of thinking. The strange part is that I have probably retained more information from the classes that had nothing to do with my major than the ones that did. This could be because the majority of communication classes discuss the same things over and over again. Communicate effectively, listen, look for non-verbal cues, etc. The classes tend to overlap, as you can infer. But next semester I am onto my very last communication class - capstone -, which is very much bittersweet. I cannot believe how fast this semester has flown by. Just one more to go before graduation. It is kind of crazy how fast my college career has flown by. Surprisingly it is terrifying and comforting at the same time. I would say that it is terrifying just because I do not feel as though I can see the finish line to the next step. For example, when you graduated elementary school your next step was junior high, and when you graduated junior high your next step was high school, and etc. Well in this situation, meaning graduation, I have not found a job yet so I do not see the finish line. I feel like I am just searching for a nonexistent wall. Anyway, it was an excellent semester and an even better class. 

Chocolate Cupcakes (Source)

About the Writing Week 15

My favorite part of the writing was the storytelling. It really allowed me to get creative with ideas and styles. I chose the Portfolio because I liked the variety. That was one of my favorite parts of the class was that we never stuck on one topic but we covered many different topics. While I think it would have been fun to do a Storybook, I definitely liked the idea of covering different styles and topics with the Portfolio. I was never limited to following just one train of thought. Also, I liked the repetitiveness of constantly editing my writing.

I really loved the positive comments on my blog posts from people. It definitely made me more confident about my writing and opened the door for me to be more creative and try new ideas. However, I do wish that people corrected me from time to time. During my revisions I would see some of the stupid mistakes I made and got a little embarrassed. I just wished that someone had said, “hey this part is kind of confusing,” it definitely would have been more helpful when editing my storytelling’s.

I definitely think this class improved part of my writing. It gave me more confident in my creative writing skills and got the juices flowing. It also continuously reinforced the importance of editing and reading your work out loud to catch those silly mistakes. I don’t see myself doing much writing in my future, except in my final semester of college but the writing is much different for Capstone than in this class.

My advice would be to get a head of your work, do your readings early, keep up with what you’ve turned in, be creative, and have fun!

About the Reading Week 15

The only thing I would change is maybe decreasing the amount of reading for some of the units, or saying how long each story is. When I was reading the Native American unit, I really liked how you informed us about how long each story was. It allowed me to visualize the end and made reading the story much easier. It's kind of like reading a book; sometimes you want to know how many pages you have left until you get to the end.

Honestly I think that his class is perfect. I could not praise this class more than I already do. There was a fairly reasonable amount of readings and if you missed something for the week there was plenty of extra credit opportunities to help you catch up. I know that I leaned on those extra credit options a few times when I got a little lost in the class and such.

One thing I would suggest is maybe push the start date of the storybooks back a little bit. Also, I would send an email to students with the link to the portfolio information and storybook stuff the week before the first one needs to be turned in. I know that I was very confused about the whole thing in the beginning and emailing you with questions was incredibly helpful, especially after you sent me a direct link.

I really liked how each week you had our assignments that were due for each day grouped together and then had all extra credit opportunities in yellow below our assignments. It helped me visualize what I had to get done for the week, what I had already accomplished, and see what extra credit I was able to do as well as how many extra points I needed or could have for that week. Have I said enough about how much I love extra credit? It really bothers me that some professors don't understand that students have other classes and sometimes we just need that extra boost to help us out. I know that I have test anxiety so extra credit would really be helpful sometimes. Thank you for giving us a fighting chance!

I also want to say thank you so much for being so encouraging. I know that not every piece is the most perfect piece of writing, but thank you for all of your wonderful words of encouragement! If there was a teacher of the year award I would give it to you. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

Week 12 Famous Last Words

This week has been a fairly good week, at least other than the major fight I had with my psycho roommates. Sometimes I swear those three are out to get me. On a more positive note, this weekend is a football weekend! I am so excited because my mom is coming to town and is going to the game with me. I know this might sound lame, but my mom is one hundred percent the most fun person to watch football with, or any sports as a matter of fact. My family is a sports family. I grew up watching sports and attending watch parties for major sports events, like the Super Bowl, Final Four in basketball, World Series, and other play-off games. So as you can see, we are very knowledgeable about sports and we really get into it. My mom is so much fun that I actually brought her with me to the Sugar Bowl, and I would not have it any other way. I just really love how excited she gets! Watching games with her makes them ten times more exciting just because of her reactions. I cannot wait for this weekend!

Well thank goodness this week has somewhat slowed down. I have to say, I am a little bit sad that this class is coming to an end. It is definitely one of the highlights of the week, this class. I like the set schedule and the steady pace of it all. This class is kind of like math and art combined, which is an absolute perfect blend in my personal opinion. There are very few classes now a days that allows you to tap into your inner creative mind, even though it feels like mine is sometimes lost in the wind. Hopefully my art therapy class will help me to unlock my inner Picasso or Van Gogh.

Yes I know this is Van Gogh (Source)

Week 11 Storytelling: What Really Happened Up on that Hill

“Jack and Jill went up the hill

To fetch a pail of water;

Jack fell down and broke his crown

And Jill came tumbling after.”

UGH! I have been haunted by this incessant rhyme since I was ten years old. Ever since my twin brother and I fell down that god-forsaken hill, everybody thinks it is sooo funny to tease us with that song. Constantly people are saying, “Ooh, be careful. We all know how clumsy Jill is,” like it's my nonexistent clumsiness that caused my brother to fall down that hill and crack his skull open! Well, here is the real story of what happened that day, and trust me… it was not my fault.

It was a beautiful Wednesday afternoon. Mother had sent Jack and me to go outside and play at the playground, which just happened to be at the bottom of a rather large hill with a wishing-well at the top of it. My brother and I were enjoying ourselves, just innocently playing, when all of a sudden who comes running up to me but Little Miss Muffet. With a look of sheer terror on her face, she swiftly grabbed me by my shoulders and began to shake my entire body uncontrollably. She then grabbed at her throat and, to the best of her abilities, struggled to softly say the word “water.”

Immediately I yelled to my brother, “Jack, run up to the top of that hill and fetch some water out of the well! Little Miss Muffet is choking!”

Jack’s eyes drastically became wide. He hastily turned towards the hill and began to sprint up to the top. I, unfortunately, was stuck with the overly frantic Little Miss Muffet, my left arm around her shoulders to steady and comfort her as we briskly walked up to that wretched pail of water.

It took us few minutes to reach the top, but once there Little Miss Muffet seemed to be in less of a tizzy. Jack had just finished pulling up the pail filled with water when we arrived. He gently handed it to the now sweaty and trembling Little Miss Muffet, who quickly received the pail with her quivering fingers and began drinking down the water in gargantuan gulps. My brother and I stood there in front of her, watching, as she panted between her large sips.

“Muffet, will you tell us what happened?” I asked her, as her breathing began to shallow.

“I…I…I can’t,” she uttered just before taking another large swallow of water.

“Well, try for us, would you? I bet you will feel much better once you do.” Jack nodded in agreement to my attempt to console her with my words.

Her shaking had ceased. With a deep sigh she set the, now virtually empty, pail on the stone edge of the wishing-well. She looked at Jack and me and said, “Alright, I’ll tell you. But let me start by saying that today has been the worst day of my life.”

Oh Muffet! She always did have a flair for the overly dramatic.

“Well, I had been having a horrible morning, so I decided to go get my favorite chocolate muffin from the bakery to hopefully cheer me up. I found a little bench in a grassy area to peacefully sit and enjoy my beloved muffin. I was on my second bite when suddenly a gigantic spider appeared next to me! As you know I have severe arachnophobia, that's the fear of spiders by the way, and so, with a mouth full of muffin, I just took off running. That’s when I ran into you, Jill. The worst part is, not only did the whole incident cause me to choke on the fluffy chocolate morsel, but I didn’t even get to finish my muffin!” A look of despair creeped over Little Miss Muffet’s face as she finished her story.

Jack and I just stood there looking at each other, neither of us knowing what to say to her. With her expression now a dramatic look of despair, Little Miss Muffet solemnly turned away from us to look out at the little town below. I followed behind her and gently placed my hand on her shoulder, while Jack placed his chin on my shoulder. It's his umm "special" little way of telling me that he's bored *eye roll*.

Out of nowhere Little Miss Muffet began screaming at the top of her lungs. Still shrieking, she pointed to the brick wall out in the distance. I squinted my eyes as I strained to see what the commotion was all about. Then my eyes grew wide… Humpty Dumpty had fallen off of his wall and had broken into a million pieces!!! As her shrill screaming continued to pierce the once quiet air around us, Little Miss Muffet forcefully pushed me backwards as she sprinted down the hill.

Well, this is how the horrific incident occurred. When Little Miss Muffet shoved me, it caused me to lose my balance and fall backwards onto my brother, causing him to fall down the hill.

Still plopped on the grass where I had fallen, I turned around to laugh with my brother about our crazy encounter with our overly eccentric friend, when I saw that he was missing. I crawled on my tummy to the edge of the hill to look down below. That’s when I saw it… the blood oozing from my brother's skull while he lay on the ground motionless. I was so terrified and shocked that I accidentally fell down the hill as well. Fortunately I wasn’t hurt, but I don’t remember anything else from that day.

Jack’s okay now, in case you were wondering. I can’t say the same for Humpty Dumpty though. But now do you understand why I hate that awful rhyme?! It reminds me of the day I almost lost my brother. 

Jack and Jill (Source)

Author's Note.  While my main focus was on the Jack and Jill nursery rhyme, I chose to intertwine several of the popular Nursery Rhymes to create one large, elaborate story. By combining several of the Nursery Rhymes together I was able to create and cause-and-effect chain of events that would emphasize the plausibility of the breaking of Jack's 'crown' to be more than just a random occurrence. Each nursery rhyme causes another nursery rhyme to occur, leading to the Jack and Jill situation. It is a massive cause and effect situation. If Little Miss Muffet had not been having a bad day, then she would not have gone to the bakery to get a muffin and been frightened by the spider, causing her to need to get water from Jack and Jill at the top of the hill, where she saw Humpty Dumpty die, causing her to push Jill who collided with Jack, thus causing Jack to break open his skull and almost die. 
In my storytelling I chose my main story to be focused on Jack and Jill. Writing it from Jill’s perspective gave the story another dimension to it and allowed me to incorporate other nursery rhymes while demonstrating that nursery rhyme characters have a personality all their own. I chose to keep Jack as a quiet type for two reasons. Firstly, because Jill is telling the story and she wants the main focus to be on her and how the rhyme hurts her. Jill is an attention snob in that way, so having Jack speak would take away from Jill’s spotlight. Secondly, as Jack is a ten-year-old boy, I felt as though he would potentially be shy around other girls, and his close relationship with his sister might causing him to only be openly vocal with her or people who he believes to have a close relationship with. Besides, at this point Jack is used to dealing with his sister's constant need to be the center of attention that he just sits back and enjoys the entertainment unfold before him. 

Bibliography.  

Jack and Jill - The Nursery Rhyme Book edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897)

Little Miss Muffet - The Nursery Rhyme Book edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897)

Humpty Dumpty - The Nursery Rhyme Book edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897)

Week 12 Essay: Way Back When

For this weeks essay I would like to focus on Fear. While reading More English Fairy Tales I noticed that many of the things discussed in the stories were there to scare people back then. So many things have happened in England throughout history, and I noticed that many of these stories were focused on ancestral fears. Perhaps my favorite, since it was what my storytelling was focused on, was The Pied Piper. I did a project, way back when, over the bubonic plague, or the Black Death. One thing I learned was that, because of the mass hysteria over witches, people believed the superstition surrounding black cats was linked to witches so they mass killed cats leading to the increase in the rat population who were carrying diseased fleas. This story is centralized around the large rat population in the town. I believe the rats in the story were used as a fear tactic, as well as a metaphor as a gateway to deeper evil. The fear of losing a child is the greatest fear any parent could ever have. The entire story is to place fear in parent’s eyes to the horrible things that can immediately affect them and their family in the world: disease that could wipe out their entire family or their child being lost or abducted. The story is there to scare adults about real world problems. I also think that this story is there to remind people to plan for the future and cherish every moment. The reason I say it is about ancestral fears is because at the time the story was written, the Black Death was way past. The bubonic plague occurred in the fourteenth century, about five hundred years before the pied piper. However, the rat remains a constant symbol of death and fear.

 

Cartoon Rat (Source)