Week 11 Story: Sun and Star

Once long ago there were a pair of siblings named Sun and Star. They watched over their friends and family from the sky to ensure that love was always flourishing through villages and everyone was able to find a partner to spend their life with. As you would suspect, sometimes the duo ran into trouble with picky bachelors/bachelorettes or a judgmental parent. They would always fix this by descending onto earth in the form of an animal or in a human disguise. One time they disguised themselves as a dirty, sick boy and his grandmother to see if the women up for marriage were kind at heart.

Their current target is an Eagle Princess who's father is so strict and does not believe any man is good enough for his little girl.

"She wants to find a husband so badly but her father never lets her out of his sight to meet people. We have to go help her." said Star.

"How should we go about this case?" asked Sun. "The father has already turned down a brave lion and a wise elephant. What is he possible looking for?"

"We can disguise ourselves as hummingbirds so we can sneak around her father and speak to the princess. Once she trusts us maybe we can convince her to leave the palace and come with us to find a suitor." suggested Star. 

"Let's go tomorrow because her father should be out hunting." said Sun.

The siblings were up all night gathering the ingredients to make a drink that allows them to take any form their heart desires. Before dawn arrived they took the potion and made their way to the Eagle Princess.

She was in her room sobbing when the two hummingbirds entered.

"I will never find a man to spend my life with as long as my father is around." cried the Princess.

"Maybe we can help you with that!" exclaimed Star.

The Princess spun around startled. "Who are you?!" she questioned.

Star and Sun had recognizable tattoos that remained on their body no matter what form they took. They both spread out their small wings to show a tiny crescent moon. The Princess knew who they were immediately after seeing these marks.

"We want to sneak you out of the palace so you can meet potential partners and tell your father who you want to marry!" exclaimed Sun.

"I already know who I want to meet! The loyal wolf seems like a great catch. Will you take me to him?" asked the Princess.

Sun and Star guided the Princess through the kingdom, carefully to not be seen, until they reached the wolf's place. The Eagle Princess introduced herself, but the wolf knew exactly who she was. They talked for hours before the siblings reminded her that they had to leave soon before the father returned.

The Princess knew what she had to do. She found her father in the woods still hunting and he was appalled to see her out of the palace.

"Sweetheart what are you doing here? This is no place for you. Go back to the palace where it is safe." demanded the King.

"Father, I am not a child anymore. I have been out all day and no harm has come to me. I want to marry the wolf and I will follow through with or without your blessing." said the Princess confidently.

The Eagle King thought this over for what seemed like eternity. "I just want you to be happy. I know the wolf will be good to you. You have my blessing."

The wedding ceremony was planned the next day with Sun and Star's assistance and the wolf and Eagle Princess lived happily together for the rest of their life.

Author's Note: The Dirty-Boy is about two daughters who do not want to marry anyone their father shows them. A brother and sister, Sun and Star, come down from the sky and disguise themselves as a sick boy who can't take care of himself and a grandmother. The sick boy wins the father's challenges and is promised both of his daughter for marriage. Only one daughter follows through with the arrangement and takes care of the boy. I thought Sun and Star had the potential for more stories, so I took the characters from the original tale and created another time where they helped two people get married.
Image Information: Two Hummingbirds Flying, Web Source: Max Pixel
Bibliography: Dirty-Boy from Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson. Web Source: Native American Hero Tales Unit

Reading Notes: Native American Hero Tales, Part B

The beginning of this story, Red Woman and the Twins, was very brutal and vivid. I am wondering who Red Woman is and why she not only killed the wife, but teased the husband by mutilating her lip. I thought the names of the two boys were unique, but a little distracting while reading. The old woman and her pot was an interesting addition to the story's plot. I liked the idea of having small stories within the tale and the boys were heroes even though they disobeyed their parents countless times.

The second story includes a reoccurring theme from old tales. A father does not want to give his daughter away so easily and gives the husband challenges. This story is a little more intense because he keeps killing her spouses. The ending was a surprised, but I always enjoy when a character turns into an animal.

I had to use my imagination when reading The Jealous Father for vivid details. I did not like Aioswe's son because he let the Walrus die after he agreed to save his life. I thought having both the mother and father conjuring things to save/stop the boy from returning home was a great idea. I would not categorize anyone, except possibly the mother, in the story as a hero. It is one thing to get revenge on the man who tried to kill you, but to set the entire world on fire is a bit much.

The author included a lot of detail when describing the camp Star and Sun landed on. From the first paragraph I thought Sun and Star would be spying on the daughters and the chief, but they are sticking so well to their new characters, grandmother and grandson, it really benefits the story. I was surprised when the elder sister did not obey her father. The ending paragraph describing the younger sister's new path was so beautiful.

Image Information: Two Ravens on Wood, Web Source: Pixino
Bibliography: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson, Web Source: Native American Hero Tales Unit

Reading Notes: Native American Hero Tales, Part A

The story about the Jealous Uncle wastes no time in getting into the plot of the story. I think this really grabs a readers attention. I think the author could have added a few details about the setting, especially when he was walking through the woods with his nephew. I am wondering why the uncle wants to kill his nephews so badly, but did no harm when he thought the child was a girl. I feel really bad for the unnatural uncle's wife. He was so hateful towards his family, but they always tried to forgive him.

I thought it was interesting that Grouse caused such a big mischief in the plot, but he is not struggling on the boat himself. I am surprised the group did not make a fuss to Grouse. They were mean to him, but the journey he sent them on was a bit much compared to some teasing. I did have to use my own imagination throughout the story to fill in some gaps. Personally I would not say this story has a 'hero' because the one who saved the day also bullied someone at the beginning of the tale.


I really like the lead male character in Dug-From-Ground. The relationship between the 'son' and 'mother' develops clearly through the story. I liked the idea of the main character playing a game with earthquake and thunder because it is unique and you could create a very detailed scene with those elements involved.

When animals act as people in stories, it always makes for an interesting tale. This plot takes a turn though because the animals are the villains who eat humans. My favorite paragraph was when the spider was closing up the entrance with her web. I felt like the animals were on a side and the god/humans were on another side. There was a beautiful example of word usage when the young eagles said the mother/father returns with the rain or wind.

Image Information: Image of Bald Eagle captured by Bill Buchanan, Web Source: Wikimedia Commons
Bibliography: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson, Web Source: Native American Hero Tales Unit

Famous Last Words: My First Last Words

I did have time to do both part A and B reading this week. I did the Eskimo/Inuit reading, and I remember the pictures more than anything. The pictures would be in black and white but they would always be wearing furry, home-made outdoor clothing. I did a lot of writing this week both inside and outside of this class. I think my best writing was for my microbiology class. We had to search for an article that was relatively new covering a topic we had previously gone over in lecture. I chose to write a summary and answer questions on a reading that involved probiotics being used in powder and pill form to help with facial acne. This was our first of three assignments for this class, and I really think writing my own stories every other week benefited my ability to write a short summary of an article! I use to just try and read the story/article and then write down my thoughts. Now I keep two tabs open and write notes to myself while I read and I think that technique has helped improve my writing a lot. I enjoy reading other people's storybook or portfolio projects. I ran into one covering a food blog and it was so well put together! My other classes are going pretty well. I think this is the calm before the storm of third semester tests followed by finals.  I am worried about my ornithology class because we have to learn 150 birds from Oklahoma and be able to identify them for our final lab practical. We also have to write, and attempt to publish, a story over a neotropical bird of our choosing. My grandmother recently passed away, so next week I will be spending time with family as we celebrate her life. That means school has to get put on the back burner for a couple of days, but I am happy I will get to spend a few days with family.

Image Information: Poem from The Star of Bethlehem (and other poems) by Frederick Edward Weatherly. Web Source: Flickr

Story Lab: EmpoWord

Showing how historians, chemists and musical composers use story telling in their work makes the reading more relate-able to a wide audience. I find myself wondering what happens to the 'flat characters' as described by the author in a lot of stories or even movies that I watch. I want to work on having a few more dynamic characters in my stories moving forward. I could achieve this by having more plot twists occur in my writing. Breaking the plot into scope, sequence and pacing makes it much easier to explain how to create a more interesting story line. I thought it was interesting when the author critiqued the typical five step story plot guide. They said you could start at an action scene and then introduce characters and set the story line. I usually go for the first person point of view when writing a story, but  with my storybook project I have been using 3rd person omniscient. Choosing a word choice during dialogue for two characters is really important. The way they speak to each other can say a lot about their relationship. The most important idea I got from reading this chapter is that the first idea for writing that pops into your head is not the story you have to write about. It is okay to brainstorm until you find something you love. I really think reading this advice will benefit my stories in the weeks to come.

Bibliography: EmpoWord Chapter2: Telling a Story, Web Source: EmpoWord

Image Information: Writing Brainstorm, Web Source: flickr

Reading Notes: Eskimo Unit, Part B

'the blood poured from his clothes, and wherever they went, the snow was marked with blood' was very descriptive. I enjoyed the married woman's character a lot because she was willing to die to avenge her husband.

I loved the ending to this story. "Thus punishment falls upon the man who kills," is a strong way to reiterate the main point of the tale. I also enjoyed the included metamorphosis.


The attack on the village was very detailed. Navaranapaluk was punished for lying, but she sort of deserved that fate because she caused many women to die.


I thought it was interesting that two sisters were married to a whale and an eagle. I like the character choices in this story, but I was really confused at the end as to why the whale ended up in such bad shape.

I imagined a beautiful scene when the author was describing the houses and smoke holes in the story. The vibe of the story switches gears when the father rescues the son. I was afraid the people who took him would wake up.

When Atarssuaq attempted to throw his son in the water and let him learn to swim on his own, it reminded me of multiple movies I have seen where the father figure does this exact thing. A lot of these stories just tell if the characters have a strong relationship, but this author gives the background of why the father and son are so close.

I had to imagine a lot of the scenery in the story about Saunikoq and Tungujuluk on my own. I felt like the author could have added descriptions about the sea when either characters were out hunting.

Image Information: Inuit Family and their Igloo, Web Source: Wikimedia Commons
Bibliography: Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rassmussen, Web Source: Eskimo Unit

Reading Notes: Eskimo Folk Tales, Part A

The first story had a very descriptive paragraph describing children crawling from the bushes. I thought 'only water would burn' and 'no day ever dawned' were examples of beautiful word usage.

I loved that people kept making a place for the bear in their community as it grew older and stronger. The relationship between him and the foster mother was a strong one.

The story about the boy with a house full of ghosts took a lot of my own imagining.

 I enjoyed the way the author described the scene when Isigaligarssik shot the arrow.

'The sun was just over the houses of the village' is a really pretty description. I wonder about the relationship between the insects and the wife in this story.

The author of Atungait did a great job including natural imagery, but I found myself wondering more about their trips. I am really curious to know what foothall is.

I felt like I had to imagine what the giant dogs and people in the final story looked like on my own. So I imagined a Great Pyrennes. 

Image Information: Great Pyrennes, Web Source: Wikipedia
Bibliography: Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rassmussen, Web Source: Eskimo Unit