Hi All:
1) Please post re: what still remains for you in the tales we read and discussed in class under the post titled "Fairy Tales." Will, Tony, Rachel W, and Sabina volunteered. The rest, respond in comments to their responses or add one of your own.
2) Write the story you needed to hear, tell, read or one that someone needed to tell or read to you, repeatedly, when you were young. Summarize the story and/or the details that stood out for you. Most importantly, write about what you were needing/doing/obsessed with/curious about in that story. Remember, it can be a childhood story, a family story, a favorite book, etc. Reflection is what is needed most here.
Have a lovely weekend. Best, Roni Natov
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Growing up in Nigeria as a part of the Yoruba culture I was exposed to very different ways of doing things, but no matter how different our way of doing things were there are still parallel to the western way of doing things. One parallel is the telling of folk-tales to little children. Of course we had many folk-tales that we enjoyed as children but I remember one particular tale that was told to me and the other children. I remember this particular tale because it wasn’t only a favorite of mine; all the other kids were also quite fond of this tale. The tale similar to most folk-tales in my youth begins in the animal kingdom, the animals of the land were all fed up with being hunted by the humans; so one day they called a meeting in the jungle. Every animal voiced its concerns at this gathering and it was unanimously decided that they would visit the sprits in search of a solution. When they got to the spirits; the spirits asked what their concerns were, the animals voiced their opinion then ask if the spirits can turn them all into humans. The spirits said there is only one way to grant this wish but they have to follow strict instructions. The spirits tell the animals to take a large caldron; fill it with water and place it at the top of the highest hill in the jungle for seven whole days. After the seventh day any animal that washes its whole body with the water will become a human.
ReplyDeleteThe animals did as they were told, they placed a large caldron filled with water at the top of the highest hill in the jungle and left it in place for seven days. After the seventh day the whole animal kingdom was in an uproar, they all gathered at the hill to begin celebrations for their last minutes as animals. During the celebration the usually cautious animals all let there guards down; during which time a few human hunters approached the top of the hill attracted by the commotion. At last the hunters all leap out revealing themselves startling the joyous animals who now begin to scatter creating a stampede, in the chaos the caldron was shatter into several pieces. While the rest of the animals ran for safety the monkey and ape families all ran to the broken pieces of the caldron which still contain some of the sacred water, they being to wash their feet, hands, and faces. As they wash their faces and hands they all begin to take human form but being that there was not enough sacred water they could not wash their whole bodies, this is the reason why monkeys and apes resemble humans.
This was one of my favorite stories as a child but I don’t particularly know why, in truth this story was a favorite for a lot of us kids back then. I also do remember that we read this story in elementary school as a part of our curriculum so I believe it was much more widespread than I even thought. In truth this is perhaps one of the only folk-tales I remember from my childhood, it is obviously a very gripping story and I remember the colors of the books I read them from; they were really pretty. Everything about the tale and the way it was presented to us is why I think I liked it so much. It also might have to do with the fact that there seem to have being some sort of infatuation with monkeys at this particular time as well in Nigeria. People were trying to domesticate alot of monkeys at this time; in fact I remember this compound right next to my school were we bought snacks, the owner had a monkey he tied to a tree so we the kids bought anything and everything just to feed that monkey, come to think of it those little things are kind of scary in the way they jump about brandishing those sharp teeth. The main reason I think I liked this folk-tale was because of what the monkeys accomplished, at that young age that story made me understand more about the world particularly about monkeys. It never really occurred to me before then that monkeys do look like humans until I heard that story; the fact that the story explains the reason why monkeys look like humans is the reason I believe a lot of my peers and myself loved that story, besides it really made sense.
As I was growing up in Ukraine, my mom would always tell me the story about my grandfather and his contribution to WWII. She would never tell it in a gruesome way. She would instead point out what kind of hero my grandfather was and that he had to go to war for his family. I remember feeling pride towards my grandfather. The story made him look like a hero and it felt like there was nothing that he could do wrong because he sacrificed so much of his childhood so that his family could live in peace. Looking back at the story now, I think that my mom used to always share it with me because as a child I did not always have the “best” things, like other kids did and I think that by her telling me story, it was a way for her to explain to me that it could be so much worse. To teach me to be thankful for what I have because you never know what can happen tomorrow or the day after; to be thankful for everything that I do have.
ReplyDeleteI haven’t actually thought about this story for a while, but now that I look back on it, it still interests me. I remember my mom pointing out the fact that my grandfather was only 15-yrs old when he went to war and how he supported all his friends that were fighting by his side. The story of my grandfather reminds me of when I was older and my uncle had to in list in the military, which I was so scared of at the time. However, now I look back and understand how much courage one has to have in order to in an instant put their life on the line for someone else.
As I look back at how I used to react to the story and how I react now, I think that I grew up much faster compared to many children which I knew. I also feel that I always looked at and took things much more seriously than maybe I should have because my mom taught me to appreciate what I have. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. However, I feel that I learned a lot because of the story and it is a huge part of who I am as a person, till this day.
Memories of a Missing Button
ReplyDeleteDid you ever feel insecure about an aspect of yourself? Growing up as a young Turkish girl, and being introduced along with my family to English as a foreign language, I had these feelings of inadequacy. One story that set in my memory and paralleled with my life was the book Corduroy, written in 1968 by Don Freeman. Like Corduroy, I struggled with an insecurity that was eating away inside of me. Just as the bear did, I eventually found acceptance, not only by other people, but, more importantly, by myself.
What I remember most about this book is the sweet, honest, slightly battered teddy bear who longs for a home. Although he lives in a grand shopping center filled with fabulous wealth, this is no substitute for the warmth and affection of a mother.
The story is about a stuffed bear in a department store that is not in perfect condition. Every day Corduroy waits hoping “for somebody to come along and take him home.” One day a little girl walks by him and falls in love with him immediately, but is denied the opportunity to take him home by her mother. Her mother points out that the bear is a little worn down and is even missing one of the buttons on its overalls. That night, Corduroy decides to take an adventure and search the store for his missing button. As a child, I never understood why Corduroy was looking for his button. Now I know he wanted to look better in order to get a home. As a child like Corduroy I enjoyed the wonders of a big department store: the escalator and the new beds lined in rows. After taking an unexpected ride up the escalator, Corduroy finds himself in the store's bedding area. He tries (unsuccessfully) to pull a button off a nearby mattress, but succeeds only in alerting the local night watchman to his presence. This part of the story always got me worried. Luckily nothing happened to him, the watchman places him back on the shelf. In the toy shelf there were other animals and dolls but Corduroy never spoke to them. I guess the other animals and dolls didn’t want to talk to him because of the way he looked. Corduroy didn’t need them anyway because the next day, still button-less, Corduroy wakes up to the warm smile of the girl who came to see him the day before. She introduces herself as Lisa and tells Corduroy that he “is going to be [her] very own bear.” She brought all the money from her piggy bank and buys him. When Lisa gets to come back and buy Corduroy with her own money and takes him home in her arms rather than in a bag—it was very true to life. Like whenever my parents purchased a bear or toy for me I never wanted to carry it in a bag. Even though Lisa loves him just the way he is, she sews a new button on his overalls to make him more comfortable. As Lisa sat down to sew a button on his shirt she said the sweetest thing, something every child needs to hear: “I like you just the way you are.” It's a very effective and heartfelt line, capturing the essence of unconditional, lasting love. In the end, Corduroy realizes that at last he has a home and a friend; the two things he has always wanted most.
I remember in kindergarten I gave one of my classmates the nickname “Corduroy” because he wore corduroy pants. We actually became very good friends. I accepted him and all “his missing buttons.” I believe this picture book is wonderful for young readers because the pictures coordinate with the text itself. Corduroy also inspires imagination for the young reader because of the stuffed animal coming to life throughout the story. This is also a predictable story, which allows the reader to predict the story line and what may happen on the upcoming pages. I also liked that the human characters appear to be African-American which is not something you find too easily in most children's books.
Corduroy is a very good story for children because it has a wonderful moral in the end. All children need to feel loved and this story's moral is just that no matter how imperfect you are there is someone that loves you for you! The little girl didn’t care that Corduroy wasn’t perfect she loved him anyway.