Topics Brainstorm

Topic: Wicked Stepmothers in Fairy Tales.
Comments: I have always been fascinated by the way stepmother's are portrayed in fairy tales. They are almost always portrayed as evil women who treat their stepchildren badly. I would like to learn the reasons that the different fairy tales give on why the stepmothers are bad people.
Possible Stories: I know that there are many fairytale that have the stepmother be the main villain. One that comes to mind first would be Cinderella. This story has not only an evil stepmother but also wicked stepsisters too.
Sample Story: When I was looking through the different fairy tales in the UnTextbook, I found an English fairy tale that told the story of a little girl who was killed by her stepmother and fed to her family. A bird in the end kills the stepmother. I like this story because the little girl gets revenge on the stepmother. 
Sample Story Bibliography:  Sample story: The Rose Tree.
This story is part of the English Fairy Tales (1) unit.
Story source: English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890).

Topic: Crimes in Fairy Tales
Comments: It seems as if many fairy tales have these horrible crimes that happen in them. I am interested in finding more of them that I have not read yet. The main characters are usually trying to avoid the terrible things that others are planning for them.
Possible Stories: The UnTextbook has been a great resource in finding the stories that I need. One possible story would be The Rose Tree. The UnTextbook also links to other stories that involve crimes in fairy tales.
Sample Story: The story that I liked for this topic was a story about two sisters. A man names Sir William had gained the love of the eldest sister. He soon realized that he loved the younger sister and chose her instead. The older sister became jealous and pushed her sister into the millstream of Binnorie. She drowned and a Harper saw her body and made a harp out of her bones. He took the harp to the king's house and the harp began to play on its own.
Sample Story Bibliography: Sample story: Binnorie 
 This story is part of the English Fairy Tales (1) unit.
Story source: English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890).

Topic: Magical Objects in Stories
Comments: It seems that whenever magic is involved in fairy tales, it always comes from a certain object. Most of the time, it seems to come from a magic wand. There are various different items that have magical powers in other fairy tales. It is interesting to see all the different objects that contain magical powers.
Possible Stories: The UnTextbook and Wikipedia have many resources that talk about magic objects. A possible story from the untextbook could be The Ass, the Table, and the Stick.
Sample Story: The story that I could use for this topic is about a midwife who goes to a strangers house and puts magic ointment on one of her eyes. She is then able to see pixies. Once the man, a pixie, realizes that she can see him and that she has put the ointment on herself, he makes her blind.
Sample Story Bibliography: Sample Story: Fairy Ointment
This story is part of the English Fairy Tales (1) unit.
Story source: English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1890).

Magic Wand by Bastique. Wikimedia Commons

 Topic: Meeting Prince Charming in Fairy Tales
Comments: There are many stories in which the main characters meet prince charming at a place where they are not supposed to be. All of the Cinderella type stories have always interested me. I like seeing how they sneak away from their families and end up meeting the love of their live.
Possible Stories: Cinderella is the first one that I think of when I think of this topic. Their were more stories similar in the UnTextbook so there are plenty for me to use as examples.
Sample Story: In the story that I could use for this topic, the main character sneaks off to church. Her evil stepsisters and stepmother would not allow her to attend. She ends up sneaking out and going to church and there she meets a prince and he falls in love with her.
Sample Story Bibliography: Rushen Coatie
This story is part of the English Fairy Tales (2) unit.
Story source: More English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs with illustrations by John D. Batten (1894).

Essay- What is a Hero?

My definition of a hero is someone who strives to be the best person that they can be. Not everybody has these huge obstacles to overcome. Not everyone is in a position to make a huge impact in the world or sacrifice themselves for the good of others. These are qualities of a hero but I don't think that just because you have not accomplished these things, that you could not be considered a hero. I think that a hero is defined by how they interact with people and the things that they do. A hero is a person who cares about other people just as much, if not more, than themselves. A hero is also someone who does not go against what they believe in no matter what the consequence is.

There is were many examples of what I would consider to be a hero in the readings, Bible Women. The one that sticks out the most to me would have to be Joseph. I think that Joseph was a hero in the story of Potiphar's wife. He was not a typical hero and he did not defeat evil. He was actually punished for doing good. Potiphar's wife tried to seduce Joseph. Joseph refused because it would have been a sin. Potiphar's wife then told people that Joseph had tried to seduce her. Joseph was sent to prison. He was not rewarded for his acts. Potiphar's wife was the one who committed a wrong and yet she went unpunished.

Being a hero does not exclude you from having bad things happen. It also does not necessarily mean that you will be rewarded either. Being a hero simply means doing what you believe is right no matter what the consequences may be. I believe that everyone can be a hero if they truly want to be. It may not be easy but it is possible for everyone.

 

Joseph running from Potiphar's wife by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld. Wikimedia Commons

Storytelling for Week 2: Bathsheba Gets Caught

Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah. She was a beautiful woman and loved to be the center of attention. Uriah was away at battle and Bathsheba had grown lonely. She tried to find anything that would pass the time. She missed having someone else with her. It would be so long until she had Uriah back and she did not desire to wait for him any longer. In order to try and clear her mind, Bathsheba decided she was going to relax and bathe.

While Bathsheba bathed, she had gained an admirer. King David was able to look out and see her. He became fixated on her. Day after day David went to his rooftop, hoping to catch a glance of the beautiful woman. He soon realized that just looking at her would never be enough. He had to know who this woman was. He had to have her. David sent for his guards.

"Who is that woman," he asked the guard, "and how can I make her mine?"

"That woman is Bathsheba and she is the wife of Uriah. He is one of your men fighting in the battle," replied the guard.

King David did not care if Bathsheba was taken. She was going to be his. He was going to have her. He sent the guard to go bring her back to him. The guard returned shortly after with Bathsheba in tow. She was more beautiful in person. He requested that she spend some time alone with him. Bathsheba, being incredibly lonely, happily agreed. Their relationship went on for another month. Uriah was still away and it was perfect for them, until Bathsheba learned that she was pregnant.

To try and cover up their secret, King David had to make sure that Uriah was able to be with his wife. Everyone would just assume that the baby was his and their secret would be safe. David called for Uriah to return home. He tried everything to convince Uriah to go home to his wife but Uriah refused. He wanted to stay with the rest of the servants. It would be unfair if her were allowed to go home.

King David grew fed up with the request and wrote a letter to have Uriah put in the front of the battle. “Uriah must not return home. He must die,” the letter stated. King David gave the letter to Uriah to take the letter.

Uriah took the letter but his curiosity got the best of him. Before he arrived, he had to learn what the letter said. He quickly realized that King David was trying to have him killed. He decided that he was going to kill King David instead.

When he got to King David’s house, he finally saw the reason that the king wanted him gone. He saw the king with Bathsheba. They both had betrayed him.

The king and Bathsheba, thinking that Uriah has surely been killed, decided to celebrate. They were blissfully talking outside the king’s when they saw Uriah out of the corner of their eyes. It was too late. Uriah killed king David and left the land. He went on to find a better life, leaving Bathsheba to grieve for her new lost love.

Bathsheba bathing. Wikimedia Commons

 Author's Note: I wrote this story based on the biblical story of Bathsheba. The original story has Uriah taking the letter that leads to his death after his wife has an affair with the king. When I was reading this story, I wondered what would have happened if Uriah had just read the letter that the king had given him to deliver. That is how I came up with the plot twist that had Uriah find out what was going on between the king and his wife.

Story source: King James Bible (1611): 2 Samuel 11

Bible Women- Reading Diary B

Here are some of my favorite stories from the second half of Bible Women.

 Bathsheba- This story starts when David sees Bathsheba bathing. David decides that he wants to sleep with Bathsheba and he does sleep with her even though she is married. Bathsheba learns that she is pregnant and tells David. David tries to get her husband, Uriah, to go see her. He refuses and David decides to have him killed. Bathsheba mourned her husband but still married David. This story has an interesting twist. David tries to get Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba to cover up her pregnancy.
When that doesn't work, he jumps to having Uriah killed. It does not have a good ending for anybody.

Esther- There were three sections for Esther but I was more interesting in the third segment.  She exposes Haman and has the letter to kill the Jews reversed. She is such an influential figure. She is so important to the king that he is willing to listen to her requests and he even grants them for her. She manages to save herself, Mordecai, and the rest of the Jews.

Susannah- Two elders try to get Susannah to sleep with them. When she refuses, they testify that she has been with another man. She was sentenced to death based solely  on these two elders' testimony. I think that Susannah stayed quite strong during this whole ordeal and knew that the Lord knew the truth. Daniel eventually shows that the men had lied and Susannah was saved from death.

Herodias- Herodias wanted John killed. Her daughter had pleased the king and the king offered to give her whatever she wanted. Herodias told her daughter to ask for the head of John the Baptist. The king kept his word and had John the Baptist killed. Herodias did all of this because she had been offended by a comment that John had made. She could have had anything and all she wanted was for John the Baptist to be dead.
 
 

The feast of Herod by Lucas Cranach. Wikimedia Commons

Bible Women- Reading Diary A

Here are some of my favorite stories from Bible Women

Eve

I did not feel that it would be appropriate to do the reading assignment about the women in the Bible without including Eve. The story of Adam and Eve is such a well known one that I am not actually sure if I ever read it or just heard of it. The story went well with what I already knew and so I found it interesting that it did go so well with the stories that I have heard. I did not feel as if there were areas that I did not already know.

Sarah 

The story of Sarah is quite fascinating. She was told that even though she was quite aged, she and her husband would have a son. She thought it was a joke and laughed about it but sure enough, she gave birth to a son, Isaac. His birth was so rare and so he was celebrated.

Hagar 

Hagar was the maid of Sarah. Sarah was not able to conceive at the time and so she told her husband to conceive a baby with Hagar. Sarah grew to dislike Hagar and told Abraham to send her and her son away. This story is interesting because even though Sarah told Abraham to have a baby with Hagar, she soon regretted that decision and took it out on Hagar. They sent away Hagar and her son.

Potiphar's Wife 

This story involves Potiphar’s wife. It is odd that she does not have a name since she is so important to the story. She tries to get Joseph to sleep with her. When he refuses she tells everyone that he was the one trying to seduce her. She gets him thrown in prison. He basically goes to prison for doing the right thing and not giving in to Potiphar’s wife.

Delilah 

This story still shocks me every time I hear it. I never understood how Delilah would have been able to convince Samson to tell her the truth when it was obvious that she was the one who was betraying him. Every night that he tells her what his weakness is, he is attacked in the way that he tells her. She somehow still manages to convince him to tell her the truth and he is attacked and blinded. 

Samson and Dalila by Mutter Erde. Web-source: Wikimedia Commons