This week I chose to read the California and the Old Southwest unit. These stories told of creation and a trickster coyote. Both the creation stories and trickster stories explain how the world came to be, following the same trend seen in most of the stories thus far, where the stars come from and why the sun is brighter than the moon, and why frogs have no tails and why the bluebird is blue, etc.
Since these stories come from a variety of origins, there are many styles of writing going on within this first part of the readings. Most of the writing is simple and easy to read, which reflects the culture that these stories come from.
Coyotes are often made out to be trickster characters in stories, but I admire them for their wit and beauty. I think that in this week's storytelling I will create a coyote character that is made out to be a bad guy, but once you get to know him, he is actually a nice guy.
The most interesting story in the first part of this reading was the story of the great flood. There were two references to floods, but the one I wanted to focus on first was the Great Flood. This was interesting to me because it was almost a biblical reference, where the rains continued to fall and some of the people and animals found a way to survive and start over. In comparison to the flood story right before this one where "the Earth Doctor" wiped out humankind, and no one survived, because he could no longer feed them, and then he created everything from scratch. This story ultimately reflects what kinds of things this culture found to be most significant and how certain things came to be.
Bibliography: Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Judson, California and the Old Southwest Unit
Since these stories come from a variety of origins, there are many styles of writing going on within this first part of the readings. Most of the writing is simple and easy to read, which reflects the culture that these stories come from.
Coyotes are often made out to be trickster characters in stories, but I admire them for their wit and beauty. I think that in this week's storytelling I will create a coyote character that is made out to be a bad guy, but once you get to know him, he is actually a nice guy.
The most interesting story in the first part of this reading was the story of the great flood. There were two references to floods, but the one I wanted to focus on first was the Great Flood. This was interesting to me because it was almost a biblical reference, where the rains continued to fall and some of the people and animals found a way to survive and start over. In comparison to the flood story right before this one where "the Earth Doctor" wiped out humankind, and no one survived, because he could no longer feed them, and then he created everything from scratch. This story ultimately reflects what kinds of things this culture found to be most significant and how certain things came to be.
Bibliography: Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Judson, California and the Old Southwest Unit
Image Info: Coyote
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