Reading Notes: Native American Hero Tales, Part B

I finished the reading for this week and took notes over the first two stories. I found that these stories were again very unique, and I have not read many things that are similar to these stories. This was definitely a cool week of reading.

• The two boys of the man were raised by themselves for a short period of time
• I like the fact that a reunion does take place
• The boys are discovered by their truthful father and he raises them
• The red woman was very brutal, and I was not expecting the mother to be murdered like she was
• It seems that death is an integral part of some of these stories
• It is presented in a way where you can still contact your loved ones even after they pass
• The boys constantly disobey their father
• However, they destroy many terrible creatures and things during their disobedience
• Their father always warns them of another bad thing in the world once they return
• It seems that he almost wants them to disobey, so they can rid the world of another terror
• In the end, nothing terrible actually comes to they boys
• The Wemicus character is very evil for a father-in-law
• It seems that he never wants his daughter to marry anyone
• I like the fact that Wemicus is constantly fooled by his new son-in-law and cannot seem to trick him into his death
• The story ends with the origin of the pike being explained, so I thought that was interesting
• I did not expect the story to end in that matter
• I thought Wemicus would eventually die due to the amount of people he had killed

(An image of a pike similar to Wemicus. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson. Source: UnTextbook

Reading Notes: Native American Hero Tales, Part A

I read the Hero Tales unit for this week's reading assignment. I really liked the first story in the unit. I took notes over that story because I thought it has a lot of potential for a retelling later in the week. I will probably reread it for some more inspiration.

(A photo of an eagle like the man from the story. Source: Maxpixel)

• The story starts with the conflict already being present
• The unnatural uncle is known for killing his nephews when they are four
• It does a good job of leading you to the problem early on
• I think the reputation of the unnatural uncle is built up and helps foreshadow the events very well
• I would like to possibly tell the story from the uncle's perspective
• I think this would be a very cool way to present the story
• Maybe the uncle has some insane motive for doing what he does
• I could develop this story line and create something new
• I also think that I could change the ways that unnatural uncle tries to kill his nephew
• I think the way that the nephew handles the whole situation is crucial to the story
• He assures his parents that he will always make it back
• He also outsmarts his uncle every time and constantly makes a point to frustrate his uncle
• I do like the constant reminder from uncle's wife that misfortune will come to him
• She constantly tells him to stop his actions because they will be his demise
• The ending is definitely unique
• I would probably only retell a portion of the story

Bibliography: Tales of the North American Indians by Stith Thompson. Source: UnTextbook