Topic Research: Tricksters and Heroes

For my Project I think I have decided to do a Tricksters and Heroes clash theme. While reading the tricksters stories I noticed that it is a very obvious trick that the tricksters are pulling. I want to make the Tricksters a little more interesting and do a more subtle way of introducing the tricks pulled. While doing this I would like to do a Heroes theme, where the heroes end up meeting the tricksters in different scenarios. I think this would be an interesting portfolio project.

A trickster story that stuck out to me the most was the Cherokee story of How the Rabbit Stole the Otter's Coat because rabbits have always been seen as this clever creature in many different cultures. The main focus for me would be the fact that the story was more subtle than others when it came to the reveal of the way that the rabbit stole the coat. He pretty much just had the otter hand him the coat. I think this is an important aspect to remember when writing my own stories.

The other two stories that I liked were hero stories. The story of Hercules and his labors caught my attention, The Second Labor retold by Hera on said blog. It really popped out at me because the fact that I am trying to do a Tricksters and Heroes clash and Hercules was the hero and trickster in the story was actually really cool to see, there is some possibility of that. The next hero story that I found to be interesting was Brothers Cross Paths: Winchesters Meet Grimm. All of the stories in this are great, and I still see Sam and Dean as heroes. The fact is I want to do a Supernatural theme, but I did not want to copy the idea that I have already seen. But there are great writing techniques in this that I would like to further look at and incorporate.

A photo showing how mixtures can become lights, just like ideas 

Photo provided by Wikimedia Commons

Week 3 Story: A Graceful Protector

Back in the time of war there was a little Jewish boy who lived with his grandfather the Rabbi. This time of war was not a safe place for anyone of Jewish descent. Nazi Germany was a rising tide throughout Europe and death followed wherever the Germans went. The Rabbi was at an age now where he could not protect himself from these forces nor could he protect his grandson. The grandson, who's name was Yaniv, was only 13. He did not quite fully understand the danger of the world around him but knew that things were not safe.

Yaniv curiously asked "Grandfather, why are these men taking our friends away?" 

"Hush, do not speak of this outside where others can hear." snapped the Grandfather. 

The Rabbi knew there was something in the ancient scripts that he had seen before, it was something that he could use to keep the two of them safe in the time of war. He searched all through the night and finally had found it, the old writings there was a script. Only three families knew of the secret script and the Rabbi happened to be one of them. 

Yaniv watched his grandfather start to build a giant sculpture from clay. Curious once again he asked, "Grandfather what are you doing?"

"Protecting us." he replied

"But how will a sculpture made of such brittle material protect us?" asked Yaniv

The Grandfather ignored him and kept working, knowing that Yaniv would know in time. By morning he had finished the sculpture and the final touch was to bring the object to life. The written script that the Rabbi had was now written on to an old cloth, with the Rabbi and the child's name on the backside. This ensured that Golem would only obey Yaniv and himself. As the Rabbi placed the rolled up cloth into the giants mouth, its eyes and mouth began to glow. 

The Golem was alive, he stood up and in a loud booming voice said "I am yours to command." 

The grandfather gave it the instruction to protect him and the boy from any harm and it did just that for the span of the entire war. They set out to rescue as many people as they could and while in doing so the Golem protected them while they helped the others.

As time went on there came a time where the Golem no longer had to protect them from the dangers of the Nazis, but the golem has been passed down from generation to generation since, and still lives to protect the lives of the family. 

The Golem Brought to Life by the Rabbi

Photo Provided by: Wikimedia Commons

The Updated version of this story can be found here: Webtext

Authors note: This story was produced from the idea of a story that was part of the Jewish Fairy Tales section of the reading. Though the actual story was a Rabbi who created a "Bogey-man" to protect himself from the king. The King saw that the Rabbi had brought an inanimate object to life and was going to have him killed if he could not do it again. So the Rabbi did but made sure that the new being protected him from the kings doings. I made this story to fit the terrible time in the lives of the Jewish culture because it brings an aspect of good to the table where they were able to fight back rather than be mass murdered by Nazi Germany. Everyone of this world is a human being and the prejudice people are ignorant and evil. This story shows the oppressed rising up against the odds. Dealt the worst possible hand in life, Yaniv and his grandfather figured out a way to turn the tide and beat the enemy oppressing them.

Bibliography: "The Rabbi's Bogey-Man" from Jewish Fairy Tales by Gertrude Landa web source

Reading Notes: Jewish Fairy Tales, Part B

Part B of the reading was very interesting, some of the stories that I read were stories that I had heard before, but in a different style and ending. The way that a lot of the stories started were from hardships. They all were similar in the fact that their faith was put to the test and in time they were rewarded if they stuck to their faith. I found this interesting because it made me wonder what would happen if they did not trust in their faith. The detail in the stories was great too because there was a lot of it, and the words used to describe it were not common words. There were a couple new words added to my vocabulary while reading because I had to look some of them up to understand the context of the reading. These stories also were great because they gave me insight into what the history and faith of the Jewish culture is like. I enjoyed learning another style of writing and look forward to reading more next week as well as reading others posts on their choice of reading.

City of Jerusalem, seen in many Jewish Fairy tales

Photo provided by Wikimedia Commons

Bibliography: The stories talked about in this reading section were written by Gertrude Landa from the Jewish Fairy Tales Unit in the blog section. I recommend looking over these stories in order to improve writing skills. 

Reading Notes: Jewish Fairy Tales, Part A

From Shepard-Boy to King was interesting in the fact that an unknown voice had called out his name and told him that he would be ruler of the land. David in this story seems like a very level headed guy, who really appreciates the world itself and every living thing. He was confused on why this voice called his name but realized that there was not anyone around. The fact that he is also clueless at the same time is great though. When he climbs the so called hill and finds out that it is a giant unicorn surprised me. The detail within the story is great. I could see the images in my mind because the detail painted the picture in my head. The ending was a little abrupt but it was part of the story so it worked out just fine. Showing how the unicorn bowed to the lion who was smaller showed respect, but when David became king because the deer saved his life. A big point on this subject would be the fact that it was all out of luck that David was chosen to be king.

The Unicorn that David ended up on

Photo provided by Pixabay

Bibliography: The original story was, From Shepard-Boy to King  by Gertrude Landa which showed the life of a clueless boy who became a king of the land by pure luck and did not know how he became king of the land.