Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales: Styles Brainstorming

Topic

I have decided to do my Storybook over famous fairy tales from Hans Christian Andersen stories. He wrote so many incredible fairy tales that I have only briefly heard about. We have heard many of the names, but mainly through Disney. His stories are not quite what we remember from our childhood, which is why I am fascinated by them. They are not what we imagine fairy tales to be. Some are not happy tales and do not have your so-called "happy endings." My goal is to find four of his stories from his page Hans Christian Andersen: Fairy Tales and Stories, and give them a different spin that you aren't expecting.

Bibliography

1. Little Tiny or Thumbelina by Hans Christian Anderson (1835). Web source: Hans Christian Andersen: Fairy Tales and Stories. 

Hans Christian Andersen

(Source: Pixabay)

Possible Styles

1. I think there are a lot of ways fairy tales can be told! The one I think of first is an actual storyteller telling the story. In some movies or fables you will hear a narrator telling the story from their point of view. I think it would be neat to have all of the stories be told by a grandfather reading to his grandchildren. Grandparents reading and teaching their grandchildren values and life lessons seem like a cute way to do my storytelling. I have a grandpa who still to this day loves telling me stories and they usually have a bit more meaning coming from someone whom I love and respect. Each of the stories could be read slightly different, with a few interjections from the children and the grandfather himself.

2. The second way I would like to tell my stories is from a central character. I would choose one character from one of the four stories and he or she would tell the different stories from ow they remember hearing it. Stories that are spread from mouth to mouth are different than when they are written down and then read. 

3. Since Hans Christian Andersen is such an important part of my storytelling project, I think he should be included in the storytelling portion. The picture above gave me the image of Andersen coming alive in central park and telling his stories to the animals that come to the park at night. Since he is the author, the stories would have more feeling coming from him.

4. The fourth way I might like to tell my story is through a town celebration of Hans Christian Andersen stories. I read in Wikipedia that Andersen was born on April 2 in Odense, Funen, Kingdom of Denmark. Every April 2nd, the town would have a major celebration in honor of Andersen. Children from the town would bring their favorite stories with them and if their names were called, then they would have the opportunity to read their story. Each one would be a surprise. 

Week 3 Storytelling: The Cyclopes That Wasn't

Yes, it's true. All of it is true. Cyclopes have no laws and no rules and no codes. We do not care about the incredibly rich soil we have been given by the gods. It does not matter to us that the rich soil sits alone, never to be tended by any one of us. The gods give us everything we want or need.

Wheat, barely and grapes of all sorts grow steadily everywhere. Zeus supplies us with an abundance of rain so plentiful that we can sit happily while food grows itself. We do not have to worry about anything.

But this... this life I lead is very dull and very boring. I am a lonely Cyclopes on this island of ours. I sit apart from the others, for I do not enjoy just sitting all day. I know I am far different from the others. I wish sometimes that I wasn't. I wish I could be lazy. I wish that I didn't care about not lifting a finger to do anything all day. I want to be like the others so I could fit in... but that will never happen.

Polyphemus by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein

(Source: Wikipedia)

I love waking up in the morning to the beautiful sun coming up over the mountains. I love watching and listening to the waves slap against the rocks near the shore. I love the feeling of accomplishing something. It fills my heart with happiness to know that when I get back my gave at night, after working in the fields all day, that I have done good work. Of course, I know the fields don't need my help but it's fun all the same.

The others have seen me working day in and day out in the fields. They joke and laugh at me. They think there is something wrong with me. At times I wonder if they'r right. I don't know why I can't be like them. Is there something wrong with me? I realize am very lucky. I live on the most incredible island, protected and supplied by the gods, yet I am not happy. I am not content. My heart aches for something it can't have.

I still have my sheep however. I tend to them throughout the day. I care for them as I would a friend. They bring me so much joy and without them, I would be completely alone. I know life will get better. This can't be all the gods have in store for me. So for now, I will wait for that change to come...

~~~

After many, many years later my life had changed, but not in the way I had hoped. I had finally changed into the monster I was born to be. When I got back to my cave, I tended to my sheep. After I finished getting my milk ready for supper, I looked up to a surprise in my cave... 

~~~

Then he lifted his door, a huge stone, and set it in place. Twenty-two four-wheeled wagons could not have carried it, yet such was the great rocky mass he used for a door. Then he sat and milked the ewes, and bleating goats in order, putting her young to each. Next he curdled half of the white milk, and stored the whey in wicker baskets, leaving the rest in pails for him to drink for his supper.

When he had busied himself at his tasks, and kindled a fire, he suddenly saw us, and said: "Strangers, who are you? Where do you sail from over the sea-roads? Are you on business, or do you roam at random, like pirates who chance their lives to bring evil to others?"

Author's Note: I chose to to talk more about the cyclopes than about Odysseus' journey back home. I like to learn about the backstory of characters which includes the monsters that fill his journey. My story talks about the cyclopes that Odysseus and his men encounter on the island. I decided to show why the cyclopes, Polyphemus, reacted the way he did. 

Bibliography: I chose to do my story over Odyssey: Prisoners of the Cyclopes. It is Homer's Odyssey translated into English by Tony Kline (2004).

Week 3 Reading Diary, continued: The Odyssey

The Odyssey

Homer's Odyssey translated by Tony Kline (2004)

Ghosts of Erebus

Odysseus Making a Sacrifice

(Source: Wikimedia)

Odysseus put an alter together for the gods. After said his prayer, ghosts from all backgrounds came from the alter. They each died different ways and came from everywhere. Why these specific ghosts? where did they come from? Why did the ghosts scare Odysseus?

The Ghosts of Elpenor and Teiresias

Friends of Odysseus appeared in ghost form. The first one was Elpenor who is Odysseus' comrade. After Elpenor's death, his ghost went down to Hades' House. What is it like down there? Why was he sent there? It was very important that Odysseus bury his comrade. Odysseus agreed to all that Elpenor requested. 

The second of Odysseus friends arose, after his own mother. This is where Odysseus learns the truth about his journey. He still has several years left to journey on his way home. He will experience everything on the way. 

"He finished, and I replied, saying; Teiresias, no doubt the gods, themselves, have spun this fate for me. Come tell me the truth of this now. Here I see my dead mother's ghost; she sits beside the blood silently, and cannot look on her own son's face or speak with him. Tell me, my lord, how she may know it is I.""

"Swiftly he answered my words: "It is a simple thing to explain to you. Whoever of the dead departed you allow to approach the blood will speak to you indeed; but whoever you deny will draw back.""

Odysseus would be able to choose whom he spoke with. He could learn the truth about many things that concerned him. This could be interesting to play with... learning about things that were secret, and meant to be kept from you. 

Week 3 Reading Diary: The Odyssey

The Land of the Cyclopes

Translated by Tony Kline (2004)

Roman mosaic of a cyclopes

(Source: Wikimedia)

The cyclopes lived without any laws or codes. They also kept to themselves. The male cyclopes were in charge of their own wives and children. Cyclopes did not have any skills with which to build ships so they could travel. 

The land of the cyclopes was rich in nutrients. Although they did not tend to the land, it would grow anything they wanted. 

Prisoner's of the Cyclopes

Odysseus made sure to bring the wine he had received in a previous encounter. The wine will play an important part. 

"Good sir, do not refuse us: respect the gods. We are suppliants and Zeus protects visitors and suppliants, Zeus the god of guests, who follows the steps of sacred travelers." Odysseus

The cyclopes couldn't care less about Zeus. 

The cyclopes thought they could fool Odysseus. Odysseus is very wise when it comes to creatures. However, the cyclopes ate his crew. It was as easy as eating unmoving food. 

 Story source: Homer's Odyssey, translated into English by Tony Kline. (2004).