Week 6 Reading Diary: Monkey King

Unit:  Monkey King

11.       Handsome King of the Apes-  This is the first fairy tale story that I have read this unit and it starts as any fairy tale should.  Also it seems like there is always hidden behind a waterfall.

22.       The Great Sea-  For a fairy tale, this touches on a fairly serious issue of mortality and coping with eventually dying.

33.       Sun Wu Kung Gets His Name-  Wu Kung has come a great deal from knocking out a fisherman and stealing his clothes.  It seems like many years pass also where Wu Kung does menial things.

44.       The Master- I feel like I am missing something that would come with living in the Chinese culture because a lot of this section did not make sense to me.

55.       Learning the Art-  I chose this unit because I heard that one of my favorite childhood shows, Dragon Ball, was based on this unit.  The resemblance is starting to show up in my opinion.  Also, while I don't know what they mean, I feel like the use of numbers such as three and 72 have significance.

66.       Sun Wu Kung Departs- Banishing Wu Kung is an awfully harsh punishment for turning into a pine tree.  I don't think I would have made it very long under that master because I would have pulled some sort of prank way sooner than that.

77.       The Devil-King- I've enjoyed how this unit doesn't start right off the bat into an action section like this but instead builds into it.  Also that must have been a gigantic cave if the Devil-King was that big.

88.       The Dragon-King-  This section is a little clunky to read as it jumps around very quickly. 

99.       The Dragon-Queen- At first I liked Son Wu Kung but he is turning into a jerk.  I can see now why the synopsis said that the Buddha decides to deal with him.

110.   The Nether World*- Usually trips to the underworld come with some trial and tribulation, but Wu Kung had none.  I don't like stories with a hero that doesn't struggle but this one isn't terrible since it is a bit more entertaining.

111.   The Lord of the Heavens-  Sun Wu Kung reminds me of the Clampetts from the Beverly Hillbillies, where he has no idea what the customs are and just does his own thing.  However, he is becoming more and more arrogant.

112.   The Great Saint- Are the devil-kings there to cause mischief or are they denizens of Wu Kung's island? 

113.   Notscha, Son of Li Dsing-  I keep reading these chapters and get more and more excited for Wu Kung to get smacked down.  However, I do like how the gods aren't all powerful like in Greek Mythology; it makes Sun Wu Kung's tales more enjoyable.

114.   The Queen-Mother of the West-  The more the main gods try to involve themselves in trying to prevent Wu Kung from mischief he only gets into so much more.

115.   Laotzse-  How many times can they become immortal?  It seems that the fruits and pills and such all grant immortality many times over.

116.   Guan Yin-  This is the second time it mentions someone being giant and having a black face, is there significance to this?

117.   Yang Oerlang-  This section reminds me of the fight between Merlin and the witch in the old Disney movie The Sword in the Stone, where the combatants keep changing into things that can defeat each other.

118.   Buddha-  This sections looks like its going to have a neat ending, where Wu Kung is not beaten by force but by someone who is wise.

119.   The Destiny of Sun Wu Kung-  I'm going to have to read up on how Buddha so easily handles Wu Kung because it doesn't make any sense to me that the Buddha is so much stronger than the gods and Wu Kung.

220.   Journey to the West (synopsis)-  I like how this section has a synopsis section for a conclusion for the conclusion of Wu Kung's journey.  I wish other sections (Iliad and Odyssey) had this as well.  Also this was the reason as to why I chose this unit, as many of the described characters here are the basis for many of the Dragon Ball characters.

221.   Journey to the West (conclusion)-  I found this section to be my favorite of all sections because you saw Wu Kung's rise to power, his arrogance, his punishment, and his salvation.  It also flowed very well from chapter to chapter and had a resolution.

Arabian Nights Tricksters Essay, Week 5

Tricksters in Arabian Nights

   What stood out for me in Arabian Nights was the large amount of tricksters found in the stories.  The heroine Scheherazade, the three old men who help the merchant, the fisherman, the physician, and the Sultan could all be considered tricksters.  I would consider these characters to be not foolish but rather wise and well spoken.  Scheherazade is able to trick her husband, the Sultan, into not killing her and she instead stalls him with elaborate and lengthy stories.  The three old men who help the merchant manage to convince the genie to spare the merchants life with what I believed to be made up stories, but I could be wrong.  The physician manages to kill the Sultan from the story within a story by tricking him into licking a poisoned book.  The fisherman tricks the genie into sparing his life by betting the Genie that he couldn't fit back into his lamp.  Finally, the Sultan from the fisherman's story manages to trick the enchantress into believing he was the slave, allowing him to change everything back to normal and to kill her.  The other characters generally have a poor experience when meeting these trickster; most of characters that interacted with the tricksters ended up dead or they were dissuaded from their original plan.  Also, the other characters generally don't realize what is going on until it is too late for them.  

Scheherazade.  Web Source:  Wikipedia 

   The latter half of Arabian Nights had a trickster, but it wasn't Aladdin.  I considered the magician from Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp to be probably the best trickster from the section.  He convinces Aladdin and his mother that he is a long lost uncle, he convinces Aladdin to retrieve the lamp, and he tricks the princess into trading the magic lamp for a useless lamp.  However, I found him to be foolish because he gives Aladdin a genie from the start since he gave him a magic ring and also leaves him with the magic lamp.  He could have easily overpowered Aladdin after he got him out of the cave.

Week 5 Reading Diary: Arabian Nights

Arabian Nights

1.  Scheherazade
 I enjoyed how this story unit begins, it introduces the characters in a much better fashion than the previous readings that I have done.
2.  The Story of the Merchant and the Genius
I wasn't fond of the word choice of genius for genie because although they might have similarities in terms of word origin, I found it to be distracting since in modern sense they are not similar in meaning at all.  Also why couldn't the Merchant just not return to the spot where the genie would kill him?  It seems like the genie didn't intend on hunting him down.
3.  The Story of the First Old Man and of the Hind
How there is a story inside a story reminds me of all of the Inception jokes that people made when they came out.
4.  The Story of the Second Old Man, and of the Two Black Dogs
Scheherazade does do a good job of making you want to read the next story.  I usually feel like I'm going through a checklist reading these stories but I haven't felt like that with this so far.
5.  The Story of the Fisherman
If I was the fisherman, I would try wishing for death by extremely old age.  On another note I like how Arabian Nights appears to be divided into 3 different stories told by Scheherazade, it adds different elements to the overall same theme.
6.  The Story of the Greek King and the Physician Douban
Not much to say about this story other than it is neat how polo was around back then and how there is another layer to this Inception-like story.
7.  The Story of the Parrot; The Story of the Ogress
While the story of the parrot made sense in how it compared to the king's situation with the physician, I found the story of the ogress to be confusing.
8.  The Story of the Physician's Revenge
This was a good story, but I wished that it kept to its non-magical tone that it had for a majority of the second layer story.  The dismembered head talking threw me off since it came out of nowhere.  I did find the way the physician killed the king to be clever and I am surprised some sort of Sherlock Holmes or CSI show hasn't ripped it off.
9.  The Story of the Sultan and the Fish
Its a little annoying how the stories are jumping around now, but it makes sense since Sheherazade is trying to buy time and is following tangents of stories and stall.
10.  The Story of the Young King of the Black Isles
Definitely a good ending to this subunit of Arabian Nights, although it did stray pretty far from where it started.
11.  Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 1
I found the dad dying from Aladdin not working to be a somewhat amusing way for the father to die.  Also I can see underlying similarities between the Disney and original versions.
12.  Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 2 
I wish it explained why the Sultan decided to forgo his promise to Aladdin's mother, hopefully it explains itself in a later story.
13.  Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 3
I could see how the story ending here would have a good ending.  I don't like Aladdin in this version though so I could see how things might change.
14.  Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 4
Aladdin isn't that bright if he left an all powerful genie's lamp out in the open, if it was me, I would have it locked up better than Fort Knox.
15.  Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 5
I guess I thought that something bad would happen since part 4 said if it ended there it would have been a happily ever after story.
16.  Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp 6
I was a little confused by what the Roc's egg meant.  Do genies serve Rocs?  Either way I wish this unit had some conclusion on what happened to Scheherazade.

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Week 4 Essay The Voyages of Sindbad: Story Analysis

The Voyages of Sindbad:  Story Analysis

           For this essay analysis, I will focus on the topic of a recurring motif in The Voyages of Sindbad.  This by far, and in fact in probably all of my reading experiences during my life, has the most formulaic repetition of a motif.  My reading of The Voyages of Sindbad was definitely a roller coaster experience and especially my opinion of the story.  At first, I enjoyed the smooth writing style that was presented and the apt use of description.  I had previously read both the Iliad and the Odyssey and I felt like this was a superior story in terms of reading flow, description, and story progression in the sections.  However, my enjoyment of The Voyages of Sindbad quickly plummeted as I began to realize that the entire story had a formulaic pattern:  Sindbad travels to see, his travel is abruptly stopped, he and/or the people with him are placed in danger which results in his companions being eaten, he finds treasure which he takes with him, and then he is miraculously saved after which he returns home a rich man.  There were countless variations of this basic framework in The Voyages of Sindbad but much to my dismay it felt very monotonous reading. 

Sindbad and the Old Man of the Sea.  Web Source:  Stefanmart.de

        After I had time to get over my frustration of the reading, I tried to reason why the story was told as such.  At first I tried to find perhaps an underlying theme that links these tales together.  Maybe these situations were symbolic of an overlying theme or message.  I attempted to reason for this but I got nowhere.  Next, I thought maybe the stories were supposed to build up into a climax.  While one could maybe draw this conclusion since his situations get more convoluted and dire, I don't believe this is the case since he was in danger the entire time.  Finally, after much deliberation, I decided that my opinion was the The Voyages of Sindbad was written as such to show the helplessness of man.  Having read previously other Arabic texts, I've often seen this idea that man has little influence on the world and only survives.  I believe that this is the case for this story as well since Sindbad is just drug along the swift current of his circumstances.  Again, I don't have much support for this claim but that was the interpretation I came up with after reading this story.

Reading Diary Week 4: The Voyages of Sindbad

Week 4 Reading Assignment:  The Voyages of Sindbad

1. First Voyage [The Island]-  Right off the bat I like how Sindbad regales his adventures.  The beginning has a good start for an adventure as such, giving a little background but not too much.  Having read the Odyssey and having seen your comment of its similarity, I have to say so far Sindbad reads better due to it being in first person.
2. First Voyage (cont.) -Having read Arabic writings before in previous classes, you can feel the same overlying style of writing that I have previously read before in this tale.  
3. Second Voyage [Valley of Diamonds] -  You would think captains of ships would have some sort of passenger log or have someone make sure everyone on board.  If it was me, I would probably never get off of the ship due to their lack of concern for passengers.  Hopefully this theme of Sindbad getting lost doesn't keep recurring throughout the story.
4. Second Voyage (cont.)- It's funny reading this now and hearing the description of the rhino, which must have not been very know to the audience.
5. Third Voyage [The Giant]  What is the difference between a castle and a palace?  Sindbad seems somewhat disappointed upon realizing it was a castle.  Also, having no idea what the contents of this story was, I am someone disappointed to see that Sindbad is so reliant on chance.  Also the description of how the giant ate the captain was somewhat funny because it was written so nonchalantly.  I can see how the similarity to the Odyssey is beginning to shape out though.
6. Third Voyage (cont.) Now the similarities to the Odyssey really take place, everyone is eaten except the protagonist.
7. Third Voyage (end) Ok I am beginning to become annoyed with all of the luck Sindbad has, he avoids getting eaten by snakes and giants, he has been shipwrecked, he has been castaway, and he has been attacked by hairy dwarfs.  I can understand the idea of a hero having good fortune but this is ridiculous.
8. Fourth Voyage [The Wife] Oh goodness, I did not expect Sindbad to be shipwrecked....oh goodness, everyone was eaten except Sindbad...oh goodness, Sindbad becomes rich by some odd chance.  In all seriousness at least there is some novelty in that he teaches the country to make saddles and bridles, even though the sailors from that country were obviously in contact with Arabic culture and could have easily described these two things that make riding a horse much easier.
9. Fourth Voyage (cont.) After having Anatomy with human dissection and also been on a farm where you sometimes find decomposing animals, I could only imagine how terrible this sealed up cave smelled.
10. Fourth Voyage (end)*  I have accepted my fate of reading this story and I will begrudgingly continue reading this tale.  It should be renamed The Very Close Calls and Insane Luck of Sindbad, however, due to this being the main theme.  I came into this story expecting Sindbad to be some amazing captain who traveled the world having adventures and fighting monsters.
11. Fifth Voyage [The Old Man]  I actually found this one pretty funny seeing Sindbad's predicament.  You would think Sindbad could beat the old man up or something.  This adds to my already low opinion of Sindbad as he is so easily beat by an old man.
12. Fifth Voyage (cont.) Was the old man magical or was he just an old man?  Also I wish things were as easy now as just throwing rocks at monkeys to take their coconuts in order to make a considerable sum.
13. Sixth Voyage [The Raft]-  I feel like my comments now are not very good but these stories repeat the same pattern:  Sindbad decides to go on a journey, he gets lost or shipwrecked, the crew with him dies, he finds treasure, he finds his way home, and then rinse and repeat.
14. Sixth Voyage (cont.) It looks like the majority of places that Sindbad travels to is under the Islamic Caliphate.
15. Sixth Voyage (end) At least these sections paint a picture of what times might have been like during the times of the caliphate in Arabic areas.
16. Seventh and Last Voyage [The Elephants]  I am actually surprised Sindbad make it to Serendib without some weird experience.  If I was Sindbad in this situation I would try to buy back my freedom since he has a vast fortune back in Baghdad.
17. Seventh and Last Voyage (cont.)  Well this was an interesting story altogether but I am glad I finished it.

Week 3 Essay Assessment: The Odyssey

Assessment:  The Odyssey

  For this week's essay option, I decided to look back at my reading of The Odyssey and make an assessment for this unit.  I thought this was a well rounded and easy to read unit compared to most of the other units that I have gone through so far.  The majority of sections in  The Odyssey unit were very good and flowed together very nicely, compared to its Iliad counterpart which felt very disconnected.  However, I did find a couple of sections in the Odyssey unit unnecessary and should be replaced with others.  My main qualm was with the sections involving the ghosts.  While they are definitely an important part of the epic that Homer gives us, I felt like they could have been put as just as an introduction summary for another section.  We are given a long section over a fairly unimportant character who is only mentioned with by his unfortunate death prior to the trip to the underworld.  Also, the ghosts of famous women section, at least in my opinion, was pointless because the majority of these women haven't been brought up in previous sections or they are not commonplace names.  The sections over Agamemnon and Achilles were all right, they did bring some conclusion if you had read The Iliad, but they did bring in new information that didn't fit very well, such as Achilles having a son who fought in the Trojan War also.  The Ghost of Ajax was in my opinion decent.  My main problem was that it was extremely short and again brought in information that didn't further the Odyssey.  

Odysseus.  Web Source:  Hellenica

   In summation, I felt like these 6 or so sections took up too much of the reading and detracted from the total story.  In fact most of the information was summed up at the beginning of The Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis, where it says that Odysseus got information on the Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis.  Instead, while I don't know whether this would have worked, but I would have preferred to have some information on when he returns home or even other adventures along the way.  I understand it might not have worked due to a large portion of the book remaining, but I felt like better sections could have been used.  When I finished the Odyssey, I felt like I had watched parts of, for example, the Lord of the Rings where Frodo is on his adventure to Mordor to destroy the One Ring, but never actually saw him destroy it and instead maybe stopped halfway through.  Sure, the majority of parts were good, but without the conclusion you are left somewhat wanting.