American Indian Legends and Folktales by Richard Erdoes

I thought that it was very interesting that in the beginning of this Book the author made a point that different Native myths and folktales varied within different parts of the world. Its important to take note of that because when focusing on one story, the different versions of that story reflect the story tellers views and and social concerns based on where its told. Although they might have different versions of a story its always important that they had the same theme. Within the Native American community their main focus on these myths and folktales was the concern of the world in which humans lived (Erodes, 6). Sometimes it  even gave lessons on social order and daily life. 

On page 6, a Sioux medicine man talks about their native language has been "white-manized" and its something that can pose a threat to traditional Native myths and folktales. Adopting a non-traditional language within their stories weaken them. Sticking to their native language is an essential part of their story re-telling. Their words all have special meaning and represent something, so by adopting or being influenced by new language can erase the importance of these stories. So not only can stories be changed geographically, but also in a linguistic sense (not sure if this is grammatically correct). 

Living Folklore by Martha Sims and Chapter 2 of The Craft of Research

Chapter 2 of The Craft of Research was an interesting chapter to read. The main focus was to inform you how to connect to your reader when writing a research paper. This is something that I often have trouble with when writing a paper. So when I started reading the chapter I was glad  that there would be some sort of steps to help me engage my read in what I'm writing. Although I thought this was going to be something that would help me, as soon as I read the first pages of the chapter I was confused. How I understand how a research paper works is that you research your topic and you gather up facts that you didn't already know about the subject and explain it in your own words in essay form. But from what I read in the chapter you have to be able to explain to your reader what your topic is without assuming that they know too little or that they are an expert (Booth, 17.) How would you even know whether your reader is an expert or not? When do you draw the line? I feel like this concept doesn't quite sit well with me, but I would assume that it is to ensure that the writer doesn't add too little or too much in their research paper.

Now moving on too Martha Sims piece on Folklore's. I thought those two chapters about Folklore were very well explained. She explains every concept that related to folklore clearly and eloquently. Her piece even followed the same writing structure from Chapter 2 in the Craft of Research. These two chapters from Martha Sims will definitely be used in future essays about folklore. Sims covers the bases of folklore while stating uncommon facts that help us better understand folklore.

Aesop's Fables and Roles They Play In Human LIfe

 Fables or stories with morals have always been something that caught my interest, so reading Aesop’s Fables for me was a breeze. Although I have had experience with fables, reading Aesop’s fables was still a new experience for me, kind of like a second coming. Reading it with fresh eyes, helped me notice how a lot of these fables not only teach a life lesson, but they are also actual precautions and safe measures that we humans use in our daily lives. The only question to pose was why were animals used to tell these life lessons and not humans? Was it for comedic relief? Was it because it would be less interesting to make it from the view of a human? In Edward Clayton’s “Aesop, Aristotle, and Animals: The Role of Fables in Human Life,” Clayton goes on to talk about why animals are always used in these fables. He says uses a quote from Aristotle's “History of Animals” to argue how animals and humans are the same. The point Clayton was trying to make is that the only thing that makes animals and humans different is that we are domesticated or “tamed” and animals aren't. As I went to read on, what I understood was that because animals are not tame and they are still able to teach you a life lesson, us as human being that are in fact tamed should learn from these fables and apply them to our lives. We are the ones who are capable of reason it shouldn't be that hard to follow these Fable’s message.