Topic Research: Ghost Stories Told by Old Lady Hudson

For my project I really like the idea of having a collection of ghost stories each told from "Old Lady Hudson", the ghost that was in my childhood home. Growing up, I've heard many stories and I would like to incorporate those into my project. I want each story to connect with each other and in the end a secret or realization will be revealed. I could start with her telling different stories about others and their connection with her, and maybe end the stories with a story about her on how she died, why she's haunting the specific house, etc. The three stories below came from English Fairy and Folk Tales by Edwin Sidney Hartland. I found these stories on the Sacred Texts website.

First, I would like to start with a story about why she is wandering around. The Lady With the Lantern is a good story that I could see myself using. This story gives a good reason, losing a child, to haunt a certain place. I would maybe change the setting though, and make it to where she haunts the house, rather than the shore, while she is looking for her baby. I would also probably change how she lost her baby to make her a more angry ghost. Particularly, I would like to make someone do something that causes the loss/death of her baby which makes her angry enough to haunt the rest of the people who live in her house. I may also use this story at the end, or close to the end, to give an explanation as to why she has been haunting different people.

Another story that I could use was the first of the Ghost-Laying Stories. I like this story because it includes a family that moves into a house where the ghost had lived in while alive. The ghost becomes more disturbed when the father decides to alter the house by adding more rooms and space. I could retell this story easily. It could be the first family that has moved into the home since she has died. She is angered by this in general, and even more so when they begin to change her home.

The last story I would like to use is titled The Roaring Bull O' Bagbury. I like this story, and while reading I thought of many different ways that I could change it to use as my own story. It took twelve people to lay the ghost to rest, and I like the idea of that. To me, that makes it seem like he was a difficult ghost, and it was hard to get rid of him. This could be one of the last stories where the current person or family living there is finally able get rid of the ghost in the house.

Bermuda Hill Plantation

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Helpful Feedback Strategies

Feedback is essential to growth. Another person's perspective is always useful for gaining a new insight. The first feedback article, and possibly my favorite so far, was titled Try Feedforward Instead of Feedback. It states how helpful feedback can be in all aspects of life especially for work and school. It's easier to grow and change when you have an idea of where you are and where you need/want to be. The "upward feedback' basically means that instead of focusing on the past, it's important to focus on the future for improvements. I somewhat disagree with this because yes, it is important to focus on the future, but keeping your past in mind is also almost as important. You have to remember your past mistakes to learn from them.

The other article I read was titled How To Give Students Specific Feedback That Actually Helps Them Learn. I like this article because it gives tips on how to give feedback and the tips are very useful. I agree with all of the different ideas they give such as it being goal-oriented, timely, and it is not vague. Feedback should have a purpose. It should be given in a timely fashion so that it is still relevant and useful in the near future. Feedback should also be straight to the point and specific so that the recipient is certain of what is being communicated. 

I feel fairly confident in giving others feedback. I think my main problem so far has been being too vague and not specific enough. That is definitely something I could improve on. 

Listening to feedback is important.

Source: Flickr

Edit: Due to internet problems, I realized this did not post properly. Thankfully, my post was saved and I was able to repost it. 

Week Three Story: The Genie in the Lamp

Once upon a time there lived a young woman named Hannah who lived with her mother and father. One day while Hannah was out running errands for her family, a messenger approached her with urgent news. "Return home quickly," he said,"your father and mother have become extremely ill!" Hannah got home as fast as she could to find her mother and father in bed very sick.

"Hannah dear, this illness took over so quickly. We are going to die, but I have some instructions for you to ensure that you will be alright when we are gone," said her father. "First, as expected, you are going to mourn for us greatly for seven days. You will stop mourning on the eve of the festival of Passover. Next, you will go to the market and buy the first thing that is offered to you, no matter what the cost. Do as I say and you will be taken care of for life my daughter."

Hannah promised she would obey her father's wishes, and sure enough, his predictions started to come true. Hannah mourned for seven days and then finally she headed to the market. The first thing offered to her was an old, dusty lamp from a fragile, elderly man. "Buy this lamp, my dear, and good fortune will come to you," said the man. "Rub the lamp three times a day for three weeks and you will then understand."

As her father instructed, she bought the old lamp. The lamp cost her almost all that she had, but she carried on and went home. She was curious as to why she would need an old lamp and how that could ever bring her good fortune. Since her parents died, she had become lonely and very poor, but still she followed the old man's instructions. The weeks went by, and Hannah was living alone in poverty.

It was the last day of the three weeks and Hannah was hoping for a miracle. Suddenly, a cloud of smoke filled her home. A genie appeared and said,"Greetings caretaker! I am Genie. As a token of my appreciation for you taking great care of me and releasing me from my lamp, I will grant you three wishes!"

Hannah could not believe her eyes! She became overwhelmed thinking of all the things that she could wish for. "Hmmm... this is going to be a difficult decision. I first need someone who can help me make these choices. As I've been terribly lonely for these weeks, this is only right. I wish for the perfect husband!"

"Wish granted" said Genie as a tall, handsome man appeared. "You have two more wishes left."
Hannah and her new husband hugged and kissed and began discussing their next two wishes.
"My father was very intelligent and provided a good life for his family. I wish for wisdom for my husband and I!"

"Wish number two is granted,"said Genie. "Finally, I wish for wealth for my family," said Hannah, "I have been living in poverty for the past few weeks and I have had enough.
"That concludes your three wishes my friends! Thank you again for freeing me. But, I have one more gift for you," said Genie. He told them to follow him out to the woods. When they got to the middle of the forest, every animal began to appear with gifts. They began giving Hannah and her husband herbs and precious stones. "These are all for you. Best of luck to your family," said Genie.
And POOF! Genie and the lamp had vanished.

Hannah became well-known because of Genie. She was the smartest and wealthiest in all of the land, and she lived a happy life.



Author's Note: The original story this was based off of was titled The Fairy Frog by Gertrude Landa.
In this story, the main character is a man named Hanina. His father and mother are dying and his father gives him instructions on what to do after his death. He tells him first that he will mourn for seven days. After that, his mourning will pass on the eve of the festival of the Passover. Next, he must go to the market and buy whatever is offered to him first. Hanina's dad's predictions come true, and when he goes to the market he is offered a silver casket. He does not know what it contains, but he buys it anyway spending most of his money. He and his wife get home and find out the casket contains a frog. They had to feed the frog as it ate large amounts of food and started to grow and become huge. The frog ate so much that they ran out of food for themselves and were living in poverty. The frog was bigger than a man and spoke to them one day. He told them that he would grant whatever wishes they had. They first asked for food, then wisdom, and then wealth. Days later, the frog took them out to the woods where animals and insects gave Hanina and his wife precious stones and herbs. As they thanked the frog, they asked who he was and he replied that he was the fairy son of Adam. He then disappeared and they lived a happy rest of their life.
One change that I made in the story was that Hannah, a single woman rather than a married man, was the main character. I also changed the fairy frog into a genie because I liked the idea of a genie granting wishes more than a frog. I also changed one of the wishes from asking for food into asking for a husband.

Bibliography: "The Fairy Frog" from Jewish Fairy Tales by Gertrude Landa

The genie grants three wishes.

Source: Flickr

Reading Notes: The Quarrel of the Cat and Dog, Part A

This week, I decided to look at the Jewish Fairy Tales and found many interesting stories. My favorite story was The Quarrel of the Cat and Dog. The whole purpose of the story explains why, to this day, cats and dogs hate each other. I am a dog person, so while reading the story I felt sympathy for the dog. Cats aren't my favorite, and I thought that character was being crude. Therefore, I like how each character was portrayed because that's how I imagine them to be. The reason for the two to separate didn't make sense to me. I thought they should have a more important reason for promising to never cross paths again.

An idea I had while reading, was that during the cold, harsh winter months the two run out of food. The dog, being the way dogs are, gets so hungry he decides to try and eat the cat while she is sleeping. The dog will apologize for being so hungry and almost eating his companion, but the cat is too scared and upset to reason. This is the reason for the separation, and the cat makes the dog promise to never cross paths again.

This way, when the dog meets other animals, some of which are very mean to him, he misses the cat and regrets what he did. Towards the end when he makes his way back to Adam and the cat, he believes he has learned his lesson; However, sometimes actions cannot be forgiven and he found this out the hard way. The story then teaches a valuable lesson about how actions you make always have consequences. It also still explains why cats and dogs resent each other to this day.

I would also like to change the characters that the dog stays with and make them behave worse, so that it emphasizes how good his friendship with the cat was. I would keep the wolf, but switch the sheep for something more menacing or even just have them be more mean to the dog.

Story: The Quarrel of the Cat and Dog by Gertrude Landa (1919)
Source: Jewish Fairy Tales and Legends

Cat and dog drawing

Source: Wikimedia Commons