Wikipedia Trails: From Alice and Wonderland to Masculinity

Alice in Wonderland:

I started here because I did an extra credit reading for my Storybook over the first half of the Alice in Wonderland unit. This article gives a complete overview of the story of Alice, from her meager beginnings as a story to her massive success following the various adaptations of the original story. I was actually just looking to do a little research on the story on this site, but remember that I could be extra credit points for just a few more clicks!

Hookah:

I was looking through the previous page, Alice in Wonderland, for an interesting next step to take and saw the link to this page and wondered what kind of information it would have; it turns out it has a WHOLE BUNCH! I have seen many hookah places around the Oklahoma City area and have visited some on occasion, but this particular page gave a lot of insight to the international cultural phenomenon that is hookah. I particularly liked the country by country analysis of the place of hookah in their culture.

Tobacco:

Not a far step from hookah is tobacco, as tobacco is often used in hookahs. I knew that this was going to give a whole lot of information about all the different kinds of ways people use tobacco. This crop also has a very rich history in our country, with many colonies depending on it to sustain their wavering economies.

Masculinity:

This was an interesting leap from tobacco to masculinity, but not that surprising. Traditionally, smoking or chewing tobacco has been seen as a man's hobby in many societies. Often, it was seen as promiscuous if a woman were to smoke. As said in the article, since about the mid-1800s, smoking tobacco has been seen as a sign of "masculinity and power."

(Hookah in a restaurant in Nepal, web source: Wikimedia)

Tech Tip: Link Check, 1-2, 1-2

Google Sites is turning out to be a really neat interface to set up my Storybook. Adding a new page this week was actually a semi-exciting experience!

All of my links worked great when I tried them; no problems there. I'll definitely be interested in discovering some different design/layout templates. Looking at some of the older Storybooks has inspired me to really get creative!

Check out my website here: sites.google.com/kimberleybishopok

Alice in Wonderland Part A

Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll. Link to reading here.

A lot of this half of the unit was similar to stories that appeared in the Disney version of this tale. Alice falling down the rabbit hole, eating and drinking random items to shrink or grow, meeting the Caterpillar atop a mushroom, and talking with the Cheshire Cat.

One part of this story, and the only part that was not present in the movie to my knowledge, confused me a bit. The part with the Duchess in the home. She's sitting in the middle of her kitchen supposedly holding a baby. This baby just turns out to be a pig wrapped up and the Cheshire Cat does not seem the bit taken aback by this? Also the cook in this home is literally just throwing pots and pans and other things across the room toward the Duchess holding the so-called baby? I can't say that I determined what the point of that part was.

I didn't find too too much (YET!) that I'll want to include in my Storybook. Of course, I'll want the very beginning of Alice discovering Wonderland and falling down the hole. I think the social media platform that I've chosen will be a really cool medium for this story, the more I read it. I'll make Alice a hair older than she is supposed to be, so she's a teenager. Especially younger teens spend a lot of time on their phones on social media sites. I know that I see some of my posts from freshman year of high school and I say, "Did the entire Facebook world NEED to know that?" So, having her track her kooky adventures via Facebook status is really going to be fun. I think some of the bigger name characters will be good for interacting on the Facebook statuses with Alice. Like, if Alice were to make a post about making it into the garden with the Caterpillar and comments on how odd the Caterpillar was, he could comment in a contemptuous manner. Stuff like that.

I'm excited to read more of this story!!

Reading Notes: Arabian Nights Part B

Arabian Nights. Link to reading here.

It was interesting to try to determine similarities to the Disney version of Aladdin. Aladdin was my all time favorite movie when I was a child, and, of course, I was heartbroken to find out that Abu and Iago were not in the original!

I also found that Aladdin rubbed me the wrong way some of the time. I suppose that may the same as in the movie, as well. I think it's also interesting to think about the transposition from the story being in Asia and the movie being in the Middle East. I found that to be odd, but I'm not really sure I could figure out why that was the case. I also found it challenging to follow the two genies, and couldn't figure out why the genie from the lamp could do some things that the genie from the ring couldn't.. I also feel like Aladdin had a lot more wishes that should have been allowed?

I can see Jafar's character in the magician, when he moves the palace and takes the lamp from Aladdin and takes Princess Jasmine for himself. It seems like Jafar is a combination of the grand-vizir and the magician.

I thought that the magician's brother seemed to be a completely extraneous character, and the story could have ended before he showed up. This is especially because this all happened in the last story.

I think the princess' vantage point would really be cool for this story. Can you imagine how you would feel if you were married to one man and then all the sudden, as if by magic, you appeared in the bedroom of another and he simply slept in the same bed as you? I'd be pretty freaked, for sure. Following her from the palace in Asia to being magic'ed all the way to Africa and visited by some creepy dude? I think I could have a lot of fun with that one.

(Dreams of a grand palace, web source: Wikimedia)

Reading Notes: Arabian Nights Part A

Arabian Nights. Link to reading here.

Alright, this is a super long segment. There are a lot of different things going on here, and following the different intertwining story lines is definitely difficult. The many layers of the story are certainly confusing as well. BUT, I kind of just constructed a story map as I went. Which helped a ton.

Although I read a whole mess of stories this week, there's a whole lot to work with. Some of the stories are pretty funny, probably due to the ridiculousness of it all.

My favorite, I think, was the story with the young king of the Black Isles. I actually laughed out when it mentioned that the king is beat by a buffalo skin every single day. I probably shouldn't have laughed, but I did anyway. But that tale has interesting complexities, with the Sultan's plan to deceive the enchantress. I think telling the story from a different vantage point, like the King or the enchantress herself or even the slave that's being held in the tower unable to communicate. This could put an entirely new spin on this story and make it something new or fresh.

I think another idea would be to use the story of the Greek king and the physician and then the physician's revenge. I'm not entirely sure how I would make this one my own just yet. I like the greater story of the king being mistaken and then revenge immediately being taken on him. I also like the supernatural concept of the severed head and the book. Again, I'm not sure on this yet. I'll be thinking on this while reading the other half of the reading.

(Fisherman & the Genie, web source: Wikimedia)