day 30

Honestly I had fun doing this blog part of the project, but I do not think I will continue writing my blog. But then again I might start a new blog that is personal and I can just vent to if I need to.

This was a great experience because I have always wanted to blog but on T.V. all you hear about is bad blogs that people write about each other. But this was not like those other blogs. We actually use this as a learning tool. I realized that not all blogs are bad, it seems to me that the people writing them are the bad ones.

day 29

I think that I would dedicate my book to a couple of people. First it would be my mother because she was beside me through the whole process and and the beginning I did not think that I could do it. But she kept pushing me and was always there if I needed help.

I would also dedicate my book to Mr. Prier because if he didnt assign this project then I would have never been able to get in touch with my writing side. I would also thank Jaream, Alexis, Benny, and Vernon because they gave me ideas and told me what was wrong and right and we all helped each other and was there for each other.

day 28

My story is about a lady that is poor and gets help from somebody that is caring. Some titles that could work for my story other than "Beggar Lady," is :

1. "Not All People Are Bad," this title would work because there are a lot of people out here that look at homeless people and keep walking. Well in my story the president helps the homeless beggar and it shows that not all people in the world are bad.

2."Helping Others is A Way of Life," this would also be a good title because to me I would not be able to go on living life knowing that I have not helped somebody. To me it makes me seem selfish.

3."The Beggar Lady and the President," this title just tells who the main characters are in the story. So this title will also work.

4."Nigerian Lifestyle," this title would also work because it tells the culture I am using and the story describes how a lot of Nigerian's are forced to live due to poverty.

5."The Beggar Lady and her Fairy God-mother," this title works because her fairy god mother is also another big reason she ended up with a good life at the end of the story.

day 27

Today since this is a free write I am going to talk about what kind of experience this has been. This has been a fun, and stressful experience. I have learned so much and found out so many different tools that I did not even know was out there besides google. I have also been able to reach my writing side even more. I have always liked to write but I have never been assigned something like this and now I like writing even more.

With this project it is like we had no boundaries. We just could be free and creative and make our stories our own. Like each persons story would be different and it would kind of describe them based on how they did it or what story they picked. I like helping people thats why I picked the beggar lady and in my revised story I have somebody helping the less fortunate. So my story describes me very well.

day 26

So far my blurb is coming together good. I still need to find my creative side since this is a children's book and I need to write more for them instead of kids my age. I also need to look for more pictures that are for kids.

How many words should we have on a page since this is a kids book? But other than that I think my story is going to be real good once I get it all the way together and have all the pictures. Also I want people to comment and give me some suggestions that I can use to make my book perfect.

Thanks :)

day 25

I think that so far my manuscript is good. I am still trying to figure out how I can put more about my culture into my story without making it sound like a research paper. I also think that I need to make my theme more noticeable through words and just not through the pictures.

But other than that my manuscript is like it should be and it is fun reading it to actually see that I wrote a decent children's story. This project has kind of made me want to write another story about something that interest me.

day 24

I think the climax of the story is when the Nigerian president allows her to come live in his house and he supplies her with her necessities. I say this because after this happens the story starts to get real good and everything that happens from there on is based off that part of the story.

My climax kind of comes quick but all my events are in order and the story flows. Without the climax the story would kind of be boring and the excitement would stay the same throughout the whole story that is not how a story is suppose to be.

day 23

My characters social responsibility is kind of obvious. Like the president social responsibility is to be loyal and a caring person. He is the one that takes in the beggar woman and gives her food and a place to stay. So his social responsibility is very noticeable and he carries it out well.

The beggar lady social responsibility is to be considerate and to appreciate what others are doing for her. You will be able to see this because when ever somebody gives her something she always says thank you and she never complains about what she is given or what she does not have so she is very considerate of what she has. She still tries to help others even though she does not have much.

Day 22

The theme of my story is good things will come back to those who help others. I picked this theme because the main character tried to help others and then when she was down and became poor somebody came along and helped her in her time of need.

In my story the theme will be able to be understood by little kids because the pictures will be very descriptive.

Day 21

My opening sentence is going to be "Can you spare some bread crumbs," said the beggar lady. I choose that as my opening sentence because it introduces the main character, but not by name. It also introduces one of the things that is used by her fairy god mother to make her a feast of food.

The illustration I am going to use for this page is going to be a colorful sketch of the beggar lady with her hand out. Also in this picture there is going to be people walking by and she is going to be outside of a grocery store watching the people come in and out.

Twentieth Day

I have not really thought much about illustrations. But I want the illustrations to be either painted or hand drawn. I want it to be like the realistic look and not just some pictures I found on the internet since it is a kid book.

But I still and not one hundred percent sure on my illustrations. So I am going to take some time after I get the story fully written to decide on the type of pictures I will have.

Nineteenth Day

I think my cultural pastiche is good. But there is some thing that I can add or that is missing. I think that I should add more information on Nigeria. I think that I should make the clothing that the beggar woman wears more like the clothing that Nigerians wear to make it more cultural. Also I think that the food I have her eating she be like some of the meats Nigerians eat like lamb, mutton, beef, etc.

My story seems to be good other than a few small sentence repairs. I also think that I should use the white house that is in Nigerian instead of the American White House. So I will make those changes and see how it goes.

Day eighteen

"Spider and the Honey-tree" by Phillip Martin. This story was about a girl that was good at picking fruit for her family. The fruit that she picked was always bigger, sweeter, and tasted better. One day this boy named Spider asked her to show him where she finds her fruits. The girl said yes, but she knew that he was only using her. So she showed him where she found her oranges, bananas, and honey. Once the girl got to the honey tree, Spider jumped through the hole and ate all the honey not leaving her any. After it was all gone he was so full and fat that he could not get out the tree. He was stuck. He never once told the girl thank you or anything. So once he asked her to go get help she smiled and walked off and she told him that she was going to go get bigger and better fruit.

"Black Snake and Eggs," by Phillip Martin. This story was about a chicken that had twelve eggs and every time she left to go and get food for her other chicks one or two would disappear. So she told her friend rooster and rooster said that it was probably Black Snake that was taking her eggs. Well this happened everyday until she was down to her last egg. So her and rooster set up a trap. The next day came and Black Snake came to take her last egg and it would not crush in his throat and his air supply was blocked. He died slowly. He did not know that the egg that time had been hard boiled. Now he is not taking anybody else's eggs.

"The Lion's Whisker," This story was about a man and woman that was in a marriage. Both of the men were unhappy. So the woman went to the oldest man of the village and told him her story. He said that there is a potion that he could make to make her husband love her again, but the only thing he was missing was a whisker from a lion. So the woman went out to get the whisker and she failed the first day. She continued to fail for four weeks. But then she finally got it and brought it to the man. The man told her that the potion would not last forever, but since she was brave and clever enough to get a whisker from a lion she should be able to fix her marriage. Well she did and they lived happily ever after.

I think that all nigerian folktales teach a lesson. They teach you how to find deep with in your self to solve your problems. I think that people that write nigerian folktales try and teach lessons that can help people everyday with all types of problems. Whether it is with family, work, or etc.

Day seventeen

I read the story by Brothers Grimm called "Odds and Ends," this story was about a young lady that was very pretty and was very wise. All she did all day was spin flax, and when the flax got all knotted up she would get angry and pull out a whole bunch of it. Well one day she was spinning flax for a wedding ceremony. The people she was spinning the flax for was people she worked for on a daily basis. Once the wedding got here the ceremony was running fine and the flax looked great, but when they was suppose to say I do the man did not and decided to marry the young girl that was making his flax.

The two stories "Beggar Woman," and "Odds and Ends" share some of the same similarities. Like both stories are very descriptive and you are able to put your self in the story and be able to see what is going on. The author also describes the characters in deep detail and makes me visualize them.

There is also a couple differences between these stories like the setting. But both stories are German.

The messages of both of the stories are kind of similar. The message of "Beggar Lady," is if you help the needy then you will get something in return. The message of "Odds and Ends," is people that are not as wealthy still deserve a chance to be happy. So both stories deal with happiness and poor people

Fifteenth Day

Today I was the first to do my pecha kucha presentation. The presentation it self was good, but my pictures where blurry because I got them from google images. Tag galaxy did not work outside of school so I could not use that. I had all my twenty pictures and they lasted for twenty seconds each. The pictures were also in the order and you could tell the story through them.

I was nervous so I kind of stuttered. I did not really know what to say, but once I got started stuff just started coming to my head. It was really hard not looking at the pictures because I thought we was suppose to describe the pictures and how they deal with my story. But once I got started the time went by real fast. If I was to get this project again I would practice more at home so that I would have an idea of what to say. Also I would try and get better pictures that was not so hard to view.

I think that the things I did talk about, I described very well. I used my time wisely and managed the amount of time I gave each subject. Personally I think I made it interesting and my pictures went good with what I was saying. I did an overall good job but there was still a lot of things I can change to make it perfect.!

Fourteenth Day

My story only takes about five days. First day is the beggar lady is on the steps of the presidents house begging for money and food. Second day the president allows the lady to come and live in his house and supplies her with food and shelter. The room that he gives her is not the best room, its like a little hole in the wall. Third day she realizes she has a fairy god-mother. This is the day that she turns a some bread crumbs into a feast, a hole in the wall to a fireplace, a little stream of water into a big clean pond to drink from, and a piece of cloth into a blanket. On the fourth day she just rests and has a long conversation with her fairy god-mother. On the fifth day the president surprises her with a check that allows her to buy a little apartment and he gives her enough food and all necessities needed to survive.

That is basically how my story goes, but I left out a few minor details. Each event will be connected with some sort of excitement that allows her life to get better by the day. I still have to come up with those details but it will make sense.

Thirteenth Day

I think the message of this folktale is that everybody deserves a chance. I say that because not all homeless people choose to be homeless, so the people that are not homeless should at least try and help the ones that are. In my revised story the president which is a very wealthy man helps a old beggar woman. He knows that it was not her choice to be poor, but in the economy they live in it was chosen for her.

In the nigerian country the few people that are wealthy try and help those that are not. But the kind of economic problems they have, they can not afford to help a lot but they do all they can. Since the president is the wealthiest person in Nigeria, he can help this beggar lady a lot. So at the end of my story the lady ends up not being poor just from the help of the president.

"If you do something good, then something good will come back to you"

Twelfth Day

The revised story is a fairy-tale because there is magical creatures and a happy ending. I would not really consider them to be magical creatures, but more like magical objects because a whole in the wall, some cloths, a steam of water, and some bread crumbs. So those are some of the classifications of a fairy-tale.

My story is also going to have a happy ending. The beggar lady is not going to have to beg anymore, because her fairy god mother is going to take all her troubles away and allow her to have a peaceful life. My story does not deal with any other types of folk-tales only fairy tales.

eleventh day

There was not any numbers in the original story, but in the revised story the number four will be used a lot. When she finds the bread crumbs she finds four of them. Then when the holes in the wall turn into a fireplace, it took four of those. Also it was four pieces of cloth that turned into a big cover.
The reason I chose to use the number four is because it is an even number. Also because it can be evenly shared among people. Numbers are an important part of fairytales because they explain the importance of that object. Most stories use the numbers three,seven,or twelve, so I decided to use the number three.

Tenth Day

Blogging has been a good experience for me. I wish that we could do more assignments like this, because it allows me to be able to get feedback from my peers on what I can do to change things to perfect different assignments. Since I basically live on facebook,I can use those skills to write blogs about specific topics given to me by my teacher. It is a lot better than having to write in a journal everyday. I love to get on the computer so this is right up my alley.

Not only am I able to get help from my peers, I can also comment on other peoples blogs to tell them what they could do to be able to perfect their papers. Turning in things online and being able to receive a grade is great because it allows us to use our school laptops for something good and not bad. But personally I think we should use blogger more in school.

Ninth Day

It is not a lot of magic stuff in the original story, but I am going to add some.
Bread crumb- turns into a full Thanksgiving meal when fairy godmother appears
Hole in the wall- turns into a nice flaming fire place
Piece of cloth- Big warm blanket
Stream of water- Big lake to drink from

These are little things that she sees everyday. But once her fairy godmother comes along she changes her life around and makes all these non valuable things into stuff she needs. She found a bread crumb on the floor, then her fairy godmother unexpectedly came along a turned it into a full feast. The lady was sitting there freezing and all of a sudden her fairy godmother turned a whole in the wall into a nice warm fire place. She was also granted a warm blanket and a nice lake to drink from.

Eight Day

This picture explains my character well. This is what she has to do on a daily basis just to be able to survive. She sits on peoples steps and begs for food and money.In this picture I see a lady struggling to be able to live. She is sitting on some steps begging for either food or money to be put in her bowl. This picture tells a big story about how many people live in other countries. This lady is probably not the only one that is begging in her country.

Seventh Day

My main character is Farida.
Physical Features:
-Body type: fat woman, with lots of rolls
-Hair: nappy, and is braided back
-Eyes: big brown eyes
-Facial Features: bad acne and her face is never clean
-Dress: Her clothes are dirty and raggedy. Dressed like a homeless person
-Posture: Hump back and walks with a limp
Personal History:
-Education: She went to elementary and middle school, but she dropped out of high school because she was teased all the time.
-Religion: Islamic
-Family: Her mother died when she was in middle school and her father was left at a young age. She has no brothers or sister.
-Early childhood: She lived with her mother in a shelter, they never did have money because her mom could not work due to an illness she had. Once her mother died she left the shelter and started living in the streets and going house to house begging for food, water, and clothes.
-Health: She is not the healthiest person because she eats what she can find and it is not always vegetables or healthy food. Plus she can not afford to go to the doctor to get check ups or anything.
Inner Person Traits:
-Self-image: She sees her self as nothing and believes that she will never amount to anything. She thinks this way because she does not have anybody to talk to her or encourage her to be all that she can.
-Dreams: She always dreamed of being a pediatrician, because where she comes from there is not that many doctors. She has always dreamed of being the one to help the sick children in her village knowing that she went through a lot as a kid due to the lack of money and doctors that was available.
-Fears: Her biggest fear is death because her mother and grandmother both died from the same disease. Plus her village Nigeria has a lot of different diseases that come through and kill a lot of the citizens that live there.
-Sense of Humor: Farida has always been able to make a crowd of people laugh. She is the type of person that uses her life as a joke to keep her self happy.
-Ethical: She is very respectful and even though she is not the wealthiest she still uses her manners to those who help her.

Sixth Day

Nigerian original language is English. But some Nigerian words are:

eebowlahchee- hello
kay mah say ah- goodbye
Sann- sorry
Ina sonki- I love you

These are just a few words

Fifth Day

In my story the people don't have names. So in the revised story I will come up with some names.
Beggar woman: Farida meaning unique
President: Amari meaning strong
President cook: Abdul meaning servant
As of right now those are my only characters, but I will come up with some more to make the story more interesting.

Fourth Day

The setting of my story originally took place at a rich house. The revised story is going to take place at a couple of different places. Like the presidents house, the presidents kitchen which is where she is begging for food. The beggar woman will probably start of living at on a corner of a very dirty and nasty street. Throughout the story the settings will change based on that part of the story.
The most important setting will probably be the Presidents house and his kitchen. That is where the majority of the story will take place. The corner will probably only be mentioned once at the beginning of the story. The climax of the story will be in the Presidents kitchen. The end of the story might have a different setting but I have not figured that out yet.

Third Day

Nigerian culture is made up of different foods, music, art, clothing, and religion which are some things I will use to make my story.
Food:
- meat
- beef
- chicken
- mutton
- lamb
- turkey
- fish
- vegetable:
- beans
- chili peppers
- corn
- yam
- fruit:
- bananas
- oranges
- tangerines
- pineapples
- watermelons
Music:
- Traditional music
- made up of percussion and string instruments
- Yoruba
- music made up of just drums
Religion:
- Christianity
- Judaism
- Hinduism
- Indigenous beliefs
- Freemasonry
Clothing:
-In the north people dress up based on their work, in the south people are fond of dressing up
-Women
- Buba: loose blouse that goes a little below the waist
- Kaba: single piece dress, that comes in different styles
- Iro: bottom part of clothing, that is rectangular that wraps around the waist
- Gele: head gear, rectangular piece of cloth tied around the head
-Men
- buba: a loose shirt that goes down to the thighs
- fila: cap
- sokoto: pants or trousers
- abeti-aja: different cap that has long sides
- agbada: festive clothing made of buba and sokoto
Holidays:
- They share some of the same holidays as Americans like Christmas, and New Year's
- Boxing Day
- December 26
- follow up for Christmas
- Good Friday
- April 21
- A day used to celebrate the crucification of Jesus.
Climate:
- 4 seasons
- Southern Nigeria
- Long rainy season-March to end of July
- Long dry season-October to early March
- Short rainy season- September to mid October
- Short dry season- August for 3 weeks
- Northern Nigeria
- Long dry season- October to mid May
- Wet season- June to September
I will use things like the clothing, climate, food and holidays and inherit these things in my story. This research has allowed me to be able to come up with more creative ideas on what to put in my story.

Second Day

In the original story the beggar woman was begging for heat because she had been out in the cold. She went begging at a big rich house near her. When I change the story the woman is going to be begging for nigerian food like yams, rice, and garri. Heat was a symbol in the original story, in mine food is going to be a symbol. The woman in my story is going to go beg for the food from the president of Nigeria house which is called the Abuja.
My characters are:
- beggar woman
- President of Nigeria
- President's cook
- President's servant
A motif that was used in the original story is fire. Fire was used to warm the woman up, and it was also used to burn her clothes. In the revised story the motif is going to be wine. I choose to use wine because she is going into a rich family's house, so you know that they are going to be very upscale. They are going to cook the food in wine, offer her wine to drink, and everything else that happens is going to deal with wine.

First Day

Today I chose the story I am going to do. It is called "The Old-Beggar Man" by The Brothers Grimm. The Story is of the german culture but I am going to change it to an African culture. I chose this location because Africans have some very fascinating cultures. The reason I chose this story is because there seems to be a lot of creative ideas that I can do to make this story fun.
Some things I will add to the story will be like the foods they eat, the things they do in their spare time. Also the plot will be the white house in Nigeria. I have not yet decided if I am going to make the main character a old woman or a young child. I am going to change the title of the book to. Thats it for now.