Week 10, Reading Diary: Cherokee Myth Units Continued

I loved the second half of the Cherokee Myth Unit (by James Mooney) just as much as the first half! I loved the rich culture, traditions and legends embedded within these stories. I can imagine a group of Cherokees sitting around a bonfire explaining these stories to their families and friends.

In the second half of the readings, I loved all of the stories that dealt with animals. In these stories, I noticed that the animals all wanted to help each other do their best (for the most part). One story I loved was called "The Owl Gets Married." In this story, a young woman thought she married a skilled hunter. Little did she know, she actually married a man that could transform into an owl! For my story this week, I think having a character that could transform into an animal would be a fun plot twist.  

The Owl

Another story I enjoyed was the "Bullfrog Lover." This particular story had many small stories within in (this was a writing format that I thought was very clever and entertaining!) All of the mini stories dealt with women falling in love/marrying a bullfrog that could transform into a human.

After reading the stories within this unit, I noticed the pattern of the importance of animals, nature and family. For my future story, I would love to emphasize animals and/or nature as the main characters. Overall, I absolutely loved reading this unit!