“American Indian Myths”

I can honestly say the myths in “American Indian Myths” by Richard Erdoes & Alfonso Ortiz, were so incredible and different from a lot of the other ones I’ve ever read, and it definitely has something to do with the fact that they come from Native Americans because they’re so connected to nature. Because of that, all of the legends somewhat explained the creation of their world and lives. However, the best myth in this reading to me was the one that explained the way the Indians were created as people, “When Grizzlies Walked Upright.” Some of the time, certain myths and legends don’t make sense to me or even thoroughly explain the point of them in general. But this one was very understandable and just amazed me. The whole concept of a grizzly and a human falling in love tied in perfectly to the idea of the creation of the first Native American ancestors. It was even amazing how this myth still affects the present day Native American regardless of how long it has been. They still do not kill grizzlies just because of this story. I enjoyed reading all of the myths except one. “How the People Got Arrowheads” wasn’t anything special. I may be wrong, but I felt like the moral of it was to not trust anyone so easily because it could all just be a trick. Whether my thought is on point or not, I’m almost certain it’s something like that. And since it is, I have to say that that lesson is way too cliché. It’s such a basic lesson to never trust someone quick because they can be deceiving no matter how innocent they may seem. Although it was a smart way to teach the lesson, it was somewhat boring and way too basic. Overall, I love the myths that come from Native Americans, not just for what they teach, but because they’re explained in stories that make complete sense and are still able to entertain the reader.

"Porto Rican Folklore"

I can honestly say that “Porto Rican Folklore” was the best text that I have read so far. Besides the fact that it explained what myths meant to the Puerto Rican culture, it also went into detail on what the people of the culture believed in about different topics such as music, love, animals and more. The text elaborated on the folktales related to each topic. But what I loved about it was the originality of the culture. It was so amazing to find out the things that they believed in such as if a Puerto Rican man “washes his face in the first rainfall of May, then the sun will not burn him as dark as others.” Or “if an animal does not pass through a dark place, it is because he see’s beings invisible to man.” These types of beliefs are myths and folklores to this culture in particular. And it’s certain that every single culture believes in different things relating to each topic, but as for the Puerto Rican culture, I loved everything about it because I felt as if it all had a strong connection to the past of their people. Regardless of how much time as passed, they stayed in touch with their heritage I didn’t only love this text for the amusement of the beliefs; I was amazed by what these myths meant to Puerto Rican people. In this case, myths and folklores are doing a lot more than just teaching lessons because to this culture, it’s a relation to the past and your ancestors before you. It’s making sure all of the future generations of Puerto Rican people always know where they and their family really came from. It was just absolutely incredible to see that all of the myths and beliefs are still remembered, are still being passed on from generation to generation, and still are strongly believed to this day. That’s something I bet a lot of other cultures would not be able to proudly say.

"The Sociopsychological Analysis of Folktales"

After reading this long and ridiculously confusing article, “The Sociopsychological Analysis of Folktales” by J. L. Fischer, I realized I really didn’t like it very much as much as I thought I would have. When I think of myths, folklores, folktales, etc. I think of amusing and interesting stories that teach morals, lessons, and values. They teach about justice and equality and how these stories can connect to society. These folktales have strong meanings to what is explained in them, and they also have strong connections to the cities and people that they came from. There is even a powerful significance on why the stories mainly use animals as characters rather than using human beings. Although this article does elaborate on those points, I feel as if it went into such detail and examination of folklores that it basically took all of the interest out of the topic. The author mainly went into the idea that these folktales affect the mind as well as society. But even though I was able to understand the main point, I can honestly say that it was actually very hard to comprehend everything else just because of the thorough and strong research. It was a bit hard for me to keep up with everything else the author was trying to say. There wasn’t much that was catching my attention. However, one piece of information did interest me. “Local folktales are being collected and studied in a number of other parts of the world, most notably Finland and Scandinavia, Germany, Hungary, Japan, and Russia.” (239) Out of all the countries in the world, I really wouldn’t have thought of those to be the ones to study myths and folktales. It was surprising yet intriguing. Otherwise, I really didn’t like the rest of the article. I view folktales as very engaging, but this text took a lot of the excitement out of them. As far as the information, it wasn’t wrong and it definitely was informing, but it was too detailed and researched rather than actually elaborating on the true important of myths and folktales.

"Aesop, Aristotle, and Animals: The Role of Fables in Human Life"

After reading “Aesop, Aristotle, and Animals: The Role of Fables in Human Life” by Edward Clayton, I understood the true meaning behind fables and what they represent. Clayton examined and thoroughly thought about fables and argued that they have so much more meaning than what they portray at first. He believes that fables represent and spread the ideas of equality and justice among humans, rather than just being providing pure entertainment. He addressed that animals are the main subjects of these fables because of the Athenians who believed in a strong connection between animal behavior and human behavior, how humans can be considered animals in some aspect, and how both connect to the “natural world.” What I really liked about Clayton’s text was the first key connection he made between human beings and the animal world. He stated that humans shouldn’t view animals as “tamed” or “wild” because we as human beings are “tamed” as well. Clayton said “Aristotle says that ‘in children though one can see as it were traces and seeds of the dispositions that they will later, yet their soul at this period has practically no difference from that of wild animals.’” I found this to be so interesting due to the fact that humans can become wild and chaotic without the proper care as babies and children. It is up to parents and the education system to raise them into civilized people. Babies and children start off just as wild as animals do and that shows that we aren’t so different from them. Animals can be tamed just like humans are. Although this point that Clayton made intrigued me, I didn’t like that he made a connection between these fables to politics. After reading this text, I viewed fables as having a connection to human morals, society values, justice, etc. But I don’t really see how a connection to politics would make as much sense. However, the overall argument on the strength of fables changed my mind set on how I perceive them now. Edward Clayton changed my views on fables in the sense that now, I believe they are so much more powerful and contain a lot more meaning to them, than the couple of lines and the different animals named that you see at first.