Essay Week 7: Future of Written Media

The future of written media is definitely going to be quite different than the written media I was used to while growing up. When I was in elementary school, written media consisted more or less solely of physical copies of books, workbooks, and maybe some magazines from time to time. My mother works at an elementary school, and today, kids there do at least half of their work on iPads. Each child is given their own iPad and taught how to use several programs on it They use iPads for everything from storing and reading books to doing math exercises.

I think it’s awesome that children are becoming familiar with new technological forms, but I also think this will have some drawbacks. On the plus side, iPads save the schools from having to buy and transport books. In the long run, they’re probably saving money. Having everything on one little iPad that can easily be taken from place to place is more convenient for everybody involved. However, I believe that swapping reading from books and writing with pen and paper to reading from a screen and writing on a screen with a stylus will make a difference in the long run.

Schools have been cutting the amount of time given to teaching cursive and penmanship for several years now, but the introduction of such heavy iPad use to the curriculum means that students will be practicing writing less and less. In addition, growing up in a world so filled with jargon and abbreviation everywhere hasn’t exactly led today’s students to believe that things like writing cursive and addressing formal letters are important. They have no incentive to want to learn these things.

Things are changing whether we like it or not, and it’s undeniably a good thing that the younger generations will be prepared to take on these new digital technologies. However, I think it’s also important to look at what is being sacrificed in this trade-off.

(Apple iPad, Wikipedia)

Storytelling for Week 7: King Chameleon

IN the olden days, all the animals of the world lived together in friendship. No one animal was the leader or ruler. There was no concept of crime. Because of this, there was a lot of bad stuff going on. Animals would do things because they knew they could get away with them.

This cold only last for so long. Many of the animals were getting tired of the nonsense and shenanigans going on around them. They decided they needed to appoint a leader to sort things out, so they gathered together to choose a king. However, this wasn’t as easy as it sounded. All of the animals wanted something different in a leader.

Lion was eager to suggest himself. He was brave, strong, and intolerant of foul play. However, the other animals collectively found the lion much too intimidating to be a successful ruler. Wolf was named next, but Wolf had many sworn enemies and couldn’t manage to win enough of his neighbors over.

After realizing they’d never be able to settle if given an open choice, the animals decided to have a race to determine who the new king would be. The first animal to make it to the stool under the ancient tree and sit down there would be crowned.

Every animal in the kingdom entered the race. Naturally, the hare was the quickest of the animals and was able to reach the stool significantly before the next animal behind him.

The hare had followed the conditions of the race and rightfully earned his place as king…or so he thought. As he was about to sit down, the hare heard a voice coming from the stool. To the hare’s surprise, the chameleon came into view. He was, in fact, already sitting on the stool.

“Hold on,” said the hare, fuming in anger. “The king of the animals should have won fair and square, not through deception and trickery. Deception and trickery are things we were trying to get rid of in the first place! Yes, it was clever of you to cling to me throughout the race and make it here first, but it was also selfish. This is not a quality you would want in a leader of yours, is it?” asked the hare.

By this time, the other animals had arrived at the stool as well. All of them were crowded around, listening intently. The chameleon realized that the hare was right. He didn’t admit this aloud, but he left the stool and slowly blended into the grass, never to be seen again.

With that, the hare became king of the animals and ruled fairly and justly for the rest of time.

(A chameleon in the grass, Blogspot)

Bibliography:
Book: West African Folktales
Author: William H. Barker and Cecilia Sinclair, drawings by Cecilia Sinclair
Year Published: 1917
Web Source: West African Folktales

Author's Note: The only thing I really changed about this story was the ending. In the original, the chameleon does not give up his post, which results in all the animals dispersing and the chameleon having nobody to rule over. In my version, he sees the error of his ways and steps down.

Week 7 Reading Diary: West African Folktales

This week, I'll be reading stories from the West African folktales unit. I will go through, read the stories, and record notes about some of the most interesting ones for my reading diary, as I have done for a couple weeks now.

Thunder and Anansi
I found many elements of this story interesting. I thought Thunder's cottage underwater was cool and magical. I also thought the meal-generating pot was cool. Also, his son could shape shift?? The best part of the story was that in the end, Anansi got what was coming to him.

White Ants
In this story, I almost felt sympathetic for termites...which is weird and gross. However, the poor father termite lost his whole family when all they tried to do was help the wolf and leopard. I also thought it was interesting that termites were referred to as white ants.

Why Spiders Are Always Found in Corners of Ceilings
I was very curious to find out why spiders are always found in the corners of ceilings. I took from this story that a rubber man is somehow like a scarecrow? In the end, I thought the explanation of why spiders are found in corners and dark places was suitable.

How the Tortoise Got Its Shell
I thought that the names got a little confusing in this story, but I thought it was interesting that a shell was made by being smashed onto a pot at the bottom of a pile and collecting dust and dirt.

King Chameleon and the Animals
I thought this was an interesting take on a story that was semi-familiar to me. I think a chameleon would make a pretty good king, but I understand why the animals left. I liked the quote at the end: "A king without subjects is no king."If none of the animals respected or listened to the chameleon, his title would be rendered pointless.

How Mushrooms First Grew
It was so sad that the bird had to sell its own offspring in the beginning of this story! There was actually a lot of sadness in this story. Ants weaving mushrooms was something I didn't expect, but I suppose if the mushrooms grow by anthills, this explanation makes a lot of sense.