Wikipedia Trail: From the Bermuda Triangle to The Grapes of Wrath

(Bermuda Triangle)

There was an article on the Bermuda Triangle on the class Twitter page so I started my Wikipedia trail began here. The Bermuda Triangle is also called the Devil's Triangle and is the western part of the North Atlantic Ocean. Aircraft's and ships are said to disappear here. The earliest suggestion of disappearances in the triangle were published by Edward Van Winkle Jones in September 17, 1950 in The Miami Herald. The Miami Herald is where the trail let next. The newspaper was founded by the McClatchy Company in 1903 and now employs over 800 people. It almost went out of business in the 1930's during the Great Depression but recovered. The Great Depression began in 1929 when the  stock market crashed and lasted until the late 1930's. Unemployment rates rose and and international trade dropped. Many books were written about the Great Depression including The Grapes of Wrath. The Grapes of Wrath was written by John Steinbeck in 1939 and it is set in the Great Depression. The family in the book is forced from their Oklahoma home by drought and travels to California to seek a job and a future.

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Reading Notes, Hans Christian Anderson, Part A

(The Princess and the Pea Link)

I was originally attracted to this unit because in the description it said he was one of the authors of the Little Mermaid. However, I figure I will do another extra credit reading note on just that story as it is in the second part. The first part consists of stories somewhat widely known such as the Emperors New Suit and the Princess and the Pea. The latter was one of my favorite stories growing up. There was once a prince who wanted to marry a true princess. He searched the world many times but was never able to find one who was a real princess. One day a girl knocked on the gates of the palace claiming to be a real princess. The prince decided to test it. He put a pea beneath 28 mattresses that the princess was to sleep on. The next morning, when asked how she slept, the princess replied, "Oh, very badly! I have scarcely closed my eyes all night. Heaven only knows what was in the bed, but I was lying on something hard, so that I am black and blue all over my body. It's horrible!" The prince determined no one but a real princess could be that sensitive so he married her.

Bibliography: Fairy Tales and Stories by Hans Christian Anderson and translated by H.P Paull Link

Reading Notes, Brothers Grimm, Hunt, Part B

(Red Rose and Snow White, Pinterest)

My favorite story in this second part of the Grimm Brothers was Snow-White and Red-Rose. I was expecting this story to be like the Snow White we heard as children but it was not. Snow White and Red Rose were siblings, who were so close that they liked to hold hands as they ventured out. One night they spent the night in the woods and as they awoke, a young boy was sitting near them. Their mother told them it was an angel who watched over good children. One night, there was a knock on the door and it was a bear. The bear meant no harm and only wanted to warm itself so the little family let him in. The bear came every night throughout the winter and took his leave during the day. When summer came, the bear went away for good. Later that summer, their mother sent them into the woods for kindling and they met a strange dwarf with his beard stuck. Snow White cut off his beard as a way to free him and instead the dwarf was angry and put a bad curse on the siblings. The sisters continued to meet the dwarf and free him or save him from his miseries until they came across him emptying his many jewels and gold. Their bear saved them by killing the dwarf and when that happened he transformed into the King's son. Snow-White married him, and Red-Rose married his brother and they lived happily ever after.

Bibliography: Household Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm Link

Reading Notes, Grimm Brothers, Hunt, Part A

The stories in this section were particularly long. So I choose to read one that I heard as a child and compare the differences between the two. This happened to be Hansel and Grethel. Hansel and Grethel had a stepmother who, when times got tough and there was a lack of food, told their father that he needed to take them into the forest and leave them there. Though it was hard, their father consented, but Hansel heard the conversation and took white stones into the forest to find his way back. The came back and stayed for a while until times got tough, and their father took them into the woods and left them again. This time they could not find their way out so instead they followed a snow white bird. The bird led them to a house built with bread and covered with cake. The children began to eat the house and were interrupted by the owner, an old woman. The woman locked them up with plans to fatten them, and then eat them. Grethel tricked the woman and pushed her into the oven before harm could be done. On the way out they took the woman's pearls and jewels. They eventually found their way home, into their fathers arms who regretted what he had done. Their stepmother was death, and the little family lived happily ever after with the many jewels.

(Hansel and Grethel, Pinterest)

Bibliography: Household Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm Link