[Week 9] Essay - Reflection on my Writing

(Image of a frustrated tortoise from Oskarl Kettunen. I feel like this tortoise.)

I’d like to use this essay assignment to reflect on how my writing has changed throughout the semester. When I first started I was anxious because I hadn’t written anything (creatively) in so long. I quickly became more comfortable and felt like I had all kinds of fun ideas waiting to come out of my head. But then I suddenly lost that inspiration and I don’t know what to do now. I feel like my writing has become worse than ever and it’s pretty upsetting.

                

There are a couple of things I think I could attribute this lack of inspiration to. I’ve been feeling particularly stressed out lately and I’m not really sure why. Whenever I feel overwhelmed like that I tend to just break down and stop working like I used to. I also haven’t been reading stories that really appealed to me. Usually as I read a story will pop out to me and yell, “Write me!” But lately that hasn’t been happening.

                

I’ve been wondering how I can get myself out of this rut. I think to begin with I need to work up a little more confidence. I tend to put myself down for every sentence I write and it really slows me down. I should also start looking over the reading units more carefully to make sure the stories are something I’ll be interested in. In addition, digging through others’ stories and reading more in general would probably help. My peak in inspiration took place during a time in which I was reading a lot every day so there’s probably a connection.

               

Another factor for me will be figuring out how to manage my time better. At beginning of the semester I thought I’d be getting things done early. But instead I feel like I’m just barely getting by. I need to figure out how to prioritize and juggle my other classwork. Also I have to figure out how to not fall into a senioritis slump!

[Week 9] Storytelling - Atungait's Visit

Author’s Note: The story of Atungait left the biggest impression on me. Not because it was profound or especially beautiful in some way, but because this guy just ran into a village of disabled people and stole their toy for apparently no reason. No explanation was given. He did nothing with the toy in the story. I’m so confused. So I decided to attempt to write from the perspective of one of the villagers. For your reference, here is the explanation provided for ajangat: "a game played with rings and a stick; the 'ring and pin game.'"

(Inuit artwork from Wikimedia Commons)

We were surprised to get a visit from Atungait and his wife. Happy, even! Not many people would choose to spend time with a village of disabled folk. We are seen as the lesser people in society, so it’s rare to have able-bodied visitors. What we thought was a blessing turned out to be a disaster.

Atungait and his wife generally kept to themselves. They would come out of their tent for a bit when we all played ajangat. Atungait would stare at our ajangat with hunger in his eyes. Strange that he would be so obsessed with our toy, but I suppose it was very beautiful. As we’re all disabled, there is nothing we can do all day but play ajangat. Our ajangat means everything to us, and the copper one we have now is the village treasure. We have plenty of food and plenty of fur to keep us warm, yes. But without amusement life is dull, so although it is just a toy our ajangat means a lot to us.

One day while we were playing, Atungait stood to the side watching again with that look in his eyes. It made me uncomfortable. I told one of my friends about the way he looked at it. Instead of being worried, my friend became excited. He was proud that such a fine, able-bodied warrior would admire our treasure. I tried to tell others but they all had the same reaction. And so I gave up on my warnings and the game carried on.

We were all outside playing ajangat (as ususal) when we heard loud cracking sounds. We went off in a hurry to find the source of the noise, leaving the copper ajangat on the ground. Atungait was standing surrounded by the remains of our broken sledges with a hammer in his hand. He had destroyed our sledges! Upon seeing us, he immediately ran in the direction we had just come from. We followed and saw him snatch up our copper ajangat before jumping on to his own sledge and riding off into the distance. Many tried to follow, but to no avail. Our treasure, our only form of entertainment, was taken away from us.

Eskimo Folk-Tales by Knud Rasmussen with illustrations by native Eskimo artists (1921).

[Week 9] Reading Diary - Eskimo Folk-Tales

Eskimo Folk-Tales

The Coming of Men, A Long, Long While Ago

-Creation tale that talks about the first man and woman and how the human population grew. It also talks about how death was created in exchange for the stars, moon, and sun. Also a brief freaky zombie-esque part where a body doesn't know how to be dead.

Nukúnguasik, who Escaped from the Tupilak

-Nukúnguasik catches one of his brothers making a Tupilak. The brother dies and the other brothers decide to search for him.They find his body being eaten by the Tupilak.

The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son

-An old woman takes in a bear as her foster child. At first it's small enough that it can play with the children, but eventually it gets too strong and is taken along to hunt instead. It ends up killing a man who tried to attack it and the old woman has to part with it.

Qalagánguasê, Who Passed to the Land of Ghosts

-A paralyzed boy who lost his parents and sister sees ghosts when he's home alone. The ghosts say he will regain his strength if he doesn't tell people about seeing them, but he can't help himself. One night he is left tied to his bed while everyone else goes to a singing contest. His parents visit him (in ghost-form) and make him a ghost as well.

Isigâligârssik

-A man marries a little girl (?) and is then allowed to learn from the village wizard who only teaches to married men. The wizard somehow takes his wife away from him and mocks him every time he tries to go to a meeting. He ends up getting stabbed by the wizard. He challenges the wizard to a bow shoot-off and wins and gets his wife back.

The Insects that Wooed a Wifeless Man

-A wifeless man has trouble finding a girl and sleeping for too long. One day he helps one of the Noseless Ones and is told never to speak of the incident to anyone and he will be fortunate. He ends up hunting well, being less sleepy, and attracting women but it all goes away when he tells the story. His new wife leaves him when the fortune wears off and he follows. Weird stuff happens in which insects try to woo him and he refuses and then is with his wife again but wakes up and finds himself alone.

Makíte

-Makite leaves his home because he is ashamed that he can't hunt well. He ends up at the house of a lone-dweller (hermit?) who tries to kill him in the night. He runs away and finds a house of dwarves who warn him that inland people are coming. A flood happens and Makite ends up living there.

Atungait, Who Went A-Wandering

-Aatungait, who turns out to be a wizard who can fly, goes on a journey with his wife. He meets all kinds of people and even steals a toy from some disabled children. In the end, he catches his wife cheating on him and kills her. 

The Giant Dog

-A man has a dog that he gives the amulet he would have given a son. The dog grows super big and strong because of it. One day tt kills a man one day so the owner has to run away with the dog. Turns out the dog liked to massacre the inland-dwellers in its spare time so they all became afraid of dogs. 

Papik, Who Killed His Wife's Brother
-A mother accuses Papik of killing her son who he goes hunting with often. She drowns herself and comes back as a spirit in the shape of a bear and eats him before ravaging the town. The people manage to trap the spirit and cut it open and find Papik's torn up body.

Pâtussorssuaq, Who Killed His Uncle
-Another story about a man being punished for killing someone. A man kills his uncle so that he can be with his wife. He is only with her for a little while before she dies. Later he is killed by a fox who is actually he spirit of his uncle. 

The Wife Who Lied
-A warning to liars. A woman who isn't too fond of her new village goes home and pretends her husband has been neglecting her. The old village declare a war and slaughter the women of the other village. The men realize she made this happen and they kill her.

The Eagle and the Whale
-A woman who is in need of a husband is taken away from her home by a man who turned himself into an eagle. She manages to escape with the help of her brothers, and they kill the eagle. She is then taken away again by a whale and has to be rescued by her brothers. They kill the whale as well.

Atdlarneq, The Great Glutton
-While on a hunting expedition, a man visits a house in which women are preparing for the master of the house to return. He tries to hide, but the master has copper cheeks and can smell him so he comes out of his hiding place. He is forced to eat food until he nearly dies. Then he is freed.

Ángángŭjuk
-A woman allows her son to play outside but he goes missing. The father is angry and threatens to kill the woman, but she asks him to wait and ask a wizard to help locate him first. Eventually he is found being taken care of by inland people. The people are put to sleep and the son is rescued.

Âtârssuaq
-A son is born to a strong warrior and he is trained to be able to swim underwater for a long time. One day his father goes missing and word gets out that their village is going to be attacked. The boy uses his swimming abilities to kill the attackers by himself. 

Tungujuluk and Saunikoq
-A man nearly kills his neighbor's soon while in the shape of a bear because he was so jealous that he didn't have a son. The child runs away before anything can happen and the father realizes it was his neighbor. He takes the form of a walrus and scares the other man while he's in the shape of a bear. He learns his lesson and is ashamed.

Kánagssuaq
-A man whose family and village was starving finally manages to catch seals to eat. He had a little trouble with his kayak and another man helped him. Once he got back on his feet and was able to bring home food every day again, he took food to the man that helped him as a thank you.