StoryTelling for Week 11: A Modern Day Hero

As I leaned by in my lazy boy watching TV, I glanced over to my wall. Staring back at me were all my many achievements. The Olympic gold medals, the two Medals of Honor, the Purple Hearts, the Bronze Stars, the Nobel Peace prize, and my game trophies. I read the I achieved so much in such a little time; I mean I am old 55 and I almost done everything. Most people would die to just earn one my many achievements; however I was most certainly not satisfied in my achievements. There was one thing I desired to do, and I would give anything to do it. Just to taunt myself I had it hanging over my achievements. That bloody, beautiful mountain just hung there laughing at me. I could never deny how majestic Mt Everest truly was, and I only wanted to climb it. I wanted to be on top of the world, look out over the clouds, and see God’s amazing works. With a tear in my eye, I looked down at my right arm; well what would have been my right arm. Climbing this mountain would never be possible for me if I only had one arm, regardless of how fit and strong I am. Now I am not the one to regret things, and especially not losing this arm. If I still had my arm, then my fellow brother in arms, Ben, would not be in bed with his wife, and his kids would not have their father. He and I would always joke about how saving him from that chopper blade was the worst best decision I made. He knew my longing to climb that mountain, and he still feels a little bad about the accident. It wasn’t his fault, and he shouldn’t feel bad. I would save him even if it meant my life and not just my arm. I reread the one of the Purple Hearts, “This award is to recognize James Patterson and his courage and compassion he shows on the field of battle protecting this great country.” The last line was “God save the Queen”, and I managed to chuckle at that line. The Queen was not all sunshine and roses like the media displays; if she was I would not be on the couch for convincing our son to embarrass her at a distinguished dinner party.

I was not about to fall asleep when I heard a pounding at the door. When I opened it, it was ben standing there with a huge smile on his face. He was holding what looked like a carbon fiber arm with an icepick attached as the hand.

(Image from SummitPost)

Author’s Note: I adopted this story from the Beowulf Unit. There isn’t really one story that I focused on. I focused on Beowulf as the person. I tried to make someone in today’s time equivalent to his achievements. I tried to create a modern day Beowulf.  The book itself is “The Story of Beowulf” by Strafford Riggs. I wanted to have a man who has done so much, but is still never satisfied with his achievements, but unlike Beowulf the man didn't die in an adventure. I wanted my man to die of old age.

Reading Diary B: Beowulf Unit

The stories I loved the most were Battle with the Dragon and TheEnd of Beowulf from the Beowulf Unit. Both stories are about the battle with the dragon, and I loved it all the way from start to finish. The detail the author goes into is so great! When Beowulf called out the dragon, chills went down my back when I read it. I also liked the side note of Wiglaf laughing. I just enjoyed seeing the glimpse of friendship those two shared. The battle itself was describe so well, I felt like I was right there watching it all. I was also able to picture the magnitude of the dragon and all the raw power it possessed. Describing the detail of the flames and the heat from them, the toughness of the scales, and even the strength of the dragon gave me an awesome picture of what the author was illustrating.

I loved how Beowulf’s life ended. He died the way he intended, in battle and a legend. I loved his last words as well; he was a true hero. His last words were of forgiveness and love, which is probably the best last words anyone could say. There was no fear of death or regret. Beowulf was a true man till the very end.

(Image from Pixgood)

Reading Diary A: Beowulf

The stories I want to focus on are The Wonderer’s Song and Beowulf’s Resolve from the Beowulf Unit.  These stories are both about the Wonderer’s song; it is like a call and response relationship. The Wonderer first told the story of Grendel, which the author went into some pretty awesome detail about. After the wonderer finished singing and talking, the author described how Beowulf responded to it all. It was pretty cool to read that. The author showed how Beowulf was feeling, the need to prove himself to others and most importantly him. I liked these two stories the most because it pumped me up to what is about to come… ALL THE FIGHTS! I am going to be really eager to finish this unit later today for sure! Beowulf is such a cool story and I haven’t read it in a while. I know this post is a bit shorter, but I am saving all my thoughts for the second half, which in my opinion is the juicier part of the unit! I also was distracted ready this after, because of the anticipation of Grendel!

(Image from TeleRead)

Essay; Heroism

The story Atarssuaq is solely about heroism in my opinion. Atarssuaq’s father was the first hero. Many men tried to kill him, and they were never able to. He was determined to survive, and never gave up the fight. Now someone can argue that him wanting to survive is not a hero trait, but I think he kept fighting for his family. That intention is a great intention and holds heroism values in it. When Atarssuaq was born, his father put all of his efforts into preparing his son for life’s troubles (putting someone before oneself is a prime example of a hero). I like how the author showed the father’s sensitivity towards his son. He was always scared when Atarssuaq would dive into the water. Showing one’s feelings is important for a hero. I hate the stigma that a hero has to be tough and a brute almost. A hero can be courageous strong and caring/loving at the same time.

Atarssuaq was the other hero in the story. He was brave, courageous, compassionate, clever, and determined. He sought to please his father and be the best he could when he was tasked with being a swimmer. He even pushed passed his father’s expectation of his ability to swim. When his father was finally killed, he prepared to defend his mother. He knew he had to step up to the plate, and he ended up exceeding what was expected. He ended up killing everybody that came to attack him, except one. He did what was necessary to protect his mother and himself. He was clever and compassionate when he let the one man go. He spared him, which was compassionate. He also warned/threatened him so they would never come back again.  Great story for an example of heroism for other to learn from.

(Image from FeaturePics)

Reading Diary B: Eskimo Unit

The stories that I found most intriguing from the Eskimo unit were Atarssuaq and Tungujuluk and Saunikoq.  Atarssuaq was my favorite story from the whole unit, Tungujuluk and Saunikoq, for some reason, caught my attention.

Atarssuaq was a pretty awesome. I loved how the father and the son interacted.  I loved the tough love the father showed to the son. He knew the boy needed to be strong and skilled. At first I didn’t really think the father had too much compassion until he started to cry each time his son took too long to reappear. I also liked how his father chose to teach the boy to be a great swimmer. I wouldn’t really think that would serve somebody well in fighting, and I was so wrong. I loved how the son cleverly lured and picked the men off.  He didn’t use brute strength, just brain. Going off this story, brains is definitely better than bronze. I was sad that the father was eventually killed, and I also would have liked to know why the men wanted to kill him and his family; however, I am sure this story was supposed to teach others and they would not need that info to learn whatever it was.

Tungujuluk and Saunikoq was just too different for me not to talk about.  I was pretty confused why Saunikoq got jealous in the first place. Did he have a man crush on Tungujuluk, or what it just the fact that he could not have children? I was also intrigued with the fact that he did not try again to kill the son. I also liked how Tungujuluk embarrassed him. He fought fire with fire.

(Image from Sanibel Sea School)