Post 3: The Three Wishes by Ricardo E. Alegria/ "Juan Bobo: A Folkloric Information System" by Sarai Lastra

Since I’m half Puerto Rican, I heard words like bobo a lot. I always knew that it meant dumb or dimwitted. I had also heard the name Juan Bobo, but I never knew who he was, and just thought it was some made up thing, or some celebrity. After reading about Juan Bobo, it was interesting to see that all along it was some character from tales told in Puerto Rico. However, I didn’t understand what the points of the tale “Juan Bobo, the Sow and the Chicks”. The only message that I really saw was that if you are stupid, then you should be punished. If you are a dimwit, well be punished. I don’t think that message is such a great message. I would have understood if he did it on purpose, but Juan didn’t know better. He thought he was helping out in a great way although any other person would know it wasn’t the brightest thing to do.

I also found it interesting how religious people are. With the tale of "The in Search of Her Leg", the message was that God is above all. When reading the tale, I thought it was going to give a message that you are your strongest person, but instead it turned out to be that God is above everything, and thus the ant left happy to find this out. Only people who are very religious would make this a message, and this sounds like a story that would we told to a church class to explain that God is above all.

Post 2: Living Folklore by Martha Sims

After reading Living Folklore by Martha Sims, I found it interesting how different people perceive the word folklore. Honestly, when I thought of folklore, I though it just had to do with fake things and they were just things you read about it. After reading this however, I realized it is more than just that. When reading the section on pop culture, I found it interesting when it stated, “So many Elvis impersonators exist that they themselves would be considered a folk group” (p. 4). I never realized that the stories such as how Elvis is alive and how all the impersonators have their own folk group could fall into folklore. The idea of Elvis is not what folklore, the ideas of him being alive is what turns him into folklore. Things like that are things I would have never thought of. After this reading, I feel people should look more into what folklore is, before just knocking it down as a “fake thing” of culture. Sure, not everything in folklore is true, but the point is, folklore is all around us. Sometimes it is good to see what it is that goes on around us, and how we are in a world of folklore. It is important to see how amazing folklore can be. It is something that expresses many things through an art.

Traditions, also mentioned in the article, is another important thing to remember. Tradition gives people senses of identity, and it helps others see who people are, and what they do. Folklore id part of people’s traditions, and it is important to keep in mind that we should respect folklore, because it can be part of many people’s lives. In some cases, people live off saying and hearing folklore. It is also just nice to learn about different traditions, because many things that they may follow may be interesting and worth looking more into. 

Post 1: Aesop, Aristotle, and Animals: The Role of Tables in Human Life

               After reading Aesop, Aristotle, and Animals: The Role of Fables in Human Life, I found it really interesting on how these different tales could be deciphered. The way they tried to correlate animals to humans was very interesting. Even back then, strength and wealth was associated with who had power. We can see that even now it still holds to be true. The story that interested me most was the one with the snake and frogs. The way I saw it, the frogs were trying to do the best they could to help, but the snake only cared to have help that had power. Although we live in a society that people get to vote and give opinions freely, I still feel people with upper power get the upper hand and choose what makes up society. Some voices from minorities still don’t get heard, although they should be heard.

               I find it interesting how Aristotle compares human’s nature to those of animals. Aristotle doesn't deny the fact that we are indeed animals. Through the use of fables, Aristotle feels that they could be used in a political aspect. Now of course it isn’t to say that animals would be used to explain politics, but the messages behind these tales can really be used to make points. The story of the wolf and the lamb for example, can be used to show how people can be so unreasonable and liars. “In this fable, then, power, wickedness and malice triumph over weakness, innocence and honesty”(p. 180). This could be used to emphasize the fact that thing should be done for unfair treatments. Even now, if stories like that were be used to make political points, I believe it’s very reasonable. Fables are meant to teach lessons, although some may not be lessons that you may expect. Some lessons are not great ones, in order to show us what NOT to do.