"The Story of the Eagle, A West African Folktake"

While reading “The Story of the Eagle, A West African Folktale” that was retold by Edward Robinson, I found that Uncle Tom was the antagonist. The main character, Turk, was a young eagle born among chickens. He believed himself to be a chicken because Uncle Tom told him so, but was told otherwise by the old eagle that had spotted him from the sky. Turk finally learned the truth about himself.

The first value I noticed in this story was the value of being yourself. Dr. Seuss always said, “Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” Every single person in this world isn’t exactly the same. We are all unique with our own different characteristics. For example, Uncle Tom tried to be just like the chickens and ended up losing his identity as an eagle. I believe you shouldn’t try to be like someone else because then you lose your own identity. The other value that I found was learning about your family’s culture and history. Learning about your family culture can teach you a lot about yourself and where you came from. It can also help teach you about the struggles your ancestors experienced to get where your family is today. Turk may never have met his parents, but learning about them showed him who he truly was.

I found value in this story because it reminded me of how I need to be true to myself. I shouldn’t worry about what other people think and try to impress them. This story can still relate to our modern day society because there are still many people out there trying to be someone who they aren’t. Therefore, I believe that instead of trying to be someone they aren’t, they should learn about their family history and who they truly are underneath all the materialistic objects.

"Cindy Ellie"

"Cindy Ellie" is a short story written by Mary Carter Smith in the book Talk That Talk which is similar to the story of Cinderella. The main character Cindy is left with only a father after her mother dies. However, one day her Father falls for a women that has a pretty face, big legs, and great big hips. She was the new addition to their family, but along with her came her two ugly daughters. Once the they had moved into the house, Cindy was made to sleep on a pallet in the cellar and her life changed. The elected mayor was throwing his inauguration ball at the convention center for two nights, which his son Toussaint had come home from college to attend. Instead of joining the two gals in getting ready for the ball, Cindy was busy giving the them perms, jheri curls, and facials. While she was crying her heart out on her hard pallet, her godma decided to pay a visit. Her godma helped Cindy get ready for the ball. She turned onions into cars, mice into chauffers, and her ragged clothes into beautiful gowns. The mayor's son noticed her the moment she walked into the ball. Cindy made it back home on time the first night, but the second night she didn't realize it was midnight already. As she was running out of the ball, she had left a sandal behind. The mayor's son kept it and searched for her. He had every lady in town try it on, but no one could fit it. He then reached Cindy's house, but it didn't fit her stepsisters. She then asked the prince if she could try it on and it was the perfect fit. Therefore, they lived happily ever after.

I enjoyed reading this story because it was another version of the original Cinderella story I've heard before. There are so many different versions out there, but this one was not my favorite. I did not like the fact that her godma gave her braids as a hairstyle even if th

ere were real gold beads at the ends of them.

The two new vocabulary words that I found while reading this story was jheri curl and sumptous. I have heard of the word jheri curl before but never knew what it meant until now. As stated on Wikipedia, the jheri curl is a hairstyle that was common and popular in the African American community in the late 1970s. It was invented by Willie Morrow and named after Jheri Redding, the man who made it popular. The jheri curl gave the wearer a glossy, loosely curled look. The other word sumptuous is defined as extremely costly, rich, luxurious, or magnificent. Now I understan what they were talking about when they said "...the table was loaded with sumptuous food".

The character that I didn't like in this story was Cindy's father. If he loved his daughter so much, he wouldn't let the stepmom and stepsisters treat Cindy that way. He would let her get all dolled up for the ball and join them. Instead, he left her home alone to cry her little heart out. If my own father did that to me, I wouldn't even help my stepsisters get ready. I would let them get ready all on their own and look like crap. Why should I suffer? No thanks.