Day Two

Motifs: Death, family/ love, relationships (fathers and daughters), obedience.

Symbols: The Mirror is symbolic because it is the thing that the Husband gives to his Wife right before she dies, and then the Wife gives it to her Daughter as a way to remember her. The Doll and the Box, which were given to the Daughter (by her father) for taking care of the house, and her Mother while the Father was away. The Step-Mother is symbolic because she comes in the story at a peculiar time, although the Daughter is still grieving. She has to deal with a Step-Mother who feels threatened by her very existence, and is constantly attempting to turn her Father against her.

Archetypical Characters: Father, and Daughter. (Man vs. man, man vs. self.)

I like the theme of The Mirror of Matsuyama, but I think I want to change the the whole mirror thing. I think it fits perfectly with the original story, but I'm hoping for my story to be more urban. Well not urban, but more of something from this century. Since I will be changing my folktale from Japanese culture to Philippines culture, I think it would quite interesting to do. I don't really think Mirrors are that big of thing in the Philippines, I think more of the United States because we are more closely related. I'm planning on keeping the whole family theme, but this time around I want the reverse roles of the parents. Instead of the Mother dying; the Father will die, and I would also like to change the the girl into a boy! I feel like most stories are honestly about girls, and I think more light should be shed on the positives of males in this world.

I've read about the culture of the Philippines, and I have discovered that boxing is big over there. I think instead of having the mirror, I would like to use boxing gloves as the last sentimental gift of the dying father. I'm still going to include some sort of trip for one of the parents also. I think if I take the main components from the original story, and mesh it with the story I'm attempting to write; then it will come out great. I'm not totally sure, but let's see what happens! Are these ideas too complex for a children's story? My main goal is trying to take this theme, and present it for children to understand and get the point. Let's see how this turns out!