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The Boy Who Cried Wolf (copied), edits in bold and italics

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the fable of Aesop. For the song by The Style Council, see Boy Who Cried Wolf (song). For album by Passenger, see The Boy Who Cried Wolf (album). For song by futures, see The Holiday (album). For the film segment in a Chinese short film, see Crossed Lines (film).

Not to be confused with Cry Wolf, Boy Cried Wolf, or The Boy Who Cried Werewolf. Francis Barlow's illustration of the fable, 1687 The Boy Who Cried Wolf is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 210 in the Perry Index. From it is derived the English idiom "to cry wolf", defined as "to give a false alarm" in Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable and glossed by the Oxford English Dictionary as meaning to make false claims, with the result that subsequent true claims are disbelieved.

Contents

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The Fable

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The tale, also known as “The Shepherd’s Boy and the Wolf,” concerns a shepherd boy who repeatedly tricks nearby villagers into thinking wolves are attacking his flock. This happens a couple of times, the number differs depending on the rendition of the story.[1] The last time he cries "'wolf!' is when the wolf actually appears. When this happens and the boy again calls for help, the villagers believe that it is another false alarm resulting in the sheep being eaten by the wolf. In the versions of "The Boy who Cried Wolf" containing the three calls of 'Wolf!' by the Shepherd-boy, the rule of three is visible, which states that a pattern of three is effective in getting people to pay attention. In later English-language poetic versions of the fable, the wolf also eats the boy. This happens in Fables for Five Year Olds (1830) by John Hookham Frere, in William Ellery Leonard's Aesop & Hyssop(1912), and in his interpretation of Aesop's Fables (1965) by Louis Untermeyer.

The moral stated at the end of the Greek version is, "this shows how liars are rewarded: even if they tell the truth, no one believes them". It echoes a statement attributed to Aristotle by Diogenes Laërtius in his The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, in which the sage was asked what those who tell lies gain by it and he answered "that when they speak truth they are not believed". William Caxton similarly closes his version with the remark that "men bileve not lyghtly hym whiche is knowen for a lyer".

Fable's history

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The Boy Who Cried Wolf was credited to Aesop, a Greek slave and fable writer. Not much is known about his history or the reason for why the fable was written, but there is speculation that Aesop himself did not physically commit the fable to writing himself. Instead, this fable and others the were part of oral traditions, which were then passed down and compiled from various sources who lived before Aesop's time. There are records of the fables in written form as early as 4th century BCE, which were also translated into other languages, making it possible that the fables were influenced by the tales and morals of other cultures. Most of the influence derives from the Greek version of the tales composed by Babrius, with influence from Arabic and Hebrew cultures due to later translations.[2]

You do not need to repeat off-topic information available in the Aesop link. Sweetpool50 (talk) 20:16, 2 May 2018 (UTC)

The story dates from Classical times, but, since it was recorded only in Greek and not translated into Latin until the 15th century, it only began to gain currency after it appeared in Heinrich Steinhöwel's collection of the fables and so spread through the rest of Europe. For this reason, there was no agreed title for the story. Caxton titles it "Of the child whiche kepte the sheep" (1484), Hieronymus Osius "The boy who lied" ("De mendace puero", 1574), Francis Barlow "Of the herd boy and the farmers" ("De pastoris puero et agricolis", 1687), Roger L'Estrange "A boy and false alarms" (1692), and George Fyler Townsend "The shepherd boy and the wolf" (1867). It was under the final title that Edward Hughes set it as the first of ten "Songs from Aesop's fables" for children's voices and piano, in a poetic version by Peter Westmore (1965).

Modern Applications

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In regards to teaching the fable, The Boy Who Cried Wolf is used as a method of getting young children to realize that telling the truth is better than telling a lie. It is also used as a way to get young children to realize the benefits of honesty and the disadvantages of dishonesty.[3] The fable typically reaches children through parents, school lessons, and media.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf and George Washington's Cherry Tree Tale
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Teachers have used the fable as a cautionary tale about telling the truth, but research has been done on the fable's effectiveness at getting kids not to lie.  The article "Some Types of Fables may be Better at Teaching Children not to Lie"[4] discusses the research and provide the results: children who hear "The Boy who Cried Wolf" are 35% more likely to be honest. When a fable with no moral about lying is told children are 30% likely to be honest. In comparison, those who heard the myth of George Washington chopping the cherry tree[5] and telling his father "I cannot tell a lie," when asked if he chopped down the tree, resulted in a 48% rate of honesty. The concluding results are: positive stories about honesty are more effective than stories about the negative impacts of lying.

Adult Reception
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The Boy Who Cried Wolf has been criticized as having multiple facets that lead the boy to his actions. Katie Loehrke in her article “Workplace Lessons from The Boy Who Cried Wolf” makes the claim that the boy was simply seeking entertainment because he was bored, comparing it to employees who are not self-motivated and thus distract their co-workers from doing their jobs. If the boy had something to do, he would not have tried to bother the villagers. Additionally, the version of the fable where the boy is not punished for his behavior is criticized here for not exemplifying the reality that actions do have consequences.[6]

When dealing with the moral behaviour of adults, Samuel Croxall, known for his edition of Aesop's Fables and Others with included sections on application, asks the reader, referencing political alarmism, "when we are alarmed with imaginary dangers in respect of the public, till the cry grows quite stale and threadbare, how can it be expected we should know when to guard ourselves against real ones?"

Plan of Action 2.0 - Ideas

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  • add more to what the fable actually is. - Svasia
  • More historical context - Jessica - may add more
  • subsection on George Washington research - Svasia
  • subsection on criticisms/critical reception of the fable - Jessica
  • symbolism - animals in fables - possibly a sentence somewhere if we find something relevant
  • purpose of writing the fable
  • connotations within the fable

The Boy Who Cried Wolf Plan of Action and Resources

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Revised Plan of action
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Our first step is to find resources to draw from, which will be done for our assignment. Then, we would like to use the information we were able to find to see how we can incorporate it into the article in a beneficial way. We would like to also focus on specific themes in The Boy Who Cried Wolf as well as other references/homages to the story itself. This may include brief references, skits, productions, movies, animations, and more. Then, we will add headings and research for these topics, and if we find another section needs to be added we will add it. We will split this up so that we can get more done efficiently and effectively.

Citations With Summaries
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Compile a list of relevant, reliable books, journal articles, or other sources. 10-15 would be ideal. If you cannot find at least 5-7 substantial sources, you probably don't have a notable topic yet. Post the bibliography to the talk page of the article you'll be working on and in your designated sandbox. Use MLA citation to enable yourself and others to retrieve the source later. (Do NOT use urls generated by library databases. People without access to Valpo's library won't find the article.

  • Charrel, R. N. (2014), Emerging infections and sensationalism: in Aesop's fable, the boy who cried wolf had a dreadful fate. Clin Microbiol Infect, 20: 467-468. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1469-0691.12606
  • Duan, Shu-Jy. "A Tale of Animals: The Changing Images of Animals in Animal Fantasy for Children from Aesop's Fables through 1986." Order No. 9516987 The Ohio State University, 1994. Ann Arbor: ProQuest. Web. 20 Apr. 2018.
    • This article discusses how animals came to be used within fables. One of the reasons was the idea of childhood being a time of innocence, which gave children a sympathy towards animals. The second was the sentimentality and romanticism of animals, which also aided in these fables gaining popularity. The role of the animal in the fable is to act like their animal with the degree of humanness individually decided by each writer. Aniamls can serve as allegories, vehicles of instruction, or to give a animal perspective. [7]
This source might be useful for your own knowledge, but be mindful not to include information more pertinent to Aesop's fables generally. In other words, anything on this page, should have a clear relationship to the specific fable itself.Aschuet1 (talk) 16:52, 23 April 2018 (UTC)
  • Loehrke, Katie. (2016). Workplace Lessons From The Boy Who Cried Wolf. The Business Journals.
    • This article is meant to be more of a conversational piece, but it actually serves as a sort of criticism of TBWCW. The article also talks about the relationship of TBWCW to a more applicable context (i.e. the work force and adult life, two ideas that aren't typically included in children's literature). This article could be helpful for establishing a section on criticism of TBWCW, which can also incorporate the George Washington Cherry Tree research criticism. [6]
  • Vyas, Parashar. "Panchatantra and Aesop's Fables A Comparative Genre Study." Shodhganga, Shodhganga, 2016, shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/93170/9/09_chapter%204.pdf. Accessed 20 Apr. 2018.
    • This source states that Aesop's fables typically used animals to convey a moral or wisdom an adult wanted to impose on a child. Typically, animals represent the characteristics humans associate with them, like a fox would be stealth and a wolf would be ruthlessness. This article also compares the role of the wolf in another Aesop fable The Wolf and the Sheep. [8]
  • Welsh, Teresa. (2014). Aesop through the Ages: An Examination of Aesop's Fables in the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection. Mississippi Libraries. 77. 5-8.
    • This article also talks about Aesop's animals being stereotyped. The wolf is seen as cruel and ready to attack or take advantage of someone. The article also talks about different origins of Aesop's fables, such as African, Egyptian, and Sumerian. [9]
  • “The Shepherd Boy & the Wolf.” Library of Congress Aesop Fables, http://read.gov/aesop/001.html
  • "cry wolf." Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. 2015. Farlex, Inc 20 Apr. 2018 https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/cry+wolf
  • Three, Rule of. “What Is the Mysterious 'Rule of Three'?” Rule of Three Copywriting Studio, 2 July 2011, https://rule-of-three.co.uk/what-is-the-rule-of-three-copywriting/
    • This article discusses the rule of three. The rule of three is a tool that is used to create a pattern and convey ideas and messages. It can be found in many religions, is used in many speeches and writings, and even in marketing.[10]
This source might be useful for your own knowledge, but be mindful not to include information more pertinent to Aesop's fables generally. In other words, anything on this page, should have a clear relationship to the specific fable itself.Aschuet1 (talk) 16:52, 23 April 2018 (UTC)
  • Keim, Brandon. “Some Types of Fables May Be Better at Teaching Kids Not to Lie.” Wired, Conde Nast, 3 June 2017, https://www.wired.com/2014/08/teaching-kids-to-tell-truth/
    • This article is about the effectiveness of Fables with a moral about lying. An experiment was done with Aesop's fable about the the boy who cried wolf and George Washington chopping down the cherry tree as the tales about lying. The Fables that weren't about lying only deterred the kids from lying in 30% of them, the boy who cried wolf worked 40% of the time, and George Washington's 'I cannot tell a lie' worked on 48% of the kids. The conclusion was that stories with a positive message about honesty worked better than stories with a negative impact from lying.[11]
  • Ashliman, D. L. “Wolves in Aesop's Fables.” Wolves in Aesop's Fab;Es, 22 Mar. 2003, http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/aesopwolf.html

Article Draft

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Use the strategies from Finding Your Article, identify 3-5 potential articles you might want to update on Wikipedia. Place your list of potential articles in the assigned team member's Sandbox.

Review the content of each article and check the Talk page to see what other Wikipedians are already contributing. Discuss how you would meaningfully add new material/research and otherwise improve the article. You will probably find it helpful to refer to the Manual of Style/Novels now and throughout the writing process.

  • Heroic fantasy: The talk page has a lot of discussion on what the genre includes and how there genre can be undifferentiated from other similar genres like high fantasy, or if heroic fantasy and sword and sorcery are considered the same. We could add more on what heroic fantasy entails, like settings, themes, typical characters, the quest adventures heroes go on. Books. movies, and television shows that are considered heroic fiction, and authors who are know for writing heroic fiction can be added, along with the fact that a definite understanding of the term may still be unidentified.
  • Heroic romances: There is no talk on the talk page and only two people have done anything on the article written mostly by one person. A list of authors in this genre, themes, list of well known books, and the popularity of this genre can be added to the article.
  • Psychological thriller: The talk page makes a lot of suggestions about the examples of psychological thrillers, but not about the bulk of the content of the page. Within the page, the literary devices and techniques section could use additional detail and the themes section could use more elaboration on what the theme is, what that theme entails, and specific examples of that theme or characteristics of that theme within psychological thrillers.
  • The boy who cried wolf: The content of the talk page starts with people making obscure references that do not really correlate with the subject of the page. Additionally, the talk page does not really contribute to the actual content of the page, except for one user who suggests that the story be included and less of the history. I think that a beneficial addition to the page would be more about the author of the story, different versions of the story/adaptations that appear throughout history and more details about these, and different themes that the story presents for the readers.

Finally, choose the two articles from your list that you would be most interested in tackling. Embed the links to the articles and provide a plan of action for each in the assigned team member's Sandbox. Briefly explain why your group is less interested in pursuing the other articles from your list.

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Heroic fantasy

  • Plan of Action: Find resources to draw from, outline the article. Add headings and information as necessary and deemed appropriate. Split up the focus to get more done.
  • Why we are not interested in the other articles: The two articles we picked seem like they may have a wider range of reliable resources available. They also have the least amount of writing, leaving a larger potential to add relevant and longer sections. These articles also allow a lot of room for expansion in multiple directions and thus can allow us to either set up the page for expansion in multiple areas, or we can pick one section to heavily focus on that can be used as a guide for other people when they add to the page themselves.

Plan of Action for Improving an Article

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  • what content would you want to contribute?

In the Absalom, Absalom! article, I would like to add to the overview more because it is the place where readers will get a brief summary of what is to be expected from the rest of the page. Some readers only have time for a short paragraph or two, so the one provided at Light in August would be more enticing for the reader.

I would also like to add more elements featured in the Light in August article such as theme, reception, and characters that are more straightforward and less likely to wind up becoming opinion based. I would like to include content here because it would give the reader a greater understanding of the novel that they do not get in Absalom, Absalom!

  • what research steps would you take to get that information?

I would draw from other parts of the article such as that in the plot and the analysis sections so that I could give a more robust description of the novel for those not interested in reading the entire page. I would also then look at research on theme within Absalom, Absalom! and make a new section that would incorporate those elements that are left out that would be beneficial for the reader.

I would also possibly read the book so that I could not only look at others interpretations of the novel, but my own as well and synthesize those ideas into content that is a presentation of information, not just an opinion.

  • what recommendations would you propose to the style or organization?

I would suggest that there be more description added about Absalom, Absalom! and that more sections related to the novel such as theme, reception, and possibly characters be added to give more depth to the article. I also think that the analysis section can be broken up into a theme section as well, which would need more content and research added to it. Additionally, there could be sub-headings that could help with the coherency of the article and the content within it.

Article Evaluation

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I thought that it was strange that the Feed article said that the novel sometimes had a certain tone to it, which is more of an opinion based statement than a fact. [12] I also thought it was funny that the word "cloud was linked to an actual page about clouds because you didn't need the link to know what a normal cloud was. Also, one of the links for the "gated community" lead to an article about condominiums, which I felt was not really accurate. So, these two were fairly distracting for me because they seemed like they would be relevant but in fact were a waste of time. Also, the fifth reference was from a book review, which was more a statement of opinion than a statement of fact, in my opinion. The writing stated that Anderson created an authentic adolescent voice, which is an opinion statement and an interpretation versus a fact.[12] I also noticed that several parts of the article had places where a citation was needed, which indicates that not all the information is in accordance with the wiki policy. In the talk page, I thought it was very nicely organized and was all about finding accurate and valid sources, which we discussed in class.

References

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  1. ^ Roulston, Smith, M.S., L.A. (2004). "The Boy Who Cried Wolf Revisited: The Impact of False Alarm Intolerance on Cost–Loss Scenarios". Weather and Forecasting. 19 (2): 391–397. doi:10.1175/1520-0434(2004)019<0391:TBWCWR>2.0.CO;2 – via American Meteorological Society.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "Aesop - Ancient Greece - Classical Literature". www.ancient-literature.com. Retrieved 2018-04-26.
  3. ^ "The Boy Who Cried Wolf Discussion Guide | Scholastic.com". www.scholastic.com. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  4. ^ "Some Types of Fables May Be Better at Teaching Kids Not to Lie". WIRED. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  5. ^ "George Washington and the Cherry Tree (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
  6. ^ a b Loehrke, Katie (18 October 2016). "Workplace lessons from the boy who cried wolf". The Business Journals. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  7. ^ "A tale of animals: The changing images of animals in animal fantasy for children from Aesop's Fables through 1986 - ProQuest". ProQuest 304127559. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
  8. ^ Vyas, Parashar. "Shodhganga" (PDF). Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  9. ^ Welsh, Teresa (2014-01-01). "Aesop through the Ages: An Examination of Aesop's Fables in the de Grummond Children's Literature Collection". Mississippi Libraries. 77: 5–8.
  10. ^ Three, Rule of. "What is the mysterious 'Rule of Three'? | Rule of Three Copywriting Studio". rule-of-three.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
  11. ^ "Some Types of Fables May Be Better at Teaching Kids Not to Lie". WIRED. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
  12. ^ a b "Feed (Anderson novel)". Wikipedia. 2018-04-09.