Porto Rican Folkore (It's Puerto, by the way)

I must say that the excerpts from Three Wishes and Hamilton's article "Porto Rican Folklore" has been the best assigned readings thus far. What makes Three Wishes intriguing is the three folktales that it contains, all fun to read. What makes "Porto Rican Folklore" intriguing is how informative it is about the Puerto Rican culture, revolving around folktales and their superstitions/beliefs  in the 1920's and how you can compare and contrast it to modern Puerto Rican culture.

"The Witch's Skin" was my favorite folktale to read and it managed to stir up an engaging discussion in class. When we talked about the symbolism, which was the removal of the witch's beautiful skin and how that showed that looks can be deceiving, it immediately reminded me of another folktale called "The Yellow Ribbon". The folktale is about a girl who, since a young age, wore a yellow ribbon around her neck. A boy who turns out to be her future husband later on in the story, asks her this from time to time: "Why do you wear that ribbon around your neck?". He asks her this while they are friends, in a relationship, married, then finally, on her death bed. As she is dying, the girl lets her husband find out the secret behind the ribbon and tells him to untie it. In for a rude twist, the boy does what he is told and the girls head falls off. This reminded me of "The Witch's Skin" because it proves that you might think you know someone well or perceive them a certain way, until the ugly truth is revealed. I really enjoyed reading this folktale, as well as the other two from the excerpt.