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I thought the Pueblo story about the girl drowning herself was very much like a fairytale. The outcomes were extreme and the narration was kind of distant like in the Grimm stories we read at the beginning of the course. Also, their approach to storytelling-- drawing the story out of the listener/ reader-- reminded me of reader-response literary criticism, which argues that the reader is never objective and concerns itself with the responses that literature causes in the reader. Were the "inventors" of this form of lit crit familiar with Native American storytelling traditions?

I also find the idea of deep play intriguing. I think the most prevalent form of deep play in my life is the intense emotional connections I have with members of my family and some of my friends, particularly my best friend of nine years who now goes to Haverford. If I were to loose my family or this friend, I would be broken. It's a risk I'm more than willing to take, though, because I thrive on these emotional connections and they make my life so much richer than it would be if I were distant from everyone. I think people engage in deep play because the extreme highs in life go hand in hand with extreme lows: you need to take risks to experience life fully.

P.S. To anyone who is inclined to be alarmed by my crying in class today: don't freak out! It's how I react to things, and kudos to you for making me feel comfortable enough to open up after knowing you for only a couple of months. :D