Juan Bobo: A Folkloric Information System and Foreward.

After reading all of the folktales of Foreward, I realized that each one has a message or moral. I favored the Ant in Search of Her Leg, because even though it has a very comical aspect to it, the underlying message is that "God is in control." I really enjoyed the process in which the ant attempted to recover her leg. She went through many different outlets to find an answer. I thought the creativity in this story grasps the reader's attention. I was very intrigued after the first direction that was made to the ant. The main focus of this reading, is how folklore ties in with the culture of Puerto Rico. Juan Bobo is the focal point. He is known as a big time trickster. What is interesting and is highlighted several times in Juan Bobo: A Folkloric Information System by Sarai Lastra, is how a figure like Juan plays such a huge role in the cultural development of folklore in Puerto Rico. Another thing that is very interesting is the diversity in Puerto Rico that allows the stories of Juan Bobo to be told in many different tongues without changing the entirety or message of the stories. What is very interesting and is actually something that I learned from this reading is the different categories in which folklores are placed into. For example, Juan  Bobo's stories are categorized in a "k motif." Overall, both readings goes hand in hand as they focus on the same idea. One gives the examples and the other gives the history and the relevance and how it relates to Puerto Rico and folklore culture.