Week 8 Growth Mindset

I would say that one of the things on the list that I have experienced a lot of trouble with would be staying in my comfort zone versus being willing to try new things. I would definitely consider myself to be an introvert, so I tend to feel comfortable in less socially grand situations. Over time in college I've grown little by little whether it be with giving speeches, interviews, meetings, selling "my brand" to people, and meeting many new people on campus. I also feel like I am a very habit oriented person (a lot of people get this way), so I like to do certain things throughout the day when I study, eat, or workout and it's hard for me to get out of those routines. Not that having routines is a bad thing, but I should be open to trying new things even if those things interfere with my usual daily actions.

As I talked about in my first growth mindset post, I also had a tendency to focus on getting the grade in a class rather than learning the actual material and being able to apply it in an out of school scenario. With classes don't pertain to my major, I think it's easy for me to think, Oh, well let me just get an A and who cares if I remember the information. I won't need to use that later on. This class has really showed me how wrong that was. It could be easy for me to go through this class just trying to complete the assignments and then let everything go at the end of the semester. Thankfully, I have been introduced to so many different growth concepts and ideas in this class, I feel like I'm starting realize how I can grow and enjoy the information I'm being given as opposed to information that I look at in a negative manner. I don't want to go through school wishing it was over because then you are just spending your days trying to run out the clock. That isn't a life to live in my opinion. I am excited to see what else I can learn in this class because so far, I really have been exposed to stuff that will help me improve myself all around and in the long run.

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Week 8 Reflections

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I think I've made some good choices with my reading so far because I really have enjoyed them all. There may be one or two extra readings that I experimented with, which I usually wouldn't choose, but those were still good for me because they exposed me to styles that I don't usually read. At first, I had some trouble using my notes for my stories, but after trying it more and more, I've started to write with story ideas always in the back of my mind. Sometimes I'll just jot down random brainstormed notes ideas that I have so I don't forget them. When I go back to read them I have to decipher my notes to make sure I'm on the same page as my old self. Doing the reading notes has helped me speed up my writing process a lot though. The first few stories took me a lot longer to write than the recommended time, but now I am only a little over the two hour mark. Hopefully I will become better and better to where I can put out better content at a better pace. I just completed extra reading for week 7 and input some future reading ideas there. I am looking forward to reading Native American stories to learn more about some of the cultures. I think those would be neat to write about.

The most I've learned about myself as a writer stems from the different writing challenges that we do when revising out portfolio posts. I wouldn't say there is one thing in particular that I am so terrible at, but there is a broad scale of things that I have trouble with. So far, I've been trying to improve my grammar in quotes (something Dr. Gibbs has to help me with far too much) and imagery with words. I would love to paint pictures with words without even thinking about it, but right now that seems far out of reach.

I most admire some people innate ability to write stories that just flow perfectly. It seems like they can just think of a topic and write a story without even thinking much. That most likely isn't the case, but there are a few writers in our class who I can tell are on another level when it comes to storytelling and their posts overall. You know they write well when they make an introduction sound super intelligent! I may need to give people a little harsher feedback, but overall I think I have been pretty honest with my thoughts. I don't know if they actually take any of my thoughts into consideration, but hopefully they read them at the least!

Week 7 Extra Reading Notes: Khasi Folktales, Part A

This is a similar style to one of the Chinese fairy tales that I read a few weeks ago. It was about how the cat and dog came to dislike each other. I was a little confused as to why in this story, the lion wasn't chosen to be the king of the jungle, but rather the tiger instead. Tigers are really cool, but I think of the lion as the king of the jungle usually. The monkeys were very clever and I'm surprised the tiger never caught on to what they had done. I guess the tiger was described as ignorant for a reason!

The scenery described in some of the stories is extremely vivid. The sacred characteristics of the Iei Tree are highlighted with the different descriptions of the setting. It helps me because these don't come with many pictures, so sometimes I have trouble coming up with the right images to follow the story. Even without a single picture I still feel as though I am imagining the same thing as the author. Making sure the setting is set well really helps the reader delve further into the story.

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"Hunting the Stag Lapalang" is a really neat way to introduce the background of Khasi lamentations. To have the hunters even realize how deep the love of the mother stag was for her son really emphasized how much she mourned. That would be a great idea to research a culture a little bit and then write a story about how their customs came to be. It would be good to mix up my writing style to a more informative storytelling mode as opposed to completely fictional. Maybe with the Native American readings coming up in Week 9 I can do that! If their is a Choctaw reading I could do that because I actually know a few people at OU that are part Choctaw. Those will be cool to read because Native American culture is so prominent in Oklahoma, so I could focus my research on tribes closer to Norman.

Bibliography: Khasi Folktales, Mrs. K. U. Rafy

Growth Mindset: Writing Challenge Continued

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Last week, I wrote about my writing challenges I chose (lengthening my story and using more visual details). I left off talking about my story length. I had gotten it to almost 1000 words, but still felt like I needed to add more visual details. To complete the challenge I had to go back and take out some of the parts, which I felt were unnecessary and add back words that were useful. I also reworded some sentences and adjectives to make them more valuable. I actually had to look up more pictures to add in (which the readers can use to help them image the setting even better) and also just looked up pictures to visualize what I wanted from the setting. Even though I was writing the story, I still had to look at pictures, which really helped me put what I had in mind on paper (in the blog). Hopefully this challenge will carry over into my other stories without me having to focus on it too much, buuuuuut I doubt it will fix itself that quickly. Overtime I will get better as long as i keep writing the stories. I recommend this challenge to anyone who struggles with story length!

Week 7 Storytelling: Lil Romero

The bell rang out loudly as the clock struck nine o'clock sharp. All of the students in the classroom were seated quietly as Mr. Ryder began to lecture the kindergartners. Everyone in the classroom paid full attention, except for one student seated in the back of the room, Romero. 

He tried listening to Mrs. Ryder each day, but couldn't help staring at Julia, the brunette in the front left of the room. Romero has had his eyes on Julia since pre-K and knew he was destined to be with this girl. He longed for her attention day in and day out, always trying to build the courage to talk to her but never would.

(Kindergarten  --  MJGDSLibrary)
Source: Flickr

In Romero's mind, he thought that if he could give Julia a gracious gift, she would fall madly in love with him. So for the past three weeks he had been stealing knick-knacks from other students in the class. Items he had stolen ranged from Bobby's pencil grips, all the way to Cassandra's pencil holder.

Even with all of the different items Romero had stolen, he still felt as though he needed to take something better to give to Julia. This is where the bejeweled bracelet on Sara's backpack came into the picture. Romero had seen Ben give this bracelet to Sara and she loved it! Romero knew if he could get his hands on it, Julia wouldn't be able to resist him.

Over the past two days, Romero had devised a plan to take the bracelet from Sara. The best option seemed to be that when class was let out of school, Romero could "accidentally" bump into Sara to distract her, and snatch the bracelet off of her bag. Today was the day to act.

As the clock notched closer to the end of class, Romero began to feel anxious. He had to remind himself that he was a pro and he had done this many times before. The bell rang and Romero jumped out of his seat and darted into the hallway to get into position. When Sara came out of the classroom, Romero shot towards her, ready to take the crown jewel. Before he could bump into Sara, he was dragged backwards out of nowhere. Romero turned around completely bewildered as to what had just happened. 

His eyes were met by the glare of Principal King.

"Follow me to my office, now," Principal King commanded.

Romero knew he was in for it. He followed the principal down the hall with all of the other kids watching him, including the love of his life, Julia.

As the principal sat next to Romero, he let out a long sigh.

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"Romero, why have you been stealing from the other students? You know that's wrong and now you have to face the punishment. You will be placed into detention for the next month and then will return to Ms. Wilkerson's class."

Romero didn't bother trying to explain himself. There wasn't anything he could say to make up for what he had done. With thoughts of Julia, he left the principal's office and went to the detention study.
~
A month passed by and Romero was finally allowed to return back to the normal classroom. He walked into Ms. Wilkerson's classroom, sat in the back, and decided to take a look around. 

What he saw filled his heart with a feeling he hadn't experienced in an entire month. In the middle of the room was a blonde, Julie. Romero knew he loved this girl more than any he ever could.

Now if only he could get his hands on a necklace... 



Author's Note: In the original story, Twenty-Two Goblins, many riddles were told to a King on his journey. I found one, "The Girl and the Thief," that intrigued me. Basically, a thief has been stealing from citizens and the King orders him to die. A girl falls in love with him and is heartbroken when he is  killed. He comes back to life and they live happily ever after. I put a youthful spin on the riddle. It reminded me of Romeo and Juliet, so I made a love story with grade-school children. I thought it would be more lighthearted with a younger character line up. The thief, Romero in my story, wants to impress Julia (his classmate), so he steals things from other kids to give to her. The king in my story is the principal, who finds out he has been stealing and orders him to move classes (be killed). Sadly, he has to learn his lesson and remain in the other class and isn't "brought back to life" like in the original. I thought it would comical to end the story with the possibility of Romero returning to class with the same bad habits. Romero thought Julia was the love of his life (as many kids do), but then is easily wooed by the new girl he sees in Ms. Wilkerson's class. I also included the original author's name in my story with Romero's first teacher.

Bibliography: Twenty-Two Goblins, by Arthur Ryder
                         The Girl and the Thief (in Twenty-Two Goblins)

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales, Part B

The first Japanese fairy tale, "The Goblin of Adachigahara", starts off with a little role reversal compared to your usual fairy tale. Instead of a damsel in distress, the priest was looking for help from the old woman spinning her yarn (the goblin). I guess technically the old woman is actually a male goblin, but still, the roles are somewhat reversed. I think disguising himself as an old woman is definitely a neat idea. Older women would pose the least threatening, but it would be a little suspicious that this woman would be out in the woods all alone. Sort of a "Hansel and Gretel" kind of vibe. Don't eat the candy/spend the night at the goblin's abode. When will the dame/damsel in distress ever learn? Don't go looking in a room means to not go into the room. "Curiosity killed the cat."

(curiosity challenge  --  ankakay)
Source: Flickr

Wow! In this case curiosity did not kill the priest. It actually saved him. I definitely like that spin on the usual plot where someone gets too curious and it leads to their downfall. I was happy to see the priest made it out alive as well. His reactions to the situations that arose seemed pretty realistic too. I wonder what happened to the goblin afterwards? Maybe I could add on to the story by introducing a new character the priest hires to go back and defeat the goblin?

The next story is similar with tales of a cannibal monster (disguised as elderly women), but the protagonists reactions are very different. Watanabe looks to fight and the priest ran. I could use Watanabe as my mercenary hired to kill the goblin of Adachigahara. If he lives through "The Ogre of Rahomon". Interesting ending that the Ogre was not killed, but the conflict was resolved because the knight frightened him so much.

Bibliography: Japanese Fairy Tales, Ozaki

Reading Notes: Japanese Fairy Tales (Ozaki), Part A

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I could already tell from the name of the story that it would be great, "My Lord Bag of Rice". For some reason the concept of giving his name and then explaining the story as to how he came to be called that, really interested me. I like that idea and hope I can do something similar to that in a story soon. The fact that they used that name too, Bag of Rice, made it comical too. It just made me think, what did he have to do to get that name and why would he want to keep it? So I guess this storytelling style hooked me from the beginning with its curiosity factor. In the end, the gifts ended up sounding quite strange, but were actually miraculous. I appreciated the diamond in the rough factor involved with the gifts throughout the stories. Usually the gifts granted are numerous amounts of gold and jewels, but these (infinite rice and silk) were more feasible and maybe carried more worth (depending on the person).


The detail involved in the story really helped me visualize everything going on. I know that's important to the reader because it enables you to delve further into the story. Descriptions such as, "the lake glittered like a liquid diamond" and "the light in its hundred feet glowed like so many distant lanterns moving slowly towards the shore". I've been doing the writing challenge about visual details, I think it would be important for me to read stories like this to get more ideas as to how I can better capture the imagery I want to portray to reader, in words. There was a little confusion for me about the description of the centipede in "My Lord Bad of Rice". Some of the descriptions of the centipede were somewhat vague, leading me to wonder about the actual size of the monster. Besides that I though the story was written very well. It's good to have good and not as good examples of readings with a lot of imagery, so I can see what to do and also what not to do.


Bibliography: Japanese Fairy Tales, Ozaki

Reading Notes: Adam and Eve (Extra Reading Week 6)

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The writing style that the story begins with (in the description it discussed multiple languages were to be used throughout the story) is more difficult to follow than a modern day conversation for me at least. It warned to read the paragraphs first to make sure you are okay with the reading, but I wanted to go ahead and try it anyways just to expose myself to a different type even if I didn't want to use it in my story creations.

So far from reading the different stories, I'm having trouble figuring out how I could write a story concerning the same topics. Up to this point, it has just been more of an informational read. One thing for sure though, is that I won't be able to write with the same style. I said this before, but as I read further, I realize more that the style just isn't my taste. Although I don't grasp the older style of writing quite as well for overall technique, I do think it's fun to use for the dialogue. In my story about Achilles and Hector I tried using a more proper English dialogue tone. I enjoy reading that way in my head and it really helps me get into the character's mind. Basically it depends on the story. Whatever feels the most like what the character would actually do, usually fits best.

The descriptions about creating Eve were interesting. The different reasonings as to why certain body parts of Adam were not used. Also how Adam not watching Eve's creation made him want to be with her as opposed to the other woman whom he watched be born and did not like. It's weird to think about that in relation to friendships from young ages between men and women (boys and girls). Some of those relationships do come to fruition though (no pun intended).

Bibliography: Adam and Eve, Louis Ginzberg

Tech Tip: Quotemaker

(Just Do It)
Quotemaker

I used the quote "Just Do It." by Nike. I chose this quit because i think it helps me when I feel like  procrastinating. Rather than putting it off, I just get it over with, so I can relax later. Simple, but great.

Learning by H.E.A.R.T.: Self Realization of Selfies

Learning Challenge I couldn't get the original picture to upload onto my blog, but you can go check it out at this link! It's crazy to look at this picture and think, "Wow, this has become commonplace in our society." I am proud of the girls, in the top left and bottom right corners. At least they are able to enjoy their food without the selfie aspect. Who knows, they may have already "IG'd" the food (made up verb usage for Instagram).

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I would love to be able to say that these girls are out of the ordinary these days, but I think I'd be lying to myself. It's definitely not just girls either. I see guys taking selfies all of the time too. This just reminds me of how insidious social media has become. That is probably too harsh of a word because I do think there are a lot of benefits that come from the instant communication, but dependence on technology can definitely be a problem. When I think about what it would be like to go somewhere without my phone, computer, or other technological communication, I can't imagine what it would be like. Hopefully I, and many others, can lower my dependence on technology overtime. That goal seems out of reach with how much I need it in everyday life, but maybe I can do a growth mindset challenge to use my phone less. I definitely need to limit myself at night.

Growth Mindset: Writing Challenges

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I chose to try and grow my writing process this week. I decided to do two different challenges, so I'm not completely done with the first one, but I finished expanding my story. Next week I will update everyone about my experience when I finish the visual detail challenge. Expanding my stories is usually quite a challenge for me. Well, it is if I choose to do it correctly. It isn't hard to add filler words like "really" and unnecessary adjectives. I thought that adding visual details would help me expand my story closer to the 1000 word limit, so it seemed like the right idea to mix the two challenges together. I am sitting at about 950 words now, so when finishing the visual challenge I will have to choose words carefully, which will be good for me. I want to be better at writing concisely. Although I'm not great with doing so, the reading and writing I have been doing in this course has helped me a lot. The room for improvement was definitely great, but I notice each week I become slightly more confident in my ability. Whether that is false self confidence or not is a totally different story. Maybe I should write something about that haha. I'm excited to try out some new techniques to really see how much I can improve my writing. Wish me luck haha!

Reading Notes: Chinese Fairy Tales, Part B

After finishing "Night on the Battlefield" I feel as though there was definitely something missing. It didn't seem to have a plot. Some random things just happened and then a story was told about them?

The story, "The Maiden who was Stolen Away" was different than I thought it would be. The brother ended up being the hero who rescued the damsel in distress. I was thinking the Ogre would end up with the Maiden (possibly ending his condition similar to beauty and the beast). Definitely wrong. I wonder what happened to the Ogre after the brother knocked him off course when he was headed towards the maiden? Maybe rewriting this story with a different ending could be good. Or I could continue the story from the Ogre's perspective and continue it into the next story, "The Flying Ogre". Although it is a woman in this story, I could mesh the two stories into one. Some of the stories end rather quickly, which hurts their point of being written in my view.

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"Three Evils" was a pretty good tale. The honor of Dschou Tschu reminds me a lot of what I've heard about Japanese and Chinese culture. Especially with samurai. The fact that he died honorably was courageous of him because he knew his own evil. I wonder if it'd been the same if he didn't know about the three evils? Would he have become bad? I could revise the version to make Dschou Tschu an antagonist in the story. Faced with the truth about himself, he decided to indulge in his dark side and wreaks havoc on the town. The description of his battles against the dragon and tiger were pretty cool through the story as well. Wilhelm was able to describe them very briefly, but it still gave me a good image of what happened. Hopefully I will learn how to do that better because I had some trouble with that in my first story.


Bibliography: Chinese Fairy Tales, Wilhelm

Reading Notes: Chinese Fairy Tales, Part A

As opposed to my usual choices in reading where I choose a battle oriented plot, I decided to expand myself by trying out the chinese fairy tales. My plan is to read all of the fairy tales and hope to find one or two that I can use to either base my story off of, or expand upon in some way for my story in the future.

The fairy tale, "The Panther", reminds me a lot of Little Red Riding Hood. The main differences are the animal (panther as opposed to a wolf), and how the predator approaches eating the rest of the family members. I liked how the panther still dressed up as the mother, so that approach was similar to Little Red Riding Hood. The resolution of the story was pretty interesting too. The daughters were creative when designing every element of the panther's downfall. The dialogue between the daughters and panther was comical at some points too. Some of the reasons the panther gave as to why his features were different compared to the mother were pretty entertaining.

(Mani + Sin-Sin  --  tohu)
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The story, "Why Dog and Cat are Enemies" is a really fun way of writing in my opinion. It gives an idea or stereotype that is commonly known today, (such as dogs and cats not getting along) and creates a story as to why that is the way it is. Although it isn't the true logical sequence as to why the things are the way they are, it is fun to read and would be enjoyable to try to find something similar and create my own reasoning for it. I will definitely look into this approach for a future story of mine. I thought it was interesting that the cat and dog started out as allies, but then the cat quickly betrayed the dog (which sounds like something one of my cats would do), leading to an understood feud between the two animals.

Bibliography: Chinese Fairy Tales, by Wilhelm

Learning Challenge: Happiness Meme

(Cheezeburger)

I chose to do the learning challenge about health and happiness this week in the Learning by H.E.A.R.T. section. I thought it would be funny to create a meme out of this picture because I see this pair a lot on Sunday's when I watch NFL football. They are always in the broadcast booth together and make a pretty good team. My main motivation behind this would be that I know having a really close person in your life (i.e. family member, friend, partner, etc.) can really brighten your experiences. My roommate is one of those people for me who I can hangout with and we always have the same sense of humor (which is good because most people would probably just think I'm weird). Having a person like that in your life is really healthy and makes me a lot happier, so I just wanted to share this with everyone who runs across my blog. Enjoy!

Tech Tip: Cheezburger

Cheezburger Meme

Cheezburger Website

Week 5 Storyplanning: Role Reversal

"I think it would be fun to write a back story to the thief's adventures of stealing from the citizens. I don't know if I'd be able to make him the protagonist of the story. Maybe I could write from the antagonist's point of view." Reading Notes Week 5, Part B

As I read the story I chose for this week, I was trying to brainstorm different topics and ways I could add to the reading at hand. I am trying to really step out of the box with my style on this story so I think I may try to write from the antagonist's point of view. I am used to writing with the protagonist in mind, always with them coming out on top, but instead I want to experiment with giving the bad guy the spot light in the story. To take their point of view, I want to use the thief in the riddle "The Girl and the Thief" as my main character. During the riddle, his riches that he'd stolen were described very briefly, with little to no background as to how he came upon the goods he stole. My goal for my story would be to write a background story with the thief's life leading up to the point where the riddle begins. Some ideas I have to do so are to describe his adventures with stealing from the citizens, why he chooses to be a thief (was he forced into it or does he just enjoy doing it), and I also want to include the king (his nemesis in the riddle) into the background.

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"As the King answering riddles had great qualities of courage and perseverance, I could mirror those in either the thief or king in my story." - Reading Notes Week 5, Part B

I haven't decided on the name of my characters yet. Because I saw some relation between the riddle and the story about Romeo and Juliet, I may name my thief with a variation of the name Romeo. He would have to be slender with long black hair (for some reason, that is what comes to my mind when I think of a thief). I would like to contrast the thief's features with that of the king. Basically taking those features and opposing them. I.e. more broad and brute, blonde hair/ bald. The thief would need darker shaded clothes and a mask/ hood. The king, shiny armor with his face fully revealed.

The motivation for Romero (the thief) is going to be the thrill of the stealing experience. He doesn't steal because he has to or because he wants to be rich, but instead he loves the adrenaline rush that comes from the action. His intent may not be bad, but his action overall is definitely malicious. Torn between wanting to be good and liking to do bad things because of the rush. The king doesn't know his intention and doesn't care. He goes strictly by the law with no gray area between. I will use dialogue only really for their first meeting and one other encounter, but mostly keep the dialogue in the mind of Romero.

Bibliography: Twenty-Two Goblins by Arthur Ryder

Reading Notes: Twenty Two Goblins, Part B

(robin hood  --  Olga Berrios)
Source: Flickr

After reading the riddle, "The Girl and the Thief",  I am tempted to use this story as my base for the story I write in week 6. I thought the story was somewhat similar to that of Romeo and Juliet with a happier ending. I was a little confused as to the answer of the riddle because it seemed to be a subjective answer that the King gave. Maybe I could also change the riddle answer in my story as well. So far, I am thinking of writing about how the thief came to be so disliked by the king in the riddle. I know it says that he stole everything from the citizens, but reading that leaves me wondering why and how he did that? Did he grow up poor and it makes him happy to feel rich by taking from others? Was he thinking that he was similar to Robin Hood except he kind of contradicts what Robin Hood does. It is almost the opposite (the king tries to get the money back from the thief to give to the citizens). I think it would be fun to write a back story to the thief's adventures of stealing from the citizens. I don't know if I'd be able to make him the protagonist of the story. Maybe I could write from the antagonist's point of view. As the King answering riddles had great qualities of courage and perseverance, I could mirror those in either the thief or king in my story. Maybe I could use King Triple-victory and the goblin in the riddle that the goblin told about the thief and the girl. Somehow the thief turns into the goblin in the end and is bound to stay in the sissoo tree telling riddles? So many different options. I will have to do more research and write my story planning for the week about that.

Overall, I liked the layout of the riddles in the story, but felt as though they didn't tie into the plot very well. In the end, the goblin basically tells the king that the riddles were the way he tested him to make sure he was courageous and hard willed. That makes sense, but I would've liked to have seen a little more come of the riddles rather than just answer and move on. The riddles themselves were very enjoyable though. Cleverly written.

Bibliography: Twenty-Two Goblins by Arthur Ryder

Reading Notes: Twenty Two Goblins, Part A

Reading about the story from the description, I can already tell that the style of the writing will greatly interest me. I really enjoy things such as riddles, so a story told with sections that contain different riddles each time seems like a fun read. Just thinking now about how I could add on or use this style in some way for this week's story is difficult though.

(The first riddle  --  tv))
Source: Flickr

I'm a little confused as to why the goblin continues to climb back into the tree each time the King answers correctly? I would think that the King should be rewarded for getting the riddles right, but instead he has to go get the goblin down each time. Maybe there will be a big payoff in the end? If not, I could adjust my story with a different system of rewarding rather than one that seems like punishment. The King's character is brave and unwavering in his task. Each section ends with a simile of the King's bravery to describe how noble he is. The plots of each riddle within the story are set up well. I enjoy the sequence of telling, answering, and how the King describes why he chose the answer he did. My favorite riddle from Part A would have to be "The Three Lovers". It started the reading off on the right note and had great detail. While reading, I wasn't thinking about what the duties each man did represented. The description of fatherly duty, brotherly duty, and a husband's duty were unique and enlightening to the answer. I also liked the "Food, Women, and Cotton" riddle. I was a little intrigued as to how the specialist in women could tell about the great milk someone was raised on, but I guess it's good to be creative in the stories. My idea to make my own story from this reading might be to choose a specific riddle I liked and either elaborate details, change characters, or create a before or after addition to the riddle. Maybe the second reading will give me more clarity as to which story and style to use.

Bibliography: Twenty-Two Goblins by Arthur Ryder

Growth Mindset: Thinking is Part of Doing

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I chose to write about the meme, "Thinking is part of doing." While searching through the growth mindset memes, I finally found this one and it really stuck out to me. To me, it reminds me that before we do something, we should think of the consequences involved with the action. Not that every action will have bad consequences, but for those that do, you don't want to rush into anything without thinking it through. I thought the cat meme was funny too because, at least with my cats, they seem to creep up before they do something mischievous. Especially one of my cats. He sits there thinking about what he is going to do, then does it, and I'm pretty sure he knows he is doing something wrong!

Learning Challenge: Letting Go

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This week's H.E.A.R.T. challenge lead me to the meme of "Letting Go". I really enjoyed this meme because I thought it was so true and something I definitely have had problems with. You don't want to dwell on things in the past, present, or future that you cannot change. My biggest issue with this would have to be letting go of things in the past. Whether it's something with grades or everyday actions, if I do something wrong I tend to let it effect me for awhile afterwards. Not that I shouldn't try to improve from these mistakes by brushing them off completely, but I need to be more able to accept and learn from the mistakes. Letting something I can't change bother me leads to more ineffectiveness than what may have already occurred. Although it wont't be easy, I am going to continue to try and improve in this area. This meme was a great reminder of something I can do to better myself overall.

Tech Tip: Weather Widget

I added a weather application to my blog in the right hand corner! Just incase you needed to know what the weather is like when you're on the computer!

Feedback Focus

Reading Out Loud

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• I did the HEART reading out loud challenge, so I was accustomed to trying this technique before I read The Wax Crocodile story. I had a similar experience with my reading in that I felt as though I was more involved in the story. I was able to hear myself and really comprehend the words within the story, while also imagining the setting in my mind. Doing both of these helps me better understand the plot and pick up on details.

Copy-and-Delete

• There seems to be a correlation between reading time and comprehension for me with the two techniques I've tried so far. Although it did take longer to complete the reading with the copy and delete method, making my self accountable for taking notes in spurts, without looking at the reading directly, improved my reading experience more. I beleive this technique would be very useful if you were to do an in class assignment, in which the professor would ask you questions about the reading right afterwards. Then, as Dr. Gibbs noted, you'd have details/comments on your mind after reading.

Use a Timer

• When first trying this technique, I was definitely guilty of "watching the clock". Not in the sense that I had it in front of me while I read, but it was in the back of my mind. So at first, it was a bit of a distraction. I finally got over the fact that I was being timed, and accepted that I needed to focus for 10-15 minutes. During the first 4 or so minutes I read the story "What the Heart Desires". After that I decided to go back through the story and skim for any details I missed. Once I felt as though I had completely covered the story, I went back through the author's note, and tried to relay all of the information in the story back to the reasoning for it being written. After reading the story and analyzing the author's note with it, I felt like I had a greater understanding for Kathryn's point of view when creating the story. I think it was really interesting to pick a minor character and expand on their origin story to see how they got to where they were.

OVERALL: Given that I was able to read aloud, I would have to rank that technique as the most useful to me. I liked the copy and delete method as well, but when I start getting into a story, I want to keep reading and let the story flow. When I stopped and jotted down summaries, it forced me to refocus myself back into the reading. I believe the timer technique would be useful for me when I feel as though I am not able to pay attention very well. Then I can force myself to sit down for a certain time period to really hone in on the reading.

Week 4 Storytelling: Origin of Camilla

The sea sprayed over the ship's deck, casting a shadow of salty mist on the crew, myself included. We had just evaded the wrath of the cyclops, Polyphemus, only to have our captain, Odysseus, further test the cyclops by rubbing our escape in his face.

When will he learn?

Originally, our crew held fifteen strong, but after our recent encounters, we were down to six. It was a woeful reminder now to come back to the ship and gather around the table to eat. Too much space. Odysseus sat down at the head of the table to discuss our next journey before we went back to Ithaca.

Wikimedia Commons

"Alas, men! We made it out alive! Where to next? The mountains of Grapito perhaps? I hear the light snowfall contrasting the crisp evergreen trees is gorgeous this time of year."

The other crew members gave input, but I kept quiet. I try not to say much, considering I was only able to join the crew disguised as a male named Camith.

"So, Camith, do you agree we should visit the Island of Circe?" Odysseus asked.

"Umph." I shrugged in agreement, trying not to show I had completely lost track of the conversation.

"Good, we should arrive in the next couple of days."

Three days later we made it to the island with little clue of what inhabited the island. Not even Odysseus was sure if there was anything to fear. We all had similar reactions to the scenery of the island. It was truly exquisite. The trees were a thick green color and the various flowers, many of which none of us had seen before, were spread delicately as if placed perfectly in a picture.

As we journeyed to the island's center, the men's attitudes and actions became more and more affected. They were under the slight influence of a spell. Through the brush and trees, I could see a mansion where a woman in all white stood waiting for us to greet her.

"Stand with courage, men. I can handle any foe that marks us as prey," Odysseus reassured us.

Wikimedia Commons

With that, he took off towards the house, with the crew close behind. As I was about to follow, I saw a light out of the corner of my eye, so I went to investigate. The glowing orb hung in mid-air and as I approached, it transformed into a woman's head.

"Camilla, you have a challenge lying ahead of you. Your crew is currently under the influence of Circe's magic, and you must save them," the head explained.

"How do you know my name? How am I supposed to save them?"

(Diana  --  Benjamin Watson)
Source: Flickr

"I am the goddess Diana. Circe's magic only works on men. Use this to your advantage. Break the lust stone on her staff and your friends will be free to escape. You have a great future where you will learn more, but now, you must complete this first task." And with those words she was gone.

I pondered everything she said as I made my way back to the mansion. I guess the only thing I could do at this point was figure out how to break that stone.

I entered the looming front doors and immediately saw my comrades in a zombified state. They never took their gaze off of Circe. Not even the "great" Odysseus. I could see they were looking at the staff in her hand. I wondered why at first, but then realized the bright red stone on the top of the staff must be the lust stone Diana discussed.

"Well, hello there, traveler. Come, sit and eat with us. I'm sure you are famished from your great adventures," Circe coerced.

As to not arouse suspicion, I acted as I had seen my crew members did before, but I feigned eating anything knowing that the food would still work against me.

"How lucky of me to have so many guests on this fine evening. Too bad none of you will understand me now. It is only a matter of time before you are in a trance forever," Circe declared.

One by one she led the crew members out of the dining room into a cellar where she kept what it seemed like about twenty other servants. Why did she need so many? This was my chance to strike.

She guided me into the cellar with a broad steel door. As she went to shut it, I snatched the top of her staff and squared it in between the door and the frame. All it took was a little force and the weight of the door did the rest. The stone shattered into dust and Circe let out a shrill call. Looks of despair and confusion covered her face as she crumpled, as the stone had, into dust. At the same time, my crew members came out of their entranced states, also confused as to how I'd saved their lives. I gestured towards the door, signaling that I'd explain as soon as we were far from this place.

As we arrived back at the ship I turned to the crew and took off my disguise. Their utter disbelief said it all.

"Camith? Who are you?" Odysseus asked.

"Well, up until about midday today, I thought I was a girl who would do anything to go on an adventure. Even sneak into a crew of all men. Now, I'm not sure. I was told I had great things in my future, so it is up to me to figure it out."

No one seemed to know what to say, but I knew what I had to do. I said my farewells to the crew for they could not travel on this adventure with me. I chose a smaller ship on the shore (from the other travelers who had come and stayed at Circe's Island) and sailed out to the open water.

It's time to discover who I truly am.


Author's Note: In the original story, Odysseus' first person viewpoint is used and he is the star. He ends up escaping from Polyphemus, which is where I began my story, and then defeats Circe on her island after she has turned the crew into animals (she does not die). My original plan was to include Polyphemus into my story, but I didn't want to take away from Camilla's character. I changed the original by letting a minor crew member character take the lead in the end to save the day. In the original, Odysseus was always the hero, with little talk of the crew's actions , so I wanted to change that. The only good that came from the crew members in the original was from them being first to die instead of Odysseus.I chose to write an origin story for Camilla who finds out by Diana what her destiny is. Camilla replaces Odysseus job in the original, by defeating Circe. It seemed unrealistic to me in the original to have him be able to defeat her, so I thought using a female would be the perfect fix. I have the backstory to Camilla in the bibliography if you want to check that out. I ended it with her leaving the crew with the possibility to write another story about her next adventure to find out who she is.

Bibliography:  Homer's Odyssey, Tony Kline; Britannica (Camilla background)

Reading Notes: The Voyages of Sindbad, Part B

Sindbad is truly never content with what he is given. After 4 voyages with countless shares of wealth and gifts, he still yearns to go back to Bagdad (which he will no doubt leave in search of a new place with more spoils). I think a great, just ending to the story would be with his greed finally catching up to him. I wouldn't like to end a story on a negative note, but I think it doing so with Sinbad, it would give the entire story a good moral. Sinbad's patience is definitely his savior in a lot of situations. It hasn't said much about his appearance, but from pictures and images put into the reading, I've put together a rough sketch in my mind. Brownish black hair, a think peaked beard, and a tan skin tone. Roughly 5'10'', average weight, and for some reason I feel as though he is sarcastic (not an appearance trait though). With the ways he gets out of situations, I think it would be funny to have him be a jolly, plump guy. A lot of luck has been involved with him getting out of situations, so I think that look would suit him well.  This story contains less dialogue than most of the ones I've read up to now. I'm not sure which I like more. I think it's a good thing not to get carried away with pointless dialogue. I need to make sure the dialogue in my story always adds to the overall point/plot.

Can we believe this is actually his 7th and "final" voyage? I'm a little skeptical…

Sindbad ended on a positive note. I wasn't sure if his luck would run out eventually. It was a good resolution to the story, which added to his character (him devoting his life to his family there at the end). His family must have been quite patient with him going on so many voyages. I don't think it mentioned exactly when he met his wife. He may have settled down with her after his last voyage.

Bibliography: The Voyages of Sindbad, by Andrew Lang

Reading Notes: The Voyages of Sindbad, Part A

(Moby Dick  --  C. H. Simmonds Co)
Wikimedia Commons

The first person narrative storytelling style is interesting to read. I haven't written one with this style yet, but it is similar to an idea I had about our class project. I may try this style if I use my fox stories from the fables. The beginning reminds me of Moby Dick's plot. His first voyage was quite lucky. After losing his ship and almost drowning, it seems improbable that he would have reclaimed his things. Also, for a story about a hero, Sinbad didn't have to do many heroic things. Maybe this was written this way to differ from usual heroic ballads.

Sindbad is a curious, unsatisfied man it seems. After his trials and tribulations with his first voyage, I wouldn't think he would have the audacity to travel to sea again. Especially with the wealth he gained earlier. The plan by merchants to retrieve diamonds in the valley was quite creative. I think its neat that the creatures on the island and in the valley are giant. It makes Sindbad have a tougher time with familiar animals. It would also be cool if there were foreign animals introduced from the island. Maybe a cross between the "rocs" and the snakes. The eagles coming to pick up the meat reminds me of Lord of the Rings when the eagles come to pick up Frodo and Sam. He is also a generous man (shared wealth with the poor).

The fact that he chooses to go on even more voyages after telling himself that he shouldn't have makes him seem somewhat ignorant. The story may be better if the voyages were combined somehow. The part with the giant is definitely similar to Odysseus' encounter with Polyphemus. This reading seems to include many illusions to other famous stories. I think it would be a fun way to be creative, trying to mix and match segments from more than just one story.

I would like to see Sindbad with a sidekick. Maybe the both of them could be brothers going on the voyages together? That may give more reason as to why he would go on so many voyages. Sindbad's situational awareness definitely saved him with the cannibals. Not so ignorant after all.

Bibliography: The Voyages of Sindbad, by Andrew Lang

Review: Diversity

While looking at the last seven day's announcements I came across this video, "Android: Friends Forever". I highly recommend you watch it if you are reading this! It absolutely made my day. The overall message of the video is about diversity. Android is trying to exhibit that they make phones/products, which people can use together, without being the exact same. I think this is a great life lesson everyone can learn from. Too many people (I've been guilty of this) try to fit in at times. They want to have the same things, such as clothes, shoes, cars, hairstyles, phones, etc. The video portrays the different animals getting along which would be analogous of humans getting along with different stuff. It isn't a dog playing with another dog, or monkey with monkey. They take different animals that you may not think go together and show how they can get along so well. Hopefully this video will brighten up your day as it did mine!

Reading Notes (Extra): English Fairy Tales, Part A

Tom Tit Tot

• The dialogue is semi hard to follow because the english is a different style that I'm used to. I would probably avoid a similar style in my stories. I like how it was a spin off of the "Rumplestilskin" story, so maybe I can use a childhood story as inspiration for one of mine.

The Rose Tree

• I was surprised at the darkness of this reading. It was definitely the darkest story that I've read so far in this class. Although justice was "served" in the end, I will most likely avoid doing something so dark. I don't think my writing style would fit that well.

The Old Woman and Her Pig

• Unique story line based on a sequence of events there and back again. I was wondering where the story would end up after following through half of it, but to have everything finally work the way it did was satisfying. I would like to incorporate a style similar to this with the plot created from another story. I may try it with my week 4 story.

Binnorie

• This story is similar with the eeriness and overall darkness to "The Rose Tree". I definitely prefer a lighter, more upbeat mood with my storytelling, but this gives me insight as to the other side of my wiring preference.

Cap o' Rushes

• This story seemed to have to plots involved. The situation with her dad started and ended the story, and the middle included the Cinderella like love story. I wonder what happened to the other daughters. Splitting the plot like this made me lose the point of the story for a little while, but brought it back at the end. Choosing from the three daughters was an interesting start. I could use this in my story for Odysseus for the warriors he chooses. Ultimately choosing the female protagonist who saves the day.

(Three Little Pigs of Apple Hill  --  Joe Parks)
Source: Flickr

The Story of the Three Little Pigs

• An add on to the classic story about the three little pigs. Writing an addition to a classic story (either before the timing of the story or after) would be pretty fun if I could do it correctly.

Bibliography: English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs

Famous Last Words: Shimmers of Hope

I read Homer's Odyssey this week and I'd like to say that the first part of the reading is the best assigned reading I've been exposed to up to this point in the course. I felt genuinely invested in the story as Odysseus' adventures unfolded, which also helped my note taking. In particular, my note taking, seems to have improved slightly from the first week we did so. As for the 2nd part of the reading, I wasn't able to dive quite as deep into the plot, so my note taking degraded in quality. Some of the information just seemed extraneous, so I zoned out slightly at times. Having a great story as your base really helps the story planning process. I wouldn't consider creativity to be one of my greatest qualities, but I felt "the creative juices flowing" this week. I really enjoyed trying to come up with a new story. Hopefully the planning and thinking I've done for next week's story will pay off. Maybe I can actually create a story people would want to read more of, wouldn't that be CRAZY!

(Miracle-Gro  --  Mike Mozart)
Source: Flickr

The content of my other classes (all math based) don't really crossover with the material in this class, but I would say that the Growth Mindset and H.E.A.R.T. challenges are helping me beyond this course. Talking to my roommate and trying new reading techniques (this week's extra credit) exposed me to the topics even further. I've been able to incorporate the reading aloud technique in my other classes this semester, and it has actually helped. Taking the time to read the material out loud allows me to slow down and be accountable for what I say. When not reading aloud, I am definitely guilty of partially zoning out and skimming words, sentences, maybe even paragraphs… Oops. I'm excited to see what challenges lie ahead and how I can improve all around!

Growth Mindset: Conversation

(I am Tiger Woods  --  Marc Levin)
Source: Flickr

This week for the Growth Mindset challenge, I decided to talk to my roommate about the concept of having a growth mindset. At first, when I asked if he had heard of it, he looked completely caught off guard. He figured I was just making something up, but then I explained it to him. We started to talk about the reality of people growing up in today's society. He believes that a lot of kids, including some of us really do look for instant results. He admitted that as a golfer, he looks for improvement seemingly overnight when trying to get better. Although he knows that isn't how it works, he said that is just how he views some things from how he grew up. Hopefully talking about this with him will help his patience with golf. If he can realize he has potential to improve his golf game overtime, he won't be frustrated with lack of results right away.