Mythical Class

The earlier themes continued in this second half of the Laos reading. There is still an abbreviated sense of details, and the text flows as if it was "poorly" translated. This is pretty evident in the story The Legend of the Rice. Even as it starts, the setting is limited to vague descriptions that don't speak very much to the mental images the reader gets. The text is very choppy, but with a theme that is still evident, the story shows that you can reduce a story down to the bare bones and still be effective. Buffalo! Link .  Story: From Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson (1899). Link . 

Stone in Laos. Link .  I was really interested to read this week's selections from Laos. The translations of these first selections were a little rough, and the hardest to follow this semester. It was all still manageable, but just took a little more concentration and rereading. The Story that stuck out to me most was The Mountain Spirits and the Stone Mortars. The story continued the unit's theme of a seemingly vague story-telling style, but still what I would call "effective storytelling." It had a point to the plot that told a generic, though utilitarian, narrative. But the lesson I took away is to not get stuck up in the details when a vague storytelling method can work. I think finding the sweet spot between the two is key, but writing in this style is a good way to practice focusing on the story's theme. Bibliography: Source: Laos Folk-Lore by Katherine Neville Fleeson. Link to the UN-Textbook.

I checked out a couple of the articles from the Most Popular tab on Writers Write, but two stuck out to me as useful for this class specifically. The first was "45 Ways To Avoid Using The Word 'Very.'" With a course designed around creative writing, something that includes a lot of description, ridding ourselves of this unnecessary word is a great step towards better writing. Further, when using "very," writers often miss out on opportunities to use more colorful language. I liked the Kleinbaum quote that the article mentions, saying that using the word is lazy and that "A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don't use very sad, use morose." Link to this article. The second article that stuck out to me was a little more direct, titled "25 Myths To Use As Writing Prompts." This one seems a bit obvious, but it matches with the motivation for this class- that myths can be a great inspiration towards creative writing. Link to thi

Twins. Link .  This entire section of reading followed the story of Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp. This is probably the most iconic story that most kids who grew up in the Disney-era identify with "Arabian Nights." The story reads with a classic folklore theme where the narrator is directly "telling" a story to the reader. There are obviously a lot of differences form the Disney adaptation that turned into Aladdin, namely surrounding the ending. One thing that can be taken from it is the utility of a false character, where the writer can have differing character aspects in the same "person." Bibliography: Arabian Nights, Selection from  The Arabian Nights' Entertainments.  Link .

Specifically, the notes here are on The Story of the Merchant and the Genius. I want to pay attention to the direct address and how it continues through until the end of the story.  The story has a personal connection, and there is an element where the reader sees the narrator as a character by themselves. Near the end of the story, as the plot becomes more disconnected from the narrator, the gap in connection seems to widen as well. This is an interesting narrative tool, one that I could use in the "retelling" of a story as a story itself. The story ends with a wrap up that brings the reader back to the same level as the initial familiarity with the narrator, but in a way that helps emphasize the conclusion. What I picture when I think of Narrator. Link . Bibliography: Arabian Nights, Selection from The Arabian Nights' Entertainments. Link .

I wanted to add a box that had quick links to my most recent posts. This way, instead of navigating the table of contents, it would have an immediate way to find my most recent work. I think that it will make constructive comments more useful and spread out, instead of concentrating feedback on titles that "stand out." The instructions found on the tech tip page are very easy to follow, but there was one snag. When applying the feed, the first prompt asks for a "feed URL." I just went ahead and copy/pasted my blogs URL into the dialogue box. That way it will pull the most recent stories from the homepage, instead of having to manually link each post.

A Tragedy at Sea  It was around my sixth month at sea that I began this new leg of my troublesome expedition. There was a week of storms, with our ship in a constant state of being beaten and ravaged by the swells. None of my crew made it through that week without becoming terribly ill, even though we were a band of ocean-hardened merchants. However, by the end of that week, the least of the men's worries were that of seasickness. On the seventh night, right after we had finished supper below the deck, I heard an excruciating crack. It seemed like thunder surrounded us as a lightning bolt struck the stern of the ship. Unfortunately, the reality was much worse. I immediately began to feel my whole body shiver as the ship twisted around me. Four of the five crewmembers in the galley were dispatched to the bow to investigate the damage, as surely this snap was a sign of the boat's hull splintering. Darius, my first mate, ran up the galley stairs to disengage the rudder and try

Miguel Carvalho's Ancient Rome. ( Link ).  Paul's Letter to the Romans was a pretty fascinating read. Continuing the theme I picked up from Mark and Luke, Romans was written for a specific reason and in this case, an obvious recipient. When reading Romans, Paul's message is pretty evident. It seems to me like a cornerstone of the New Testament, and a piece of writing that is pretty significant in terms of the Gospel being shared. The first few chapters are directed more at the Jews, but by the end of Romans, Paul seems to be writing directly to the Gentiles. Rome was sort of the New York City of the time, and all different types of people were living there. While the letter makes it clear that Jews are the "recipients of the Gospel," the message that Gentiles are included in this salvation is evident. Agape, the Greek word for "brotherly love," is quickly made to be seen as something that can be seen as the translation of the law. It is clear by the

The second half of the Sinbad adaptation was pretty consistent with the first. There were a lot of exhausted themes, but I noticed a much bigger element of object involvement. That is, for some reason, the second half seemed to include a significantly higher amount of object descriptions and plot involvement than in the first half. I remember that in the first half, for instance, during the entire first and second voyage, Sinbad merely is described as having "merchandise." In the second part, the narration describes objects much more deeply. In fact, the second half seemed to involve a much higher level of descriptions in general. This included depictions of the characters and locations as well. What I took away from the reading is that you can vary the number of involved devices from story to story. In one narrative, you do not need to stick to a certain level of narrative versus descriptions. As the story develops, so too can the ratio of textual devices. (Sinbad's

The graphic by Sylvia Duckworth really caught my eye as I was looking through the announcements. I immediately scooted myself closer to the screen and took a dedicated period of time to really process what was going on it. Putting both divergent and convergent thinking together, and being conscious of that effort, is something that could be really helpful. It is pretty enlightening in terms of conceptualizing how our minds work and process information, in both directions. Video: For the video I checked out Manoush Zomorodi's Ted Talk on attention and the ideas that can result from the "lack" of it. It spoke a lot to me about how we use technology today. In the past year, I have tried to really only use my devices (namely, cellphone) as a tool only when I need it. This involves leaving it at home when I am driving or even on campus. The way I see it, I would like to be back at a place where it operates as just that- a phone. On top of that, I do not think these

(Mammoths, from NPS . ) Whew. This was a very stereotypical example of what I think of as a true folklore story. It definitely follows a sort of Odysseus train with the first person and "voyage" structure. Odyseeus' story may be more believable though, sirens and all. Sinbad really should have just been satisfied and glad to arrive home, let alone with a profit. But he continued setting off and getting himself into similarly periolous situations. But, I suppose a story wouldn't be  much of a story without trials. This was a pretty cool example of multiple stages of one long narrative though. I really like the idea of creating multiple short stories that follow in a direct chronological order from each other.  From The Arabian Nights' Entertainments by Andrew Lang, illustrated by H.J. Ford (1898). Link . 

Link to the blog.

I read through Chapter 2: Telling a Story  of the EmpoWord manual. ( link ) Internal Monologue, Surely. ( Link ) Once I figured out how to navigate the e-book, it was an interesting read. At times the material seemed a little early, but exploring the basics is always productive because there is always something that you can learn. I did not do the table and graph activities, but I still picked up some useful information from their organization. I think some of the best exercises to improve writing include timed (or untimed) freewriting. If the activity is not timed, it is helpful to still hold yourself accountable to write for the whole period. When you take a step back and focus less on getting every word perfect, a lot more gets completed as a whole. I often have to remind myself that I should finish a draft of something before the editing phase. Getting caught up in changes before something is fleshed out is asking for trouble- both big and small picture. I wish the chapter

The Fables of Aesop  by Joseph Jacobs Reading link  Aesop's Animals. From wiki commons.   This was such a pleasant exploration of characters and stories. I was shocked at how short a story could be the still portrayed a narrative so clearly and with so much depth. There were two versions of The Fox and the Crane ( direct link)  where they told the same fables but in even less words. The first was already short, maybe a paragraph and a half, but the second reduced the same story down to a five-line limerick. It would be interesting to explore writing two versions of one story with varied lengths.  This could be helpful to explore how concise I want my texts to be. Also, a side note: this reading included a version of the saying "love can tame the wildest." In this fable, it set this up to portray the misleading or judgment-clouding attribute of infatuation. I had always interpreted the saying as one that spoke to the (beneficial) strength of the feeling.  I would

Be A Mirror by Gravity Goldberg. Link .  This was a pretty helpful article when it comes to understanding the kind of feedback that people respond to positively. This week's pieces have been a little hit or miss for me, but this one stood out in terms of utility. The material is important, and I agree with the quote that Goldberg includes, that "without feedback, there can be no transformative change." The article talks about the importance of teachers expressing what they see about a student that can be encouraging and constructive. Being specific and focusing on the process are two of the tips that I think would be the most helpful for students. Instead of the end result, regardless of it's "success," there is something to be learned from every process. In terms of change and more specifically, improvement, it is crucial to address the material of the action and how the student got there.  Bring it On! Link .  How to Give Feedback Without Sounding

I think I would like to use Greek and Roman myths as inspiration to write a series of semi-original origin stories. I think that format could be a great combination of style and literary opportunities, plus a pretty straightforward system. It allows for any number of stories to be written that aren't necessarily contingent on each other, and I could write any number of them. There could also be some stories around general moral teachings, set in the genre's tone. The Moon's Origin. Pixabay .  1 - The Moon. This is a pretty generic origin story that I can write, but it has a lot of possibilities. It would be pretty interesting to incorporate some sort of Etruscan element here. One option would be the religion's explanation surrounding lightning strikes. Sort of a lightening-strike-source that stuck around. 2 - Clouds. Clouds are so striaght forward in origin stories that there are a lot of routes that I can take when it comes to the origin's details. I want