Mythical Class

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 th...

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 .