The Stories, the Myths, the Folklore

After looking at the progress chart, I am very happy with where I am at!! Since the class opened a week early, I try to get all the assignments from each week done a week before they are due so I do not have to stress out about them. I also tend to sit down and do a lot of assignments in one sitting. Writing is pretty calming and I find myself getting lost in the typing and getting almost a week's worth of assignments done in one day. I am most proud of my improvements in writing. I was honestly very uncomfortable and had no idea what to write about when I started this class, but now I feel like it comes easier to me.  I enjoy coming up with stories (some are easier than others) and I enjoy reading other stories from fellow classmates. I do try to use the extra credit options in case something were to happen and I miss an assignment, but that has not happened yet. However, I do like reading about growth mindset and the tech tips are very interesting to me. Like I said early in th...

So far I think the comments that I receive are very nice and helpful. I love getting clear feedback on what I can improve on in my stories, but I also enjoy the comments that are nice and let me know I am doing an OK job. I would probably rate my received comments about a 9/10. I like to think I am giving some good feedback, but there are some times that I feel like I do not have anything to say because the story/post was so good. However, if I give a constructive piece of feedback, I always want to add a compliment to it so that it has a nice balance. I definitely think I can improve on being specific with my comments, but I hope they have been clear so far. I really enjoy reading all the introductions. Each person has a unique side to them and I love being able to tell the similarities and differences between all the people that I have "met," including myself. I feel like there are things I need to improve on in giving feedback to people, especially since we are writing ...

As I look back at my reading notes, I realized that summarizing the story is the best way that helps me fully comprehend them. Some of the stories can be hard to read because they have an old type of language. I am still trying to absorb reading note strategies and understand reading like a writer, but for the previous weeks, the summary style has been the most useful to me. For stories, I am pretty proud of myself. I feel like more ideas are popping into my head rather than having to sit and think for a long time on how to approach writing. I have never thought of myself as a creative, let alone a creative writer, so this class is somewhat challenging for me. I do feel like I am getting a lot better at it though. This class has challenged me and I feel like I can really relate to the growth mindset subject because I am putting my effort into each assignment and if I mess up (fail to be understood), then I take it with grace and try again. I chose this image above because I am m...

I am a cheerleader at the university and my coach always talks to our team about Grit and Grace. She relates books and videos to help us understand the concept of grit and to help us get motivated to never settle for anything less than greatness. This video is a TED Talk video that talks about Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance with Angela Lee Duckworth.

I watched the video: Carol Dweck: The Effect of Praise on Mindsets and it involved kids solving small block puzzles. The puzzles ranged from very easy to quite challenging. It was stated that kids that wanted to practice more of the easier puzzles were praised for their intelligence because they see that they are successful at the easy puzzles and do not want to feel "dumb" when trying to solve the harder puzzles. I immediately made the connection that that is what a "fixed mindset" is because they believed that their intelligence is innate and will not progress with further effort. However, the effort put in to solving challenging puzzles is what triggers a growth mindset and can open doors for expanding new knowledge. If you see challenges as an opportunity or use mistakes as motivation, you are valuing a growth mindset. "No matter who you are, you can always be a great deal smarter." -Carol Dweck Growth Mindset Motivational  Poster  

Not long ago, a pack of sharks were gathering together just off the shore of an island called Humanland. They were swimming together and eating together when all of the sudden a boat of humans floated by. Some of the humans, along with the ruler, Michael, hunted them for dinner that night. The sharks were petrified!! The leader, the Great Alexander, the biggest shark in the pack, spoke up and said, "We need to avenge our friends! They cannot attack us like this and get away with it." So the Great Alexander concocted a plan to use their friend, Daphne the dolphin, to lure the humans into the water and then they would finish the job... On the first day, Daphne swam close to the shore, showed off her majestic features, and sang many songs, but not a single human noticed her beauty.  On the second day, Daphne jumped out of the water in an attempt to get the humans to notice her, but still, nobody paid attention to her.  Finally, on the third day, Daphne swam as cl...

"Why Dead People are Buried" was a very unique story. I found it very amusing and it made me think how people actually started getting buried when they passed away.  I feel bad for the dog because he was the most trusted messenger and that is why he was sent out first. I f he did not stop for the bone, he could have spread good new all over the town and loved ones could be revived. But since he got distracted, his consequence is knowing that he messed up.  At the end of the story, it said that no one believed the dog when he said loved ones could come back to life, but I wonder if anyone actually tired it. Would it have worked? If one single person tried it and it worked, everyone would do it.  If the sheep was so foolish, why did the creator send it out in the first place. Everyone believed the sheep, but he passed on a false message and changed everyone's life from then on to the future.  I know many people do not believe in magic, but I wonder if magic did ...

The story, "Of the Pretty Stranger Who Killed the King," was very interesting. The first thing that I thought about while I was reading, was that it was very quick and to the point. The King of Calabar was ruthless and disliked, so another town wanted to take him down. They found a witch that was willing to kill the king, so they sent her to Calabar to finish the job. I find it somewhat humorous that the King of Calabar, Mbotu, laid eyes on this witch that transformed herself into a beautiful young girl and wanted to marry her immediately. It seems very unrealistic because who jumps into a marriage in less than a day? It is also very interesting that the task of killing the king was so easy for the woman. She sedated him with medicine, killed him, and left undetected. Why did she choose such a gruesome way to kill the king? Was he so ruthless that he deserved a ruthless death? I thought that maybe the medicine she was going to give him was poisoned or something, but no, she...

Personally, I feel like Canvas notifications can get very overwhelming very quickly, especially if you are in multiple classes. If I receive a notification for every assignment, grade, message, etc. through Canvas, my screen fills up and it is hard to remember what I need to check and for the class it belongs to.  I really like being able to see my progress, but I also really like how Laura uses our OU email to communicate progress feedback rather than using Canvas because I can search the particular email and go back and forth between the email she sent, and the assignment I am comparing it to. In Canvas, I can only look at one thing at a time unless I open multiple tabs for Canvas.  I also like how I can manage and choose which notifications I can receive through Canvas. I would rather receive notifications for grade updates and not assignment creations. Assignment creations just let you know that the assignment (that you already typically knew about) is now in the grade ...

The first quote I found was " Writing is Not A Serious Business " by Ray Bradbury. He states that writing is supposed to be fun, enjoyable, and not overwhelming. When I read books and stories, the ones that I am most drawn too, are the ones that are put together so loosely and that are easy to visualize. I like letting my imagination wander a little. His quote can also pertain to writing stories. If you can celebrate and imagine wild, creative ideas, you are doing something right. The next quote is a simple one and can be taken in my different ways; it is " Live Life ." Chuck Wendig talks about doing things that you, yourself would not typically do and to embrace experiences. Take the small joyous things in life and find the details that make them unique to you. He encourages his readers to instead of writing about what they know, to write about their experiences and to change the perspective so that other readers can visualize and imagine what others have done in...

The story "Patience-stone and Patience-knife" opened up immediately getting right into the story. This young maiden stays at home working on embroidery, while her mother departs for work during the day. The first day, she was working by the window when a bird flies in and tells her her kismet, or fate, is with a dead person. Induced with fear, she tells her mother and her mother tells her to fasten the house. The second day, the house was fastened, and the bird still got in and told the maiden the same thing. Her mother was shocked and confused, so she said, "tomorrow, fasten the house and then creep into the cupboard and work by candlelight in there." On the third day, the maiden did as she was told and once again, the bird got in and told her the same thing. Her mother was perturbed and decided to stay home with her daughter the next day and await the return of this creature... but the bird never came. One day, the maiden went out with her friends and was playin...

The story "Fear" was very interesting because this young child sets out to go find fear. He does not understand the concept, so he goes on a journey to find it. Many can be "thrill seekers," but nobody enjoys being filled with fear. He sought out these robbers to help him find what he was looking for and they sent him on adventures that would typically install fear in many. His first trip was to a graveyard, where one of the dead reached out of the grave and grabbed him--he swatted the hand away and went on his way. His second journey was to an abandoned building where a maiden stood upon his shoulders and almost strangled him by standing on his neck for too long, but he jolted, threw her down, and went on his way. He got near the sea's coast and saw a ship shaking wildly with many screaming and crying for help; thinking there was fear there, he swam out to the ship. He dove under the water, found the source that was shaking the boat, banished her, and left. ...

This first month of school has been an interesting one. Being a junior, I am now in all upper division classes and they are all challenging in their own way. I really enjoy this class, but I never thought it would be so challenging to do creative writing. I have never thought of myself as a creative person in general, so maybe that is why the creative writing and storytelling assignments are harder for me than I thought. I love science (I am a science major), but I have never been so intimidated by science classes. I feel very overwhelmed with all the studying and time I put into the classes I am taking right now. I want to be successful in these classes so studying hard is not hard for me to do, but my days seem so short because I spend countless hours in study rooms. On top of that, I am a cheerleader at the university and I am in a sorority, so the free time I once had is not really there anymore haha! This class and my other classes require lots of hard work, but it is somewhat r...

I read the article " 6 Yoga Exercises You Won’t Be Embarrassed to Do at Your Desk " and it did not disappoint! It can 100% be hard to sit at a desk all day long with little to no exercise. It is very important to move your body throughout the day, even if it is only for a short amount of time. This article provides six exercise stretches that take up a maximum of 2 minutes per stretch and 10 minutes total. The stretches relieve tension and can help relax you. I plan on trying these if I am sitting and studying for a long time. The Chair Twist Stretch from Wikihow.Fitness

I have watched many crash course videos--mostly in high school--but I think they are so fun and a great way to learn. They keep learning interesting, and who doesn't like a video. I would rather watch a video then read multiple chapters of a really old, outdated book!! This crash course video caught my eye and I had to watch it. If you do not know what crash course is, then you should watch a video at some point! As I scrolled through the announcements page, I found this graphic and I think I laughed harder than I should've hahah! I love coffee, so this image from Learning By HEART for sure speaks volumes to me!! I think I use flowchart idea about every single day... Coffee Flowchart from H.E.A.R.T .

Bookmarking browsers is a lifesaver!! It makes it so much easier to find what I am looking for. For example, I have canvas bookmarked, my email bookmarked, my apartment website bookmarked, etc. All I have to do is open a window, click the browser at the top and it will take me to the homepage of wherever I want to go. It is so much easier to navigate than typing in the web address or searching for links that are important to keep track of. I sometimes make bookmark folders, but I prefer to keep everything spread out. I even alphabetize my bookmarks... haha! The nice thing is, when I am done with the browser that I bookmarked, I can delete or remove it from the top bar. I 10/10 recommend bookmarking links and browsers!!

The canvas app is very useful because students can check their grades and figure out future assignment due dates very quickly. In our modern era, almost everyone has a smart phone or a phone that holds apps. The canvas app can easily be downloaded for free and can be accessed, so there is no excuse for not knowing what is going on in classes. I access canvas on my phone more than I do on my computer sometimes. The only thing I do not like is that I do not trust doing assignments through canvas on my phone. I would rather do a quiz through canvas on my laptop or another computer because sometimes phones can restart and erase that data. It is kind of like the quiz or assignment never happened.  Anyways, I think the canvas app is more beneficial and can easily be accessed. 

One day, Barry Sanders was looking over the offensive playbook for the big game this coming weekend. He always felt at ease when looking over his plays. He was getting in the zone when an NFL coach approached him. The coach said, "son, if you find Adrian Peterson's playbook, you will never lose another game again." Sanders lit up with determination and made it his mission to find this forbidden playbook. The coach told him that the playbook was buried underneath the Texas Longhorn field in a box that was in duffel which was in a suitcase.  Sanders approached a few of his teammates and told them of this fortunate information and asked for their help in retrieving the treasure. The guys said, "hey man that is not such a great idea, the price to pay for something that special is too great." Sanders ignored them and set out to find the playbook. He snuck into the Longhorn stadium and dug and dug and dug until he found the infamous suitcase. He opened the ...

In the story "The Book of Thoth," Nefer-ka-ptah was deceived and intrigued by The Book of Thoth. One day as Nefer-ka-ptah was reading ancient words in the temple, a priest appeared and laughed at him for reading "the worthless writings" and instead the priest spiked an interest in this book that had an unknown location. Nefer-ka-ptah was very curious and asked many questions. The priest said that if Nefer-ka-ptah does what he is told, then he can have the location of this holy book. My first impression of this story is that Nefer-ka-ptah is being deceived and tricked. Does this book actually exist and will it be worth finding? Since the priest made this book sound like treasure, Nefer-ka-ptah made it a mission to get his hands on it. His wife even begged him to not go on the journey, but he insists that he find it. In part two of the story, Nefer-ka-ptah went to the location that the priest provided and the book was there. After days and nights of searching the fou...

In the story, "The Secret Name of Ra," Ra was tricked into giving up his special powers. The Goddess, Isis, had enough power to poison Ra and told him that if he gave up his secret name that contained his power, then she would be able to heal him. Ra was in agonizing pain and eventually transferred the secret from his heart to her heart so that he could live. I wonder why the power was so important to Isis if she already had powers herself? Was the scheme a hidden agenda from another God or Goddess? Maybe Ra bragged of his power and Isis wanted the satisfaction of weakening a powerful ruler. Is Ra still a God even without his powers? He mentions in the story "Ra and Hathor" that he (Ra) was hesitant to punish mankind until he got advice from fellow rulers. Did Ra's compassion and level-headedness get stripped away when his secret name (identity) got taken away? Ra was a very important God and was a God of many: the sun, sky, Earth, underworld, etc. He was also...

For my storybook, I plan to modernize Greek Mythological stories like the Trojan War, etc. I want to use OU students/athletes to portray the Gods and Goddesses in the stories. I plan to link the stories around the well-known mythological tales, but I was not planning on overlapping all of them completely. The stories will be connected through characters; for example, Helen was a big part of the Trojan War, so she might be in another story later, but not one involving the Trojan War specifically. I hope to create this storybook so that readers can understand what I am referring to (Greek Mythology) and they can also laugh about the portrayed characters. I plan on using wikipedia sources and other websites that have mythology stories. I want to do a big story about the Trojan War and then a sub story of Achilles' part in the battle. I also want to include other, smaller stories that are Greek Mythology related that use other known Gods and Goddesses. Some story sources include t...

My storybook will take OU athletes and transform them into Greek Gods and Goddesses from well-known mythological stories. I hope to modernize the stories and make them humorous.  Greek Gods and Goddesses that will be modernized  Also, here is the link to my website.

EmpoWord, Chapter 2 was very informational. There was a table of vocabulary words  that gave specific terms and definitions; there was even some examples. The techniques and forms section was easy to follow and clearly clarified many of the storytelling options that I was not familiar with. The plot and subject of a story are very important, but the scope, sequence, and pace adds details that only benefit the storyline. I remember using Freytag's Pyramid for planning out writing in high school, but I honestly had not even thought about using it now. It is a great tool to use to organize thoughts and place story events in an effective order. One thing I struggle with in a story is dialogue. The point of view section in this guide helped open my mind up to how I could consider writing stories--the point of view of the story can directly correlate with potential dialogue, along with tone and mood of characters. The dialogue section was also useful because it took a simple thing like...

Achilles returned to battle and swiftly arrived at the gates of Troy. Apollo, spoke to him and basically said that he had no chance and to give up, but Achilles was no quitter. He ignored Apollo's threat and pursued his journey to meet Hector. The fate was already set, Hector, would fall and Achilles would win this battle for the Greeks.  Hector, on the other hand, awaited Achilles' arrival outside the gates. Hector's father and mother cried out to him to come within the gates because he would not be able to take on Achilles. It is crazy that Hector is Troy's biggest hope in winning the war, but is not match for Achilles' skill; even his family knew that he stood no chance. Hector was very brave and still awaited the arrival of Achilles. Hector also stated that, "It would be far better for me to stay here and meet the great Achilles, and either slay him, or, if it must be so, be slain by him."  Hector had much conflict in his heart as he waited for Achi...

The Iliad is a very well known story in Greek mythology. The story of Achilles is the main story that I am focusing on for this post (even though there are many interesting parts to The Iliad). The story takes part along side the Trojan War. Achilles, a heuristic warrior, fights under King Agamemnon, a greedy leader that seeks Helen himself. King Agamemnon upsets Achilles and so Achilles flees the war. Agamemnon realizes that he needs Achilles desperately to finish the war and so he sends Phoenix, Ajax, and Odysseus to persuade Achilles to come back and fight for him. The three men plead Achilles to return to battle because the Trojans are seizing them and Hector claims the Zeus is on Troy's side. Gifts, riches, and words regarding family were presented to Achilles to persuade him to "do the right thing." Achilles listens intently and states that he will follow his heart with his decision; however, he is still frustrated that Agamemnon sits in his tent, safe, and receive...

The story of the Trojan War is a major story in Greek mythology and would be a main event in my story book. The idea is take that war and turn it into a scene using OU students--specifically cheerleaders and football players or athletes from other sports. The goddesses: Athena, Aphrodite, Helen, and Hera would be cheerleaders or pom girls and the Gods or warriors would be football, basketball, or other male athletes from OU (or Texas... being the rival). The gist of the story is that Paris of Troy (or Texas) took Helen from Menelaus, from Greece (or Norman). The war began because of a competition between three goddesses all wanting the golden apple reward naming one of them "the fairest of them all." Trojan Horse from Wikimedia The death of Achilles at the end of the Trojan War would be a great story to tell because he was a major hero in the war and he only had one way that he could die (by his achilles). Achilles, in my storybook, would be played by a well known m...