Feedback Thoughts

I really liked Nawaz's point about looking for positive feedback. I have never thought to ask what someone liked if they were giving mostly or all negative feedback. She made the statement people are quick to change something about their presentation or speech if their viewer says it was bad, but we do not really appreciate the positives. If there was something the listener/watcher enjoyed, then you should work on emphasizing that next time. Guy Winch said that the reason we feel so hurt when we are rejected is evolutionary and his explanation was very interesting! The other suggestion I really agreed with was that you should not take rejection personal or look for something that you did wrong. I danced in high school and my first year of college and I received loads of feedback through that experience. I always listened to my coaches criticism very comfortably because I knew that they just wanted the team to perform the best we were capable of. Hearing feedback from teammates was not always easy though. I would sometimes get embarrassed if a teammate 'called me out' because I felt like I made a mistake and everyone noticed. I've grown since then and now I take feedback as a way of someone trying to help me improve instead of someone just trying to tell me what I did wrong.

Web Sources: Why Rejection Hurts So Much and What to Do About It
Silence the Critical Voices in Your Head

Image Information: Photos of the Different Forms of Social Media and Thought Bubbles Representing Feedback, Web Source: Max Pixel

Topic Brainstorm

I think it would be interesting to write my project over ghost stories. I could do the three or four worst haunting experiences in America, or I could choose one haunted house and do multiple reporters from different families. I have probably watched over one-hundred scary movies, so I think I have some experience with this genre of entertainment. I would like to learn the history of Oklahoma's ghost stories. Reading a scary book or watching a scary movie keeps you on the edge of your seat, and I would enjoy trying to provide that attraction in my storybook!
Web Source: Ghost Stories 

The British/Celtic unit stories grabbed my attention. I want to see the differences in their versions of the stories I am familiar with such as: "Alice in Wonderland" or "King Arthur". If I were to retell the stories, I would do it from a different character's point of view. I saw Alice Through the Looking Glass in this unit, and I have always wanted to read this sequel. I also viewed a few titles that I have not heard of. Comparing the styles of familiar stories, British and Celtic stories is what interests me the most about this unit.
Web Source: Through the Looking Glass

My favorite Goddess has always been Aphrodite. Greek Gods and Goddesses have always piqued my interest, even in elementary school. I am familiar with a few other Goddesses, but I would love to research more for my storybook project. Retelling stories involving more than one Goddess would be fun because I could play their power into their personality however I would like. I want to research specifics about these characters: how they came to be, who is in their family and where did the stories originate?
Web Source: Goddesses

I wrote a little about Alice in Wonderland in a previous post, and mentioned that I watched the show all the time when I was a kid. I would love to take the characters I am so familiar with and tell mini stories of each one. Everyone knows how Alice ended up in Wonderland, but what about the others? While brainstorming and researching for this ideas, I would like to learn more about the author of the book. They must have had so much creativity to come up with the idea! If I do choose this option, I would keep the setting and characters the same and just change the point of view.
Web Source: Alice in Wonderland

Image Information: Aphrodite Standing in Seashell with Others Watching in Wonder. Web Source: Flickr

Week 2 Story: The Lion and the Man

A sneaky tiger had been stuck in his cage for days and there seemed to be no escape. He was starving but no one dared to approach him out of fear, until one foolish man arrived him. The tiger spotted him and immediately started plotting ways to get him close enough to the cage to eat, or even better, to release him.

"Hello good sir, would you be kind enough to free me? I would owe you my life!" exclaimed the tiger.

"I hate to see any animal suffer! I shall let you out at once!" He hurried towards the beast. "My name is Jack, by the way." Said the man as he forced the gate open.

The tiger smiled and replied, "Jack sounds like a tasty name!' He jumped towards the man, but was knocked back. He lifted his head to see what had happened and noticed Jack holding a shotgun.

"I knew you were faking that nice act! I wanted to give you a shot to be good, but I am a hunter. Now I need to do my job properly." said Jack with a grin.

"Wait!" exclaimed the tiger, "Give me a chance to prove that I do not deserve to die! There is a village nearby, if I can bring you three people that will say I have a good heart, will you spare my life?"

Jack thought this proposition over for a few minutes. "You have until sundown to come through with your deal. If you hurt anyone or cannot provide three people, your life is mine." promised Jack.

The tiger ran towards the village. He was spotted by three young girls who started shouting and ran back towards their families. He tried to ask people to listen to him, but everyone was in a panic and just ran away from him. For hours the tiger wandered around the village before he realized no one would come back with him. With his head hung low, he returned to the Hunter.

"Everyone was afraid of me. They wouldn't give me the time of day to show them I meant no harm." said the tiger sadly.

"Well I have an alternative option for you, get back in the cage and I will leave." requested Jack.

The tiger looked at Jack, and without much of a choice, slowly walked into the cage.

"Maybe next time someone frees you, you will not try and eat them." said Jack.

Jack returned one week later to check on the tiger. The village people had brought him food as an apology for not listening to his story. Jack, once again, let the tiger out and now he lives happily amongst the villagers.

Author's Notes: Jacob's story included a man who freed the tiger and then had to make a deal to save his life. I reversed this situation in my version. I made changes to the ending of the original story and added the village setting. The tiger's character was the same, but the man's character was a bit different in my tale.

Bibliography: "The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal" from Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs. Web Source.

Image Information: Lion Walking out of Woods. Web Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Reading Notes: Myth-Folklore Anthology

I really liked the setting in The Indian Who Wrestled with a Ghost. An overnight stay in the woods by afire can set the mood for any ghost story. The author described what the ghosts were wearing in detail and helped the reader imagine the distrust and fear felt by the main character. It surprised me to read that he allowed the ghost to touch his foot multiple times. Owls have been associated with ghost stories many times, so I liked that she included that in her tale.
The character from Pygamlion really grabbed my attention  because he was so afraid to love women who lived around him, he created a sculpture and fell in love with his masterpiece. He wanted his creation to be real and would not admit to himself that she was an inanimate object. The character quite literally created the woman of his dreams. 

Bibliography:
Katharine Berry Judson. Myths and Legends of the Great Plains.
Tony Kline. Ovid's Metamorphoses.

Image Information: Owl Sitting on Stump in Woods. Web Source: pxhere
 

Reading Options

The first unit that caught my eye was the Europa's Fairy Book. I love stories that take a traditional fairy tale and put a modern day spin on it. The unit also contains some fairytales that I am not familiar with, so it will be interesting to ready the modern version first and then search for the traditional story. The next unit that interested  me was the Women Saints. The saints that stood out most to me were the ones that spent their lives pretending to be men. I am curious to figure out why they had to live in disguise. I have heard of Dante's Inferno in the past, but I haven't had the chance to experience the story! I was not aware it was a comedy, which makes the story more appealing because comedies and horrors are my favorite genres. There is a lot of diversity in the units available this semester, and I am excited to read through the stories of stories!

Image Information: Image from Europa's Fairy book, three trolls trying to help a woman, web source: Wikimedia Commons