Week 14 Story Lab: Overview of Mythology

I am in love with Crash Course videos just in general and this trio was no exception! I was a little disappointed that it wasn't one of the Green brothers hosting the episodes though. Overall, these video were fun and informative. I appreciated that they took the time in the first episode to apologize in advance for the possibility of insult to some religions, and that inherent sexism in hero stories was addressed at the beginning of the 3rd video (episode 25). The joke about Rick Riordan was cool too because I was that kid that got a *little* too into the Percy Jackson series in elementary school. The progression of stages that are discussed were super interesting. Listening to the descriptions actually made me think of the story of Disney's Mulan (if you include the sequel). There is also some similarity to the personal stories of those who have served overseas.

Video Source: Overview of Mythology Playlist

Reading Notes: Hans Christian Andersen (Part B)

1-6. The Little Mermaid

• What if the Little Mermaid hadn't saved the prince
• But instead of dying he turned into a merman!
• The Plopi seemed to recognize the potion
• Perhaps this has been done before?
• It would be fun to look into her time as a daughter of the air
• What if another human had fallen for her and married her?

These are really short reading notes, but it was also just one big story so  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Mermaid Watercolor
via Max Pixel

Story Source:  Andersen Fairytales

Reading Notes: Hans Christian Andersen (Part A)

Note: These are all very famous tales, so I didn't feel the need to include a synopsis with these reading notes.

1. The Princess and the Pea

• Inverse what the prince is looking for
• Princess are too sensitive
• Mom keeps trying to set him up
• He puts a pea under the mattresses
• If she complains, he refuses her
• He falls in love with a street girl
• Forgotten royal lineage so she ends up being okay to wed?

2. The Emperor's New Suit

• Narrative from the swindlers' POV
• The getaway during the parade

6. The Little Match Seller

• The girl must live!
• What if someone in the house takes the trash out and sees her?
• She could get adopted!
• Yes, I like this

The Little Girl
via Pixabay

Story Source: Andersen Fairytales

Famous Last Words: I did EVERYTHING???

It's official! This is my last assignment for week 13! I realized (a little too late) that I was WAY behind on point, so for week 13 I did everything. Yes, everything. All of the normal work as well as all 8 extra credit assignments. I'll be honest, I didn't know if I was gonna be able to pull this off. I'm going to have to do the same for week 14 as well as the extra dead week assignments in order to pass the class, but I'm optimistic! All of the stories and portfolios/storybooks I read this week were fantastic. I'm so proud of how far everyone in the class has come. Myself included! Who would've ever thought that I would be successful(ish) at running a blog? Who knows, maybe I'll start up a personal blog after this class. We'll see.

As far as my plans for this coming week, I'm honestly just ready to be home in Maryland for a bit. My flight leaves at 5:05am Wednesday morning, which I'm not excited about. I also haven't even started packing yet 😅. Unfortunately it looks like I'll have quite a bit of homework to do over break, but none of it is too terribly difficult. I have one test today on Monday and two quizzes (in the same class) on Tuesday this week before I get to leave. My Italian teacher tried to move our test to Tuesday too, but thankfully that got shut down. Especially since it's a Monday/Wednesday/Friday class anyways!

My adorable friend Alyssa, who was awesome enough to
agree to drive me to the airport at 3am on Wednesday.
Source: Personal Photo

The reason I had to use the grace period for my extra credit assignments this morning is because last night was the initiation ceremony for my sorority. I took a little this semester, so it was definitely a proud mama moment.

I don't necessarily want to leave this class, but I'm kind of ready for this whole semester to be over. Bring on Week 14!

Review: Week 13

Source: Class Announcements, Saturday, November 17

I chose the above image because it makes my heart warm and embodies the ideals that my family has always supported, especially around the holidays.
I decided to watch the video from the Tuesday, November 13th class announcements because I LOVE animals and the android advertisement was just too cute. I've imbedded it for y'all to enjoy in case you missed it.

Wikipedia Trail: From Mermaids to the Element Lithium

I started on the mermaid page because they are probably my favorite mythological creature. Then I checked out Sirenomelia, a birth defect that leaves a child's legs attached to one another, vaguely resembling a mermaid. The condition is usually fatal, but it turns out the longest surviving patient is from the place where my uncle lives now! Next up was the Andes Mountains. This is the mountain range that runs along the west coast of South America. Apparently this mountain range holds very high deposits of Lithium. Which is our fourth and final stop on this trail.

Thanks for joining me on this journey!
Source: PublicDomainPictures.Net

Tech Tip: Getting Started with Twine

This was SO much fun! I made a game that will guess what number you're thinking of. Now to figure out how to post it to my blog... That can be for next week. Something tells me I'll spend WAY too much time on this if I don't stop now. I would highly recommend checking out this Tech Tip!

Source: Pixabay

Learning Challenge: Review Your Class Schedule

At the beginning of the semester, I had my three hours divided into two three hour chunks on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This worked okay until my Organic Chemistry class started kicking my ass and I needed that time to review functional groups and conjugation properties. I have since shifted to working 1-2 hours a night every day of the week after classes. This seems to be working better for me, but unfortunately I screwed up bad enough in the beginning that the highest grade I can hope to get in this course is a C. Because of this, I will most likely be spending most of my Thanksgiving break working on Week 14 assignments. This class obviously didn't go quite as well as I had planned, but I did learn a lot about needing to ask for help earlier rather than later. Thankfully, when Laura contacted me about my lack or work, my grade was still salvageable. This also made me take a step back and reevaluate ALL of my classes and helped me get into a much better rhythm all the way around for the back end of this semester.

Useful, but I feel attacked right now. :)
Source: Learning by HEART

Growth Mindset: Focusing on "Yet"

Challenge: Explore Growth Mindset Beyond School

This semester I have applied a Growth Mindset best to being on my sorority's social committee. There were a lot of events planned last minute and the only way to keep from going crazy was to stay hopeful and take things one step at a time. With finals week approaching, and my list of homework growing, the "I haven't done it YET" mindset will hopefully help to keep me somewhat sane.

Source: Growth Mindset and Feedback Cats

Reading Notes: American Indian Fairy Tales (Part A)

2-3. Shin-ge-bis Fools the North Wind

• Synopsis:
• The indians go north the fish in the summer
• when the north wind (winter) starts to approach, they head back south
• One decides to stay
• The north wind is angry that anyone would dare to defy him
• The north wind tries to destroy the indian
• it doesn't work
• Possibilities:
• Told from the North Wind's point of view

4-5. The Little Boy and Girl in the Clouds

• Synopsis:
• A little boy and his sister go swimming
• They come out of the pool of water and climb onto a rock
• They fall asleep
• The rock magically grows as tall as a mountain
• Their parents can't find them
• The Coyote determines that they are at the top of the mountain
• None of the animals can jump high enough to reach the children
• The inch worm arrives and offers to climb
• It takes him a month, but he gets to the top and wakes the children
• The kids come down safe and sound
• Possibilities:
• From the Inchworm's perspective

via Flickr

Story Source: American Indian Fairy Tales, W. T. Larned

Week 13 Story: The Second Generation of Nuggets

Author's Note: This week's story is based on the Nun's Priest's Tale from Eva March Tappan's Canterbury Tales. In the original story, there's a rooster who has a dream about a fox stalking him. His girlfriend, essentially, calls him a scaredy-cat so that he'll ignore the dream. A few days later, the rooster is singing when he suddenly sees the fox in the bushes watching him. Through some flattery, the fox is able to convince the rooster to keep singing. When the rooster closes his eyes and starts to belt out his song, the fox grabs him by the neck and takes off.

Via GoodFreePhotos

The screeching was, in truth, quite beautiful. It would be a shame to end such lovely music, but the fox was hungry. He slowly crept closer to the chicken cage as the rooster slept. Closer... closer... but as he was about to grab the rooster through a hole in the chicken wire, he woke up! A nice, juicy looking hen waddled over to comfort him.
"I dreamt of an orange creature, coming to take me!" cried the rooster. The fox slowly backed into the forest as the rooster looked around frantically. The whole hen house was awake and alert now, he'd have to try again later
Two days later, the fox returned to the farm. The rooster was singing again. The fox paused a moment in the bushes next to the pen to listen. He remembered the roosters father. He too had had a beautiful voice. The father had made delicious chicken nuggets as well. Such a shame, but food was more important than music. The squirrels had learned to stay up in the trees whenever he came through. Just then, his stomach rumbled. The rooster stopped and snapped his head in the direction of the sound. He gave a startled scream when he saw the fox.
"No please, continue!" said the fox. "I was just enjoying your wonderful singing. I remember when your father used to crow. He would close his eyes and stretch his neck out to sing. Would you, perhaps, be willing to close your eyes and stretch your neck out while you sing? I do miss him so." Flattered, the rooster agreed and began to sing once again. Once the rooster had his eyes closed, the fox leapt out and grabbed the him by the neck. The fox took off running through the forest, back to his hole, thinking of all the ways he could prepare the rooster for dinner.

Bibliography
The Cock, The Hen, and The Fox, Eva March Tappan

Reading Notes: Canterbury Tales (Part B)

3-5. The Cock, the Hen, and the Fox

• Synopsis
• A widow and her two daughter live on a small farm
• They are poor
• They have a rooster and seven hens
• The rooster dreams of a fox one night
• His favorite hen calls him out for being afraid
• The rooster then tells her two stories about how dreams can sometimes be real (ish)
• The rooster goes about his day, ignoring the dream at the insistence of his girlfriend (?)
• While he's singing one morning, the fox approaches
• The fox tells him he just wants to enjoy his music
• He flatters the rooster
• The rooster goes back to singing and gets attacked
• The hens scream as the fox runs away with the rooster
• The widow and her daughters hear the screaming and chase the fox
• The whole damn village ends up chasing him
• The rooster tricks the fox into speaking, but when he opens his mouth the rooster flies up into a tree
• Possibilities
• Any story about dreams being real
• Fox's perspective
• What if he really did know the roosters father?
• What if this widow is the same one from part A?

Source: Pixabay

Story Source

Canterbury Tales, Eva March Tappan

Reading Notes: Canterbury Tales (Part A)

Canterbury Pilgrims by Thomas Stothard
via WikiMedia Commons

1-2. The Unknown Bride

• Synopsis:
• A knight fails to uphold his vows
• Should be out to death
• The ladies of court save him from punishment by their favor
• He shall not be put to death fi, in a year, he can discover what it is that women want most
• He travels the country asking women what they want most
• No two answers are the same
• He happens upon a group of young women dancing in a field
• They Scatter
• When he reaches the clearing there is only an old hag there
• She tells him the answer to his question in exchange for a promise to do the first thing asked of him
• He agrees
• All women want to rule over their husbands
• The knight returns to the queen's castle with his answer
• It is correct
• The old lady demands he fulfill his promise to her in front of the whole court
• She wishes to marry him
• At first, the knight protests, but gives in
• There isn't much happiness at the wedding
• His new wife calls him out for being inna bad mood
• The old women asks him if he would rather have an old, but faithful wife or a young, but cheating one
• The knight realizes that maybe things aren't so bad afterall
• He kisses his bride and she transforms into a beautiful young women
• The ones he had first seen in the field?
• They live happily ever after
• Possibilities
• Told from the woman's point of view
• Who are her friends?
• What were they doing in that forest?
• Why did she want to marry the knight?

9-11. The Revelers

• Synopsis:
• Three men were drinking in a tavern when they heard a bell outside
• The bell was for a funeral
• The squire and bar keep told them that death had been running around killing people
• The three men swore to go hunt death down and kill him
• On the way, they ran into an old man
• He pointed them in the direction of death
• Death was not by the tree, but a pile of gold was
• The youngest was sent back into town for bread and wine
• While he was gone the other two devised a plan to kill him so they wouldn't have to share the gold
• Along the way, the lone man came up with a plan to poison the other two
• All three men ended up dead, so no one got the gold
• Possibilities
• Was the old man death?
• Was the gold even real?
• What if it was the magician from stories 6-8?

Story Source:

Canterbury Tales, Eva March Tappan

Week 12 Story: I'm Bad at Titles

Author's Note: This week's story is based on an encounter in the Fairie Queen section. Britomart, the protagonist, is a girl who disguises herself as a knight to go find a man she saw in a magic mirror and fell in love with. In this particular encounter, she comes upon a man being beat up by 6 knights for not wanting to renounce his love for his wife and pledge loyalty to their mistress. Britomart fights off all six of them with her enchanted spear. I decided to do a modern rewrite about a punk rock chick fighting off a bunch of bullies.

The last bell rang, signalling the end of the day. Students rushed into the hallway, eager to get home for the weekend. Brittany slowly sauntered out of her Calculus class. There was no need to rush. The student parking lot was dangerous enough without being exposed on the back of a motorcycle. She popped her headphones in and began blasting the latest Fall Out Boy album. If she was lucky, she could talk her dad into buying her a ticket, not that she had anyone to go with. The hallways quickly emptied and Brittany began making her way out of the building. As she passed the doors to the gym locker rooms, she heard some yelling over the screaming music in her ears. She removed one headphone to see what all the commotion was.

The noise had been coming from the guys' locker room. The vile, homophobic slurs were vaguely distinguishable over the sound of flesh being struck. Ronny, the only openly gay kid in the school, was getting beat up again. Knowing the gym teacher either didn't know, or didn't care. Britt pushed her way into the room. The six jocks stopped dead when the realized there was a girl there with them. Ronny was curled into a protective ball on the floor, bleeding lightly from his lip.

"Come on Ronny," Britt called, "let's get you home." The poor kid slowly stood up, shaking.

"Wow, you need a chick to come save you, Ronald?" one of the bullies said, shoving Ronny as he walked past, "be sure to thank her properly when she takes you home. Maybe getting some real action will straighten you out!" The jocks all chuckled, but Brittany was furious. She wasn't happy about the poor kid getting beat up on a daily basis, but they weren't exactly friends, but the oversized meat heads had just gotten her directly involved.

"How about I decide who I want to screw, thanks," she said.

"Wow. Rejected. Is that why you're gay? because none of the girls wanted you?" The big oaf gave Ronald another little shove, and Brittany started swinging.  It took all of about 60 seconds for the whole group  to be laid out on the floor of the locker room, clutching various body parts and moaning. Her years of Jiu-Jitsu and self-defense classes were quite useful every once in a while. She quickly ushered the poor kid out of the locker room.

"Wow, that was... thanks," Ronald said in awe.

"Yeah, don't mention it. Maybe try to not to get yourself cornered again, okay kid?"

Source: Pixabay

Bibliography:

How Brittomart Fought with Six Knights, A. G. Walker

Reading Notes: Fairie Queen (PartB)

1. What Britomart saw in the Enchanted Chamber

• Synopsis:
• Britomart is in a chamber in a castle (See readings from Part A)
• A parade comes through the room
• Many different attributes, plus the Maiden
• Love, Fear, Hope, etc.
• Parade circles the room 3 times
• Parade exits into an adjoining chamber
• Possibilities:
• Explore more into why each attribute was present
• What happened before they entered the chamber?

Source: Wikipedia

Story Source: Fairie Queen- Britomart

Reading Notes: Fairie Queen- Britomart (Part A)

2. How Britomart Fought with Six Knights

• Synopsis:
• Britomart, Sir Guyon, and Prince Arthur are riding in the woods
• A girl rides across their path on horseback
• She's escaping a man
• Guyon and Arthur follow to help the girl
• Britomart keeps on her path
• Britomart comes upon a castle and sees 6 knights ganging up on one
• She breaks up the fight
• It's because the poor sap getting beat up wouldn't give up his wife to pledge loyalty to the other six's lady
• Britomart refuses to renounce her love
• The 6 attack
• Her enchanted spear subdued them easily
• She agrees to enter the castle to claim her reward for winning the battle
• Possibilities:
• Re-write like a high school bullying scene

8. How Britomart Walked through Fire

• Synopsis:
• Chasing a Giant
• FInds a knight
• He is sad
• His wife has been kidnapped
• Offers to help
• Goes to evil wizard's castle
• Protected by seemingly impenetrable fire
• Britomart charges the fire and is allowed through
• The knight can't follow
• Britomart explores the castle
• No signs of life
• "Be Bold"
• Possibilities:
• These stories are all one big tale
• What if it's a game of Dungeons and Dragons?

Source: WikiMedia Commons

Story Source: Fairie Queen- Britomart

Week 11 Story: The Great Game

Author's Note: This story is (very loosely) based on a cherokee myth were the mammals challenge the birds to a sports game of some sort. While the original tale focuses on the creation of the bat and flying squirrel, this retelling will be about what actually happened during the game in a sports commentator-like fashion. I decided to make the challenge a soccer game, since that's the sport I know the best. Sorry for making it so short. I had to take a friend to the hospital last night, so my time to work on this got cut down significantly (she's doing okay now though). This one may end up on my portfolio, where I'll be sure to edit in more commentary about the actual game play.

Source: Max Pixel

(Scott Serpent) Welcome back to the Mythology Sports Center! I'm your host, Scott Serpent. Today's game is a showdown between the high-flying Birds and the four-legged Mammals! The Mammals are the first to enter the pitch and would you look at that warm up lap?
Bear, the team captain, is showing off some of that impressive strength he's known for. If the other team was out here already he would be getting a caution for sure. What do you think Fred?

(Fred Fish) Oh for sure, Scott. That's an intimidation tactic if I've ever seen one. Just look at how the referee is watching them. This is sure to be an intense match. Here comes the Birds now! Bear is showing off for sure, but Eagle, the Bird's captain, isn't one to be underestimated. Let's go down to Sally Spider on the pitch to chat with the apparent underdogs for this match. sally, how are things looking down there?

(Sally Spider) Hi Fred, the Birds have just emerged from their locker room and it seems like we may be seeing two new players on the field this game. I'm here with Barry Bat and Sammy Squirrel, two rejects from the Mammals tryouts who, due to some unfortunate injuries in last week's contest, will be part of today's starting lineup. How are you two feeling about today's match?

(Barry Bat) You know Sally, Sam and I are just super excited to be here and to have this opportunity. The Birds took a chance on us and invested so many resources into our equipment and training and we just want to get out there and leave everything we've got on the field. We're looking forward to a great game!

(Sally Spider) Well good luck today guys! The referee has just blown his whistle for the five minute warning, so let's send this back up to you guys in the box to watch this exciting match unfold. Fred. Scott.

(Scott Serpent) Thanks for that, Sally. We're gonna take a short break here folks, and we'll be back with more live action coverage after a few words from today's sponsors...

Bibliography:
The Ball Game of the Birds and the Animals

Reading Notes: Myths of the Cherokee (Part B)

2. The Ball Game of the Birds and Animals

• Synopsis:
• The animals (mammals) challenged the birds to a ball game
• Soccer/Handball?
• The animals bragged a lot
• Bear (Captain, Strength)
• Turtle (Physical Resolve)
• Deer (Speed)
• Two smaller animals were rejected from the team, so they went to the birds
• The Eagle (Captain) accepted them
• They were given wings
• Bat
• Flying squirrel
• The two new animals won the game for the birds
• Possibilities:
• Write about the game as if it were a sportscast

Source: WikiMedia Commons

11. Snake Boy and Snake Man

• Synopsis:
• Two Stories
• Snake Boy
• Boy brings hunted birds to grandma
• Rest of family gets jealous
• Boy turns himself into snake
• Snake Man
• A hunter isn't supposed to eat squirrel
• Reasoning unclear
• Hunter eats Squirrel
• Hunter turns into snake because he ate squirrel
• Possibilities:
•   Relate this to the rest of the snake stories

Story Source: Myths of the Cherokee