Story: Tibetan Folk Takes

We have an odd kind of case on our docket today. I'm not even sure we have the facts straight, even now. I'm going to try to piece it together here before we file a real report.

It started out after there was a painter who was burned to death. While someone seems to have caused this, by obviously lighting the fire that ended up killing the painter, it also seems like said painter did not struggle. He was not forced into the fire; there was not a single sign of struggle. However, it does not seem to be an act of suicide, either. This was certainly confusing, to say the least. We knew we had to talk to some witnesses.

There were a few witnesses at the scene. One of them was a carpenter, but he seemed a little weary of speaking with us. That was noted. There were a couple of other people willing to speak with us. They said that the painter needed to get to heaven because there was something waiting up there for him to be painted? This seemed a little out there. I knew we had to speak to the new king, but kings are not usually willing to speak to law enforcement. Yet, I knew that the king probably had a piece of the puzzle that we needed to make sense of this whole thing.

We politely asked for an audience with the king and didn't hear back for a long while. In the meantime, we did some snooping with the carpenter but he was very unwilling to speak with us. We actually were able to talk to the king before the carpenter. The KING! No matter.

We met with the king and he gave us what we were looking for. He had told us that the painter had brought him a letter, supposedly from his father, which expressed his father's wish for a temple to be built in heaven. For some reason, the king believe this came from his father, and the painter led him to believe that the carpenter (that we can't get a hold of) was the only one to do it. He then ordered the carpenter to be killed so he could go to heaven to build such a temple. This had gone through and later the carpenter came back from the dead. He came back clothed in beautiful robes and it seemed as though he had had an incredible experience. However, the temple was unpainted. To which he called on the painter (the victim) to go to the temple in heaven and paint it for the king's father.

This seems to be when the painter (the victim) was burned in a fire, apparently to go to heaven to paint. Obviously, the question must be, how did the carpenter "come back to life?" Was he actually burned to death? If not, how did he deceive all the witnesses, including the king?

These are the questions that need to be answers, and we need to talk to the carpenter. Hopefully then we'll be able to get to the bottom of this.

Author's Note: I took one of the individual stories from this folk tale unit and looked to use a completely different type of storytelling than I ever had before. This story obviously had a plot point that was a crime, so I thought a detective's perspective would be helpful. The original story goes along with the story that the detective tells, but goes a bit further to answer all his questions. The carpenter, before being "burned to death," dug a tunnel from the burn site to his home. This way, he was able to escape into the tunnel and hide out in his home. While he was "in heaven," he was actually in a back room in his house making the beautiful robes that he eventually came back in. This tricked the painter into believing that he had actually died and gone to heaven, and that it may not be so bad to die. He was burned at the burn site, but did not have a crafty plan like the carpenter.

Bibliography: Tibetan Folk Tales, by Albert Shelton. Link to reading here.

(Detective, web source: Pixabay)

Reading Notes: Tibetan Folk Tales Part A

Tibetan Folk Tales, by Albert Shelton. Link to reading here.

This unit is a lot like Aesop's Fables. There are a lot of individual stories that often have a moral or a general lesson in them. This certainly makes it harder to decide how to retell this story. The best approach must be to simply choose one of the individual stories and make it my own.

Many of the stories have either animal versus animal stories, man versus supernatural or man versus animal themes. There are many different kinds of animals, along with goddesses and devils thrown into the mix. These stories may give me a chance to practice my Facebook simulating skills. I could make different posts/profiles for the animals and have the counterparts within their individual stories comment things to show how the plot progressed. This could also be used with the men in the various stories and have the animals or other characters in their stories comment on their posts.

I think I like the stories with just animals more, just because I like Aesop's Fables so much. I love the kind of humor seen within these stories and the quirkiness that only animal characters can give. I'll probably focus more on those stories when thinking about my Story post. I especially enjoyed the first story with the tiger and the frog, with the frog outsmarting the tiger, and the story with the fox bringing about his own demise. These are classic animal fables, both with a moral at the end which is constructed by the plot.

While I did like the animal stories the best, I really enjoyed the story with the carpenter too. I thought this was a really good example of a folk tale/legend type of story. Most of these stories always include an aspect of trickery and, while usually they don't end up with someone dying because of the trick, this one's ending was particularly well done in my opinion.

(Tiger meets the "King of Frogs," web source: Flickr)

Wikipedia Trails: From Alice and Wonderland to Masculinity

Alice in Wonderland:

I started here because I did an extra credit reading for my Storybook over the first half of the Alice in Wonderland unit. This article gives a complete overview of the story of Alice, from her meager beginnings as a story to her massive success following the various adaptations of the original story. I was actually just looking to do a little research on the story on this site, but remember that I could be extra credit points for just a few more clicks!

Hookah:

I was looking through the previous page, Alice in Wonderland, for an interesting next step to take and saw the link to this page and wondered what kind of information it would have; it turns out it has a WHOLE BUNCH! I have seen many hookah places around the Oklahoma City area and have visited some on occasion, but this particular page gave a lot of insight to the international cultural phenomenon that is hookah. I particularly liked the country by country analysis of the place of hookah in their culture.

Tobacco:

Not a far step from hookah is tobacco, as tobacco is often used in hookahs. I knew that this was going to give a whole lot of information about all the different kinds of ways people use tobacco. This crop also has a very rich history in our country, with many colonies depending on it to sustain their wavering economies.

Masculinity:

This was an interesting leap from tobacco to masculinity, but not that surprising. Traditionally, smoking or chewing tobacco has been seen as a man's hobby in many societies. Often, it was seen as promiscuous if a woman were to smoke. As said in the article, since about the mid-1800s, smoking tobacco has been seen as a sign of "masculinity and power."

(Hookah in a restaurant in Nepal, web source: Wikimedia)

Tech Tip: Link Check, 1-2, 1-2

Google Sites is turning out to be a really neat interface to set up my Storybook. Adding a new page this week was actually a semi-exciting experience!

All of my links worked great when I tried them; no problems there. I'll definitely be interested in discovering some different design/layout templates. Looking at some of the older Storybooks has inspired me to really get creative!

Check out my website here: sites.google.com/kimberleybishopok

Alice in Wonderland Part A

Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll. Link to reading here.

A lot of this half of the unit was similar to stories that appeared in the Disney version of this tale. Alice falling down the rabbit hole, eating and drinking random items to shrink or grow, meeting the Caterpillar atop a mushroom, and talking with the Cheshire Cat.

One part of this story, and the only part that was not present in the movie to my knowledge, confused me a bit. The part with the Duchess in the home. She's sitting in the middle of her kitchen supposedly holding a baby. This baby just turns out to be a pig wrapped up and the Cheshire Cat does not seem the bit taken aback by this? Also the cook in this home is literally just throwing pots and pans and other things across the room toward the Duchess holding the so-called baby? I can't say that I determined what the point of that part was.

I didn't find too too much (YET!) that I'll want to include in my Storybook. Of course, I'll want the very beginning of Alice discovering Wonderland and falling down the hole. I think the social media platform that I've chosen will be a really cool medium for this story, the more I read it. I'll make Alice a hair older than she is supposed to be, so she's a teenager. Especially younger teens spend a lot of time on their phones on social media sites. I know that I see some of my posts from freshman year of high school and I say, "Did the entire Facebook world NEED to know that?" So, having her track her kooky adventures via Facebook status is really going to be fun. I think some of the bigger name characters will be good for interacting on the Facebook statuses with Alice. Like, if Alice were to make a post about making it into the garden with the Caterpillar and comments on how odd the Caterpillar was, he could comment in a contemptuous manner. Stuff like that.

I'm excited to read more of this story!!

Reading Notes: Arabian Nights Part B

Arabian Nights. Link to reading here.

It was interesting to try to determine similarities to the Disney version of Aladdin. Aladdin was my all time favorite movie when I was a child, and, of course, I was heartbroken to find out that Abu and Iago were not in the original!

I also found that Aladdin rubbed me the wrong way some of the time. I suppose that may the same as in the movie, as well. I think it's also interesting to think about the transposition from the story being in Asia and the movie being in the Middle East. I found that to be odd, but I'm not really sure I could figure out why that was the case. I also found it challenging to follow the two genies, and couldn't figure out why the genie from the lamp could do some things that the genie from the ring couldn't.. I also feel like Aladdin had a lot more wishes that should have been allowed?

I can see Jafar's character in the magician, when he moves the palace and takes the lamp from Aladdin and takes Princess Jasmine for himself. It seems like Jafar is a combination of the grand-vizir and the magician.

I thought that the magician's brother seemed to be a completely extraneous character, and the story could have ended before he showed up. This is especially because this all happened in the last story.

I think the princess' vantage point would really be cool for this story. Can you imagine how you would feel if you were married to one man and then all the sudden, as if by magic, you appeared in the bedroom of another and he simply slept in the same bed as you? I'd be pretty freaked, for sure. Following her from the palace in Asia to being magic'ed all the way to Africa and visited by some creepy dude? I think I could have a lot of fun with that one.

(Dreams of a grand palace, web source: Wikimedia)

Reading Notes: Arabian Nights Part A

Arabian Nights. Link to reading here.

Alright, this is a super long segment. There are a lot of different things going on here, and following the different intertwining story lines is definitely difficult. The many layers of the story are certainly confusing as well. BUT, I kind of just constructed a story map as I went. Which helped a ton.

Although I read a whole mess of stories this week, there's a whole lot to work with. Some of the stories are pretty funny, probably due to the ridiculousness of it all.

My favorite, I think, was the story with the young king of the Black Isles. I actually laughed out when it mentioned that the king is beat by a buffalo skin every single day. I probably shouldn't have laughed, but I did anyway. But that tale has interesting complexities, with the Sultan's plan to deceive the enchantress. I think telling the story from a different vantage point, like the King or the enchantress herself or even the slave that's being held in the tower unable to communicate. This could put an entirely new spin on this story and make it something new or fresh.

I think another idea would be to use the story of the Greek king and the physician and then the physician's revenge. I'm not entirely sure how I would make this one my own just yet. I like the greater story of the king being mistaken and then revenge immediately being taken on him. I also like the supernatural concept of the severed head and the book. Again, I'm not sure on this yet. I'll be thinking on this while reading the other half of the reading.

(Fisherman & the Genie, web source: Wikimedia)

Feedback Focus

3. Use a Timer

This one is just really ineffective for me and the way that I read. I'll fess up to it, I'm a really slow reader. Some of this is probably because I get distracted and think of 57 other things when I'm supposed to just be thinking about what I'm trying to read. Using a timer and setting a goal to think of nothing else for 10 minutes seemed really hard for me because the more I think about focusing on one thing, the more my mind wants to wander to 100 different other things. 

Interestingly, when I was in the 10th grade, my AP European History teacher had this thing she called a "vacation sheet." She told us that whenever we sat down to read our book, we should have a blank piece of paper next to us so whatever our mind wanders to, we can jot it down and go back to what we were supposed to be doing. I felt like I needed my vacation sheet all over again!

2. Copy & Delete

I like the concept of deleting past paragraphs. This helped me keep my place in the reading a little better, but stopping every paragraph or so to write comments down kind of took me out of my "zone" and I kept thinking, "Okay, what just happened?" when I would try to hop back in. I would LOVE to try to combine this with the reading out loud though!

1. Reading Out Loud

I honestly thought that I wasn't going to like this at all. I thought I was just going to be able to read something out loud without focusing 100% of my attention on it, but this really worked! The one disadvantage I can think of for this is that it may slow you down a bit. But, I'm a slow reader anyways so it works great for me!!

(A cat and a dog, web source: Pixabay)

Tech Tip: Google Site Website

I used Google sites for the first time to set up my Storybook site, and I'm excited to work with it to make it (hopefully) very creative!

This site seems to have a lot of space for users to completely customize, so I'm sure I'll get more into that in the coming weeks.

Check out my barebones site here: https://sites.google.com/site/kimberleybishopok/

Story: Twenty-Two Goblins

HOST: Hello! And WELCOME to the Love Triangle, the show where distraught people who have 3 or more suitors seeking their hand come to FIND. THEIR. FOREVER!

We have a great show for you today. We have a lovely contestant who has three men that want to be hee husband. This contestant has a special twist, that you won't want to miss! Stick around, and we'll be right back with Contestant #1, Coral!


HOST: Welcome back to the Love Triangle! We have our contestant all setup here. Hi Coral, why don't you tell us a little about yourself here? Show the audience why these men over here are pursuing you so intently.

CORAL: Um, okay. Hi, I'm Coral. I have always been told that when the Creator made me, he gave me unparalleled beauty and loveliness. So, that was nice of him, I suppose.

HOST: Well, I think whoever told you that was right on the money! Weren't they, audience? So, Coral, tell us how these three men came to pursue you and seek your hand in marriage. Audience, listen up. Here is the twist I promised. So, Coral is sitting here with this dilemma of not knowing who to choose. She's just really torn up about it. Alright Coral, then what happened?

CORAL: Well... I died.

HOST: Say that again for us, Coral?

CORAL: I died. I came down with a fever and it killed me.

HOST: Can you beLIEVE that, audience? Well, let's meet our suitors and hear from them just how heartbroken they were when they discovered that their beloved had died before their very eyes.

Suitor #1, hello. Can you tell us what it was like coming all that way, mustering up all that courage to ask for Coral's hand... just to have her die without making a decision?

SUITOR #1: Hello, there. Yeah, it really broke my heart. I mean, I wanted to spend my life with her. I wanted to prove that I should be the one that she should choose and that just all went up in smoke.

HOST: So, what did you do after she died?

SUITOR #1: Well, me and the other guys took her body to the cemetery and burned it to ashes. Then, after that, I don't know. I sorta felt lost. I could really find any meaning or see a way for me to move on. So, I just made a hut right near where her ashes were and lived in it.

HOST: You lived in a hut... ?

SUITOR #1: Yeaah, I mean, I don't know.. It was the only thing to do that made sense at that time. Anything else seemed to disrespect her memory.

HOST: Alright, so one of you lived in a hut. Let's talk to our other two suitors.

Suitor #2, hello. So, we know what happened immediately after Coral over here died. You and these two guys took her to a cemetery and burned her ashes. This guy over here decided to live in a hut over her ashes. What did you do?

SUITOR #2: Well, I did the only thing I felt would be beneficial and might help the situation. I took up all of Coral's bones and dipped them in the sacred Ganges river.

HOST: You... dipped the bones.... that are in her body right over there... in a dirty river.

SUITOR #2: No, no. The Ganges river is supposed to be the purest river in the world. It's said to have certain powers about it. I thought that the best thing to do would be to purify her bones, in the hopes that it would bring her back to us.

HOST: Well, alright. You wanted to badly for her to return to you, that you would carry the literal bones from her body across miles to a river. That sounds pretty good to me, what do you think, audience?

There you have it. Alright, now let's meet our third and final suitor, Suitor #3!

SUITOR #3: Hi! I'm really excited to be here!

HOST: It certainly seems like it! Okay, we've got one of you living on Coral's ashes, one of you traveling the countryside with her bones. Tell us about your journey post-death.

SUITOR #3: Yeah, I took to wandering to other countries and stuff. I was wanting to find someone else out there. I was waiting to find something that would put me on the right track. And I did just that, it was perfect.

HOST: And what was that?

SUITOR #3: Well, it's kind of a long story. I wandered into this random city and this family in this house just decided to bring me in and entertain me. We were having dinner and then the craziest thing happened. I still can't believe to this day what I saw. So we were eating dinner. And the son of this family starts crying. Nothing that anyone does is comforting him. He's just sobbing. And then... the mother takes this kid - I'm not making this up - and throws him into the fire. And POOF! He's burnt to ashes.

HOST (horrified): Suitor #3, how can you be so nonchalant about that!?

SUITOR #3: No, no! Don't worry! That's what I thought too. I was absolutely disgusted. And then, the dad pulls out this book and says a few words then sprinkles some water on the ashes, and POOF again! He was there like nothing had happened. So, in the middle of the night I stole his magic book and brought it back to use on Coral. And then I - not the other two - I brought her back.

HOST: Okay, tt is TIME! The suitors each get 30 seconds to show why they should get to marry Coral. Alright Suitor #1!

SUITOR #1: Coral, I knew I wanted to marry you since the first time I heard your name spoken. Your beauty is unparalleled and your loveliness exceeds this world. I know you are the one for me because, when you died, my entire world fell apart. I could not bring myself to do anything but weep and grieve for you. I have experienced what this life is without you, and I cannot do it. I want to be your husband, please choose me.

HOST: Very nice, certainly gives Coral something to think about! Suitor #2, you're up!

SUITOR #2: My dear Coral. You are the love of my life, this I know very deep in my soul. You are lovely, yes, but you are compassionate. You are kind. I want to live out the rest of my days surrounded by your grace as your husband. When you died, I knew I had to have you back. I knew the world would be worse off with you. I thought immediately of a story my mother always told me about the healing powers of the Gange, and I knew that if I did not try to bring you back that I would regret it the rest of my days. I walked and will continue to walk miles and miles for you. Please choose me.

HOST: These guys certainly aren't making it easy, are they? And we still have one left! Suitor #3, now's your chance. Tell Coral why she should choose you.

SUITOR #3: Coral, I love you. It may seem silly to say with what little time we have had together, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that I love you and you are the one I am meant to be with. Without you, I am lost. After your death, I wandered with no purpose. I knew I needed to find something, but I didn't know what. The fates led me to that house, to that family. Coral, I am the one who brought you back to this life. My love knows no bounds; I would go to the greatest lengths to bring you back to me and I did. Coral, I love you, please choose me.

HOST: Wowee, okay, that's it! Coral, you have a lot to think about here. It's time to make your decision.

CORAL: I choose...Suitor #1! He acted in a way that true lovers should act, instead of as a son or father.

(Hut, web source: Flickr)

Author's Note: The entirety of Twenty-Two Goblins is comprised of many different riddles and puzzles that don't truly have a factor that ties them together. The main theme of the story follows a king who is sought out to do a favor for a monk. This monk needs for the king to get a dead body, which is hanging from a nearby tree. However, the body has been invaded by a goblin and each time the king tries to take it from the tree to the monk, the goblin tells him a riddle. The deal is, if the king correctly answers the riddle, the goblin flees back to the tree. If the king knows the correct answer but refuses to say it, his head will explode. If the king doesn't know the answer, the goblin will simply tell him another story on their way. The story above is based on one of the goblin's puzzles. Nearly every aspect is intact above, I just presented it in a very different way. At the end, the king answers with the 1st "suitor," because he saw that he had acted like a lover who had lost their love. The 2nd had acted as a son should. And the 3rd, who you may think should have won her heart, acted as a father would do (doing anything they could to get her back).

Bibliography: Twenty-Two Goblins, translated by Arthur W. Ryder. Link to reading here.

Reading Notes: Twenty-Two Goblins Part B

Twenty-Two Goblins, translated by Arthur W. Ryder. Link to reading here.

These chapters of the overarching story went along like the previous grouping. Nothing truly progressed here until the last two chapters. This does not fit well to retell that part of the narrative. I think I'll spend most time focusing on the individual puzzles and riddles to gather what I need to retell this story.

Most of the puzzles from this half went along in a very similar way to the original grouping. Very often, there's a love story or marriage aspect to the stories. However, the first part has more groups of men seeking a woman, for instance. The final puzzles all seemed fairly unique from the others. While it makes for a more interesting read, it makes it harder to tie them together to retell or organize them into a greater narrative.

There were a couple of events within these riddles that caught my attention, however, and some were nearly impossible to predict because of the seemingly outrageous quality of the events. For instance, the daughter of the merchant falling in love with the thief after little to no contact with him. He was literally on his way to being executed. That seemed a little crazy to me. Also, the general offering up his wife to the king (as if she was some sort of chattel, ugh). Thankfully, the king was too noble to accept such a gift. So he died. Literally withered away and died. That in and of itself was shocking, but there's a cherry on top when the general decides to kill himself out of service to the dead king. Fascinating.

What really ground my gears was the fact that we never got an answer to the riddle that the king was stumped on! I can't say that I would have gotten all of the riddles thus far correct, like the king, but this one truly stumped me and sort of shut my brain down. I would have loved to hear how exactly that offspring would be related to the two pairs.

Also with this specific story, why couldn't the father and son just marry who would be appropriate? Why in the world would they cling to a decision they made based on SHOE SIZE? I digress.

(Hawk with a snake, web source: Pixabay)

Reading Notes: Twenty-Two Goblins Part A

Twenty-Two Goblins, translation by Arthur Ryder. Link to reading here.

These riddles and puzzles are among the most heartwarming stories I've read yet. Not in the cheesy way, but I just really loved reading them and finding out what the moral of each would turn out to be. I was getting pretty frustrated with the arching story of the king having to return to the tree over and over and over and over and over again. It's obviously going to take a while for this part of the story to progress (if it ever does).

One thing in particular that struck me about these individual stories is the seemingly outrageous things that seem to happen to all of these people. For instance, in the Girl, Husband, Brother story, her husband just decides to behead himself after he successfully got the girl of his dreams? And then her brother beheads himself right after in an act of grief? These things just seem absolutely insane.

I think a kind of game show layout would be cool for something like this? Like a transcript of an episode of Jeopardy or something, where the contestant has to answer these riddles but never wins anything. Or if I wanted to play with the stories individually rather than the overarching narrative, if someone from modern times was placed in these kinds of situations, seeing how they would react would be interesting! Especially with the random beheadings and all. Another idea, since many of these individual riddles involve a handful of people having to prove their cleverness or what have you, setting up dating profiles for each man seeking the girl's hand would be good. This could show off their characters, give them some more background and exhibit the parts of the story without using prose.

(Goblin hanging from the tree, web source: Wikimedia)

Story: Homer's Iliad

The name's Joe.

I own a little bar on the corner, right over yonder. I've been a bartender for years now, but I gotta tell you... I've never run into someone quite like the mate I met the other night. I just got to tell someone about him, and here you guys are.

So, he's come in a couple times recently and every single time he comes in with this crazy look on his face and just is belligerently going on about SOMETHING.

The first time he comes by, he comes in in a huff. Storms right up to the bar. Nearly knocks the woman next to him off her stool. I was feeling generous. So I say to the guy, "Hey, buddy. Can I get you something?"

I shouldn't have opened my mouth. This guy goes right into it. Keeps going on about some dude named "Agamemnon." I know better than to engage a crazy person. But, this guy is relentless. So I say, "Alright, who is this Agamemnon bloke you're going on about?" He looks me in my eyes. And then goes right into it.

"That's King Agamemnon. He just couldn't give up his pride nor that stupid girl, Chryseïs. He just wouldn't give her back. This whole thing could have been avoided. But he just couldn't give her up. And I wanted to so badly to just unsheath my sword and just finish it right then and there. That's when Athené appeared out of nowhere and stopped me."

"Wait, who appeared where?"

He rolled his eyes. This guy is talking about kings and swords and girls with funny names and rolls his freaking eyes at ME. I digress.

"Athené. The goddess of wisdom. Daughter of Zeus. Namesake of Athens? You all caught up?"

This guy.

"Alright, I'm with you. But, I don't understand why you got so mad about this girl? Why should this Agamemnon, I'm sorry, King Agamemnon give her back? Back to who?"

"Argh, after we Greeks took the city of Chrsyé, she was part of the spoils that we split between us. Agamemnon got her. But, her father, who was a priest of Apollo, comes for her and is willing to pay gold to get his daughter back. Agamemnon wouldn't have it. He was just too damn proud. That's not even all. Then, he has to go and send for my girl and take her from me just because he can. How can anyone follow him? Follow him into war no less? Just look where he's gotten us."

And with that, he just shoved away from the bar and left. I was stunned. It was seriously one of the weirdest encounters I had ever experienced.The rest of the night went along much less weirdly than that encounter. I had nearly forgotten all about him when a couple of weeks later the same weird dude stumbles back into my joint. Except this time, he's weeping. Full on, body-racking sobs as he walks through the door. The place was really busy, and I just didn't have the time to humor him. He sits down at my bar, and I go about my night making sure everyone gets in and out alright. At the end of the night, he's still there. He still has tear stained cheeks and he's just sitting there quietly. I'm feeling really bad for him at this point, so while I'm cleaning up I decide to ask him what's wrong.

"It's all his fault. He's dead and it's all his fault."

"Whose fault? Who's dead?"

"PATROCLUS. I swore that I would never fight for Agamemnon again, not even after he sent his group of minions to beg me to. But, Patroclus begged to use my armor to deceive them. He thought he could trick them just long enough to distract them. It didn't work. And they killed him. They just killed him right then and there. The worst part of it is that they treated his body like it didn't mean anything. It was disgusting. Why would the Trojans even want his body?! Some sick act of of pride?!"

I didn't know what to say here. Did I want to open the Pandora's box and ask him about Patroclus? Or do I just move him along so I can get outta here? This guy is obviously crazy, right? It's like with a sleepwalker? You don't want to disrupt or wake them, right? Well, that's where I'm letting this take me.

"So, what are you going to do about it? Are you just going to let them have the body? Or are you going to avenge his Petro-, Pato-... whatever? How are you going to make his life mean something? You know you have to go get the guy that did this and make him pay."

I swear, I saw something light up in his eyes. It was like a fire was emblazoned. It was like something clicked for him. He kind of straightened up, looked at me, stood up and marched right out of the door.

That was the last time I ever saw that weirdo. I don't know how his delusional story ended, or if he ever got that vengeance that he thought he needed for someone with an absolutely outrageous name. I can't say that he didn't spice up the otherwise dreary nights I was having across those couple of weeks. I will say, I had a weirdly vague dream about a figure like my friend here but it involved him dragging the body of someone by their ankles behind an ancient Roman chariot-type vehicle.

But, that was just a dream. Right?

Author's Note: I focused my story on the character, Achilles, from Homer's Iliad. This story follows him through the quarrel mentioned above, through the visit from Agamemnon's lackeys to try to get Achilles to return to help defeat the Trojans and through the death of Patroclus. During the great fight between the Trojans and Greeks, Patroclus stormed in wearing the armor of Achilles to try to trick the Trojans into thinking Achilles had rejoined the Greek troops. It wasn't long after that he was killed, and they began to fight over his body. It wasn't until Achilles appeared in the sight of the fight that the Greeks were able to recove Petroclus' body. Achilles also slaid the great Trojan warrior, Hector. He chased him thrice around the Trojan walls, after Hector was tricked into halting and facing Achilles. He was killed, and Achilles drug his body away by attaching his ankles to ropes and then to his chariot. The Trojans eventually recover his body from Achilles, after Hector's father visits with Achilles to get it.

Bibliography: The Iliad, by Homer. Link to reading here: http://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-homers-iliad-retold.html

(Patroclus in Mosaic, web source: Flickr)

Reading Notes: The Iliad Part B

The Iliad, by Homer; link to reading here.

This second half of the story has less "action" parts, and more specific character developments (and deaths). It seemed like a much smaller-scale story; there were only a few characters mentioned in this half, making it much easier to follow the storyline. You see Achilles' intense grief for the slain Patroclus, as well as the dynamic between Hector and him. You see the death of Hector and its effect on the city of Troy and for his family. It ends with the forgiveness of Achilles and the empathy of his character.

I think an interesting twist on this side of the story would be having Hector actually heed his father and mother's advice and retreat into the castle walls, instead of waiting out in the open for Achilles. The story within the immediate family of Hector, with his wife Andromache and their son Astyanax, could have been developed further. Or if his hubris must keep him from retreating, than what would have happened if Achilles had died at Hector's hands instead of the other way around. Or what might have happened if Hector's brother truly came out to assist him instead of it being a deceitful act of the gods?

This half of the story would work well within a script format. There's much less action to keep up with, and more dialogue between bigger characters. There's also more continuity throughout, which would lend itself well to a script.

(Priam begging to Achilles, web source: Wikimedia)

Reading Notes: Homer's Iliad Part A

The Iliad, by Homer; link to reading here.

This first part of this story follows Achilles through his decision to not fight in the Agememnon's war against the Trojans, and all of the subplots that follow along with that.

Some of the most interesting parts are, obviously, the biggest scenes where the Greeks are fighting the Trojans at their gates. This is when the action reaches its peak, with both the war against the Trojans and Achilles' story with Patroclus. There really aren't any exciting twists and turns with this story; everything follows this kind of sad war story, with the expected deaths here and there. Some of the characters are certainly interesting on their own, but with this story it's kind of hard to grasp at some substance of a backstory or anything of the sort. It doesn't give you much to stand up, with the slight exception of the discussion of Achilles' family story.

One idea that struck me with this story, with regard to the Storytelling post later in the week, was to make up a fake sort of police report about the battle. There are murders, destruction of property, fighting, arson; you name it, it's probably in there. A ridiculously long police report about each of the infractions could bring a slight air of comedy to the storyline, while explaining one of the most dramatic parts of it at the same time.

Another idea would be to have Achilles and Agememnon on a talk show, talking about why Achilles "left" him. Obviously the whole thing could be dramatized to seem more like a broken heart, instead of a rageful king losing one of his trusted soldiers.

(Hector, Andromache and Astyanax, web source: Wikimedia)

Famous Last Words: Settling into the Semester

I found myself getting lost in the first "real" week of classes. The workload has finally landed, and I'm still setting myself up with these classes. I found myself setting up a schedule for myself and my readings, as we did for this class. It's basically the only way I'm going to be able to survive.

I didn't keep up so well in this class this past week, but it's something I'm absolutely working on. I'm going to try my hardest to get ahead so I don't have to stress. This class is definitely going to challenge me, because I really am not imaginative. Writing our own stories each week is definitely going to push my imagination's limits, but it's something I'm looking forward to. I tried to change it up this week by using a different writing style, instead of straight prose. Diary entries allowed me to think in an entirely different way, so experimenting with other styles each week is something that I'll be depending on.

I'm very thankful for the extra day of the weekend, because it's allowed me to kind of calm everything down. I'm definitely trying to use my time more wisely across all of my classes. I have kind of a heavy workload this semester, with a lot (a LOT) of reading. Unfortunately, I'm kind of a slow reader so my time management skills are going to be crucial this semester.

I'm really loving each of my classes, though. I think that my schedule is kind of perfect for the kinds of classes I'm taking and the weekly requirements there are for each of them. I have one class everyday (Latin 2) and my 3 other "in-class" classes are only once a week. This is great, because I have basically an entire week to prepare. Which is great, because most of my classes have us reading an entire book a week.

I am trying to keep up with ALL of my readings this semester, and really read all of them. I love my classes; I really want to learn everything I can in each of these classes.

(Candid Picture of Me, Mid-Week; web source: Flickr)

Feedback Thoughts

I think giving feedback is something that isn't as effective as it could be in some classes. The reality is, most students aren't comfortable giving constructive feedback for fear of seeming too mean or judgmental. For me, it also comes from the fact that a lot of the time I feel as though I'm not qualified to give criticism. At my old job, at the end of every semester we had to give feedback on all of our immediate supervisors and then they had did the same for us. This seemed fine with me, because there was a level of anonymity. However, then we had to meet with our higher-up supervisors and then try to explain the comments that our supervisors made about us. I found that, for myself, this kind of feedback process really did not work for me. Receiving the comments about my work ethic from an anonymous source was already a blow; having to explain them to my highest supervisors was near torture.

In reading the articles about taking advice, I found myself in a lot of the examples of what not to do. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so getting feedback that isn't all positive seems like a major failure to me. Criticisms kind of hit me like a brick, but it's something to work on. Especially since in about a year's time, I'll start applying to law schools. This process necessarily requires a process of putting yourself and your accomplishments out there and waiting for an unknown committee to say yes or no to you based on how you appear on paper. Nerve-wracking!

I don't think a certain kind of feedback works the best for me; I receive it all in kind of the same way. I'd be interested in reading others' blogs to hear about the different kinds of feedback and what works and what doesn't!

(Feedback, web source: Flickr)

Wikipedia Trail: From Cistern to Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Cistern:

A cistern was used in ancient times as a place to store water. They're often used where there is little rain or where a well couldn't be dug properly. They often serve the same purpose today; yet, they must be kept away from algae and mosquitos.

Lava:

Lava is what erupts from a volcano. It's molten and liquid-like, but it dries into lava rock which some cisterns were made of. There are many famous volcano eruptions during which the lava wiped out entire civilizations.

Mount Vesuvius:

Mount Vesuvius is the volcano that destroyed the town of Pompeii. Arguably, this is one of the most famous volcano eruptions. This eruption released 100,000 times the thermal energy that was released with the atomic bomb that hit Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki:

These events were the only atomic bombings to date. They were released during World War II by the United States on Japan, their enemy during the war. Many people were killed by the initial blast of the bombs, but others succumbed to burns and more yet had children with birth defects.

(Portuguese Cistern, web source: Wikimedia)