Reading Notes: The Odyssey Part B

In this section of stories from The Odyssey, Odysseus meets various heroes, comrades, enemies, demigods, and so forth in the House of Hades. He summons the ghosts of many people so that he may get in touch with Teiresias who gives him the prophet about his journey back home to his wife and children. He also meets his mother, who died of sorrow, and asked of his family back home. In the end he returns back to Circe's island and she tells them to beware the Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis. She tells them that to avoid the sirens they must cover their ears with wax to avoid their call. They do so and succumb to the horrors of Scylla and the oceans swallow of Charybdis. In my rendition of this latter half I would put a twist on the ghosts that Odysseus sees. Instead of his mother he would see his wife instead. She would have died by the hands of a suitor. This suitor would have committed the murder in jealousy and revenge, leaving the child to be an orphan. Lastly I would change how Odysseus listens to the Sirens singing tied down to the raft. He would succumb to their song and escape from the ship. His comrades would have an adventure trying to save him from the Sirens, let alone Scylla and Charybdis.

The Odyssey by Homer, link to reading online

(Scylla and Charybdis, Source: TV Tropes)

Reading Notes: The Odyssey Part A

The story of Odysseus is a classic and having read this poem in high school, I have some background knowledge to the story already. The story is told in the point of view of Odysseus, but it would a totally different and interesting take if it was told in the eyes of Eurylochus. He is the one who was sent by Odysseus to go and investigate the house of Circes. The main elements of the story, the plot, morals, etc are all very integral to the whole poem. I wouldn't change anything about the story except the point of view that it is told from. All the events would be the same. Instead of it picking up quickly where it left off without any previous knowledge of what happened, I would give a short introduction to how Odysseus and his crew went from 12 to 1 ship and how he ended up on the island of the cyclopes. The ending is fine because the latter half of the story is told in Part B. The best part of the plot was when Odysseus found a solution to get out of the cyclopes's cave by hiding in the sheep and blinding him. Odysseus is a very prideful, daring, and intelligent man. Eurylochus on the other hand seems like the jealous type who doesn't always agree with Odysseus. In the story, Odysseus even thought about drawing his blade and cutting off his head. This is why a different point of view on the story would be interesting.

The Odyssey by Homer, link to reading online

(Cyclopes, Source: Pinterest)

Articles On Feedback Strategies

In this week's feedback blog, I read two articles on how to give feedback. The first one was called "How To Give Students Specific Feedback That Actually Helps Them Learn". To me it's very hard to find the right words when giving someone feedback on their assignment. I don't want to be too harsh with my words, but then I don't want to be too nice and compliment them too much. In this article they discussed that being transparent in your feedback is crucial because it doesn't leave any questions about what you want from them. It's clear what needs to be changed and how they can do it from being transparent instead of having to guess what the critique wants from them. Also I like how they suggest that feedback should be goal-oriented with a guide to get to this goal. This way you're not left wondering where to start or how to get there. Also time is key. When the assignment is fresh in your head, which in the case of our projects it should be, then the feedback will be more useful. The projects we will be working on every week will be a consistent remainder.

The second article I read was called "How To Craft Constructive Feedback". This article was much shorter than the first one I read. This article included a diagram. An easy flowchart on what to say and how to give your feedback depending on the purpose (is it for self-expression or to craft a performance?). The first one doesn't really apply to our project since it's more to craft a performance with our storybook. It's good to observe, describe, and suggest in our feedback. Say what stands out to you, describe how it makes you feel, and then suggest (in detail) what could make this little bit better. You never want to be vague or else it'll leave the writer in confusion.

(Feedback vs Feedforward, Source: Linkedin)

Project: Topic Research

For my storybook this semester, I have decided to expand and do more research on Dante's Inferno. In my adaptation I will be stepping into the role of Dante and my guide will be a character of great evil who has been doomed to guide people through the circles of hell. There will be 3 circles that I will have to go through: wrath, lust, and treachery. Each of the three stories within my story book will include one of these deadly sins. I will be exploring these circles of hell and learn about each sin (wrath, lust, and treachery) that will expand and intrigue my knowledge of them. For the circle of wrath I shall meet Hitler. He will tell me his life story on how he hated the Jews and wanted to convert the world into the perfect race, the Aryan's. After the first circle, I will continue to the next one and meet Bill Cosby. He'll tell me all about his 51 sexual encounters with the women who accused him of rape and sexual assault/misconduct. Lastly, the final circle of treachery will introduce me to Kevin Durant. KD will let me in on why he left the great city of OKC for the Golden State Warriors, leaving everyone in Oklahoma feeling betrayed. There were a couple sites that led me to each person I picked. I stumbled upon Bill Cosby and his attachment to lust from this site. I also used Wikipedia to give me background information on the original "Inferno" book and each of it's circles in hell.

(Angry Hilter, Source: Psychology Today)

(Bill Cosby Rape Meme, Source: Westword)

(KD Betrays OKC, Source: Blazers Edge)

Week 3 Story: Noah and 2012

On the 25th day of December, God looked down upon the world and saw all the evil that spread across the nations. He saw the theft, killing, adultery, betraying, etc. He grew fed up with his creation of mankind and vowed to erase their existence from the world and start over from scratch. Before he unleashed his wrath upon all that was evil, he looked down once again to see if there was anyone pure left and this is when he stumbled upon a man named Noah. Noah was a man of his 30's and a husband and father of two children. God had seen all that was pure in Noah's heart and sent an angel to warn him of the epidemic to come and what to do. The angel told Noah that the world would be ending in 6 days and that he needed to build an ark, in this case a bunker, deep below the surface of the Earth and gather 2 of every animal, one male and one female, to keep safe.

Days went by and Noah started to finish his bunker deep below Earth's surface. It reach miles down with a giant set of stairs to access each floor of his bunker. After the ark was finished he and his family set out to gather 2 of each animal and bring them back. Of course this did not go unnoticed by the people who lived near Noah. They began to question what he was doing and why. Noah, a man of no fear except for the fear of God, told the city people that there was to be great destruction upon the world at the end of the 2012 calendar year. This frightened people causing mass panic. People went into a frenzy and started gathering everything and anything possible to survive. They boarded up their houses or sought shelter elsewhere for they not know what do come. All the while, Noah kept to his mission and gathered all the animals in pairs of 2. Once he was done, he locked the bunker above him and waited for the destruction of the world to come. 

Then the day came. December 31st of 2012. The day the world would be cleansed of its sins and evils. God unleashed his wrath and wrecked havoc onto everything that was his. Volcanoes erupted plunging everything in its path to ashes. Hurricanes swept through the lands and blew away all buildings and trees. Tornadoes took everything that was grounded and plunged it out of the ground and into the air. Even floods took over the world. Everything and everybody was gone and the lands were then covered in water. As everything was ending, Noah awaited patiently in his ark. He tended to his family and to the animals. He stocked up on enough food and water to last everyone weeks. Every day he would send a dove into the sky. If the dove came back then the the world was still covered in water and no land was to be seen. But one day, the dove did not come back. It had found land and settled down. Noah knew now that God's wrath was receding and fertile land was to be found. 

On the 4th week of the new year, Noah unlocked bunker and set everyone out from underground to the airs above. The land was bare and stripped of everything. Noah and his family would have to start a new and bring about a world of purity. God had seen that Noah had resurfaced, so he went to see him. When God met Noah, he vowed to never unleash his wrath unto the world like that ever again. He made a covenant with Noah in the form of a rainbow. One that stretched miles and a high as the clouds. Once the covenant was made and God had returned to the heavens above, it was time for Noah begin his long and enduring journey to rebuild.

(Noah's Ark, Source: CLBA)

Author's Notes:

In the book of Genesis in the Bible, God looked down upon his creation of mankind and saw all that was evil. He decided to flood the world and start over. However, he saw that Noah was pure and sent down and angel to warn him of the floods to come and that he build an ark to save the animals and his family. He was to bring back pairs of each animal, male and female. When the flood came, Noah and his ark sailed patiently across the oceans for months. One day, the dove that he sent out never came back so he knew that land was to be found. When he reached land, God told Noah that he would never flood the world again and build a covenant in the form of a rainbow to always remind them. In my version of the story, everything is essentially the same. The backbone of Noah and his Ark remained intact. However, in the book of Genesis, it was an older language that was more difficult to read, so I modernized my rendition in terms of setting and language used. There was also an enormous amount of detail included in the original story that I decided to trim down because it was very repetitive. Also in my version, Noah builds a bunker instead of a ship and it is set in the year 2012 where volcanoes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods scavenged the world. 

Bibliography: "Noah and the Ark" from Genesis in the King James Version of the Bible. Web Source

Reading Notes: Noah and the Ark Part A

In Part A of "Noah and the Ark" there were 8 readings within the story. I like the big picture of Noah's Ark, but not so much the minor details. I could do without all the names of the sons of sons, and wives of wives, etc. There was a lot of repetition in each of these stories and they would be much shorter and straight to the point if they didn't repeat so much. In my rendition I would cut all that out. I would also modernize the story. It would still have God, a character by the name Noah, and all something he'd have to save in pairs of 2. This story would take place in 2012 (the year that everyone thought the world would end) instead of long long ago. Instead this time the world does "end" instead of everyone moving on to 2013. Instead of a flood, other ideas could be earthquakes and volcanoes or even hurricanes. Noah would have to build a safe zone similar to the ark. It would be underground and safe from all dangers. Noah would still have sons and I'd also include a background story to Noah and how he was born like one of the books in Part A. I would also still include an aftermath plot as well. The rainbow as the covenant from God to promise not to flood the world anymore is such a major scene in the plot that I would have to include it in my rendition as well. I also like how Noah sent out a dove to see if the flood had subsided and when the dove never came back he knew that there was land somewhere. Basically, I love everything about the characters to the major plot, but there would be small details I would cut out to make the story flow easier and I would also modernize it to keep it relevant to our generation. 

Noah and the Ark by Genesis 5-6, link to reading online

(Noah's Ark, Source: Wikipedia)

Feedback Thoughts On Different Articles

The first article I read was "8 Things Students Should Do When They Make A Mistake". I like this article because all eight things related to me in way and can help me in the future. One of the points was that when you feel like your failing or stressing about something that you're not the only one. It's easy to say to yourself that you're the only one in the world that's having a hard time and that every one else is doing better than you, but that's not true. I fall victim to this all the time, but I always remind myself that I'm not alone. Although I know that there is help out there with all the resources at my disposal, it's hard for me to reach out to them. Help comes in the form of feedback as well. I never ask for any one's feedback on anything and it's something that I will get used to this semester throughout this course. There's also another point in the article that says "if you get something wrong, figure out how to fix it" and is exactly what feedback does for you. You have a peer suggest what needs to be changed or what could be better and it's up to you to figure out how to do that and make those changes for a better result.

The second article I read was "6 Bad Mental Habits That Sabotage Your Success"". All 6 mental habits related to feedback one way or another and they are all something that I fall victim to sometimes. The first one was making excuses. I usually don't take criticism too well and I try to blame it on someone or something else other than myself. Throughout this course I'll need to work on taking the feedback and criticism and stop blaming others and look at myself. Another point was trying to seek the audiences approval. In this course, its easy to try and write a story that will please everyone, but will take away from your own creative writing. This is where you'll have to stay away from that and just write the way you want to be heard and if others feel like there is something that could be better then you incorporate that into your writing to better it. There was also a point about putting yourself down and this is something that everyone is a victim of. When you receive harsh feedback it's easy to put yourself down and make yourself out to be a failure, but once that happens it starts a cycle that is very hard to break. So instead of putting yourself down you need to say that this is something that will make me better and embrace the criticism.

(Feedback from others, Source: Pixabay)