Mythology & Folklore

(Night Owl by Lee Romao ) As I gathered my meager belongings   I wondered what hardships I would face on my journey. I rocked back on my heels and stared into the crackling fire. The flames flickered and threatened to die. The dying fire caused ghostly apparitions to dance in the shadows. I sat staring at these shadowy figures for a moment longer then returned to my work. I gathered some dried buffalo meat mixed it with wild berries and rendered fat for this would be my only nourishment along my path. I sharpened my knife against a stone and affixed it to my belt. I then packed my pouch with tobacco and emptied my pipe. I tied my pouch to my belt as well. After I had gathered my few belongings I wandered to the stream and filled my skins with the cool water. The moon shone overhead and its beams danced in the ripples on the surface of the water. I stood and regarded the beauty for a while before returning to camp. The fire I had abandoned had all but died when I returned...

(Owl at Night from quora.com ) I chose this one because I love Native American mythology and I would like to know more about the subject. I really like that native tradition is often passed down through storytelling. While I was reading this story I noticed how much better it sounded when read aloud. This aligns with the storytelling tradition. It felt like a story meant to be told around a fire or to a gathering of children underneath a tree. I really enjoyed the style and would like to try it in my own writing. The personification of animals i.e. the owl saying "halloo." is a great tool stylistically and allows for some creative freedom. I also liked the repetition within the story of the young man "drawing near a wood;" some variation of this is repeated throughout the story. Repetition is also used to create suspense. The young man hearing some mysterious noise is repeated throughout the work. Another stylistic choice that stood out to me was the symbo...

Units of Interest Monkey King I really like East Asian/Chinese Mythology and I have heard of the Monkey King so the title caught my eye I have also watched the foreign language films The Monkey King and The Monkey King II on Netflix Celtic Fairy Tales I like anything Celtic so this one caught my eye Russian Folktales This one caught my eye because I don't know anything about them and I would like to know more I also like that a lot of these stories are on LibriVox! (LibriVox Graphic from  LibriVox )

(White Rabbit GIF made with  giphy.com ) Oh, time management. I, like most college students, am a horrible procrastinator. I always lie to myself and say "Oh, but I work better under pressure!" When in reality I don't actually work better , I just work faster . I feel like I am working better when a deadline is quickly approaching when I am actually just working faster to turn something in rather than producing my best work. The problem is that I tell myself I am going to start early on a project but still end up waiting until the night it is due to finish. Over the last few semesters, however, I have gotten better at finishing work early rather than just on time. As an English Writing major, you learn not to take the process of revision lightly. Always leave yourself time to read and revise your work before turning it in; that way you ensure that you are turning in your best work. The  How to Beat Procrastination  article by Caroline Webb stuck with me because...

(Typing Cat GIF made with giphy.com ) As I said before, I am not very good at blogging but the more I do it the easier it becomes. I have never had an online class this organized or this technology/internet based. Every online class I have taken always relied heavily on D2L - this is my first online class through Canvas. The blogging and commenting on other blogs is very similar to the discussion board posts used for online courses on D2L, but the blog posts are much more in-depth which gives us as students more opportunities to showcase our talents and learn from others. I really like the idea of learning about what online tools are out there. Because she was right in saying that we will probably never use D2L or Canvas again after graduation but the multitude of tools found online will be useful in the future.

(Storybook from InSites Consulting ) I am excited to both read and write stories this semester. I have always been interested in mythology and I have read Edith Hamilton's Mythology at least twice. I am also reading Neil Gaiman's Norse Mythology. As a writer I draw a lot of inspiration from folklore and mythology for my work. I think this class will be an invaluable resource for my writing. These assignments, especially the longer length projects like the storybook or portfolio will give me a good way to stay on top of my writing game. The extra credit opportunities are also very exciting. The Wikipedia trails extra credit sounds very cool. I like venturing down internet rabbit holes and seeing what I can find.

( Growth Mindset Graphic ) From the very beginning of the video she had my attention. I really liked the idea of "not yet" grades instead of failing grades or "Fs." The difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset also stayed with me after watching the TED Talk. The idea of a growth mindset will definitely help me moving forward in the semester as well as for the rest of my time at OU. No one likes getting an "F" but the process of viewing it as "not yet" rather than failure is invaluable. It makes it so that you can move forward and push yourself to be better rather than dwelling on failure, and I like that idea. When I came to OU from high school I had to teach myself how to take notes and study. When I was in high school I was usually ahead so I never needed to study or take good notes. I always did well on tests and papers by just "winging it." When I got to OU I figured out that I couldn't do that anymore. I...