Showing posts with label Week 2. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Week 2. Show all posts
Monday, February 1, 2016
Tech Tip: Weather Widget
I added the weather widget to my sidebar! I like to check the weather all the time being in Oklahoma where it changes every thirty minutes so I decided to use the tech tip here to be able to see the weather on my blog. I hope you like it and consider adding the widget to your own page!
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Possible Storybook Topics
Possible Topic: Aesop's Lions
I have already done one story about a lion from Aesop and I really enjoyed the format I used. I created a series of fake Facebook posts and I think it would be really interesting to do an entire Facebook feed of different lions from Aesop's tales. I read some lion tales during the weekly reading, but I would be really curious to look up more tales. I think lions make for interesting characters with their mix of royalty and cleverness. I would like to discover how I could make the lions interact together on the fake Facebook (or Manebook).
Research So Far: I read the Jacobs version of the Aesop's tales for week two which gave me an initial look into the stories about various animals of which I liked the lion the most. I also found after some research a website of Aesop's fables that you can search to find just the ones with lions in them. Not all of the fables there are Aesop's, but a vast majority of the 100 listed are which leaves plenty to choose from.
Possible Topic: Japanese Spirits
I am really interested in the hundreds of different spirits in Japanese cultures. I am a quarter Japanese and I would love the chance to learn more about the culture. This could be formatted either like a fake Facebook group again or I could do something different like how the spirits came to be or news reports of spirit sightings. Just preliminary ideas.
Research So Far: I looked through the Japanese readings for class to get an idea of what is available there. I also found this Wikipedia page which has an enormous list of different spirits from Japan. There are links for every one to pages about that specific spirit. There is plenty here to find stories to work with from.
Possible Topic: Dragons in Theology
In fantasy literature dragons are by far my favorite creature to read about. I find it really interesting that many religions have stories that include dragons. I want to look into these religions' dragon stories and find a way to compile these stories. I am not sure what format I would use, but I am very interested in learning more about these dragons.
Research So Far: I saw two readings in the class about dragons, one of St. George and another of Bel and the Dragon. I also know that many eastern religions have dragons in their theology as do ancient Roman and Greek religions. I look forward to finding out more about these.
Possible Topic: Ancient Warriors
I came up with this topic because I thought it would be really fun to have ancient warriors interact and share their stories by comparing battle wounds. I like that this topic can take warriors from all over the world and give the commonality of battle wound stories.
Research So Far: The Heros and Heroines page, historical legends page, and pirates and sailors page all have great options for warriors with wounds to pick from.
I have already done one story about a lion from Aesop and I really enjoyed the format I used. I created a series of fake Facebook posts and I think it would be really interesting to do an entire Facebook feed of different lions from Aesop's tales. I read some lion tales during the weekly reading, but I would be really curious to look up more tales. I think lions make for interesting characters with their mix of royalty and cleverness. I would like to discover how I could make the lions interact together on the fake Facebook (or Manebook).
Research So Far: I read the Jacobs version of the Aesop's tales for week two which gave me an initial look into the stories about various animals of which I liked the lion the most. I also found after some research a website of Aesop's fables that you can search to find just the ones with lions in them. Not all of the fables there are Aesop's, but a vast majority of the 100 listed are which leaves plenty to choose from.
Possible Topic: Japanese Spirits
I am really interested in the hundreds of different spirits in Japanese cultures. I am a quarter Japanese and I would love the chance to learn more about the culture. This could be formatted either like a fake Facebook group again or I could do something different like how the spirits came to be or news reports of spirit sightings. Just preliminary ideas.
Research So Far: I looked through the Japanese readings for class to get an idea of what is available there. I also found this Wikipedia page which has an enormous list of different spirits from Japan. There are links for every one to pages about that specific spirit. There is plenty here to find stories to work with from.
Possible Topic: Dragons in Theology
In fantasy literature dragons are by far my favorite creature to read about. I find it really interesting that many religions have stories that include dragons. I want to look into these religions' dragon stories and find a way to compile these stories. I am not sure what format I would use, but I am very interested in learning more about these dragons.
Research So Far: I saw two readings in the class about dragons, one of St. George and another of Bel and the Dragon. I also know that many eastern religions have dragons in their theology as do ancient Roman and Greek religions. I look forward to finding out more about these.
Possible Topic: Ancient Warriors
I came up with this topic because I thought it would be really fun to have ancient warriors interact and share their stories by comparing battle wounds. I like that this topic can take warriors from all over the world and give the commonality of battle wound stories.
Research So Far: The Heros and Heroines page, historical legends page, and pirates and sailors page all have great options for warriors with wounds to pick from.
Friday, January 29, 2016
Storytelling Week 2: AnimalBook Tragedy
Scrolling through AnimalBook the other day I stumbled upon the tragic story of Mr. Mouse. Herein lies the details of his bravery and tragic death.
Author's Note: When I initially read the two stories The Mouse and The Lion and The Married Mouse in Aesop's Fables (Jacobs and Crane), I thought it was very creative that someone had taken the original and added a sequel. I immediately knew I wanted to work with these stories in some way. In the stories, a mouse accidentally wakes a lion when it is scurrying around on top of it. The mouse convinces the lion not to kill him because he may be useful to the lion some day. The lion was not so much convinced that the mouse would be helpful, but was delighted by the prospect. The mouse later does save the lion by chewing him out of the trap. In the sequel, the mouse asks to marry the lion's daughter as a reward. The lion agrees but not long after the marriage the lioness accidentally squashes the mouse under her paw. Since there was already a sequel involved, I did not think the story needed any plot extension. So, I decided on a complete format change while maintaining the original story line. I also added in the character of the Cheetah as an outside observer of the events taking place. It was fun working with the Facebook (or should I say Manebook) simulator and I hope you enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed creating it.
Bibliography: The two stories The Mouse and The Lion and The Married Mouse are from Aesop's Fables. The first is from the version by Jacobs 1894 and the second is from The Baby's Own Aesop illustrated by Crane in 1887. To make the Facebook posts, Simitator was used. The profile pictures of the Lion, Mouse, Cheetah, and Lioness can be found at their respective links.
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Week 2 Reading Diary, continued: Aesop's Fables
Here are some of my favorite stories from part B of the Aesop's Fables (Jacobs) reading.
Birds, Part 1: I really loved the story of The Crow and the Pitcher. It reminds me of the story I heard about a donkey that fell in a well and was being buried alive by dirt tossed into it. Instead of sitting around to be buried, the donkey stepped on top of the pile of dirt every time it came down and eventually got high enough to jump out of the well. Maybe these two stories could be combined somehow.
Birds, Part 2: On this page The Swallow and the Other Birds made me think of the Sower parable in the Bible. In the parable a farmer scatters seed and the seeds land on various different places and therefore has various different fates. One of the places the seed lands is on the path where it is snatched up by the birds. Other seeds, however, are not snatched up and some of the plants grow strong. It may be interesting to mix these two stories together.\
Insects, Snakes, Crabs: I feel like the characters in The Two Crabs could make for some great snippy dialogue in a storytelling session. There seems enough bite and yet also love in their words that it could make for a fun story to write.
Frogs and Fish: By far my favorite from this page is the story of The Frog and the Ox. Though the outcome of this story is easily predicted the ending is still satisfying. I could feel myself thinking "oh no, don't do it!" as the frog puffed up bigger and bigger. This kind of predictable suspense could be useful in my writing.
Nature and Inanimate Objects: I liked the moral behind The Belly and The Members. Showing that everyone has it's part and the importance of cooperation is great for a fable to do.
Humans and Gods: From this section I liked The Old Man and Death. I am not particularly sure why it caught my attention, but I intend to come back and read this story again later on to see if I can figure that out.
Family and Friends: On this page I liked The Two Fellows and The Bear. It reminded me of when people say "you don't have to outrun the bear, just your slowest friend" or something along those lines.
People Wise and Foolish, Part 1: I liked the anti-climactic ending of The Mountains in Labour. Sometimes I get stuck in the thought that any story I write needs some big outcome to be good, but this story reminds me that this is not always true.
People Wise and Foolish, Part 2: I enjoyed The Milkmaid and Her Pail because I never did know the origin of the phrase "don't count your chickens before they've hatched." I feel like this story could easily be expanded to include Polly Shaw and other characters from daily marketplace life.
More Fables (Not in Jacobs): I liked this entire page in general because it is so impressive how rich a story you can get from just a short poem. I also really enjoyed how snarky the stories were at times.
Birds, Part 1: I really loved the story of The Crow and the Pitcher. It reminds me of the story I heard about a donkey that fell in a well and was being buried alive by dirt tossed into it. Instead of sitting around to be buried, the donkey stepped on top of the pile of dirt every time it came down and eventually got high enough to jump out of the well. Maybe these two stories could be combined somehow.
Birds, Part 2: On this page The Swallow and the Other Birds made me think of the Sower parable in the Bible. In the parable a farmer scatters seed and the seeds land on various different places and therefore has various different fates. One of the places the seed lands is on the path where it is snatched up by the birds. Other seeds, however, are not snatched up and some of the plants grow strong. It may be interesting to mix these two stories together.\
Insects, Snakes, Crabs: I feel like the characters in The Two Crabs could make for some great snippy dialogue in a storytelling session. There seems enough bite and yet also love in their words that it could make for a fun story to write.
Frogs and Fish: By far my favorite from this page is the story of The Frog and the Ox. Though the outcome of this story is easily predicted the ending is still satisfying. I could feel myself thinking "oh no, don't do it!" as the frog puffed up bigger and bigger. This kind of predictable suspense could be useful in my writing.
Nature and Inanimate Objects: I liked the moral behind The Belly and The Members. Showing that everyone has it's part and the importance of cooperation is great for a fable to do.
Humans and Gods: From this section I liked The Old Man and Death. I am not particularly sure why it caught my attention, but I intend to come back and read this story again later on to see if I can figure that out.
Family and Friends: On this page I liked The Two Fellows and The Bear. It reminded me of when people say "you don't have to outrun the bear, just your slowest friend" or something along those lines.
People Wise and Foolish, Part 1: I liked the anti-climactic ending of The Mountains in Labour. Sometimes I get stuck in the thought that any story I write needs some big outcome to be good, but this story reminds me that this is not always true.
People Wise and Foolish, Part 2: I enjoyed The Milkmaid and Her Pail because I never did know the origin of the phrase "don't count your chickens before they've hatched." I feel like this story could easily be expanded to include Polly Shaw and other characters from daily marketplace life.
More Fables (Not in Jacobs): I liked this entire page in general because it is so impressive how rich a story you can get from just a short poem. I also really enjoyed how snarky the stories were at times.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Week 2 Reading Diary: Aesop's Fables (Jacobs)
For Aesop's Fables (Jacobs and Crane) I chose one favorite story from each page. These were my favorites.
Lions, Part 1: My favorite story from this section is Androcles and the Lion. I really enjoyed the story because it shows the power of compassion. It might be interesting to do this story similar to the story of the good samaritan. Have two people pass by the lion because they are afraid to stop and help and then have the third stop to help. All three men could be presented to the lion on separate days with the lion eating the first two but not the third. Just a preliminary idea.
Lions, Part 2: I was not a huge fan of the stories in this section, but the one I liked most was The Ass and The Sick Lion. This was my favorite because, as in the story directly above, normally if there is a sly animal in a story it is a fox or an owl. However, this story used a donkey which is different and I appreciate that.
Foxes, Part 1: I really enjoyed The Fox and The Crane. I find it very impressive how such a full narrative can be condensed into a short 5 line poem. I hope to be able to write so concisely one day.
Foxes, Part 2: I liked The Fox and The Lion from this page. I think it would be interesting to redo the story to have a different ending moral. Possibly do one based off of "comfort breeds recklessness" or something along those lines. It would completely change the story but use the same characters and setting.
Wolves: The story The Wolf and the Kid stuck out to me because the sentiment can be very true in conversations through the internet. When people are unreachable, they can become more brave in their cruelty.
Dogs and Cats: On this page I liked The Fox and the Cat because I can relate to it quite a bit. I am very indecisive and so sometimes it is better for me to have one good option than many to choose from.
Mice: I thought the response of The Married Mouse to The Mouse and The Lion was extremely clever and not unlike the storytelling we are doing in this class. It was interesting to see a story continuation rather than a story alteration. Definitely something to keep in mind for future storytelling.
Asses: The Ass stories were not my favorite, though I did appreciate the last one, The Horse and the Ass.
Deer: I thought The One-Eyed Doe was an interesting story. It would be a fun one to try to expand by explaining why she was half blind and why being hunted was her fate. There could be a lot to work with in this story.
Hares: On this last page I enjoyed The Hares and the Frogs because I had never heard the story behind the phrase "There is always someone worse off than yourself" before.
Lions, Part 1: My favorite story from this section is Androcles and the Lion. I really enjoyed the story because it shows the power of compassion. It might be interesting to do this story similar to the story of the good samaritan. Have two people pass by the lion because they are afraid to stop and help and then have the third stop to help. All three men could be presented to the lion on separate days with the lion eating the first two but not the third. Just a preliminary idea.
Lions, Part 2: I was not a huge fan of the stories in this section, but the one I liked most was The Ass and The Sick Lion. This was my favorite because, as in the story directly above, normally if there is a sly animal in a story it is a fox or an owl. However, this story used a donkey which is different and I appreciate that.
Foxes, Part 1: I really enjoyed The Fox and The Crane. I find it very impressive how such a full narrative can be condensed into a short 5 line poem. I hope to be able to write so concisely one day.
Foxes, Part 2: I liked The Fox and The Lion from this page. I think it would be interesting to redo the story to have a different ending moral. Possibly do one based off of "comfort breeds recklessness" or something along those lines. It would completely change the story but use the same characters and setting.
Wolves: The story The Wolf and the Kid stuck out to me because the sentiment can be very true in conversations through the internet. When people are unreachable, they can become more brave in their cruelty.
Dogs and Cats: On this page I liked The Fox and the Cat because I can relate to it quite a bit. I am very indecisive and so sometimes it is better for me to have one good option than many to choose from.
Mice: I thought the response of The Married Mouse to The Mouse and The Lion was extremely clever and not unlike the storytelling we are doing in this class. It was interesting to see a story continuation rather than a story alteration. Definitely something to keep in mind for future storytelling.
Asses: The Ass stories were not my favorite, though I did appreciate the last one, The Horse and the Ass.
Deer: I thought The One-Eyed Doe was an interesting story. It would be a fun one to try to expand by explaining why she was half blind and why being hunted was her fate. There could be a lot to work with in this story.
Hares: On this last page I enjoyed The Hares and the Frogs because I had never heard the story behind the phrase "There is always someone worse off than yourself" before.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)