Famous Last Words: A Good Mix

At the beginning of this week, something that I challenged myself to do was to be better about doing schoolwork AND things for myself so that I didn't get so burnt out on studying all the time. Looking back, I've done a pretty good job of this.
On Sunday, one of my really good friends asked me to go with him to his fraternity's date dash and go ice skating with him. Although I had some other things I could have done for the upcoming week, I decided to go and I did not regret it. We had a lot of fun together and I felt more refreshed and ready for another week than I probably would have if I had spent the night studying. Also, if you were wondering, apparently I am a terrible ice skater. He, of course, was a natural and tried to teach me how to improve but it seemed to be of no use. I knocked my date down twice because I couldn't stay on my own two feet :)

A personal photo from the date dash this 

past weekend.

This weekend, my dad is coming for the football game because it is Dad's Day. We are very close and I am excited for him to get here. It's also fitting that it is the TCU game because we hate that team more than almost anyone else in college football. I guess that's just something that comes from growing up in Waco and having parents that are Baylor Alumni. Either way, I am excited for what is to come this weekend. I do have a lot of stuff to do beforehand though because I have a HUGE project due next Monday in one of my other classes that is actually 20% of my final grade that i am really nervous for and won't want to do while my dad is in town. Wish me luck on that!

A personal photo from Dad's Day a few years ago.

Learning Challenge Week 12

For this weeks learning challenge, I read the article Why Sleeping May Be More Important Than Studying by Katrina Schwartz. I am the queen of trying to see what the minimal number of hours of sleep I can get is in order to still be productive the next day. There have been countless nights that I have stayed in the library until an insane hour only to have to get up for an early morning class the next day. I've always know that that wasn't the best idea, but it never stopped me from doing it. However, I didn't know just how bad exactly this lack of sleep was. I had never really thought of the importance of establishing a routine and making sleep a deliberate priority before reading this article. However, in hindsight, it makes sense. I typically look at my phone right before I finally go to bed, too, in order to check any last minute notifications or messages from friends. I had never thought about the negative affects that could have.

Apparently sleeping in class doesn't count as quality sleep, 

Source: Wikimedia Commons

I'm not entirely sure how I will go about applying this to my daily living because I am still a busy college student enrolled in 19 hours and trying to maintain a good GPA, but I think that it is something to be mindful of and the know about. Hopefully, knowing this, I can at least think about it and try to practice some better routines with the sleep that I do manage to get. I am going to try to make it a goal to get at least a little bit more sleep each night if I can help it. After all, what good does it do to stay up studying for all hours of the night when my brain apparently reaches a point where it doesn't even retain the information anymore because it is so tired?

Reading Notes: King Arthur Part B

Sir Galahad and the White Knight

Sticking with the theme of modernization, that is what I think I would want to do for my rewriting if I were to select this particular piece. I could have some of the toughest, most popular guys competing for their own shield and to become like the "knight" but to make it more relatable to today's time, maybe they could compete for a captain spot on the football team or a varsity athletic position.

Sir Lancelot's Vision

I hadn't heard this part of the story before, but I did enjoy it. Maybe, for a rewriting of this part, I could do a letter or a journal entry of sorts where Lancelot tells of his vision and expresses what it is that he has seen. This might could be modernized but it could also be kept in the original time period.

Sir Lancelot, the one who had the vision.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Sir Lancelot and the Five Hundred Knights

This story was interesting and seemed as if it were going to be a pivotal moment in the story. I could focus a rewrite on what makes him so bad in the nuns sight or something like that.

I liked the rest of the stories and the way that they added to the current plot, but for the sake of the rewrite, I have already decided that I wanted to write mine on something from the first half because I was more familiar with those.

Bibliography

Andrew Lang's King Arthur Unit

Reading Notes: King Arthur Part A

The Drawing of the Sword

I have always loved this story in all of the different forms that I have heard it growing up. It is one of the few things that I am actually familiar with as far as King Arthur is concerned. For this reason, I think it would be a really fun one to get to rewrite for this week's assignment. It would be interesting to think a way to somehow modernize it for this class. 

King Arthur after he took the throne.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Questing Beast

This is a section of this tale that I think I could pretty easily use the modernization rewriting idea that I also had for The Drawing of the Sword. I would want to somehow find the most unlikely, scrawny guy and have him fulfill the role of King Arthur in some way in my rendition of this short story.

The Sword Excalibur

The only thing that I can think of as far a rewriting of this piece is to change the sword into some other highly coveted item that he might want. I could make it something that those around him also want and he then would be blinded by the appeal of it as opposed to what it is that he really needs. 

The Round Table

This story of the round table is the only other one that I was familiar with at all. That being said, I'm actually not sure what to do as far as making it a unique rewrite. Maybe I could modernize it again and make it a kid vying for football captain or something like that.

The Passing of Merlin

Again, I don't have many ideas for rewriting. The only thing that comes to mind is that I could possibly do something with the mistress that is taking advantage of Merlin and expand on what she does with the powers that she learns from him. In other words, i could probably add a greater ending that goes past what is covered in the original story.

King Arthur and Morgan le Fay

With something like what this story is, I always take a pretty simple approach to rewriting. I would want to explore the character of Morgan le Fay more in depth and give her more of a reasoning for wanting to kill King Arthur. That way, her actions will not seem so crazy but there will be a reason for what she is doing.

The Quest of the Holy Graal

This seemed to be more of an informative section and not so much a continuation of the story that I've been reading thus far. For that reason, it's not one that I'm even going to consider doing my storytelling assignment over. 

The King's Pilgrimage

This is not one that I want to do with my rewriting. I want to use one of the pieces above.

Bibliography

Andrew Lang's King Arthur Unit

Learning Challenge: What Makes a Good Teacher?

For this week's learning challenge, I read the article What Kids Wish Their Teacher Knew. Studying to be a future teacher and then a professional counselor myself, this was something very eye opening for me to read. You always hear about the importance of knowing your students beyond just an academic level and knowing that they are all unique but there is something so special about seeing it in real words right in front of you.

It is important that teacher's know what is going on with

their students outside of classroom curriculum. Source: Pixabay

My mom is also a teacher right now in central Texas and some of the stories that she has told me in the past are unbelievable and heartbreaking. I'm not going to name names for the sake of privacy of the student's and their families but I have heard everything from kids going into foster care, kids loosing parents way too early and unexpectedly, kids being neglected and abused, and so many other things. These are the types of things that keep student's I might have in the future from giving their best effort in school that teacher's may never know about. Because of this, it is so important that teacher's both understand what their student's might be dealing with and also understand that failure to complete assignments or to do so well may not always be because of a lack of desire or effort but a lack of time, means, etc. to do so.
As far as how I could implement this into my own future classroom, I want to be the teacher that my students know that they can go to for anything that they need. While I will want them to be successful in my English classroom, I want them to know that first and foremost I want them to know that they are safe, cared for, and loved. If I can implement this type of atmosphere in my own classroom, whether I am teaching 6th graders or seniors in high school, I will be able to count my career as a success when all is said and done.

Famous Last Words; Home Stretch

We're finally in the homestretch. That's how I always feel once the month of November rolls around during the fall semester and this year is no different. Taking 19 hours at the moment, I am completely exhausted, but did that stop me from enrolling in 18 for this next semester? Of course not. However, I am actually really excited about some of the courses that I am planning not taking and even have them with some friends that I have made within my major this past semester so it shouldn't be too terrible.
I'm looking forward to this weekend because I don't have a ton going on. I have the normal homework load that I will have to spend some time focusing on but other than that what I have planned should be pretty fun. For starters, tomorrow morning I am volunteering at the OU Children's Hospital in Oklahoma City and I am really excited about it. My dad has worked in a children's hospital for several years and it is an environment that I really love. In fact, years down the road when I complete my masters in professional counseling, maybe that is an environment that I could work in.
Additionally, one of my really close friends has a birthday this weekend. She invited me and one of my roommates over to watch the Bedlam game with her and just have a chill day celebrating and getting ready for yet another week. And as always, Boomer Sooner!

A personal photo of my friend that has a birthday this weekend (right) and my

roommate that will also be celebrating with us (left).

Finally, we are getting so close to Dad's Day, one of my favorite weekends every fall semester without fail! I don't get to see my family just a ton so any time that part or all of my family get to come to Norman is a good time. This year, it will just be my dad but we are going to go to the game and spend the weekend together doing some other fun things. Growing up, I always watched football with my dad so it is something that we really enjoy. It will be a good weekend to be able to push through to the end of the semester and go home to my family for the holidays.

Week 11 Storytelling: Banishment

Banishment

Red walked back to her tent, letting her mind wander. She was having the worst possible day and was sure that no one was going to understand. "I can't believe he has just ended things with me. I thought everything was going so wonderfully." She was, of course, talking about the town's best hunter that she had been with for nearly the past year. They had been in a very serious relationship and she thought that she had found her "one," her soul mate. He, however, apparently did not feel the same way. She had met him that morning around a campfire from the previous night where their tribe dwelt and he had broken the new to her. She left, heartbroken, to wonder what she would become now. For such a planner, this was not something she could have ever prepared for.

At first, Red felt unbearable sadness, However, it later turned to pure anger. She wanted revenge on the man that she had thought that she had been in love with for breaking her heart. Now the big question of the day was how she was going to get it. She continued on to her home, letting her mind wander yet again. This was a promise she made to herself that she was going to keep. He was going to feel at some point the pain that she felt in this moment.

A few years later, Red heard the news running through the village. The man whom she had thought was the love of her life at one point had just married and they were expecting children very soon. She remembered the promise she had made to herself the day he broke her heart and knew immediately what she had to do. She set out to the tent that she knew the two of them had been sharing from tribal gossip.

Upon arrival, Red was shocked to see that the woman was there by herself with her unborn children inside of her. Without hesitating and before she could change her mind, Red attacked. She slit the woman's throat and killed her in one fell swoop. For a moment, she was overcome with grief and wanted to at least help the children she knew were inside. She threw one behind a curtain so she knew he'd be warm and the other she put into a spring so that he at least wouldn't go thirsty. Figuring she had done her good deed for the day, she propped the now dead woman up so it would look as if she still was alive when her husband came home and fled, wanting to never be seen here again but to know that she had gotten the revenge she had been after for the past years.

The type of curtain that the Red covered one of the unborn 

children in for warmth. Source: Pixabay

Author's Note

I based this story off of the tale entitled Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away from the second half of the Native American Hero Tales unit. While the piece in it's original version was interesting to read and did a good job of relaying the story, I couldn't help but feel as if there was something that was missing. I wanted to know why the Red-Woman was so hateful toward the man and his wife that he would kill the woman and then throw the newborn children around in such a violent way. For that reason, I decided to give this story a little bit more a background so that the Red-Woman and her horrible hatred could be better understood. I also thought it would be fitting to write the story from the woman's perspective to make it seem more genuine and authentic as opposed to someone simply trying to make her out to be the bad guy in the situation. 

Bibliography

Stith Thompson's Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away

Reading Notes: Native American Hero Tales Part B

Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away

This story had a very dark and kind of twisted beginning. I couldn't help but wonder as I was reading it why Red-Woman would be so set on killing the man's wife and harming the babies as she did. This is what I would focus on for a rewrite of this piece to give it more of a background and a hope that it makes a little bit more sense to the readers somehow.

When the wife was killed, one of the sons was thrown behind

a simple curtain such as this. Source: Pixabay

The Son-in-Law Tests

I actually really enjoyed reading this story. There isn't much about the story line itself that I would want to change but I think that I could change the format somehow to enhance the story. Maybe I would write it as a journal/diary or something keeping a log of the tests being endured.

The Jealous Father

Again, this story seemed to be lacking quite a bit where background is concerned. If I were to do my rewrite for this portion, I would spend time focusing on why the father hated the son so much. I might even take it step further to try and figure out a resolution for this conflict.

Dirty-Boy

This story had a very Cinderella feel to me. I would want to rewrite this in a way that somehow modernized what is going on. Maybe the kids are in high school and the nerdy boy is trying to win the popular girls heart. This would be a potentially fun one to look at working with.

Bibliography

Stith Thompson's Native American Hero Tales

Reading Notes: Native American Hero Tales Part A

The Jealous Uncle

This story was a little bit dark and hard to follow a little bit because of it. One thing that i thought would lighten that up a little bit is to change the perspective to that of the wife of the uncle or someone else near to him. This unnatural uncle could then be observed and the onlooker could try to stop them somehow so that there was a little bit more hope for the boys with their uncle.

Bluejay and His Companions

This story was much easier to follow and keep track of what was going on. I would focus this on the perspective of the grouse venting his frustrations and to let them know that he is upset that all he gets is the fat of their catchings.

The taunting bluejay that taunted his grouse friend.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Dug-From-Ground

The story of Dug-From-Ground was really interesting but I thought that it took quite a bit of storytelling to get it started. For that reason, I wonder if that is something that I could fix up with a rewrite of my own. I am not exactly sure what this would look like, but it is a thought that I think that I could easily entertain. Maybe I would focus more of the story on figuring out exactly what it is that he can and cannot do or something like that.

The Attack on the Giant Elk and the Great Eagle

I didn't particularly care for this story, partly because I don't really know which direction I would want to take a rewriting assignment. I could potentially do a series of letters about the attacks or something like that.

Bibliography

Stith Thompson's Native American Hero Tales

Week 10 Storytelling: The Buffalo-Man

The Buffalo-Man

There once was a young hunter who went out to find himself a wife. However, he identified more with the buffalo than he did his fellow humans and decided to mate with one of them instead. Finding one that pleased him, he stayed with her and they had a son after the right time had passed. However, the hunter was greatly ashamed of what he had done and decided not to stay in his son's life. He fled and returned to his old life.

Years later, the young buffalo son greatly desired to meet his father and set out to find them. He sat and observed everyone coming through the village, trying to pick out who he belonged to. Many men came and went, but he did not find any that seemed as if they could be his father. Then, a man passed through on his was to the market that caught the young buffalo's attention. He wasn't sure why he of all people seemed like a possibility, but he pursued him anyway. As he approached, the young hunter had a look of sudden recognition come over his face and realized that it was his son. He was immediately overcome with joy and knew immediately he could no longer not be present in his son's life. However, when he announced this, his son's buffalo community wasn't so sure that he deserved such privilege. How do we know he's going to be genuine this time, they questioned. As a result, they decided to test the man.

As a test, they put the young buffalo in the herd with all of his friends and made the father guess which one belonged to him. His son was desperate for his father to be correct so he had small signals that he used to alert the man, allowing him to accurately identify which buffalo was his son. The buffalo weren't convinced however, and made him try again. This went on for a while until the man got confused and suddenly picked the wrong buffalo as his son. He knew immediately that he had messed up because he saw a young buffalo's face fall instantly and knew that that was his son instead of the one that he had picked.

Once the test was over, the buffalo royalty met and made a decision. They ultimately decided that the man could stay with his son because they had pity on him, but there was going to be a consequence for his error in his ways. They decided that he would be allowed to stay, but that he must also become a buffalo to prove his loyalty to the herd. The man hesitated but accepted because of the love he had found for his son recently. That wasn't something he was willing to give up. Instantly, the man took on his buffalo form and headed off into the field to join his new family and start this new life that was now laid out in front of him.

The hunter turned into a buffalo to pass the rest of his life.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Author's Note

I rewrote this piece based on The Piqued Buffalo-Wife by Stith Thompson. I liked the way the story unfolded but I decided that I wanted to change the ending a little bit by having the family rain together in buffalo form. I kept most of the rest of the story the same but did change the was that it was worded and cut down some of the elaborate details to make it more of a short story.

Reading Notes: Native American Marriage Tales Part B

General Notes about Part B

Something that I noticed about this second half of the reading as a whole is that the pieces were all incredibly lengthy. For the most part, the stories were good but it was hard at points to stay intrigued and interested in what was going on in the work. This would be something that would be a good idea to keep in mind when it comes time to do my rewrite for the week if I were to pick one of these stories from this half of the collection.

The Dog-Husband

This story was interesting and also seemed to have a little bit of naivety to it, especially at the beginning when it talked about the dog laying with the girl in human form but then turning back into a dog so that no one knew what they were doing. It made me think of a modern day tale where the boy would come sneak in through the window and then the two would have to remember that he had to sneak out before anyone managed to find him. This is the route that I would want to take a rewrite if I were to choose this one for the assignment.

The Youth Who Joined the Deer

This story was kind of sad and made me feel sorry for the wife and kids that he left at the very beginning. With that in mind I think I would want to do the rewrite portion of the assignment in such a way that he was followed by his wife and she found out for herself firsthand what he had been up to in her absence. This could even be written in a diary or journal format to make it more original and unique from the actual version in the collection.

The Girl and the Turkeys

This story was interesting because a Turkey is not an animal that I have read much up on. I think for a rewrite, however, I would simply change the animal that they have. Maybe instead of a turkey they would have a horse or something like that. A horse seems like it would be more functional so I could probably go a lot of different directions with something like that.

The great type of turkey that I envisioned the girl having

in the original version of the story. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Bibliography

Stith Thompson's Native American Marriage Tales

Reading Notes: Native American Marriage Tales Part A

The Piqued Buffalo-Wife

This was an interesting and entertaining story to read because it was very unique from anything else that I have read thus far for the purpose of this class. I have a lot of ideas about what I want to do for a rewrite of the tale, but my favorite is the idea of changing the ending to where the father does actually guess his son correctly. However, as a remaining consequence for his distrust in his wife, the family would remain as buffalo instead of reuniting as humans.

The man had to look for his son in a herd of a bunch of buffalo

and had a hard time picking him out. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Bear-Woman and Deer-Woman

This story was also interesting, but also slightly predictable. Because of its predictability, I think I would like to do a rewrite in which the Doe actually overcame the Grizzly instead of the other way around. I think this would add a level of surprise to the story because it would not be the expected outcome but the underdog would instead be victorious. 

Splinter-Foot-Girl

I hadn't ever really read a story like this either but I really enjoyed it. Something that might be fun for a rewrite is combining both this story and the story of Jacob trying to earn Rachel as his wife in the bible. This would be fun because the stories are already slightly similar so it would be interesting to try to change the outcome in such a way and see where it leads.

The Eagle and Whale Husbands

I didn't feel like there was a whole lot happening in this story, partly because of the fact that it was written in only 600 words. For that reason, I would want to use the rewriting assignment as an opportunity to expand on the details given. I think I would format it in a series of letters that is written by the two wives as they update their long lost friends on their new lives as they are separated from each other. 

The Fox-Woman

I like how all of these stories seem to have a transformation take place that wouldn't normally be expected. For a rewrite of this one, I think I would change her reaction when the hunter inquired her of the smell. I would somehow make it more of a punishment instead of getting away with making such a rude comment.

The Woman Stolen by Killer Whales

This story didn't really seem to have any type of ending but instead just kind of left everything up to interpretation and assumption. For that reason, I would want to somehow tie it up to where there aren't so many questions about what happened in the ending of the short story. I might would make it to where the man somehow got confined to the water as a punishment for killing the whale's friend and not taking better care of his own wife.

The Rolling Head

Even from the title of this piece, I was intrigued to say the least. The piece was a little bit creepy but honestly, I am not entirely sure how I would even go about doing a rewrite of a piece like this. The only thing that I can think of is further explaining the consequence of the children or making them pay a greater price for their actions but I am not sure that I like that alternative so much as the way that the original work is written. 

The Bear-Woman

This story vaguely reminded me of the Disney movie, Brother Bear. I'm not sure how to go about a rewrite of this unit but I feel like the men didn't ever have to pay for what they did to the bears so that might be something to take into consideration were I to decide to take a second look at this specific section and try to change it up a bit.

Bibliography

Stith Thompson's Native American Marriage Tales

Famous Last Words: No Free Time

I feel like the title of this post just about sums up my thoughts on how things are going right now. I am always studying, meeting with people, going to meetings, and trying to remember not to miss breakfast, lunch, or dinner. With all of that, there is hardly any free time to do the things that I sometimes want to such as just hanging out and watching Netflix for a little while or, honestly, just getting to sit still for a while and not do anything at all.
However, even in the busyness, I am still enjoying this semester. I got to go home last weekend during OU/TX because I didn't feel like spending as much money as an adventure to Dallas would have cost so I just drove a little bit further and went on to my home in Waco, Texas. I got to go see my sisters do things for their cheer squad and high school band that I would not have gotten to see otherwise, which was a lot of fun. I miss my sisters a lot while I am here in Norman, and my parents too. My dad just found out that he will actually be able to come up for Dad's Day on November 11th when OU plays TCU and I couldn't be more excited. I also hope we seriously beat TCU because, having grown up in Waco with lots of Baylor ties, they are about my least favorite team of all.

A personal photo of my sister and the other seniors on her squad.

She's the short one with curly brown hair.

This weekend, I have to go to a retreat for my sorority. I know that it will be fun once I get there, but right now I am having trouble working up the desire to go because I have so much to do and would kill for an uneventful weekend at this point in the semester. Then, tomorrow night, we are going out and celebrating my roommate, Jillian, that will be turning 21. All of these things will be super fun but I am hoping that I can find some time to rest in the midst of the. Here's hoping! :)