Famous Last Words:

This post has become one of my favorites to do throughout the week. I really like looking back and seeing how the week has gone once I reach the end of it.

This week in particular has been crazy but also a lot of fun. My best friend and I went to Waco this weekend for the OU football game and I got to show her around my hometown and spend some time with my family. It was a super fun and restful weekend, something that I desperately needed after the crazy beginning of the semester. Also, OU won (barely) so that's always a plus too!

Personal photo from this past weekend with some of my friends

from OU that all made the trip down to Waco.

As far as this week itself, it is always crazy getting back from being out of town and preparing for another crazy week ahead. I had a couple of tests and assignments this week, making it slightly stressful. I also have a lot going on outside of school that is proving to be a cause of stress so finding time to decompress and wind down so that I can keep my sanity in tact has been nothing short of crucial. This coming week, I will have to do better with my time management and not allowing myself to get super freaked out about something that is not completed before there is a reason to panic about it. One of the things this week that has been super beneficial to not having a breakdown this week has been the ability to hangout with friends and take a little bit of a break each day. This is something that I mentioned in my Learning Challenge blog post, but it is something that I have learned makes such a difference from week to week.

I'm excited to see what the next weeks of the semester will hold and what is going to pan out as we move through the rest of the semester not only in this class and in my others, but also in things that aren't school related.

Learning Challenge: Time Management

This week for the Learning Challenge, I looked at the article titled 11 Ways Unsuccessful People Mismanage Their Time. I had several reactions to the article, finding that I utilized some of these strategies in my own time management attempt, but not all of them. My challenge to myself this week would be to be mindful of what I do and to make a conscious effort to be better about time management as a whole.

The article that I read this week is all about Time Management

and how to be more successful about utilizing it. Source: Pixabay

The very first point that this article made was the importance of keeping a schedule. This is something that I do religiously, always making sure to write down every little detail and to color code it appropriately. I have definitely seen the ways that this has proven to be beneficial and I have no doubt that it is something that I will never stop doing. I feel like this is very similar to the second point that said to record things such as what you need to do and what you've already done. I've also seen great benefits in doing this.

The first thing I saw that applied to me in this article was the 3rd subtitle that said that they get distracted easily. This definitely applies to me at times, more than I would like to admit. Usually my focus is pretty good but there re definitely times that it is lacking and could be better. Those are times that I want to be aware of what is going on and to make an effort to stay on task and to focus more on quality than quantity of time spent on something.

A HUGE thing this article mentioned that I am guilty of is not planning time for fun things in order to relax and avoid burning out on what I am working on. This is something that I had not really given much thought to previously, but that I will begin to make an effort to be better about. I think this goes hand in hand with the topic that follows it in the article about forgetting about the weekends and trying to just push through them as if they are just 2 extra days during the week to cram as much into as possible.

These are just a few of the things that I found to be interesting about the article that I read and that I want to challenge myself to be better about not only during this week, but also during the weeks to come following.

Week 6 Storytelling: A Pet For Keeps

A Pet for Keeps

There once was a young named Michael. Growing up, his parents had given him everything he could have ever wanted, except for one thing. He had never been allowed to have a pet, no matter how much he begged for one. Dogs, cats, snakes, birds, and pretty much any creature was automatically ruled out anytime he tried to bring it up. Feeling particularly rebellious one day after he had just moved out of his family's home, he decided he was going to become a pet owner once and for all. But he didn't want just any pet; he wanted one that was unique and that had something out of the ordinary to offer him. With that in mind, he set out to find the perfect pet for him. 

The parrot that Michael picked out to be his pet was brilliantly

colored. Source: Pixabay

Shortly into his journey, Michael stumbled upon a pet store that seemed promising called Critter's: Exotic Pets and More. Exotic was ordinary, he thought to himself. He went in and was immediately drawn to a brilliantly colored bird in the corner, one that squawked in such a way as if he were actually saying something and not just making useless noises. This is the pet for me, he thought and he went to the cashier to take his new friend home.

Once arriving back at his house, Michael began to play around with the parrot, seeing what he could get it to do. Eventually, the bird had had enough of the useless phrases that Michael wanted him to repeat. The parrot knew he had to do something so he made a promise to Michael. He explained that he was not an ordinary parrot, but one with great wisdom and greater capabilities because of it that simply could not go to waste. Having said this, the parrot insisted that Michael allow him to use his potential. He explained that he could keep all annoyances from pestering him because of his crazy story telling capabilities. There were some people that Michael found generally annoying yet saw often so this sounded like a wonderful trade. Without any hesitation, the two made a deal an Michael left the parrot alone, excited about the service the bird would soon be doing him. 

Bibliography

Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi's The Tales of a Parrot

Author's Note

I decided to use this story to retell the story of Miemun and Khojisten in a more modern way. I made this decision because I thought it would be fun to think about why a prince, or even a boy with a lot of privileges, would want a parrot in the first place. I ended up changing it from a market to the pet store but also kept the parrot's capabilities in my version of the story from what he could do in the original. 

Reading Notes: Tales of a Parrot Part B

Of a King and His Sons

This piece took a turn that I didn't expect as the princess, through a strange turn of a few events, ended up with the prince. For a rewrite, it might be interesting to focus more on the princess and talk about how she might have been feeling through the whole process.

The Merchant Whose Daughter was Lost

I really am coming to like the way that the wife keeps going to the parrot, allowing him to distract her at this point without him having to make as much of an effort. It might even be fun for some random project to focus a story on this part of the piece. For a rewrite on this piece, however, I might make it to where the merchant was lost instead of his daughter. 

Of a Brahmin Falling in Love

I always love dealing with stories about love. I feel like this might be the simple answer but for a rewrite about this piece it would be fun to modernize it and write about a guy looking for a girl in the city and finding her through some crazy circumstances or something along those lines. 

What I imagine the character that fell in love in this piece might

have looked like. Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Son of the King of Babylon

In this piece, I think the best way that I know to do a rewrite is to focus on an outside character that would find the severed heads and write what his/her feelings would be in such a situation. There are many different ways to express such an occurrence but this perspective enables me to then continue the story beyond where it ends now if I decided that I wanted to somehow for some reason. 

The Merchant's Daughter

As interesting as this piece was, I think it's one that is told quite a bit in some variation. To make it more unique, I might would change the daughter into someone that is not beautiful but is the exact opposite. While that seems like a trivial change, it would ultimately change the entire layout of the story due to this one characteristic. 

The Nobleman who Concealed a Snake in His Sleeve

This piece was unique on its own but I think it might be fun to put a totally unexpected turn on it and make the animal something that is otherwise thought of as cute, even if it were something like a dachshund around his neck or something like that.

The Soldier and the Goldsmith

This piece was entertaining but also simple and just kind of ended where one would have expected. A rewrite might be fun to take it even further, focusing more on what the soldier did with his newfound wealth after the goldsmith was robbed for trying to rob him. 

Of the Merchant and the Barber

The stories in this selection have started to become more and more random and seemingly disconnected. I feel like this section had a very "Disney like" feel to it and for that reason I thought it would be fun to turn the barber into a genie like character of sorts and see where that could go. 

The Fog, the Bee, and the Bird

While it is a seemingly small aspect to focus on for a rewrite, I think it would be fun to focus this one on what might happen if the bird and her eggs had gotten stuck on the elephant and were cared for and nurtured there as opposed to falling off. 

The Elk and the Ass

This piece was also simple but fun to read. I think it would be a fun idea for a rewrite to focus on the friendship that is so briefly mentioned at the very beginning of the story and to explain how such a relationship between two unlikely figures came to be instead of just mentioning it and then moving on so quickly. 

A King Falls in Love, and the End of Khojisteh

As is common with many of the stories regarding love, I think this one would also be fun to modernize in some way as the King falls in love. This was an interesting but fitting piece to end the collection with, at least in my opinion. 

Bibliography

Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi's Tales of a Parrot

Reading Notes: Tales of a Parrot Part A

Miemun and Khojisteh

This particular story provides a background of how Miemun came to get the parrot. I like the idea of using this as a rewrite but changing the animal or something like that. It would be fun to write about a dog with such powers or even to make the main character that comes to own the pet a female, showing what difference they might have in request.

The type of parrot that took over and manipulated so many

people in the piece. Source: Pixabay

Khojisteh and the Parrot

This section shows some of how manipulative the parrot can be, especially towards the main characters lover. As a rewrite, I could change what the parrot was asking the girl to do, all while keeping with the theme of the trickster character being an animal other than a parrot. There's a lot of room for character development in this section. I also like the way this highlights the way it is a continuous story with the way the ending is formatted.

The Parrot of Ferukh Beg

There's a lot of plot development here as you see that the parrot and the wife are not fond of each other but that they want to get back at each other for what they believe the other did. As far as an idea for a rewrite, this segment might be fun to modernize a little bit to where the parrot made the wife do something like taking the kids somewhere fun or going out herself, and not so old timey.

The Goldsmith, the Carpenter, the Taylor, and the Hermit

I like the way this story opens with a narrative before diving in to the actual story. For a rewrite, I might consider having the men fight over the woman a little bit more, making it more modern as opposed to the old jobs that they claim in this piece.

The King of Kinoje and his Daughter

I like the way that this is told from the perspective of someone else as it has already happened and not in a way as if it were happening in the present. For a rewrite idea, I could focus on the sacrifice made that makes the royroyan so generous. I could even change this character completely and make it to where the generosity is from a completely different character with different traits and everything. 

The Fowler, the Parrot, and her Young Ones

As I continue to read these different stories, I like the variation between them and the way that none of them are the same but they are related just enough to fall under the same story. For a rewrite of this one, I would most likely want to focus on the way that the young birds were trapped and told to play dead. That would probably look like one of the babies talking and expressing fear as they listen to the parrot telling him/her what to do. 

The Merchant and His Wife

For a rewrite on this piece, I would want to focus from the perspective of the merchant that endured something because of the parrot that causes him to be embarrassed and, as a result, mad at the parrot and vowing to get revenge. 

The Old Lion and the Cat

I like the way that the lion had to depend on a much smaller and less intimidating animal in this section, the cat, instead of the other way around. For a rewrite, it might be fun to write more of a trickster story where the cat takes advantage of the new found trust since a cat doesn't get that opportunity all that often. 

The Commander of the Frogs, and the Snake

This was an interesting story in which the chief from made a plan to get his power back that ultimately backfired on him. For a rewrite, I might would change the outcome of the frog going to the snake in a way that the snake made the from serve him either for a time or for the remainder of his life, adding to the idea that what he did backfired and he went from being the most to the least powerful. 

Four Rich Persons who Became Poor

This piece is super interesting, especially when thinking of how to go about recreating it into my own version. I like the idea of taking it the reverse direction and writing about four poor people who became rich instead of four rich people who became poor. It also would be fun to modernize it and play around with the concept of money and riches. 

Besheer and a Woman Named Chunder

To rewrite this piece, the most interesting viewpoint I can think of is to focus from the perspective of Chunder, mentioning what she might have seen in such a person to have a relationship with him. This would be a prime way to work on the character development.

Bibliography

Ziya-alDin Nakhshabi's Tales of a Parrot

Learning Challenge: An Addiction to Busyness

When I saw the title of this article, Being Busy Permanently Reduces Our Ability to Think Creatively, it immediately caught my attention. I mean, I'm a college student and what college student isn't constantly busy? There are always papers to write, quizzes to take, texts to read, and that just barely begins to scratch the surface of it all.

However, Derek Beres argues that being constantly busy and on the go actually does just as much harm for us as it does good. Reading such a statement was alarming as someone who is always on the go. Especially as an English education major, creativity and individuality are both things that I will undoubtedly be pushing my students towards almost daily. So how is this issue solved?

I think the most impactful thing I took from this article is the need to be still. Honestly, I personally love being still. I have to have my me time every once in a while or I get super bogged down and end up putting myself in a bad mood. However, this me time used to make me feel guilty at times because I felt like I should be doing something, not laying around and doing nothing. Now, though, with the perspective of this article in mind I can take my time for myself without having to feel guilty for doing so, knowing that it actually is serving an important purpose.

Hammocking and reading are some of my favorite ways to relax

and get the much needed time to myself. Source: Flickr

This week, I want to challenge myself to take time for myself a couple of times throughout the week, not being anxious about all the things that I feel like I have to do. Those things aren't going to go anywhere so I think it is highly important that I have my time for myself and my time to maintain my sanity.

Famous Last Words: Another Week Down

It's crazy to think that another week is already pretty much over, just like that. I feel like at the beginning of the week, I always slightly dread another one starting in anticipation of all the assignments, classes, events, and things that I know are going to have to be finished, yet I've somehow made it through another one.

A personal photo of my friend, Jessica, that is going home

with me for the game this weekend.

I am particularly excited about the fact that I get to go home tomorrow for the weekend. I am from Waco so I am taking my best friend, who just so happens to be my roommate, with me to watch OU play their football game against Baylor. It should be a super fun time and I always really love getting to spend a few days at home with my family. It's also going to be my sister's 18th birthday on Saturday so I am really excited about being home for that as well.

A personal photo of my sister that will be turning 18

this weekend and I. 

Now that week five is complete for the most part, I do finally feel like I am getting in the swing of things, which is really nice to finally feel like I have a handle on things. I mentioned it last week but I am enrolled in 19 hours currently and it feels like there are always about 100 things to do. Honestly, anytime I have free time, I feel like there is something that I'm actually forgetting to do and I've been getting stressed out super easily.
I also got advised for next semester this week, which is crazy since we aren't even half way through this one. My adviser wants me to take 15-18 hours again with a lot of emphasis on the literature side of my major, which should be super interesting. I've never tackled that many literature courses at once so I am really nervous about it but hopefully it will turn out okay. And for the mean time, I'll just stick to worrying about the rest of this semester because I already have enough on my plate anyway.

Week 5 Story Telling: The Og's Flood

The Og's Flood

The Og looked on at the ark, wondering what he had done to deserve to not be allowed on the boat with everyone else. He saw the giraffes, elephants, dogs, cats, snakes, and every other creature on the earth. They were all dry and seemed to be happy, which irritated him greatly. He had tried to get on the boat, had tried to live with the rest of them, but he had not been allowed in. Noah, however, had had other plans. He insisted that the Og had to stay out in the waters, claiming that he was too big to fit in the ark. He didn't know who gave Noah the right to make decisions like this, but he didn't like it. He vowed to spend the rest of the 40 days and nights of the flood making his life and everyone else's on the boat miserable.

A representation of the flood waters that the Og endured

while everyone was on the ark. Source: Wikimedia Commons

As soon as the flood began and the waters started to rise, the Og knew what he had to do. He was determined to step on the ark and crush it and everyone inside. He thought this plan was an indestructible one. After all, he was the largest being on earth and he had more power than anyone. However, once the floods began and the waters got even stronger, he realized that his strategies weren't completely fool proof. Every time that he lifted his powerful hoof to strike the boat, the waves caught him off guard and made it impossible for him to accurately hit the ark. He didn't let this sway him just yet. He had 40 days, after all. He pressed on for each of those days and vowed to hit his mark.
Despite the Og's greatest efforts, when the waters began to recede, he saw that the ark was still thriving and that everyone on board was perfectly fine. He was overcome with jealousy once again. Noticing that the waters were much lower now, the Og took off into the distance and vowed to come up with a better plan. He was going to get revenge for how miserable he had been the past days, he just had to figure out how.

Author's Note

I modeled this after the Noah story from the Folklore of the Holy Land collection. It's original form just briefly mentioned the Og and the fact that he wanted to destroy the ark and everyone in this, but it didn't really give a reason for why he felt that way. With that in mind, I wanted to give the Og a voice so I decided to make a more developed creature that was jealous because of his size. However, even with the reason given, he still wasn't able to destroy the ark but he leaves at the end, determined to get revenge somehow.

Reading Notes: Folklore of the Holy Land Part B

Lot and the Tree of the Cross

This piece reminded me a little bit of a tie between the Old Testament and the New Testament. For a rewrite, I'm not entirely sure which direction I would take this but I did have a thought that I could do something with Lot looking for the Tree that he wanted. It would be completely different from what was originally told, but I was thinking of changing his character development slightly to where he didn't fail 3 times to find what he was looking for but was instead successful.

The Deaths of Moses and Aaron

To rewrite this piece, I am not 100% sure on what I would focus on. One idea that I did have was to change the time that it was written in, even if just by a few weeks. What this would mean for the piece is that it would be told by someone other than Moses and Aaron, maybe even one of their family members as a way of explaining the grief that they are enduring in the process of losing their loved ones. 

David

I love this different version of King David and his affair with Bathsheba. I was thinking for the rewrite of this piece I could have a series of letters that could even be intercepted by Uriah, serving as a method for him to find out about his wife's affair and a reason for King David to want to end his life. This would be helpful to my end of the semester project as well, making it even more appealing to use in my work this week. 

Solomon

For retelling this story, I want to focus somehow on the two doves that Solomon turned into the doves. This might look something like telling the thoughts they are having throughout the piece, even when they are rocks. It would be interesting to try and give thoughts to non-living objects, but I think shifting the perspective on the piece would be an interesting thing to add another dimension to the story as it is already told. 

El Khudr the Evergreen

Because of it's short length, I had a hard time coming up with how to retell this story. However, I did find one small aspect of the story that I think it would be interesting to focus on. At the very beginning, it talks about El Khudr being the one that discovered the Fountain of Youth. For a rewrite, I could further explore this idea and write an adventure filled piece telling all about how he went about finding the fountain.

Legends of El Khudr

Knowing that Kl Khudr ofter is used to represent Elijah makes this piece a little bit easier to read and to work with. For a rewrite of this piece, I would want to make it into a letter or a series of letters that explains the things that he was able to do, such as the way that he immediately healed the man with the disease. It would also be particularly interesting to think of this in a modern way, just to add another layer of difference in detailing to it. 

The character of El Khudr in the piece above is often used to represent 

Elijah, pictured directly above. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Elijah and Saint George

For this story, I think I would want to change the perspective yet again. Only this time, I was thinking it would be interesting to make the tale from the point of view of the dragon that is destroying the wall and the rest of the town. This would be a cool way to put a 'mystical' touch on it and change it just enough to make it a unique story.

El Khudr and Moses

I didn't completely understand this story, but I think something that would have made it a little easier to interpret would be if it had been in a more modern situation. For that reason, were I to retell this story in some way, I would change to setting of the time in which it took place, which would ultimately change the society and the way that the men and women would view each other as the plot unfolded.

Bibliography

J. E. Hanauer's Folklore of the Holy Land

Reading Notes: Folklore of the Holy Land Part A

Moslem Cosmogony

Having grown up in a Christian family, stories from the Holy Land of other religions is not something that I am very familiar with. For that reason, reading this unit was really interesting. For this first story, split up into two parts, I liked the way that it served as a background to be set up for the rest of the story that was to come. It literally explained the way that everything came to be. To rewrite this piece, I thought it might be fun to put a childlike twist on it. I would use a character that is wandering through a void of nothingness, finding clues or instructions or something of the sort that are telling him what to create. The finished product of the hunt, the X marks the spot if you will, that results in everything being created and coming into being just as it was planned. 

Our Father Adam

For the rewriting of this piece, I would want to focus in really closely on the development of Adam as a character, and specifically on the way that he himself was created. I would write it about a quest that other world leaders took to this Holy Land to make their contribute of the dirt that was used to mold Adam into the person he became. This comes from the way that it describes him being a man of many colors and highly diverse. While it is a seemingly small aspect to focus on, I think it is important to realize how Adam is at his core as it will further explain how he did some of the things he did and that is a story that I want to tell. 

Noah

This section of the story in this collection seems focused primarily on Noah, as revealed by the title itself. For a rewrite, to put a more creative twist on it, I was thinking it might be particularly interesting to focus more on the Og, the character who was set on destroying the ark and everyone in it. The reasoning for wanting to tell this story is that there isn't really a reason giving for his desire to do so. I would use character and plot development to explain reasoning for despising Noah and those around him somehow, explaining a reason for hard feelings between him and the people, even if it was simply that the ark wasn't big enough for him and he was jealous as a result. 

The character of Noah from the piece above.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Job and His Family

I love the story of Job in the Bible so it was super interesting to read a different take on it, even if this one was very different and had very few similarities. For a rewrite, I am not completely sure which direction I would want to take this one, but maybe I could even change the fact that Job's wife wanted to go to the devil and make it Job himself who wanted to do such a thing.

The character of Job from the piece above enduring

disease and trial. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Lokman

The only thing about this story that I might would make different is the ending. I would consider doing a rewrite in which the character wasn't healed, but instead the higher being (God figure) was able to heal him directly. This might be a stretch of sorts, but was the only thing I could come up with that wasn't just retelling the story as it was. 

Abraham, the Friend of God

I like the way the next few stories focused on the same character of Abraham, but have similar ideas for how to tell them. For the friend of God piece, I would want to make it a song/poem like piece in which they praise their God for what he did for them through Abraham when he found favor on him.

Abraham the Nimrod

This piece reminds me a little bit of the one in Daniel in the Bible where Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego are thrown into the fiery furnace. For a rewrite, I would want to do a journal/diary entry of some sorts from Abraham in order to give it a personal account of the trial that he experienced by being tested in this way by Nimrod.

Abraham: Mecca and Hebron

This piece also follows the same theme of Abraham being tested in his ability to stay faithful to his god. I would want to also focus this one from a perspective of a letter in which he is telling someone, maybe his wife or a friend, about what he is enduring, questioning it but vowing that he will not falter because he knows that in the end it will be worth it. 

Abraham's Hospitality

Finally, something good seems to be happening for Abraham. I could explain this from Abraham's perspective as he finds the blessing and tries to figure out what to do with it. Finally, he would find people in need of what he had and take them in with him, rendering himself poor in order to help others. This would center around developing the meaning of the title, showing that Abraham is in fact a hospitable person.

Bibliography

J. E. Hanauer's Folk-lore of the Holy Land: Moslem, Christian and Jewish

Famous Last Words: 19 Hours Later...

We're coming to the end of week 4 of the semester (I think) and it has been nothing short of crazy. Good, but crazy. For some reason, I thought that taking 19 hours this semester seemed like a good idea, plus I have been more involved in some on campus organizations than before, meaning that I have very little free time to do things for myself. It's good, but it's crazy. Maybe when it comes time to be advised and to enroll for next semester, I'll remember that it is actually okay to take 15 hours.

Even if I am taking a bunch of classes, I'm really enjoying them. Since they're all relevant to my major with the exception of one, I guess that's a good thing. It makes me feel like I'm finally in the major program that I was meant to pursue. Sometimes it's crazy to think about the number of years and classes and things that stand between me and the career that I want, but I think it will be worth it.

Personal photo of one of my favorite coffee shops, Gray Owl, 

where I like to go study.

Outside of school, this semester is off to a great start. I've gotten to be more involved in a ministry found Crossover that meets every Tuesday at 9 in the ballroom in the Union (If you're reading this post, you should come!) and I've also found a new church home after feeling dissatisfied at mine last semester. I've been going to Victory Family Church and I absolutely love it. The worship is incredible and the pastor is so good and relatable.

A personal photo of my friend Erin and I volunteering at 

the first week of Crossover for the semester.

Additionally outside of school, I am already anticipating next weekend. I usually try to be better about not living in the future but I can't help it sometimes. Next Friday, September 22, I am going home to Waco for the Baylor versus OU football game and I am excited to get to spend some time with my family as well. There is going to be so much going on that weekend from my high school's homecoming, the OU game, my sister's 18th birthday, my best friend coming with me, and so much more. I can't wait to go.  It's always nice having a weekend at home with some of my favorite people.

I feel like I've done nothing but ramble with this blog post, but I guess that's the result of taking way too many classes and trying to do way too many things in one day. Here's to doing better about not doing that in the future- or not. I guess we'll see.

Comment Wall

Mythology Story Book Project Site

My project is going to contain different biblical love stories

rewritten from the original scripture version in the 

Bible. Source: Pixabay

Week 4 Story: My Husband, the Drunk

Noah's wife looked on with pity, watching her husband drink from the vine so hopelessly as if there were no tomorrow coming. He used to be so noble, so faithful, so pious, she thought to herself as she questioned what had driven him to do such a despicable thing. It was almost as if he had been making a deal with the devil, and that was what she found to be the most upsetting of all.

The field of vines in which Noah was spending much

of his time during this curse of drunkenness that he 

had fallen victim to. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Suddenly, she saw something that caught her completely off guard. Some strange man had appeared in the fields with her husband that she didn't recognize at all. Suddenly she began to see her husband slay random animals that approached him in the field, becoming so crazed by his drunkenness that he couldn't separate what was right and what was wrong in the slightest. She thought back on the days of their ancestors, Adam and Eve, and it brought her great pain to see what was unfolding. Determined to help her husband realize the harm in what he was doing, she sat down to write her once beloved husband a letter, pleading with him to turn from these new ways.

          My dearest Noah,
          It brings me great pain to watch you do this to yourself. You are such a devout and faithful man
          to our Lord that we have see bring us through great pain and it troubles me greatly to see you
          stray from the path that he would want for you. I know that this is not who you are. I know you
          are still the man that I have always loved so I want to remind you of what we have been called
         to do and of the fact that what you are doing is similar to what our ancestors, Adam and Eve,
         also did during their time in the garden. Remember how Adam thought that he knew better than
         our God and so he took it upon himself to eat of the fruit and drink of the vine that he was
         ordered specifically not to? How is this any different?

        I love you and it is for this reason that I write these words to you. Please repent from these evil
        ways and turn back to the man I know you are. This isn't you.

                                                  Sincerely,
                                                         Your loving wife

Satisfied with her work, Noah's wife set the pen down and made sure to plant the note in her husband's skins that he wore most often when he went out. She could only hope and pray that this was going to work. She needed her husband back and she wanted nothing more than for this curse of the drunkenness to be over.

Author's Note

For this piece, I focused it on the section of the story of Noah titled The Curse of Drunkenness where Noah strays from the things he had done to find favor in the eyes of God and instead sided with the devil and fell victim to drunkenness. However, I wrote it from the perspective of Noah's wife instead. I thought this would be effective to explain the pain of watching someone that you love go through something like that and wanting to help them as much as you can. I also thought this perspective was helpful to the way that I wanted to go with my final project because I am leaning toward doing biblical love stories and this is a perspective that isn't considered often at all. 

Bibliography: 

Luis Ginzberg's The Story of Noah

                         

Reading Notes: Noah Part B

The Holy Book

Interesting to think about the things that happened that could have led to the story of Noah's Ark that I have known so well growing up. For a rewrite, I could use this in a series of correspondence letters between Adam and Noah, discussing what has happened that has made God so mad at them. Could also go a different route and zoom in on the angels and their perspective somehow.

The Inmates of the Ark

This section was also a more mythological addition to the common scripture that is included in the Bible. I could use the retelling part of an assignment to explain the thoughts of the flood from the perspective of either the Og or the Reem, wondering why they were the ones stuck outside of the ark. I would imagine during such a strange time that there would have been a lot of fear and questioning and that is something I could incorporate in my own version of such a story.

The Flood

This story included something that I hadn't thought about before: the difficulty of feeding all of those animals and people on the ark fed for so long. Also noticed that the time was longer here, a year instead of the 40 days and nights in the Bible. For retelling the story, I would probably want to zoom in on this food aspect. The animals might wonder where the food was going to come from and the people could question what they were doing getting on the boat, maybe even thinking that to die in the floodwaters would be better than where they were now. 

Noah Leaves the Ark

I like the way that this focuses on Noah's human feelings of doubt and concern when it was time to get off the boat after the flooding period. For retelling this story in my own way, I'm not entirely sure which direction I would take it, but I think I would focus specifically on a conversation between the Lord and Noah, maybe in poetic format, where God makes the promise of the rainbow and Noah makes his own sacrifice.

The Curse of Drunkenness

Major turn in character and plot development happening here as Noah and Satan team up, something not included in the Biblical version. I like the idea of focusing on the perspective of Noah's wife here (Also could come into play and be useful for my final project) where she might express her concern and worries for her husband as he is drunk.

Noah's Descendants Spread Above

Intersting to see the ways that Noah's actions affected those closes to him. I like the way that this part of the story makes it known that although God found favor on Noah, he was still in fact only human and made mistakes like everyone else. For a rewrite, I would focus in on the perspective of one of his sons and the harsh feelings he might have for what his father caused. 

The Depravity of Mankind

Not really sure where to go with the rewriting of this one, seeing as how it is such a short story and I don't know how to really change it. Might could write from Abraham's perspective as he is told that he is going to be attacked and urged to flee.

Nimrod

Like the character development of Nimrod here and the name itself. I could rewrite this from God's perspective as he could question why he ever gave the people another chance with the way that they have acted so poorly since the flood has ended, taking his mercy for granted.

The Tower of Babel

Very similar to the issue of idols in the Biblical translation. I could focus a rewriting of this to one who partook in the building of the tower, not realizing how sinful what they were doing was. Also interesting the way that everything came together because of the deal that Noah made with Satan back in a previous section.

The tower built by the people of Nimrod.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Bibliography

Luis Ginzberg, The King James Version, The Story of Noah

Reading Notes: Noah Part A

The Ark (Genesis)

God made his covenant with Noah, telling him that even though he planned to wipe out man on the earth, he had found favor on him and his family. This is a very familiar part of scripture for me, having grown up in the church. For a rewrite, I would love the idea of potentially writing it in the form of journal entries or some format where it would be easier to portray Noah's feelings during the entire ordeal. I like the idea of this standpoint because I can't even imagine what it must have been like to be in his position and to have been given such a large task to complete. 

God appeared to Noah and told him to build an ark for him, his family,

and two of every kind of animal. Source: Pixabay

The Flood (Genesis)

This section of the overall piece is also one that I know well because of having grown up in a Christian home. In this part, the flood has begun (7 days after the Lord appeared to Noah) and it discusses the duration of the flood and what all took place. Because of the way that the details are laid out, I think this whole story would still be really cool written as a journal entry that could span the period of 40 days and nights that the flood lasted. I also would want to write it in a more modern prose that would be a little bit easier to read.

After the Flood (Genesis)

This section of the story recounts how it came to be known that the flood was in fact over and that the earth was suitable to live in again. I like the conversation between noah and the Lord where He promises to never destroy the whole world again. This segment could be rewritten as a prayer of adoration and honor where Noah praises God for what he has done and for the fact that he was faithful to keep him safe during the floods when they were on the ark.

The dove played a big part in letting the people know

that God had stopped the floods. Source: Public Domain Pictures

Noah: Noah's Sons (Genesis)

This section covers scripture that I don't remember as much when this story from the Bible is told. This piece would be best retold, in my opinion, in the form of a letter from Noah to his sons where he tells them what he wants for them as a father. It could even be modernized to where it wasn't set years and years ago but in a more recent time with more modern hopes and desires for a family man.

The Tower of Babel (Genesis)

This story had the least appeal to me in both the perspective of a reader and a writer. Due to the fact that it is mostly a genealogy, it is one that I do not really know how I would go about incorporating it into my own story telling. However, in thinking like a writer, I do like the potential that such a segment gives to explain what the world looked like after the floods and as it was repopulated and the way that there was a common language and understanding among the people.

The Birth of Noah

This section was particularly interesting to me because of the fact that it was not one well known from the scriptures. However, I like the idea of having a story regarding where Noah came from and what his upbringing/childhood was like. Staying consistent with the journal/letter theme, I think this would be cool written as a letter from Methuselah, the father of Noah, telling of all his hopes and dreams for his son as well as a journal entry that recounts the ways that Noah's birth actually changed the state of the world.

The Punishment of the Fallen Angels

This section was very interesting to read. I had never read a version that really dove in to what it would mean for all of mankind to be wiped out. In a rewrite, I would want to maybe tell this from the viewpoint of a particular angel and express fear and other feelings that they might have been feeling in such a time. It would also have to include the way the angels shortly after lost their favor with God.

The Generation of the Deluge

This was one of my favorite segments of the piece. I like the idea of a rewrite in the form of commentary from people that found out about what was coming their way and a recount of the evil deeds that they had done. 

Bibliography

The King James Bible & Louis Ginzberg, The Story of Noah

Feedback Strategies

Try Feedforward Instead of Feedback

Before reading this article, I had never heard the term "feedforward," let alone known what it meant. Now, however, I am a big fan of what it represents in theory. Being the perfectionist that I am sometimes in my own work and knowing that I am my own toughest critic, I have been known to take feedback personally, even when the giver of the advice doesn't mean it to be received that way at all. With that personal experience in mind, I liked the way that feedforward focused more on the solution than pointing out the problems that occurred in the past. I also liked the future focus as opposed to focusing on past problems because sometimes it can be difficult to know how to take such feedback and actually apply it to the next thing you have to work on in order to avoid making the same mistakes again.

The Difference Between Feedback & Praise

This article also grabbed my attention right off the bat, simply because of it's title. My parents were always big on praise, especially when we accomplished things that we had been working at for a while, so it wasn't something that I had every really thought twice about. However, it's interesting to note the ways that some types of praise can actually be considered to be more harmful than helpful. I think in such instances my personal thought is that it is okay to have some degree of praise, especially process praise, but that it shouldn't stand alone. In other words, praise them for what is done well but then give them some good feedback/feedforward to know what they can fix now that they've mastered one section.

Feedback can be given and received different ways

by different people so it is important to keep that in mind

when dealing with it. Source:Pixabay

I particularly enjoyed these two articles and think that they will help me not only in my ability to take feedback from others, but also to give it out and really be able to give constructive comments that are useful and not just extra words commented on a post. 

Topic Research: Biblical Love Stories

For this story as a whole, I think it would be cool to write in the format of letters between the different characters. Each segment could have a series of letters sent back and forth between the two characters involved, explaining what is going on and simply providing an update on life. Additionally, I think it would be cool to not only have couples that are romantic, but even characters that love each other because of family ties such as Moses and his mother, for example.

Noah & His Wife

Most people know that Noah is who God called to build an ark when he flooded the entire earth in the book of Genesis in the Bible. What they might now know is that Moses had a wife. Obviously, the feat that Moses embarked on to build this ark for 2 of every animal and his family is no small task. For this story, I would compose a series of letters between Moses and his wife in which Moses tells what is being asked of him and tries to convince his wife of the call and that it's something that they must do together for the good of their family.

The biblical version of events that took place in 

the story of Noah's Ark. Source: Public Domain Pictures

Abraham & Sarah

Basic biblical knowledge reveals that Abraham and Sarah were an older couple without children, although that didn't stop them from wanting a family. Eventually, God gave them the children that they had prayed for so diligently, but that didn't stop them from doubting him and trying to take things into their own hands. This series of letters could be a string of communication between the couple about what they want, their doubt in not having a family, and how they felt when they finally had a child in their old age as a promise of God's favor.

Moses & His Mother

This segment of the work would be an example of a section that is not written out of romantic love but family love. Because of a law passed by Pharaoh at the time of Moses's birth, his mother put him in a basket and in the river, hoping that someone would find him and take care of him. Eventually, Pharaoh's daughter found him and did just that, taking him in as her own son. This series of letters was one that I was thinking could be written from such a point that Moses's mother was pouring out her heart and telling him how sorry she was for what she had had to do by giving him up and serve as a point of reconnecting, which they actually did get to do in the passage of scripture. 

Moses's mother put him in a basket in the river, 

wanting a safer life for her son. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Jacob & Rachel

Growing up, the story of Jacob and Rachel was always one of my favorites. Jacob was so in love with Rachel that he worked 7 years for her father, only to be given the wrong daughter. That didn't even stop him and he worked another 7 years to get to marry the one that he really wanted. This correspondence between the two would be a little bit easier to draft as Jacob and Rachel could potentially write to each other in secret, anxiously waiting the time that Jacob's time to her father is over so that they can be together at last. 

Week 3 Story: Where It All Started

Taylor Randel. I don't completely know what it is about that name, but all the boys come running when she's around. As head cheerleader, I guess it makes sense that all the boys want to date her. From an outsider's perspective, it seems to be all the football coaches can do to keep their players focused on the task at hand at practice and not on Taylor jumping and flipping around in her short cheer skirt. Taylor, however, never seemed interested in any of them.

The most popular, well liked girl in the school, Taylor, 

was a member of the cheer squad. Source: Pixabay

Then one day, much to everyone's surprise, Taylor actually seemed to be flirting with Carter James. Carter, of course, was the star quarterback of the team and never had problems getting a girls attention, but no one was ever able to get Taylor's attention. This was something completely new and foreign to everyone at the high school. It was such a big deal when the two started dating that I remember hearing the head coach of the football team give a big spiel about how this was not something that he was going to allow to interfere with his football team's success. They were, after all, the reigning state champs of Georgia. All of the boys on the team shouted in agreement that they were going to still have each others backs and come back once again to dominate every team they were scheduled to play that season.

And it worked, at least for a while. Then, almost as if something changed immediately overnight, there seemed to be a growing divide between a large majority of the team members. They seemed to bicker and quarrel more than they practiced efficiently. Everyone noticed and couldn’t help but assume that it was because of some kind of budding jealousy among the team members. Was Carter bragging about landing the best girlfriend in school? Were the others refusing to work with him out of pure spite? No one knew what exactly was going on, but they did know that they needed to figure it out because in small town Georgia, there was going to be a riot if the school didn’t bring home the championship in football again.

Author's Note

For my story this week, I chose to retell the opening section of Homer's The Iliad, entitled "How the War with Troy Began." This first segment of the classical story in mythology was used to set the stage for things to come through countless acts of battle and searches for revenge. In my rewrite, I chose to set it in a modern high school setting because I felt that there were already hints of drama coming through so I figured, what better setting for something like that than a high school? I then ran with the idea and changed the gods and goddesses in the original to popular students in the high school and scaled everything to modern day proportions, creating my own rendition of this well known classic story.

Bibliography

"How the War with Troy Began" from The Iliad by Homer