Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Reading Notes

Ovid's Metamorphoses (Books 8-10) by Tony Kline 

The father and son duo were trapped inside their own labyrinth. After Theseus managed to escape Minos trapped the two of them inside the maze forever and that was their punishment. Daedalus decides to escape by the sea since that is the one thing that Minos has no control over. He made wings for himself and his son out of wax and feathers. He warned his son to not fly too high or the sun would melt the wax. Another warning was to not fly too close to the sea or the water would cause the feathers to become damp. Icarus chose not to listen to his father and in his high of flying  flew too close to the sun and fell to his death in the sea. 

I could even write about Philemon and Baucis. They were the only ones in the town to offer shelter to Zeus and Hermes. The two of them approached hundred of homes but everyone refused. These two however accepted them and treated them in the best way they could. They offered them the best food and drinks that they had and made them feel comfortable. 



Feedback Thoughts

5 Tips for taking Feedback like a Champ
I think it is very true when the article said that we tend to avoid negative situations. I personally do not like being put on the spot and having people list or talk about my bad habits. I think it is good to be uncomfortable though it means that you have space to grow in that situation. I have given feedback and received it as well sometimes it was not so good and in other places it was.

Overcoming the Fear of Feedback
I think people get so afraid of feedback is because they believe that it defines you instead of just that one aspect. People tend to make it into a bigger problem than it usually is and just overthink things which is why it is harder to change your mindset on things.

7 Key Characteristics of Better Learning Feedback
I think the best type of feedback identifies the problem at hand and helps in fixing it as well. Giving someone ways to overcome their issues is more helpful than just saying that what you did was wrong. Chances are if they made the mistake the first time it is because they did not know better and if you still do not give them suggestions then they will repeat that same mistake again.

Be a Mirror: Give Readers Feedback that Fosters a Growth Mindset
When people are in the right mindset they know that it is not just the way things are. IF you work hard and something and continue doing so you will be able to master the subject. The effort is just as important as doing the work. If you show people what they are doing then they can identify the problem themselves and may be able to solve it too.

Image result for feedback

Monday, January 16, 2017

Storytelling: Pyramus & Thisbe

The two lovers had never met in real life. There were no phone calls, email, letters, or even text messages exchanged between the two. The only way for them to communicate with each other was through the crack in the wall that looked like it had formed just for the two of them. No one knew about the crack and the kids had only discovered it by accident while they were playing. Even their parents did not approve of them being together because the families did not get along so they devised a plan one night.

She had gone into the room in the corner of their house to pick up the ball that had fallen there. There were boxes everywhere in the dusty old room, and it looked like no one had been in there for years. Old chairs and books were covered in a layer of dust. The cobwebs were hanging like ornaments in the ceiling and were surrounding the pillars like vines. There were little spiders crawling around in the room, and you could even hear the chirping of the crickets from the outside. It was dark and gloomy in there with only a small window for the moonlight to shine in. She finally noticed that her ball had gone under one of the chairs by the wall and the closer she got she noticed light coming from a little crack. When she looked into the crack she saw that it opened into another room and it looked like it was a boy's room. His room had a small bed with a lantern next to it. There was a table with a chair on the side of the room, along with toys that were scattered throughout the room. There were wooden cars and little trains. She was surprised and amazed by the boy that appeared to be a couple of years older than her. He was playing with his toys on the floor when she called out to him. She was curious as to who he was. She had heard from her parents that a boy lived next door but she had never seen him before.

Thisbe: Hi.

*He appeared to be very confused and looked around for a few seconds before going back to his toys.*

Thisbe: Hey, I am by the wall.

*He looked even more confused and then went towards the wall. It took him a couple more seconds before he finally noticed her. It surprised him that he had never seen this crack before.*

Pyramus: Who are you? What is going on? What is your name?

Thisbe: I am the girl living next door to you. I was looking for my ball when I saw the crack and found you through it. My name is Thisbe. What is your name?

Pyramus: My name is Pyramus.

This is how they first met and after talking for a couple of hours they decided to talk again the next day. This continued for a long time, days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months and months turned into years. They were growing up and before they knew it their friendship had turned into love. The constant talking and sharing everything about them made them realize just how much they meant to each other. They could not live without talking to the other even for a day.
Once Thisbe was seventeen and Pyramus was twenty they decided to tell their parents about the other so they could finally be together. It did not matter to them that they had never really seen each other. They had a strong emotional connection and they knew they wanted to be together forever. Their parents were against it as they did not get along with each other at all. They told their children to stop talking to each other and made plans to cover the crack in the wall as soon as possible. They met again that night before their parents could seal their way of communication forever.

Thisbe: What are we going to do now? Our parents have forbidden us from ever seeing each other again. They are even planning to seal this crack forever.

Pyramus: I have a plan.

Thisbe: What is it? Oh please tell me soon. I cannot wait any longer.

Pyramus: We can run away tomorrow night away from our parents and be together forever. We can spend the rest of our lives together. Meet me tomorrow after nightfall under the mulberry tree by the forest and the grave of Ninus.

Thisbe: I will meet you there but I am going to miss my parents. Will I ever be able to see them again? I think this might be our only chance to be together and hopefully after our parents will understand why we did this.

I wanted to stop here and have everyone imagine their own endings.

Author's Note: This is the story of Pyramus and Thisbe from Ovid's Metamorphoses. The original story talked about how the two met and how they decided to run away together. It also had the part about what happened to them once they did run away and how they met their tragic end. In the original story she hid from a lioness that had been hunting but Pyramus mistook the blood to be hers and killed himself. She also ended up killing herself from the same sword as he did. In my story I decided to explain the back story and how they met for the first time. I ended the story with their plan instead of how their story actually ends. I chose this picture because it shows the tree that they decided to meet at and how that place became the place of their end. This picture was also really pretty to look at, and some of the other images they had gave away the ending. It was also a bit too violent to use and did not go with the flow of my story. I did not want to include their death in my story so instead I just left it before that part so every can imagine their own ending to this story.

Ovid's Metamorphoses : Pyramus & Thisbe by Tony Kline (2000)

Image result for mulberry tree pyramus and thisbe
Mulberry Tree  By Vincent Van Gogh (1889)

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Ovid's Metamorphoses Book 1-4: Reading Notes B

I could also write about Pyramus and Thisbe and how they met through he crack in the wall. They fell in love and finally decided to meet each other for the first time. She got scared and hit from the lion and he ended up killing himself because he thought it was he blood that he was seeing. She killed herself from the same sword because her love was dead. They both ended up dying without ever meeting each other because of their love. 

Ovid's Metamorphoses translated by Tony Kline 
                           Pyramus & Thisbe

Ovid's Metamorphoses Book 1-4: Reading Notes A

I could write about Phaethon and how he felt seeing his father for the first time. It could also be written from his fathers point of view to give up an idea of when he was driving the chariot around the earth. About how Zeus had to finally step in and throw a thunderbolt at him to stop the destruction that was happening all around him.

Ovid's Metamorphoses translated by Tony Kline
 
The Sun god & His Chariot

Tech Tip: Weather

I added a weather gadget onto my blog because I wanted to try it out. This way I can have the weather on there anytime and it is easy to check too. It was not that hard to do either, the instructions were all there and very easy to understand

Famous Last Words: First Week

This is the first week of this class so we are just getting to know how the course works and what we are expected to do for it. Just orientation stuff and setting things up so it is not too bad or busy yet. The class has not even officially started yet so things are also easier because of that. I decided to start earl while I still have the time for it and try to finish this class ahead of time. I did that last semester and it was a huge help during dead week and finals week when I was trying to study for some of my harder classes. Hopefully I can keep this going even during the semester so it is not as stressful and busy as it is already going to be.  This was a bit overwhelming at first because there is so much to do everyday and even in one week but as I kept doing the assignments I realized that this is not hard just a little time consuming. So the best thing to do for this class is to plan ahead, take time out of your schedule for it, and to do the extra credit so if you do happen to miss something it is not so bad. You would have a little wiggle room because of the extra points and if you do not miss any assignments and do the extra work then you will get done early and it is one less thing to worry about later on.  Image result for last words