Stephanie's Blog

After reading the second set of stories from Arabian Nights, which correlate to the Disney's version of Aladdin, I was really intrigued. Again, it's cool that this whole thing is related to  Scheherazade's stories.  I think its interesting how different the two stories, the Disney version and the original version, are even though they are based on the same plot. The Disney version is definitely more designed for the children audience. However, the original story is way more interesting, and full of creativity and irony. It was interesting to me that instead of a lamp, at first the genie arose from a ring. Although there is another genie from a lamp later, it is just cool in general that there is a lot more magic and genies and magical items in this version of the story. I think overall what set these stories apart from others that I've read in this class is the descriptions the writer uses, as well as the general flow of the reading. It could be because its not a direct...

This week I chose to read the first part of the Arabian Nights Reading. I really enjoyed these stories and found it interesting that the 'stories inside stories' theme continued in this culture as well. I enjoyed that the woman in this first part of the story,  Scheherazade , ultimately saw the evil in this man, the Sultan, and wanted to find the root of it and potentially even outsmart him. So, she intrigues him with her stories in order to spare her own life. It was really cool in her stories that she told too that you can see part of their culture coming through. Like the man who was to be killed by the genie in the first story she told the Sultan  he "was gathering his belongings and he freed his slaves and gave alms to the poor." This really says a lot about what really is important to them when faced with fear and adversity, but also they are accepting and respectful of their fate. But then it turns out this man has a similar plan to what Scheherazade is doing t...

Once, there was a simple world. People communicated by talking to one another, and occasionally people would even write down their thoughts onto paper and share it with others. People traveled via foot, and occasionally by animal. But, they didn't really know how big the world really was. The simple world was nice, and many people were only in contact with the people they wanted to be in contact with and they thought it was good. One girl, however, always wondered what the world was outside of her school and neighborhood. She began to experiment in her room and eventually created a prototype of a device that would allow her to talk to her neighbor without being in plane of vision. Her neighbor, was fascinated and they began to experiment together until they could get their device able to reach farther and farther distances. However, the girls parents found out, and they were angry. There wasn't a reason to talk to people that were outside of their contact area. The girl was...

I think overall I liked the second half of the ancient Egypt unit more than the first. The first story told was the story of the two brothers and the second was the book of Thoth. I thought that both of these stories flowed great, and they had some interesting and deep messages behind them. The brothers story was very well directed to the audience of the time, and from what I gathered the meaning behind it was that you shouldn't let anyone come in between you and your brother. I think a more up to date meaning could be to honor your family. The book of Thoth meaning was a little less clear to me. I did find it interesting the mention of crocodiles in the two brothers story. I guess I forgot about geography for a second because the brothers were standing across a river full of crocodiles, and I didn't realize how prevalent they are in Egypt. Something I think that this reading in general could improve on would be to add more descriptive words. As I noticed in the first h...

This week I chose to read about the ancient Egyptian mythology . This was overall very interesting, and I really like how you can even see similarities to the Greek and Roman mythology that I have read in the past. It was told to us that this was not a translation, but a retelling of the stories, so I wonder what would have been different if it was a direct translation. Either way, you can tell that the audience should treat and see their pharaoh, who was all powerful. I think it is really interesting that Ra is a human god, which is how the people viewed their pharaohs back in the ancient Egyptian times. Another really interesting thing that I have noticed about these ancient cultures and their polytheism is that they are so well thought out and creative, that they have a direct meaning for almost anything that would have came into their life, good or bad. I think there is a lot of symbolism in this writing, much like in the bible, but I wonder if the audience took it literally, e...

Here is the link to my website for my storybook:  https:// sites.google.com / view / stephaniesstorybook / Enjoy!

Psyche was a young girl living in today's society, and she saw that there were many things going on in the world that she did not agree with. One day as she was walking in downtown New York city she noticed a billboard that wasn't there on her walk the day before. The billboard read 'Bring World Peace: details inside.' While she stopped to read it and it caught her attention she kept walking along. The next day when she passed that same area, she found that the sign was gone. She asked someone about it and they didn't know what she was talking about. "That sign has always been an add for Chipotle," the stranger said. One strange looking boy however, who had overheard their conversation approached her and said, "let's go inside, I saw the sign too." Now she was really intrigued so she agreed and they walked inside together. "Hello," said the woman standing inside, "are you ready to accept your calling?" "I don...

The thing that initially caught my attention about this story was how they described the place Psyche was being held. While it was a prison to her, it was described so lavishly that it would seem that she shouldn't have the right to say that. In my opinion, this is an analogy for how money cannot buy you happiness. She is almost tricked into this whole lifestyle, but then when he tells her she cannot see her sisters, she realizes how upset she really is there. But, time after time again she goes back to him. He gives her physical things but lacks the emotional needs that she had with her family before she was taken prisoner. As the story progresses further, the theme of jealousy presents itself. The sisters are jealous of her and all that she now has, while it almost seems as if Cupid is jealous of her sisters. But this is what plays out the rest of the story. This story almost just makes you stop and think about what kinds of things give you true happiness. She was taken as a pr...

This week I chose to read the Roman story of Cupid and Psyche. While I have heard of this story before, I have never read the whole thing so this was very interesting for me. I am way more familiar with the Greek mythology and how they tell the stories, but it is really interesting how the Romans and Greeks parallel each other in many ways. For example, they have the same gods but with different names. In the first section of this part of the reading, they talk about praying to Mars, which is the Roman god, while in Greece it parallels as Aries, the god of war, which is who more people are familiar with. Then also later introduces us to Venus, who is a Roman goddess, who parallels to the Greek goddess of beauty Aphrodite. After the reading so far, I feel like there isn't as much personality within the Roman gods, which may be a reason that the Greek mythology is more popular and well known. You can really tell that the Romans got a lot of their mythology ideas from the Greeks. I al...

After reading about your opinion on praise and reading some of the articles, I think I decided that I believe you need both praise and critique to give good feedback. I read the article How to Craft Constructive Criticism , and I think one thing this made me think of was that its important to be honest when it comes to giving feedback. But, one point they made was talking about being a mirror and really consider how it is going to come across to them. The other article I read was Presence, not Praise . I don't really think I believe that praise is wrong and hurtful in the long run, but I do think you need a balance and that you shouldn't over do it. This is definitely where the honesty comes into play. You should be able to have mature conversations with people. Praise them when you believe that they deserve it, but don't be afraid to tell them if they are doing something that you don't agree with or if you think they can do better, because it will make them better in ...

Here are my three possible storyline options for the project. I have narrowed down my topic from last week to focus in on cryptozoology  because I think I can encompass all of the ideas that I had before into one story. 1) My first idea came from back in the day, I read a series of books called The Sisters Grimm , which was a mystery/detective storyline based off of the brothers Grimm and their fairy tale adventures. I think that this plot would have a pair of modern day characters that would be on a vacation to modern Greece, but they find themselves time traveling back to ancient Greece and must solve a mystery as to why they were brought there. I'm thinking maybe they would be like related to someone in the ancient Greek times. 2) The second idea came from the series American Horror Story, because in the last season, they are reenacting this haunted house, but it turns out that it's actually very real. So, this sort of goes back to the Urban legend plan a little more, bu...

There once was a family of purebred French bulldogs. They were very well off but they had never been challenged, and the mother and father began to worry that her pups were going to turn out spoiled and rude. The father was always out hunting for food for the family, so usually the mother was with their three pups. It had been a long time since the pups had seen their father. One day a dog who looked like their father began to walk towards their house, however, it was actually a mutt. The pups saw him in the distance and ran to greet him because they were overjoyed that their father had returned! They each brought with them a present to welcome him home with. The first pup brought his favorite toy with him, the second pup brought her favorite brush with her, and the third pup brought with him the most delicious treat that he had been saving to eat after they finished their chores. When they approached the dog that looked like their father they began to realize that this dog was no...

The second half of the Gospel of Mark  is more almost more interesting than the first because it is like stories within stories and it makes you think about their meaning in much more depth, because the meaning might not be as obvious. After completing the reading for Part B, I think my storytelling of the week will be a parable, with some kind of hidden meaning. I am thinking about making this more simplified though, meant for the direct audience being children, yet adults could be reminded of something by it too. Jesus teaches in parables and hidden messages. One thing I wished people would have done more back then was ask questions. It often says things like 'they were too afraid to ask what it meant.' Maybe then, today some of these messages would be more clear. One of my favorite things that Jesus teaches is " If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all." I think this is something he taught in the sense that the  people  of ...

This week I chose to read the   Gospel of Mark . I chose this because I wanted to use this as my weekly reflection on where my life is going these days. I find that every time you read a different passage in the bible, you get a new experience or insight from it. As it said in the introduction, this version did not have the typical verses like the bible usually does, which made it feel more like I was listening to this story back in the time this was first being told. The gospel of Mark is interesting to me because, while each of the gospels tell the same story of Jesus, they each focus on a different audience and tell it in their own way. I feel like Mark's version of the story of Jesus isn't as symbolic as some of the others, its very factual. I think it ’ s interesting that this gospel starts with the baptism of Christ, while omitting the birth and other traditional stories about his life.  In part A of the reading, I want to focus in on is  J...

This week I read the article Think Less, Think Better.  I felt like this article was relevant because sometimes I find myself so overwhelmed by my own thoughts that I can't even process it all at once. This ultimately hinders your ability to fully enjoy life and fully participate in relationships with others. Sometimes our mind wanders so much that you can't even remember certain things that happened right in front of you. This article talks about how i n general, there is a tension in our brains between exploration and exploitation, and our lives are spent somewhere in between the two extremes. It emphasizes the importance of meditation and how this is important to our mental health. If you can empty your mind and  relax every once in a while, you can learn to think better and be better. Image: Sleepy Dog

This week I read the article, How to Spark Creativity When You're in a Rut  from the HBR. One thing this article confirmed that I already had an idea of was that creativity can fade when you're in a rut. It's really easy to be creative when you are faced with a new problem, placed in a new environment, or starting a new experience. But as time goes on, you can often find yourself in a rut and it becomes hard to be creative. I think creativity is something that is very important in maintaining your sanity. School and work can be really overwhelming, and while this is important too, sometimes you need a break from all this so you can just focus on the things and ideas that make you who you are. Some things this article suggested you do were meet new people, capitalize on your obstacles, and share what you know. By setting aside time to do things you love and talk about things your passionate about can really help your overall growth mindset. Image: Growth Mindset