Here is the link to my website for my storybook: https://sites.google.com/view/stephaniesstorybook/
Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Hey everyone, my name is Stephanie Krawczyk. I'm from Tulsa, Oklahoma and I am beginning my senior and final year here at the University of Oklahoma studying Chemical Engineering. Although there are a lot of cool things about m major, I think the coolest thing about my major is that even though I have learned so much in my time here, there is so much out there to discover and continue learning! I love my family and I love that Tulsa isn't too far of a drive from them. And they can make the trip up to see me too. I have a younger brother, Adam, who just moved into his freshman year at the University of Arkansas, and I am so excited to see where his life takes him in the next couple of years. Also I have one dog who is the coolest dog in the whole world (even though all dogs are amazing). Her name is Kacy and she's 10 years old. I always make my parents send me pictures of her. Here is a picture I took of her: One of my other favorite things is food. I can't think of...
I really enjoyed reading your introduction post for your storybook website. It was a super unique topic and I love the way that you ended it with a cliffhanger that left me, and other readers too I'm sure, wanting to come back and find out more information as the semester goes on. One thing that I think might help make your introductory page even better is if you go back and double check the grammar, spellings, and verb tenses as the story unfolds. There were a few times that things were a little unclear, but making these quick changes would definitely help with that issue. I am super intrigued by the way you ended with the test grades and I can't wait to find out why going to Greece revealed to them why they had aced the test and why they had been doing so poorly up until that point.
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie, great introduction! I really like how you incorporated a Mythology class in your story! Also I really like your characters: Polly and Arty! Great names! Your characters are really relatable to us college students. We all know those students are just super smart and don't have to study, but still make the best grades ever. I also really enjoyed your back story! It's so creative that these two students are actually going to Greece. You didn't give a lot of details about what's going to happen in Greece, and I'm intrigued. It would be really cool if they meet Athena! To make modern human characters interact with a Greek god would be awesome! They could also meet some of the other gods too! Whatever you do, I'm sure it will be great! I look forward to reading you project as it progresses! It looks like you've already got some great titles for your future stories.
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your introduction! It was a very interesting topic and I liked how you applied it to the class and the subject of mythology. I feel for the characters as they had not begun to study for their finals when they were coming up soon, I have definitely experienced that feeling. You made this post seem so real to me, it seems as though it is something that really happened. Especially the bit about Polly and Arty going on a vacation right before finals week. I have known a lot of people who have done the very same thing. I have never understood the logic but I guess its whatever they want to do. I like that you made this story so relatable and provided a practical application for this course! Looking forward for you next project posts!
Hey Stephanie!
ReplyDeleteFirst, reading this almost reminded me of stories from the Percy Jackson series! You may be familiar with these. They present the narratives of a boy named Percy along with his friends, as they uncover their powers after discovering that they are demi-gods. This means they are half-man, half-Greek god. Very similar themes to your introduction!
I like how you have set the story up in such an innocent way. At first glance, the audience just receives a simple story about two twins that are naturally gifted in school. No big deal. But you do a really good job of working in some foreshadowing and highlighting that there is some special relationship between these kids and their Mythology class, especially considering their upcoming trip to Greece.
I like the graphic that you incorporated at the end of your introduction post. I also think that if you added another image at the beginning of the page, it would really grab the reader’s attention! Maybe it could be something of actual Greece, like in your original image, or maybe you could include something with more of a fantasy-style approach!
Keep up the great work!
Hi Stephanie!
ReplyDeleteI really like your story! It is very unique in that it is the first story I have read that features twins! I am really excited to read your upcoming installments, and I think that you did a really good job engaging the reader and making them look forward to more of your stories! That was quite the cliff hanger there at the end, and nothing seems to bring potential readers back like a good cliff hanger! I do think some grammatical changes would help this story flow a little bit better, and maybe going into more detail on why their teachers hate them. I definitely have been getting a vibe that they are going to find out their mother was Athena, and the teacher doesn't like them because they are demi-gods? It definitely reminds me of Percy Jackson a lot like some readers have mentioned in the above comments!
Polly and Arty are neat and unusual character names. I feel like it is a little cliche for their teacher to give them bad grades on a paper and it seem suspicious. I also think that you and your storybook could benefit from a less obvious choice of mother for Polly and Arty. Like maybe do not mention their mother at all until the second story. However, your story may just not be for me. Yes, Percy Jackson and all that like everyone else has said. Have you chosen to base this topic off of a story? I also think you may benefit, along with your readers, by putting a picture on this comment wall to encourage people to read your story with an excitement. Even a picture of a toga or an airplane would give your readers an insight into what your story is about. Also, you could add some visual flair to your storybook for your next editing challenge. It would brighten up the white of the background, and give it extra flair.
ReplyDeleteHey there. First off your title is perfect, really brought me in and made me want to learn more about what was going on here. I think your storybook is laid out nicely. I liked how you had the stories that are to come up, giving the reader and idea about what is to come in the story as a whole. I feel like the characters can be relatable to real life. I mean who of us hasn't had that experience where finals are coming up and we seem to not have started to study or haven't studied material as much as they had hoped. I thought the way you left things was a good way to segue into the next story as well, leaving the reader wanting more. My only thought on how to improve maybe to add even more images and illustrations. In this way the reader gets an even better meaning about what you are trying to portray. Always good job and keep it up!
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie! I just read a few of your stories as well as your introductory post and I was intrigued, to say the least! Your website is set up really well and I love the way that your story titles are also simple and coordinate to a certain extent. They definitely do a good job of grabbing the reader's attention without seeming like they are making too much of an effort to do so. I think something that might be helpful is adding more images or greater detail somehow, maybe through your words, so that your readers can understand exactly what is going on in your mind. However, I think your writing is really good and I love the way that you have modeled it after Harry Potter and Percy Jackson. Those were two of my favorite book series growing up as a child who LOVED to read. I will definitely have to flag this page and come back and read it throughout the rest of the semester to see what you add. Good job!
ReplyDeleteHey Stephanie! Wow I love your storybook so far! You did a really good job with the design. It is nice and simple and also very attractive! And after I read your introduction I was locked in! I have to say that I really like the plot line, and your first story delivered perfectly! I love how it is a modern-day story that links mythology into it in such a direct way. I read a lot of Percy Jackson stories as a child like Hannah did and they were some of my favorite books ever so I am really glad you are going for a feel like that! I think your storybook has some serious potential and I am excited to see the rest of your stories! I think it is really cool that you already have the titles for your stories laid out. You caught me thinking that you might have actually finished it already but I see that they are just placeholders for now. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteI really like your introduction, it really helped establish the characters and the setting. From the introduction, I could sense that the teacher was going to be important to the story, so I found it to be helpful in understanding and following the story. Turns out that Mr. Pose will be Poseidon, which is an important character in this storybook. In the story, I could sense some inspiration from the Percy Jackson books, and your author’s note just confirmed. I like that a connection could be made between Athena and their performance in school and that you subtly included it. The rivalry between Poseidon and Athena is one I am only briefly aware, I do know that it caused a curse to be placed on Medusa. I like the direction that this storybook is being taken and how you are carrying out. So I am looking forward to reading more about this rivalry in a modern setting.
ReplyDeleteHi, Stephanie. I have to say what really drew me in to read your story book was your title. It was intriguing and clever so good job on that! I really enjoyed reading both your introduction and "The Discovery". First off I would like to say how well laid out your webpage is and it's design. I feel like it really flows with your theme. After reading your first story and the authors note, I can definitely see your inspiration from both Percy Jackson and Harry Potter. I am a huge fan of both. I also liked how you incorporated mythology into a modern day situation. Both your introduction and first story are extremely well written.
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie!
ReplyDeleteI love your story book! You pulled me in from the beginning with your introduction! It set up the rest of the stories really nicely and drew me in with the mystery of it all! And I could see the influence of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson from the beginning, and I love that you incorporated both into your stories! I think you can definitely do some interesting things with telling Poseidon’s side of the story in your next installment. I would like to maybe hear about what is going on with the twins’ dad right now. His kids got snatched from him, and I’m sure he’s freaking out. SO if you are looking to expand you story you could consider that side of it. You did a great job so far and I’m excited to read the rest of these stories and see how you wrap up this series!
Hi Stephanie! Your intro was great! It definitely felt like something that you would find in Percy Jackson or Harry Potter. Well your whole story does, obviously! I like the continuation of Athena and Poseidon's fight over the city of Athens. They have a long history of being rivals from Medusa and the Gorgons to (I'm pretty sure) the Trojan War to the city of Athens. The twist of having Poseidon be Mr. Pose was something I didn't at all catch until the end of your first story. I can't wait to read more! Does their dad know that the kid's mom is Athena? Also I would love to know how he is feeling about all of this. I mean is he cool like Sally Jackson and is like "Oh it's just a demi-god thing" or is he a complete wreck? Great job, and like I said before, I can't wait to read the rest of this!
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie! I really love your vision for this storybook — I can definitely see the Percy Jackson/Harry Potter influence here. The different identities you gave all the characters are super clever. I also think your author's notes are really helpful and give some great context. As I read through the storybook, one thing I noticed is that you give a lot of explanation. When Athena tells the children something, the next paragraph might say "This explained why..." I don't think you need to be that straightforward with your explanations — let readers draw their own conclusions. Also, I wonder if you might make the pegasus creatures, which Athena tells the children are supposed to be really destructive and which Poseidon will use to accomplish his purposes, into something a little more menacing? Overall though, I really like your storybook and I'm excited to read your conclusion and how you tie everything together.
ReplyDeleteHey Stephanie! I really love your version of this storybook. Although I am not a big Percy Jackson person I do love Harry Potter so that feel you put into your story is great. The stories have kept me interested and I cant wait to read the last two! I keep wondering how Mr. Pose found them in the real world and why he waited til they went to greece to go ahead with his plan. You could maybe explain that a little more in the "Dilemma" story. You do a good job of providing detail to where I can really picture exactly what is going on in the story. I have a creepy image of Mr. Pose but like you said youre going to pull it all together later on and make things right. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteStephanie, your choice of Percy Jackson and mixing it in with Harry Potter was such a surprise, mainly because I would never think to do such a thing, but it worked so well! I love both of those series, have read them many times each, so it was fun to see someone else take them on and make them their own! As for the stories themselves, I was fully involved with each, but I do believe that you give a lot of explanatory details that kind of break away from the story and cause the reader to lose focus. Allowing the reader to make their own assumptions about certain things is what makes literature so much fun. I am a really big fan of Greek mythology - it's what I'm doing my own Storybook on - so it was fun to see you insert different stories within your work. For example, the rivalry between Poseidon and Athena, and how Athena would be in charge of grades (goddess of wisdom and all). You've done really well on this! Congrats!
ReplyDeleteHello Stephanie!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, your storybook title is awesome! A+ for creativity. You are taking inspiration from two of my favorite book series, so I knew from the start that I would enjoy this story. I am a little confused how Athena and Poseidon were fighting over who got Athens "right before they were born" because it seems like they are living in a modern era. I like in the end how you wanted to emphasize the twin's logic. I am a little confused how the flying horses are going to help the solution, especially if only people with god genes can see them. Is there a way were they can turn that feature off? I like this story a lot; I believe that it is very well written, and I look forward to reading the conclusion.
Hey Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your storybook and the creativity you put into it. I think it is really easy for the readers in this class to relate because we are all getting close to finals week and have felt the same stress that the twins have faced. I loved all the different stories that came along with your theme and I think you did an amazing job pulling them altogether. You made me want to keep reading with every story that you wrote. I felt like I went on this family trip with the twins and went through all of the crazy stories that they told. I think overall you did a great job of being detailed and making sure that the readers stayed interested and intrigued. Keep writing and I cannot wait to read the conclusion here in the last few weeks of this semester! Great job on the whole project!
Hi Stephanie! First, I would like to say that your website looks good since you kept it simple. You didn’t add too much to it and the images you used worked well. This storybook is interesting to me because it was partly inspired by the Harry Potter series which I am a huge fan of. The most memorable part of this whole storybook is the fact that I didn’t know Mr. Pose was Poseidon even though his name makes it very obvious. I appreciate the fact that you made it so obvious that it still fooled me because I didn’t really think much about the names of the characters. The biggest question I had about this storybook is how long Mr. Pose had suspicions about Polly and Arty. I feel like that once Poseidon had any kind of suspicion he would immediately test those suspicions somehow. Instead of just giving them bad grades what if he did other things that would help reveal their true nature to him? I feel like this would add some more depth to the story. Overall, this was enjoyable to read.
ReplyDeleteHey Stephanie! I really enjoyed reading your storybook this week. The theme of the Greek mythology was really great! I am a fan of the the way greek mythology was structured and the Greek Gods are all important in the stories that were told. The fact that you used Athena as well as the Demi Gods, Arty and Polly was a great touch to the storybook. I thought the first story really hooked me and I feel like it hooked everyone else that read your stories. The pictures that you chose really matched your theme and were great images to use for your stories. Just a thought on something to change would be the Author's note on the first story. I feel that it was a little short and more detail could be added on the original story and on the details of your changes. It did do a great job at explaining for the most part, but just in my opinion I think that there could be a little more. Overall, I really did enjoy your storybook and I think you did a great job with it this semester! I hope you have a great rest of your semester and you finish your storybook with a strong ending and I hope your finals go well! Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie!
ReplyDeleteI am very glad I found your storybook at the end of the semester! I was able to read your introduction and all your stories all the way through without having to wait a few weeks to see what else you developed! As a kid, I loved the Percy Jackson tales, and I am still an avid Harry Potter fan, so reading your stories was a blast for me! Your authors notes were very helpful in telling me where your ideas come from, and you did a beautiful job combining them all together! I cannot wait to ready your conclusion and discover if Athena will stay in contact with Rick or if his memory will be taken from him!
A suggestion for you last story would be to split up your layout with a picture, I think that would make it easy to read. Otherwise, I think you did a great job. I loved how much dialogue was included. It made it very easy to read and kept your reader engaged!
Hi Stephanie!
ReplyDeleteWow wow wow wow wow!! I LOVE Harry Potter and The Lightening Thief and I'm so glad they inspired your story! I was thinking elements of your story sounded familiar and then I read your author's note and was like OMG YAS!!
I thought you did an excellent job with the story book and I'm sad I only just now came across it! Your writing style is great and very effective at pulling people in. Your dialogue, for the most part, was really natural and authentic (there were a couple parts that were a little too tidy but I understand that this was a short story). Make sure you go back through one more time to catch tiny grammatical errors! I wanted a little bit more of a fight between Poseidon and Athena and her family. I know it was supposed to be intellectual but Pose gave up really quickly after planning his takeover and torturing the kids for years.. I don't know how exactly you'd do that, it's just a thought!
Good luck with finals!!
Hi Stephanie, wow I mean combining Harry Potter and Percy Jackson?!? I'm obsessed. What a fun idea - and definitely pretty complicated (those two books are definitely not that similar) great job! I really enjoyed the twins (I'm a twin actually so that made it fun!) and their sense of humor. I know some people don't like the overly wordy explanations - but I really did! I feel like since you changed a lot of things and combined two pretty different stories it was helpful that during the story and in the authors notes you explained things to help keep everything on track! I think you also did a super good job by using pictures and your layout to help tell the story - they really complimented everything! Overall this is a great storybook that you clearly put a lot of work into! Great job and good luck with finals!!!
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie! It's been a while, but I came back to finish your storybook because it intrigued me so much the first time around. You definitely create a very suspenseful story here — each section left me eager to read the next. I love how you took small details from mythology (like the fact that Poseidon was the god of horses) and tied them into your story in subtle ways. One thing on your story "The Defeat" — when the family entered the cave, I didn't notice any of them actually seeing Mr. Pose before Arty spoke to him. It was just a small detail that could easily be amended! Also, I felt like "The Defeat" was slightly anti-climactic at the end — maybe Mr. Pose could bargain with Athena or the family to get more recognition or fame somehow? But I loved your final story — the reunion between Rick and Athena is beautiful! You did a really wonderful job with your storybook — congrats on finishing well!
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that I found your storybook project! I am in the Epics of India class so I haven't gotten to read as many of the projects from this class as I would have liked too. I really enjoyed your storybook and thought it was really well written and engaging. When I got to the author's note at the end of your first story I was not at all surprised to see that Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief/the whole Percy Jackson series served as an inspiration. I remember reading those books in Junior High and immediately loved the connection in your stories. I thought it was super interesting that you made Poseidon the antagonist in your story. It was a nice flip from the original narrative. I also loved that in your conclusion your emphasized Athena's maternal connection to her city and the democracy that made it so unique. Overall great job and I am so happy that I got to read your work. Have a wonderful break!
-Elizabeth
Hi Stephanie!
ReplyDeleteI think that I read your first story way back at the beginning of the semester and I’m finally getting around to checking back in to see how you finished it all up! I still think your concept is awesome and I love the direction you took with it! I especially liked the final story. I think your decision to make Athens a democracy so that Athena could still be very involved was super clever and lent itself well to the story overall. I think you wrapped it all up very nicely and I’m glad I got to check back in and finish reading! You did such a great job with it, and I found it very entertaining throughout! Good luck on the rest of your semester and your finals! It was really great to get to read your writing this semester on your project and your blog!