Mythology and Folklore

Pyramus and Thisbe were youths born of the same prestige. Each grew lovelier by the day, each was brilliant in both character and appearance, each was highly sought after by the young men and women of the town. In their mind and in their hearts, they knew they existence was made for one another. And yet their parents would not recognize the fire burning between them, which only made it burn more brightly. In secret, their love grew stronger, one would think this union was created by Aphrodite herself. Their days were filled with longing for the whispers and glances they might steal. Quite quickly, however, these moments could no longer satiate their emotions. In a hurried exchange, the two lovers agreed to meet beneath the tallest mulberry tree before departing to a northern city together. Thisbe, gripped by the courage that only love can inspire, slipped out of her house for the final time, whispering a goodbye to her parents. Veiled, she sat beneath the tree waiting for ...

For Part B of Ovid's Metamorphoses , the stories that interested me most were the ones about Narcissus  and  Pyramus and Thisbe . What attracted me to these in particular was the tragic endings that befell the characters, one out of pure love and one out of vain infatuation. After reading them together, it is hard to not compare the two. In both, I could understand (but not relate) to the intesity of each person's emotions, which ultimately caused everyone's untimely death. Both stories were not afraid to use the extreme end of the dramatic spectrum to describe the depth of feelings. I like this technique; there is no wishy-washiness and the reader is very clear at where each character stands. Part of this is because the characters take out their emotions on their own bodies, and the consequence is clear. When Narcissus cannot embrace his own appearance, he beats his own chest and bruises his marble-like body. Pyramus, after finding Thisbe's bloody scarf, stabs him...

Ovid's Metamorphoses recounts a number of human transformations, the majority of which resulted because of Jupiter's infidelity. But the one that left the greatest impression on me was Phaethon and the Sun. I liked the length of it; it was longer and allowed deeper plot and character development. The imagery and dual descriptions also left an impression. The writer discussed both extremes that would happen if the son tried to drive the chariot. This made the reader imagine the desctruction even before it played out. I also like how every force of nature was represented by a godly character or beast, like Aurora, the stars, the dragons at the poles. By personifying these forces of nature, they were able to act on a deadly scale when the sun horses ran amuck. The fierce setting was perfect for amazing descriptive imagery; where there was fire in one place, there was ice in another. I enjoyed this story more than others mainly because it did not involve Jupiter raping a woman and ...

The two articles I read this week were Make Good Art: Neil Gaman's Advice on the Creative Life   by Maria Popova and Rewire Your Self-Critical Brain   by Joel Alemida. Popova's article was essentially a reiteration of Gaman's book which encorages reader to make good mistakes. Making mistakes means trying something you haven't done before, doing things and pushing yourself. I was really encouraged by his notion of turning mistakes into art. Everything we do has the potential to be turned into something wonderful and artistic if we can approach it with the correct mindset. Mistakes only mean that we are growing, the day we stop making mistakes is the day we stop trying anything new. Popova's article addressed how to comeback from setbacks in the pursuit to achieve a goal. She practices what she calls REBS, reality based self-congratulations. Rather than seeing mistakes as a reason to be self-critical, the normal everyday habits should be considered small victories. ...

The first topic I am interested in is dragons. From How to Train Your Dragon to Game of Thrones, I love dragons of all shapes, sizes, ferocities, and roles. I've always been fascinated by their intelligence and strength. It's also very intruiging to me how they can equally be benevolent or monstrosity, depending on what region of the world they are coming from. What I know from them from my East Asian heritage, dragons were a sign of good fortune and would bestow blessings onto people, bringing rain and crops and whatnot. But Asian dragons often look a lot less intimidating than the ones from Europe; their bodies are long and slender and they don't have wings. I would like to learn more about how they originated and why different cultures have the beliefs they do about them. As a topic, I would want to write a story that has them as equals to humans in regards to intelligence. I liked the battle between Beowulf and his dragon , and a possible retelling might be through givi...

At the fork of a powerful river, a small village thrived, peaceful in all ways but one. Every full moon, a Lion would come bounding from the forest, demanding the most prized livestock on which to gorge himself. As King of Beasts, the villagers would not dare refuse him, but gradually their food supplies dwindled so much they would soon no longer be able to sustain themselves. Now the leader of this village and his wife had a daughter, a beautiful maiden whose smile was like sunshine. Knowing that they could not continue sacrificing to the Lion, the village leader decided to take his own action. “What satisfaction am I supposed to gain from this creature?” roared the lion when faced with the maiden. “Please, you Majesty. Allow her to serve you for one month and see whether or not she is more valuable than anything else we could offer you in the village,” the leader replied. “After a moon has passed, meet me once again and if she has not fulfilled your wishes, we will conti...

The reading that interested me most this week were The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs (1894). These are all short and quick to the point, unlike many longer storytellings that seem to focus on adjectives and descriptions to support a more uninteresting plot. The thing I like most is that there is always a moral, and the reader can take something away from each fable. Sometime I feel like stories that do not impact the reader in some way are a waste; looking into the future, I want my own storybook to focus on an issue of today played out by characters that simplify the issue in a symbolic and easy to understand way. Instead of focusing on a single event, meaningful dialogue between two characters can reveal much more, like in The Lion and the Statue, which takes place in just a few sentences, but the lesson is still clear. Because these fables are so short, every word of the dialogue is meaningful. Futher, these fables do not use difficult language (unlike some older Roman tales)...

I was so excited to see how many different reading topics and options are available on the UnTextbook. I was also suprised that while browsing through each week, there were always a few that I was familiar with or had heard of. I'm most looking forward to week 14, as one of the stories is titled  Hans the Hedgehog.  One of the readings I did last week was loosely based on  Beowulf,  and it was so interested that I choose to read the whole thing for week 12. I have done a lot of previous reading about Hindu and Buddhist tales, so I choose to focus more on different topics for weeks 5 and 6. I noticed that while choosing my readings, I was always drawn to those that contained fantasy elements like dragons, magic, goblins, etc., perhaps because I find it so much more interesting when a human hero has to face powers outside his or her own capabilities.  Choose from CLASSICAL and/or BIBLICAL units for Weeks 3 and 4. Week 3: Ovid's Metamorphoses ...

The two articles I read tackled two different aspects of time management that I think was challenging me in my own life. Seeing the problems, along with the solutions, laid out so simply gives me the motivation to try the techniques not only with schoolwork, but with other things I want to improve upon. The first article, The Important Habit of Just Starting by Jory Mackay, points out that most of procrastination comes from a lack of being able to practice long-term gratification. Mackay points out that "the fear of starting is often so much less than the pain of actually working", although our brains try to convince us that the opposite is true. If one can get over the hump of actually starting, momentum will take over and we end up looking at ways to finish. The second article I read was Eat the Frogs First Thing in the Morning  by Thomas Oppong. It was inspired by Mark Twain's quote, "If your job is to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the mornin...

The modules of this first week has made me more comfortable with using Blogger and customizing my blog theme. It is refreshing how most of this online class takes place outside of Canvas; it makes it feel less like schoolwork and more like a hobby. It was a bit confusing  finding  all the information as it is on Class Wiki rather than Canvas. However, I think the way Dr. Gibbs lays out the week on Class Wiki is really easy to follow. I always bookmark that week's assignments for easy access, and have my blog bookmarked as well. I am not familiar with creating graphics, but I do hope to make one or two more hedgehog memes before the semester is over. It does seem a little overwhelming at first, but new classes always do before you get into the routine of it. Also, never having to physically meet anyone in this class also helps me feel more freedom to be honest about my thoughts and post geeky memes (and hopefully entertain other people too!).  Image details: Michael...

So far, this class is extremely unlike anything I've taken at OU before. It pushes students to put their thoughts into words and become increasingly mindful on how to communicate honestly. As a chemistry major, most of my written assignments have been lab reports over the years, it does seem a bit daunting having to create and post something besides STEM topics, but I am looking forward to the challenge. I am also anticipating what my classmates have to say as well! Only one week has passed, but I am very glad that I was able to take this course during my final semester. Overall, the workload seems straightforward and not too time consuming, and I think I will really enjoy the subject matter. I don't think I'm a very creative or original person, but I will try my best on creating a portfolio or storybook I feel confident enough to share with others. The Famous Last Words extra credit assignment also seems like something fun to maintain throughout the semester. I can't ...

 Ctrl+Alt+Delete; source: Laura Gibbs At first glance, Dr. Dweck's philosophy on the growth mindset seems to be a no-nonsense way of improving even the most lackluster students. This was my first encounter with the professor, but much of what she said in her TED Talk seemed like common sense. Encouraging children that failure isn't permenant certainly encourages them to make more attempts at a problem. Incorporating this type of participation in the classroom leads to more equality. The problem of favoritism is something I observed a lot in grade school; the brighter children are set apart at an early age and continue distancing themselves from their peers until their intelligence seems exponentially higher.  I don't believe that the growth mindset is as universal as Dr. Dweck explains it, but traits of it can help student excel in specific subjects. I think the strongest tool a student can have is genuine interest in the subject they want to pursue. The growth m...

Hello! First of all, I hope you are having an amazing day so far. If not, please first enjoy this picture of my first hedgehog, Mochi, in a tiny santa hat.  Personal Photo: my first hedgehog's first Christmas! It might be an unusual choice of pet, but it is one that I highly recommend for students. I am a senior, graduating in May with a degree in Chemistry&Biochemistry and a minor in Pre-Health Social Sciences. These past four years have been very time consuming, and I wanted a pet that would accomodate my schedule. Enter: hedgehogs. They are solitary, nocturnal, small, don't require a lot of resources or space, perfect! And once I got my first, I became hooked on other exotic animals as well. I hope to one day have a large assorment of interesting critters and reptiles!  Aside from loving my hogs, I try to spend my extra time travelling all over the world. Both my parents immigrated from Asia, and we frequently travel back to visit my extended family. I ha...

    Dragon's Guide to the Elements   Image Details: Toothless; source: Stack  For some reason or the other, I have always loved dragons. Whether they are small and cute like in my favorite movie, How To Train Your Dragon, or more behemoth in nature like depicted in the Eragon series, their abilites, power, and intelligence have always fascinated me. Naturally, I was drawn to this charming collection of one-shots. The title sounded like it would be a story from a dragon's point of view, or focus mainly on the dragons, but rather the stories detailed epic battles between men and best. The introduction disclosed that the stories would be inspired by different tales from cultures around the world, which intruiged me, despite seeming a bit like a history lesson. The individual stories were basically a retelling of already well known folk tales, so it is expected that they'd be interesting. While I thoroughly enjoyed the stories, the site itself could have...

    I have been flying all over the world since I was young, much in part because none of my extended family lives in the United States. As I got older, my excursions got further and futher from East/Southeast Asia and began creeping into the riches of Europe, and whan incredible joy it has been. Throughout my time in Italy, Spain, Germany, etc., I kept retuning to the United Kingdom. London is truly one of the most beautiful and energetic cities I have been to. It is rich with history and culture, making Oklahoma pale in comparison. I have always preferred large cities to the mundane country life, and there is nowhere I'd rather enjoy my years than in the United Kingdom.  Image Details: London at Twilight, source: Geograph What better place to feel the pulse of the city than at Piccadilly Circus?  (on one side you can see some amazing architecture, and on the other the large electronic billboards always flashing their lights to the busy patrons be...

Hedgehogs are lovely ;  Hedgehogs are poopy.  While I want to hold them close,  They deny me with their animosity.