Week 6 Story: Goodbye Babysitter

Goodbye Babysitter.

"We have to get a new baby sitter, she is becoming a problem" said Liam to his sister Anne. "Why? She seems pretty nice to me" she responded. Liam thinking of a reason to get his sister on his side said "She wouldn't let me go to the skating rink tonight, and I heard her saying something to her friends about your doll being stupid," he told his sister. As he finished he could see a fire light up in her eyes like none before as she said "How are we going to do it?"

They both sat in Liam's room spitting out ideas while the baby sitter sat in the living room chatting away to her friends. "What is something that would make Mom and Dad mad at her?" they kept asking each other. Until finally Liam had the perfect idea of how to get rid of the evil babysitter.

"Let's make it look like she drank all of Dad's favorite drink," he told his sister. "That's perfect Dad loves his pirate drink" she said excitedly.

A bottle of Captain Morgan found on Flickr.

So the two came up with a plan on how they were going to sabotage the baby sitter. They sat there discussing what was to be done precisely until they formed the perfect plan.

"Okay so here it is: First we will wait until she falls asleep on the couch. Then when we are positive that she won't be checking on us, we will sneak into the cabinet and grab Dad's bottle. We will then pour all of it out into the sink and gently place the bottle next to her, being sure to not wake her. Then we will use the phone in Mom and Dad's room to call and tell them to come home, but we have to make sure she doesn't hear us," Liam explained to his sister.

So the two waited until the perfect time to perform their sabotage plan. Everything went absolutely as planned. As the they laid in Liam's room they heard nothing until all of a sudden "You will never be asked to work here again, I'll drive you home but I will definitely tell your parents what you have done here tonight" they heard their dad sternly say.

"Look who's doll is stupid now!" said Anne to her brother.

Author's Note:
This story is based off The Frog, the Bee, and the Bird from The Tooti Nameh or Tales of a Parrot written by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi. In that story, a Parrot tells the story of an Elephant that rubs up against a tree that held the bird's eggs. The motion caused the eggs to fall and die, which made the bird upset. This caused the bird to team up with a Bee and Frog to kill the elephant because he was so much bigger than them. Ultimately they describe the plan and it goes accordingly. In my version of the story, I use Liam to represent the bird, Anne to represent the bee and frog, and the baby sitter to represent the elephant. I used children to make it more relatable and I tried to copy the story style in the sense that the climax is in the plan itself rather than the actions being planned out.

Bibliography:

The Tooti Nameh or Tales of a Parrot, by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi (1801). The actual story through is found in this link. 

Reading Notes: Tales of a Parrot, Part B

The Frog, the Bee, and the Bird, who Killed the Elephant


In reading this story I realized that this was the perfect story for a teamwork plot. I know we aren't supposed to write our reading notes based on plot but this one was so simple yet conveyed a huge message. That is the idea of how one tells a great tale in my eyes. If you can make it easily understandable along with great meaning then there is no reason to expand. I think the frog was my favorite character in the sense that he was wise and such a team player. I think that if you have a story about a team trying to accomplish something there should be at least one person who leads the way and devises the plan. I also believe the story is a good template for a tale about respect. They all respected the Saweh and felt there should be work done to relieve his pain.


In thinking about how I could apply this story to my own writing, I was thinking I could possibly have three kids team up against a baby sitter they don't like. I was thinking have each of the kids possibly be different from each other some how though in the sense that the animals were. I was imagining the conflict be something around them wanting to go to an event and the baby sitter refusing. I was thinking maybe they get the baby sitter fired some how or embarrass the baby sitter via social media.

I liked the writing style of the story the parrot tells in the sense that it is mainly the plot described but there isn't an actual climax of what takes place when the plans actually occur. I haven't read a story like that so I kind of enjoyed the sense that it wasn't redundant because that can sometimes bore the reader.

A frog with a crown to represent the wiseness of the character found on Pixabay.

Bibliography:

The Tooti Nameh or Tales of a Parrot, by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi (1801).

The specific story link is found above.

Reading Notes: Tales of a Parrot, Part A

The Old Lion and the Cat

One of the things I would like to take note of about this story was how there is a story within the story. I really haven't thought about doing this in any of my stories but I feel that this is a great way to set up a moral style story. I feel that this makes it easier to make a point in terms of conversation. Another thing I like about this story is the character of the Cat. I have written a story for this class where I made the moral of the story to pay attention to the details but I didn't have a character like the cat actually learn something through conversation. I think in my writing that if I had  character like the kitten who asks questions to make a point it could make my moral more easily understood by the reader. What I really like about this is the "storyception" as I would call it. As if the point wasn't made clear by the Kitten and Cat, the parrot then relates it to his situation which truly wraps it up. Although I think this would take away from the story with the moral that I have already written, I would like to keep this in mind if I write another fable type story. However in terms of ideas that popped into my head, I was thinking about possibly writing a story about the one mouse who lived and his ideas about it. I was considering having him tell the story as if it were a horror story to some other mice. I was thinking about making it sound like a war story as well in the sense that they prepared to get the food and thought that the kitten would be easily fooled and less violent than he was. All of these are just ideas and things I appreciate from the story but this truly got my mind running on all of the possibilities.

A dead mouse found on Common Wikimedia.

Bibliography:

The Tooti Nameh or Tales of a Parrot, by Ziya'al-Din Nakhshabi (1801).

The link to the specific story is above.

Famous Last Words: Molecular Biology Test

So all of my classes seem to be going very well this semester except one... Molecular Biology. We took the test last week but this week we got our grades back and I didn't do as well as I would have liked. I felt terrible leaving the test but I didn't think I would do as bad as I did. I was 1 point below the average but the grade itself was not a good one in terms of me wanting to get an A. This class is difficult in terms of material, but I felt well prepared going into the test so I'm not sure what I'm going to have to do to perform better. Luckily, this class allows for a single drop of a test grade so hopefully I can make this test that drop. I think even though I felt prepared for the test, I should have started studying earlier for it. I should be reading the notes I take along with the book everyday, which I didn't do for this last test. I will make sure to stay current with the material instead of trying to cram for it the way that I did. I also think that I should try to study with other people, because last time I just studied by myself. I think that this would help because then I would be able to ask them questions or maybe hear there interpretations of the material. As I said I have done well in all of my other classes, but honestly my schedule is a lot lighter than normal so that is probably why. I also need to start focusing more on my studying for the dental exam than what I have been doing. Its time for me to focus up on my studies and pursue it harder. I have been somewhat lazy compared to other semesters and it is clear that this won't cut it any more.

A picture of Science materials found on Wikimedia Commons. 

Google Timer Tech Tip

So I usually use my phone to set up a timer when I need it but recently I have been trying to leave my phone in my backpack when studying. This is where the Google Timer came to be a great tool for me. I used it for when I was reading because sometimes I like to make a 30 minute timer to make sure I read each day for at least that long. This allowed me to not get distracted as easily. I'm definitely going to continue using this because it seems to work really well in keeping me focused.

Learning Challenge: Talking to myself

I should title this "Reading Aloud" but I felt talking to myself sounded better because that is what it would appear I'm doing to someone else. This last week I had a Molecular Bio test that required copious amounts of reading. I tried the reading aloud method in things that I seemed to find difficulty in understanding. So in my room I casually read about transcription and translation in order to help me understand it. The process worked in my opinion because it made me slowly realize what I repeatedly said. I liked how it made me focus on what I was saying rather than drift off and day day dream. The only thing I didn't like was how slow this made me go over material but that was expected and worth the price. I definitely will apply this style of learning when I'm struggling to comprehend as well as when I'm tired because weirdly enough it kept me awake.

This is the picture of a book found on Free Stock Photos.

Growth Mindset: W.I.N.

W- Whatever
I-it
N-Needs

I am a full believer in competition and with that I believe in winning so this seemed to make sense in my mind. Sometimes people can win things easily but when competition comes to be difficult I find that people will go to unbelievable methods to win. I'm not saying cheat but find strengths in you that you didn't know you had to be successful. If that means you have to keep pushing forward in studies to "win" on a test then keep going. The same goes for everything. I believe in being competitive and to be a true winner you must dig deep and find whatever it needs to meet the standards of winning.

This is a picture of my Acronym that I created using Canva. The key is to symbolize this is the key to success. 

Wikipedia Trails: From Jackal to Snake.

Jackal

After this weeks reading, I realized I wasn't completely sure what a Jackal was so I thought that would be the start of my Wikipedia trail. I learned that the jackal is an omnivore that belongs in the same family as domestic dogs and wolves. I also learned that they have long legs and feet adapted for traveling long distances. I also learned they have canine teeth like reptiles which brought me to that page since I took a herpetology course this brought me to the reptiles page.

Reptile

Although I know a fair share about reptiles from being a Biology major and having taken a herpetology course, I decided to let my curiosity head here. I personally am not the biggest fan of reptiles but they do interest me. I learned that reptiles date back 312 million years ago to the Carboniferous period. I also learned that many people feel that birds should be categorized as reptiles as well.

Amphisbaenia

I saw this on the Reptile page as Worm lizards and the name itself grabbed my curiosity. They are described to be more like worms than they are snakes (which is what I was wondering how they would be separated from snakes themselves). However after the reading I learned they are classified more as lizards because of their phylogeny. One thing that separates them from snakes is their lung system.

This is a picture of a Worm lizard provided by Wikimedia Commons. 

Snakes

Even though I know what snakes were I thought I might as well see what Wikipedia had to say about the creatures I am terrified of. I learned that snakes have been found on every continent except Antartica and they have even been found as high as the Himalayan Mountains. I also learned that there is a process called parthenogenesis where some snakes can even reproduce asexually. As much as I hate snakes this page was somewhat informative for something I have just studied.

Week 5 Story: Pac's Guide to Music

Pac's Guide to Music

One day Kendrick was casually walking home from school listening to his rap music as usual when he saw an all-black note book laying on the side of a bench. Being curious Kendrick gradually walked over to the book and picked it up noticing the first page to say, “Pac’s Guide to Music”. Kendrick knew he had to be home soon so he just put the book in his back pack and began making his way home again.

When Kendrick got home and was done with his chores, he decided to flip through the book some more. Kendrick couldn’t believe his eyes as he began reading. The book started with how to set up the perfect song and then lead into songs that “Pac” had written. Kendrick being a huge fan of rap music realized that this book was his golden ticket to success. Kendrick thought he had found his calling and way to get out of the town he knew would lead him to a poor lifestyle. He knew that this book was more of an art rather than a guide of making music.

Kendrick started to study the book for hours and hours each day. He did his best to memorize every word on the page. He even realized that in the bottom right corner of each page of the book said, “Thug Life” and that is how he started living his life. He learned how to put syllables and rhyme schemes together to where he could start writing his own rap music. Kendrick practiced and practiced making music until he got the confidence to perform in front of others. Everyone thought Kendrick was a genius and encouraged Kendrick to enter the rap battle that was coming up.

So, Kendrick gathered the courage and money to enter the Rap Battle being held at the shelter nearby.

Feeling pumped and ready to go Kendrick showed up to the venue only to see that his first opponent’s name was “Pac”.

“There is no way this could be the same guy” Kendrick thought to himself.

Well the time had come when Kendrick was to battle where he went to the stage and saw “Pac”. He was standing there confident with a clean bald head, his shirt off, and the biggest smile across his face as if he knew he was going to beat Kendrick.

The DJ held a coin flip to decide who went first and Pac won.

“Let’s hit em up, I’ll go first” Pac said as Kendrick slowly began to realize what he was in for.

The beat dropped and Pac began rapping what seemed to be the best verse that Kendrick had ever heard. It was just like the style of rap that was in the book he had found. At the end of the verse, Pac ripped his shirt off only to expose his giant tattoo of “Thug Life” written crossed his belly.

A illustration of the words "Thug Life" found on Pixabay. These words are tatted on Pac's belly in the story. 

Once finished, Pac walked over and gave the mic to Kendrick but without anyone hearing he said, “Keep the book”.

Kendrick was in shock as if God was speaking to him. As the beat started Kendrick was completely silent and the only noise for what seemed forever was the beat.

Kendrick just shook his head in disbelief with what had happened forced the words “I need to work harder” as he handed the mic over to the DJ.

Author’s Note:

This story is based off “The Jackal and the Crocodile” written by Cecil Henry Bompas. In “The Jackal and the Crocodile” a boy loses his books to a Jackal who goes home to read the books. A crocodile over hears the jackal reading the books and asks for the jackal to teach his children how to read and write. Agreeing, the jackal tries to teach the baby crocodiles but they just can’t seem to learn any of what he is teach so the jackal gets mad. Getting so mad one day he decides to eat one of the baby crocodiles, and doing the same with each new day. The adult crocodile nervous of losing his children then asks to see his kids where the Jackal tricked him into thinking they were all fine, but the crocodile decided to hide and make sure this was the case. The crocodile saw that only one child remained so he saved his baby crocodile and ate the jackal. Although this story is very different, the idea of the book being taken by someone else and that person being fooled was the main aspect of my story. I wanted the jackal to be symbolized by Kendrick, and I wanted Pac to symbolize the book/crocodile in a sense. Overall in this loose interpretation, I wanted a modernized story of a book leading to one’s downfall yet I wanted there to still be hope for Kendrick in the future unlike the Jackal.

Bibliography:

Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas (1909). The story "The Jackal and the Crocodile" can be found here.

Reading Notes: Santal Folklore, Part B

The Jackal and the Crocodiles

In terms of admiring the writing properties of the story, I think the most admirable aspect of this story is the introduction. You think that the boy who is having his books stolen would be a main character, but really he was just an introduction device of the jackal. This makes me think maybe in my stories I could write a fable like this where there are side characters for the use of introduction only. I was thinking maybe I could tell a story involving people but instead of learning to read and write they learn to use technology. This would allow for a new twist with modernization. I also would consider making the baby crocodile persona's a bit more defensive and/or smarter to give the jackal a harder time. I could maybe even do a spin off the boy himself and have him watching what is going on and trying to intervene. I also would enjoy possibly changing the ending to be where the jackal would outsmart the crocodile once again because I kind of feel like that was the idea behind what the old man said of the jackal being witty. I also think the story could have had a better climax moment rather than the crocodile just eating him so casually. If anything this story stuck out to me as to how under written it was and for me to have an example of places where I feel details could have made the plot better in itself. One thing I did like though was the repetition of what was being said because it added a simpleness that was entertaining to read. I did like the way this story flowed as well which comes from its simpleness. Although I would add more description and emotion, I like how it flowed from the boy to the jackal to the crocodile and would try to keep that simplicity in my story.

This is a picture of a live jackal from Wikimedia Commons.

Bibliography:

Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas (1909). The specific link to this story is above.

Reading Notes: The Life of Buddha, Part A

Maya's Dream

One of the things I admire of this story is the essence of beauty described. From the beginning to the end nothing is described without great positivity other than the nervousness the king feels. I feel the minor details of the beauty to what is being taken place are all perfectly written to show how good of a thing is taken place. The reader is able to realize through the multiple cases of positivity from the God's to the Brahmans how good of an event this is. As a writer I need to take note of how this story uses a higher power to communicate such strong things in a good moment. Normally higher entities come down in bad times but this is a rejoicing moment which this story perfectly uses higher entities for. I think one way to do this is to show the promise to come for example when it says what all Buddha must do to be revered.

Siddartha is Eager to Hear the Great Truths

In this part of the Buddha stories what I took away was the ability for a writer to disguise characters. I found it impressive for the Gods to be disguised as a beggar. I know this takes place in other stories but it is always a great way to convey the meaning of something, or rules, and even just a way to hint for future plot mechanisms. The way the beggar describes himself truly shows how little he has too which I think should go for any description of a character. I think someone describing themselves as a character truly helps rather than just the narrator describing characters. I also thought the way the last paragraph was written truly showed the harshness within the story. The way that everyone is described as dead truly shows the graveness in my opinion. Repeating words truly shows the seriousness just as description does because the repetition puts it in the readers head. I tried this in some of my stories but I haven't done so in such  serious way, so next time I write a story if it is something to be seen as serious then I will definitely remember to repeat what I want to be engraved in the mind of the reader.

A picture of a statue of Buddha on Pixabay. 

Bibliography:

The Life of Buddha by Andre Ferdinand Herold (1922).
The specific section links are above in the text.

Comment Wall

Hello Everyone!

This is my Comment Wall post. Here is the place that will take you directly to my Portfolio. Here will be stories that I revise and create to be perfect by the end of this semester! Hope you enjoy!

Week 4 Story: Liam's Revenge

This post has recently been updated and can be seen here.

Liam's Revenge

"I will never forgive you for what you have done" were the last words Liam said to his sister as he kicked her out of his room and slammed the door.

"How could she be so stupid as to use my video games as frisbees?" he thought to himself.

Liam was steaming mad to the point he wanted to cry. His favorite thing in the world was to come home from school and play Xbox. Now all of his favorite games were taken from him. There would be no more getting online to play games with the guys at school. For Liam had collected these games since last Christmas when he got his Xbox. These discs were everything to him.

"She will pay. I want her to know what it is like" he thought to himself.

So Liam sat in his room on his bean bag chair that he would normally play video games and began to plot his revenge. He thought for hours and hours but couldn't figure out what he wanted to do to get his little sister back for what she had done.

"I could rip all of the pages out of her coloring book" he said to himself.
"nah that isn't good enough, she doesn't love that the way I love playing games." he quickly thought.

Liam kept thinking but couldn't figure out his perfect revenge. Until late that night Liam's mom came into his room and said "I heard about the video games honey, and I'm sorry but with time we will get you your games back."

"Now its time for bed, I just tucked your sister in with her Barbie." She told him.

An evil smile rose upon his face covering from ear to ear. Liam knew exactly what he must do.
So Liam stayed up, just lying in his bed waiting for the rest of the house to be silent. Once he realized that the coast was clear, he sprung up out of bed as if he was running late for school. He tip-toed to his sister's room so quiet that one would have thought he was a ninja. He then barely opened the door and slipped in to grab his sister's Barbie.

"Got it!" he thought as he quickly went back to his room and hid the doll like nothing had even taken place.

The next day his sister immediately noticed the Barbie was gone and complained but no one seemed to care. They both went to school but Liam couldn't pay attention in the least. All he could think about was his plan to get revenge.

Once school ended and the two got home it was time to make his point. So Liam grabbed his rain jacket and the Barbie and went to the garage. He then found some rope and tied the doll as tight as he could to his bike. Once he knew that he was able to drag Barbie he poked his head in the house and yelled "I found your Barbie in the garage come get her!"

With extreme joy his sister came running faster than ever to the garage. All she saw was her brother take off on his bike dragging her Barbie.

He dragged her through puddles.
He dragged her though mud.

As his sister began to scream and cry, Liam did nothing more than smile with that same evil grin he had the night before.

For Liam knew he had gotten his revenge and it never felt so good.

A picture of a doll's leg found on Pixabay.

Author's Note:

This story is based off the idea of revenge that is performed in Homer's The Illiad. In the story, The Slaying of Hector (end), Achilles seeks revenge for his loved friend Patroclus. In order to revenge him, he kills Hector in a drawn out fight and then ties him to a chariot drawn by horses where he rides it around the city for everyone to see what he has done. Obviously I changed the story up and had Liam symbolize Achilles, his video games symbolize Patroclus, and his sister symbolize Hector. I made the version more of a children's story although it is somewhat dark in order to emphasize the desire for people to obtain revenge when they feel they have been wronged.

Bibliography:

The Slaying of Hector (end) from Homer's The Illiad retold by Alfred J. Church (1907).

Reading Notes: Homer's Illiad, Part B

The Rousing of Achilles

I know I seem to only write about the description used in these stories, but what I like about this one in particular is the description of grief. Homer goes into such detail the sadness that has overcome everyone. Explaining how the death made everyone cry showed me that to convey a sad moment you must use repetition. In repeating how many people were crying and over come with sadness due to the death of Patroclus the reader is able to understand how pivotal this moment truly is. I also enjoy the presence of Zeus in this moment. Knowing how honored Zeus is, having him react and even speak is crucial to this sadness. I think that in my writings that if I want to convey an emotion it adds dramatic effect by having a higher power interact. Even if a story doesn't involve Gods, I could even put it in the sense that maybe nature can feel the emotion that is going on in the story.

A sculpture of Achilles holding Patroclus found on Wikimedia Commons. 

The Slaying of Hector (end)

This famous scene of Achilles murdering Hector was too good not to write reading notes about. One of the things I like is the description of the fight itself. When homer describes spears being thrown or a sword hitting you can imagine it in your head. I have had trouble writing action scenes in story but what this made clear to me was that the best way to do this is by saying where things are. For example when speaking about Achilles striking Hector with his sword it is said that "by the collar-bone where the neck joins the shoulder" is where he strikes him. This is extremely precise and allowed me to see how exact one must be in describing action scenes.

Another thing I like to convey the action going on was the use of metaphors and similes. These allowed for comparison to other things one could relate to in order to visualize the scene better. For example he compares the head of a spear to an evening star. I think by keeping the comparisons simple and relatable it adds a better image than a drawn out comparison.


I feel like I'm repeating my self a lot with these notes, but I know that a plot is only as good as one conveys it. I think these notes will help remind me how descriptive I must be in conveying crucial moments in my stories.

Bibliography:

Homer's  The Iliad retold by Alfred J. Church (1907).

Reading Notes: Homer's Illiad, Part A

Of How the War with Troy Began 

I decided to write my reading notes on this part of Homer's Illiad because I think the way this introduces the story in its entirety is important. What I really enjoy about the way its told is the slight descriptions of the characters. There are slight descriptions about who they are but not too in depth which keeps it short and sweet. For example the story makes sure you know the connections between people like Menelaus and Agamemnon being brothers. 

Another aspect I enjoyed about this first part is that it makes very important details like the oath through speech. When Menelaus and Agamemnon challenge the people to come and support their promise I find it important that it is in their voice. I think as a writer this makes the reader able to realize what exactly is going on better. I almost felt like one of the soldiers myself reading it and thats obviously what was trying to be done. 

There was a lot of information to be given here so the fact that it was kept concise is inspiring as a writer. I'm not sure if I will need an introduction for any of my stories but if so this is how it should be done. If anything I can take away the impact of dictation for emphasis of things that will come to 

life later on.

A statue of Achilles found on Wikimedia Commons. 

The Deeds and Death of Patroclus

One thing I truly admire about this part of the Illiad is Patroclus. I think this is such an emotional conversation between him and Achilles because you can fully feel his passion in his words. I like the idea of a character who despite his differences in opinion with another still feels the need to fight. I think it is a great aspect in showing the importance of the fight going on that he is willing to risk his life. In my stories I would like to have a character who can express so much emotion in speech and also his actions. However as much as I love how strong a fighter Achilles is, this section is frustrating because he won't fight. That just shows how emotional this is because as a reader you're getting upset due to actions and words. I think in some of my stories where I want to add a hero I also need to add something so descriptive as to why there needs to be a hero in the first place. I might not be covering this perfectly in my notes but I think by the briefness of Achilles, it makes Patroclus even better. In my writing I should keep this in mind of having counter parts. 

Bibliography: 

Homer's Iliad (retold by A. J. Church)

Tech Tip: Canvas Mobile App

I've recently downloaded the Canvas Mobile App onto my iPhone. The process was extremely easy for all it took was to go to the App store, search Canvas, download the app, put the University of Oklahoma in and you're good.

What I like about the app most is that I can see the files immediately. For example in my Molecular Biology class he puts all of his lectures annotated onto Canvas which I would normally have to down load on my computer to study, but with the app I am able to view it on my phone and study in places without having to have my lap top with me. I also like how it sends me notifications about assignments that I have and even gives me a to do list.

I'm surprised the app hasn't been more advertised and I'm only hearing about this now. This would have came in handy the past few years as well.

Overall: Great App no complaints in the least.

Learning Challenge: Observing Empathy

Recently in my life I have observed one specific person practicing more empathy than anyone else. The man I'm talking about is a pledge brother of mine named Chris and I've never seen someone truly care more about making another person feel comfortable in so many different ways. I've seen the man stay up late talking with another guy about his future when he was down. In this instance the guy was having a panic attack doubting everything in his life from his career, his happiness, and his relationship with his girlfriend. Although I was in the room trying to help as well, I hit a moment when I realized my empathy and words didn't have near the impact that Chris's did. It was because he truly felt the pain and wanted to relinquish our other friend of it. Another instance even though it was far back was Chris helping me. I was so far behind in a class and just couldn't seem to grasp the material. Chris completely understood the material and decided that his lack of sleep was worth helping me out. The man stayed up studying/tutoring me for hours into the night. By no means did he have to do that but I could tell he felt my stress and wanted to make me feel better. He had no incentive in doing this, rather he just cared about me just as he did the other night with my friend.

From some of Chris's actions I've learned that giving someone your time with full attention is one of the best gifts you can give someone. True empathy is sacrifice in my opinion because that means you are putting yourself in their shoes just to walk with them to a better place. What I have learned from Chris is that you are never too tired, too busy, too anything to give someone else your time when they are in a hurting state. For that I will be doing my best to give more people my full attention and input in times of struggle and the happy times as well. That in my mind is the best characteristic of empathy.

I found this picture describing Empathy as one on Flickr.

Growth Mindset: To Risk

A picture I created on Canva to express the meaning of my motto. 

I chose this motto because it is part of my favorite poem by William Arthur Ward. The poem is below.

I learned this poem on a spiritual retreat I took in high school called Kairos. I find it funny how somethings truly hit you in a moment and these words captured me back then and still do today. Although the entire poem is meaningful to me I chose "To live is to risk dying" as my motto for this blog post because in my life right now I feel that I am in my prime condition to live. I want to be doing as much as I possibly can with as many people as possible. I'm a firm believer in risking things and many times it doesn't work out. The true issue in life for me is doubt and regret. I don't want to regret not at least attempting to do something because I doubted it would work out in my favor. I'm not saying to be completely unreasonable but I really don't believe you are living if you don't feel the excitement in the moment. This is why I chose a picture of a man jumping because I have been cliff diving off of extreme heights and never felt more alive. Everyone dies so live in the moments you can.

William Arthur Ward   "To laugh is to risk appearing a fool, To weep is to risk appearing sentimental. To reach out to another is to risk involvement, To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self. To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss. To love is to risk not being loved in return, To live is to risk dying, To hope is to risk despair, To try is to risk failure. But risks must be taken because the greatest   hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, But he cannot learn, feel, change, grow or live. Chained by his servitude he is a slave who has forfeited all freedom. Only a person who risks is free. The pessimist complains about the wind; The optimist expects it to change; And the realist adjusts the sails."

To Live Is To Risk Dying. 

Feedback Strategies: Confident Feedback

Be a Mirror: Give Readers Feedback that Fosters a Growth Mindset

Although this article seems to be aimed at giving feedback to children, I felt that most of it could apply to a adults as well. One of the things I truly liked about this article is that you can shape someone into believing in themselves just by changing their mindset. Another thing I truly enjoyed was the idea of being "specific". One time I was writing a paper and I went to the teacher to ask for help. The teacher read the paper told me what I needed to change but overall said how much she loved it. That same paper I changed what was recommended and got a grade less than the average. I was shocked but I wish the teacher had been more specific in telling me what could have used some work instead of praising it in a false way. I also like the idea of taking yourself out of the picture when giving feedback. This might be a personal opinion but I feel that if you are comparing your work to another when giving feedback the person will now only try to resemble you rather than grow. I also feel the person might be let down in the sense they can't ever reach the other person's ability when that isn't what it is about at all. Overall, I thought this article was a positive influence in helping one convey how to positively give feedback.

Criticizing Praise 

This article talks about how praise is a judgment rather than a feedback. I have to say that I agree with it when it says that kids seek this praise for betterment of themselves but only in the sense they are pleasing someone. I would be lying if I said I wasn't looking for praise from people in my life with some tasks I performed rather than trying to just better myself. Yet I am conflicted off this article because I feel that praise really isn't given out too much in the sense that it is bad but rather I think its given out too much in the sense of manipulation. I think people will give praise or what they think is feedback just to train someone into doing good for themselves rather than the person who deserves to be criticized.

With these different articles in mind I would say I should probably give less feedback to people. I think unless people are working towards a common goal feedback could possibly work negatively. I have told people things look good when they could be better just because I am being selfish. I'm sure others (like the teacher above) do the same just because they don't want to truly analyze someones abilities or actions. I know this seems slightly negative but I feel it is true. I believe unless you truly are invested in a person then you shouldn't be giving feedback or unnecessary praise. I think I am going to try and give feedback no matter how small the issue only when I am truly confident in what I'm saying to the person. This way I don't leave the person trying to please me or leading the person on.

This is a picture I found to be representative of giving feedback in a confident manner of what is said. This image is from Wikimedia Commons. 

Topic Research: The Haunted Man and Ghost's Bargain, Time of the Ghost, and Beyond the Wall.

After last week I realized that I have the most interest in writing Horror stories. This doesn't necessarily mean Ghosts for now but then again ghosts allow a wide dimension for me to work with. After doing more research on different Ghost stories, I've come to the realization that if I want to write a good ghost story than I'm going to have to base it loosely off another one. The stories I write might even just be completely original but have some slight ties or references to another one. I might possibly do a story inspired by one of these even if there is no resemblance. This is only being said for now but I feel for me to truly enjoy this project then I must try to be as original as possible. That being said I did take some notes on some stories that interested me in my research this week.

The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain

This story is the last of Charles Dicken's Christmas stories, and it really got my attention in the sense that it is kind of like a realization story. The tale is about a man named Redlaw who is given the ability to forget all of the wrongful things he has done in his life. He is given this opportunity by his phantom twin but it ends up making him angered along with it spreading to other people. In the end things are returned to normal after a realization of the way he should act. 

The reason I like this is because I was thinking I could base a story off this idea of realization but maybe in modern times. I might be able to use the ghost to show him two different routes of events that could occur in his life, kind of like a Christmas Carol. 

The Time of the Ghost

This story I truly didn't get that much from in terms of liking the plot but what I did really enjoy from this story was the aspect of time. I think this story I could slightly base one of my own off of because I want to do a modern type story and this one actually involves someone from the future. In this ghost story it is a girl observing her family seven years after an accident in which she has no recollection of what has happened since then. In this I was thinking I could possibly have this ghost story be changed to a suicide instance where a character sees how people reacted to the death. I know this sounds slightly like the Christmas Carol thing again, but I was thinking I could add the twist of her seeing how much happier people were that she was gone and being able to get revenge. 

This is an image of Ebenezer Scrooge from Loren Javier on Flickr. This picture expresses my interest in writing a  "come to realization" type story. 

Beyond the Wall 

In this story it is a man narrating a story to his friend about how him and another woman would exchange knocks on a wall. The man was attracted to this woman and enjoyed knocking until it stopped for a long time despite him continuing to knock for some time. Without receiving a response for some time, he stopped only to hear one knock a long time in between which he found out was the lady on her death bed. The reason I enjoyed this stories plot was because I felt I could do something in my stories along the lines of mystery. In this story there is mystery why the knocking stopped or why the lady wanted to knock before she died. I was thinking I could possibly do a ghost story in which there is not haunting involved but rather a ghost just showing its presence. I couldn't tell you exactly why this story inspired me of this but possibly it was the casualness about it. I think I could copy the casualness into giving a chilling story that creeps up on you or even leaving the ghost's intentions not understood at all.