Online Classes

I think some online classes work and others don't. And for me, that comes down to the involvement throughout day to day. I took two online classes this semester. This one was very involved. I was basically doing something everyday, and if not I was scheduling out how I would manage my time to complete the necessary assignments. On the other hand, my other online class was much more passive. I finished an assignment once a week. This was much harder for me because I often forgot to to a discussion post. Eventually, it added up and I made a poor grade.

I think it is certainly a personal preference for everyone. Some thrive in online classes and some do not.

Happy Goat

OU General Education

Honestly, I have a very negative opinion with gen ed classes. I would have like to take more classes with in my degree learning and strengthening my skills that way. Classes are expensive, so I'm playing money for something that I'm just trying to get a grade for. I often feel bad for professor who teach class where a majority of the student are there just for the grade. Many of the gen ed class I have had to take have lowered my GPA. It's extremely frustrating at times.

Baby Goat is not impressed with Gen Ed Classes

College Writing Review

My writing experience has been a very different experience in the different classes I have taken. As an advertising major we write a lot, but it tends to be brief and backed up by a lot of research. So, it actually ends up being very each to write. On the other hand, as a film and media studies class, we write a lot of research papers based on way more thought and more detailed accounts of the film and the context that surrounds it.

My writing has certainly improved and I am now able to write longer papers more quickly. I think my only complaint about many of my papers is that very rarely do you receive detailed feedback on what you could improve upon.

Baby Goat on Skateboard...just because

Extra Reading Diary: Andersen Fairy Tales

For my extra reading diary assignment I am going to look at Andersen Fairy Tales unit!

The Princess and the Pea: This is such a fun story! It was really enjoyable to read. I love the character and the personality the author gave her. She seems so life like to me. She is a little odd, but I think that's what makes her unique!

The Emperor's New Suit: Well, I immediately thought of the Emperor's New Groove, the Disney movie. This is a little bit different. It's just a very jolly fun story with some amazing imagery. The Emperor is a little vapid and of course thinks he is better than everyone else.

Emperor's New Suit

The Wicked Prince: I love that the first sentence begins with "There lived once upon a time..." Very classic fairy tale! There is a lot of wonderful imagery in this story. For example, " ...rolling masses dashed down.." I absolutely loved reading this story.

Reading Diary B: Fables of La Fontaine

More readings from the unit, Fables of La Fontaine.

Mice: So these stories are longer and more detailed than the other stories. Also, a little more graphic and sad. I did not really like this section. The poor mice in the stories are tortured by big animals, some are cats, some are owls.

Frogs: The word "bamboozle" is used in this story, so I'm already hooked. I really really loved the rhyming of the story. Even though they are a little bit longer, the read really quickly because they are almost like a song.

The Astrologer, The Dairywoman: Another great rhyming story. They are so unusual and fun! The first one is about an astrologist who likes to make fun of alchemists and horoscopers. He believes in science and the stars. The second story is about a dairywoman who takes care of different animals, like fox and cows. Yay!

The Dairywoman

Reading Diary A: Fables of La Fontaine

This week I am going to be reading from the Fables of La Fontaine. I think this will be a nice change of pace from the longer stories I have been reading.

Foolish Animals: There is one pure classics in this section, and two others I have never heard of. The Tortoise and the Hare when they race is one I always remember hearing growing up. The Ass in the Lion's skin was kind sad. At the end the lion is killed by the village, or at least that's what it sounds like. Not really okay with that.

The Tortoise and the Hare

Birds (Larned): I liked these stories a lot. The dialogue was really good and helped keep up the pace of the story. The fox played a very cunning and smart character, while the Raven was more vapid and self obsessed. The strengths and weakness of these characters really showed through in the first story.

Foolish People: We have gone from foolish animals to foolish people, I like it! I like that eacj story has a greater meaning, like most fairy tales. The first one is about greed. The second one is about simple man and his pumpkin, a little odd. And, the last one is about vanity.

Tech Tip: Einstein Chalkboard

I mean, this is pretty cool. Einstein is saying "Welcome!" to my blog.

Einstein Chalkboard

Portfolio Guide

This portfolio contains a few of my favorite stories from this semester. I chose each one because I had the most fun writing them and exploring new ways to make them unique! They are all so wonderfully different; from a news article about the death of a turtle to the daydream of a young girl. I hope you enjoy reading each story as much as I enjoyed writing them!

Tortoise's Tragic Demise in North England: This story is written like a newspaper article. Featuring interviews and in depth investigations this story gives a detailed report into the tragic demise of a towns beloved turtle. 

Amaterasu's Strength: This story is all about girl power! Amaterasu fights her evil brother to save her mother from the underworld. Talk about a family reunion!

The Color of My Bluebird: A young girl is surprised with a gift from her mother. She isn't able to come up with a name for her new flying friend, but a daydream helps her discover the true origin of its colors. 

Owen's Trip: This is a romantic Welsh story about Owen, who stumbles upon a new wonderful world. 

Extra Reading Diary: Grimm (Crane)

For my extra reading diary assignment I am going to be reading stories from the Grimm unit.

The Frog Prince: A very stuck up girl looses her golden ball and then a frog offers his love to her if he can retrieve her ball. She thinks nothing of it and talks down to the frog. Eventually, the frog starts ordering her around and asked to go up into her room and sit on her bed. The next morning she woke up to see a beautiful prince.

Rapunzel: I mean we all pretty much know what's going to happen. I do like that this story has some dialogue between the characters. While the story we know and love is still the essential frame work there are many more details added that make it more interesting.

Repunzel

The Mouse, The Bird and The Sausage: The name along can be intriguing enough. This is a way more descriptive story. Lots of little event that lead to the ending. All three characters get mad at each other, and the sausage was eaten by a dog. It's a weird story.

Reading Diary B: Margaret Hamtameron

I'm not a huge fan of this unit, but I'm going to keep on reading!

The Hunted House: I actually liked this story. It has some really good suspense that made it much more enjoyable to read. I also liked the dialogue at the end because it helped tie up any loose ends and offer some pretty interesting life lessons.

The Spanish Widow: Two words: Gold Digger. This story is full to the brim with gossip. There seems to be a lot of over exaggeration and lies. I like that the dialogue at the bottom gives the opinions on the situation from multiple people.

Secrets Revealed: This is a story about a very scandalous love affair. Basically, a man that lives next door to a married woman stalks her and then breaks into her house and gets into bed with her. Dude, not cool. Overall, this is a pretty dark story.

Chambermaid Rescuing the Married Lady 

Reading Diary A: Margaret's Hamptameron

This week I will be reading The Heptameron of Margaret, Queen of Navarre. She sounds so fancy.

The Boatman and the Monks: So the story is generally pretty easy to read. There are a lot of locations introduced, which I imagine will be carried out through the rest of the unit. hehe...the word "booby" is in here. I'm ten years old apparently. I like the dialogue in the story; generally it speeds up the pace.

A Villager, His Wife and the Priest: I think the commentary at the end of this story helped contextualize what was going on. It is really interesting to see the class difference and how that played a role in shaping the stories focus.

The Monks and the Butcher: The towns Niort and Fors continue to come up throughout these stories. This is actually kind of a scary story there are a lot of bad things that happen and people play minf games with each other.

The Friar that was Captured

Extra Reading Diary: Nursery Rhymes

For my extra reading diary I am going to read some nice short nursery rhymes.

Tales: The babes in the wood sounded really similar to a story E read in Aesops fairy tales. That was cool to see a cross over in units.  The story is really kinda sad so it didn't really love reading it again. Possibly my favorite story was Taffy the Welshman. There is some major passive aggressiveness going on here and it is super funny.

Proverbs: Easily my favorite story is Monday's Child. I perfectly captures the essence of every day of the week and it's qualities! Perfection.

Songs, Part 2: I really really liked the Queen of Hearts story. The rhythm of it was really cool and was so easy to start making up a tune that it would match!

The Queen of Hearts (1901)

Week 12 Storytelling: Owen's Trip

Owen, a servant in the castle of St. Fagans, was granted his free day for the month on a beautiful, spring day. He knew exactly what he was going to do. His love, a milkmaid in Dol Y Clochydd was waiting for his arrival. They planned to spend the afternoon and evening together.

As Owen set out towards his lover’s village through the woods, he noticed a small bird lying limp at the edge of the Llyn Cynnwch lake. Owen walked up to the bird to see what was wrong. He knew he could take the bird to his love, Siwsi. He knew she loved to care for small animals. He reached down to examine the bird more closely. As he reached his hands down to hold the bird, it unfolded its wings and flew off. This action surprised Owen and he stumbled back, tripped on a boulder and fell into the lake. Owen splashed around trying to swim up to the light, but felt heavier and heavier as he sunk lower and lower.

The Lake in the Forest

Eventually, his lack of breath turned into a crisp deep inhalation of Wales's finest air. He inhaled deep down into his lungs, although he was surrounded by crystal clear water. He had never felt more at peace. He opened his eyes wider to see a light illuminating the bottom of the lake. What he saw, he could never describe again. At the bottom of a quiet lake, lay a beautiful village with plentiful green fields and flower patches of lavender and sunflowers. He began to walk around the town and eventually a short fat man joined him.

"Why, hello there Owen. I see you've taken a slight fall. You are welcome. Our village is beautiful and it is rare to have visitors," said the man.

Owen wanted to stay here forever, but he could hear Siwsi calling his name. He was ready to leave such beauty to be in the arms of his one true beauty.

"Sir, this is a lovely village and I wish I could stay longer, but my love is at her home in Dol y Clochydd. Could you point me in the right direction?" Owen asked the Man.

The short man gave his directions and Owen went on his way. He was running a little late, due to the slight detour, but would make it in time for dinner. He came upon the hearthstone of Dol y Clochchydd and walked a few more paces to Siwsi's house. He opened the door and playfully whispered her name. He did not hear a reply, so he walked further into the house and saw Siwsi next to the fireplace weeping.

Siwsi's House

"Siwsi, why are you crying? Please tell me what is wrong so that I may fix it," Owen pleaded with her.

Siwsi jumped, examined his seemingly unfamiliar face and embraced him in the most comforting huge he had ever experienced.

"Oh, Owen. I thought I would never see you again!" Siwsi said as she kissed his face all over.

Owen explained what had happened to him and the underwater village, which was why he was late. Apparently, late didn't even touch on how long Owen had been away. To Owen it had felt like he had been gone a few hours, but to Siwsi and the rest of the village, it had been two months.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I really love reading the stories from the Welsh Fairy Tale Unit. My family history is grounded in Wales and that is something that I wanted to explore more this week. I wanted to keep the story relatively similar because I love the magic and mystery within the tale. I add a few more descriptions here and there. I kept the traditional Welsh names as well as the location because I think they are very descriptive and incorporate a very “Welsh-like” tone. I knew I wanted to strengthen the love and relationship between Owen and Siwsi because he must love her if he leaves the lush paradise of the underwater village. I’ve certainty built a more romantic relationship between Owen and Siwsi. I think that adds a little more emotion to the story, as well as elevate the sadness of the time they actually spent apart.

I really liked writing this story! I was so easy to write and I really enjoyed creating a more backstory to the characters. I believe the more description you have, the more interesting the story becomes. This helps capture your audience and keep them reading until the end! I hope you like this wonderful Welsh Tale!

I hope you enjoyed read! I enjoyed writing this story!
Bibliography: Welsh Fairy Book by W. Jenkyn Thomas (Illustrations by Willy Pogány) 1908
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